Beyond debt, a world of belonging: From consumerism to community
Our current economic system is built on debt. From the 20th century onwards, we have been spending more than we have, through borrowing. It is the people that have sustained economic growth — by stimulating the economy via consumption, and thus preventing another crash.
The story we are told about debt is inconsistent. Government debt is to be avoided at all costs. By contrast, debt is both normal and necessary for typical citizens; be it student loans, mortgages, credit card debts or other loans.
What if, instead of spending more, we turned to our communities for support and resources? We would loosen our reliance on impersonal traditional markets in favour of emotional and economic intimacy within communities. In turn, this would free up time for and headspace to consider the interwoven societal and environmental issues that urgently need our energy.
Establishing social norms around consumerism was not straightforward. It took active effort by neoliberal economist and companies — who saw an opportunity to profit. In the 1930s the National Association of Manufacturers (US) craftily equated ‘the American way’ with consumerism.[i] Companies applied psychological tactics to their advertising that made us subconsciously conflate our identity with the goods we consumed. Our self worth became a reflection of the assets we owned.
Along with economists, government and companies championed progress being solely concerned with economic outputs and citizens being referred to as consumers.[ii] Hyper- consumption has remained the driving culture ever since. The products we are told to buy are disconnected from any reasonable assessment of our needs.[iii] Instead, we are constantly signalling our worth and happiness through the possessions we own in comparison to others; the rat race of accumulation is driven by the patterns and norms of the world around us.[iv] Craving a life without shame, we need to buy what is marketed at us — we want to fit in, to be one with ‘the norm’.
Society tells us not to be satisfied with what we have:
‘People are persuaded to spend money we don’t have, on things we don’t need, to create impressions that won’t last, on people we don’t care about.’[v]
According to leading 21st century economist Tim Jackson, hyper-consumption is a social crisis. It intensifies our competitive urges, individual mindsets, and legitimises the lie that we are inherently greedy.
When our frenzy of consumption exceeds what we can afford, we are aggressively encouraged to go into debt, a necessary ritual for the American way of life that other western countries have adopted without hesitation.
Our level of debt intensifies our anxiety about retaining employment, subconsciously restricting our ability to criticise the way things are. Debt is a political weapon to keep us precariously bonded to the status quo. The endless pursuit of status symbols, coupled with the need to keep our head down busy working to pay off debt, deflects mass attention from the growing inequalities, environmental destruction, and other connected issues much bigger than ourselves.
Government policies are responsible for the underlying causes of our indebtedness. Governments hide behind the story of austerity, for a bundle of economic policies aimed at reducing government debt. Austerity is not in our collective interest. It entails an erosion of social services, reduced health care spending, and cutting taxes for the wealthy; the upshot is that we must, to privately fund social services, go into debt ourselves. People are having to borrow in order to benefit from services that should be provided by the state’.[vi]
Along with lowering interest rates and increasing the money supply governments too are encouraging private spending. They ‘want us to draw down more debt to keep the growth- based economy going’.[vii] Austerity is a socially constructed myth, conveniently advancing a few. We need to shift the collective mindset for all citizens to flourish.
We need our surroundings to reaffirm that we are enough. We need to substitute our search for meaning in possessions to meaning from the depth of our connections. Our identity isn’t things we own, rather our sense of belonging to our communities, our generosity and kindness. We need to meet people’s intrinsic emotional needs.
Kirsten Ghodsee wrote ‘If people are happy in their intimate lives, if they feel loved and supported for who they are rather than what they own, capitalism loses one of the most valuable tools it has: it can no longer convince us that we need to buy more things to fill the void left by a lack of personal connection.’[viii]
Economists should encourage a gift economy with emotional and economic intimacy in people’s chosen communities. ‘Intimacy comes from co-creation not co-consumption.’[ix]
This gift economy is reliant on the emotional intimacy of communities, to share and support each other, without preconditions. Generously sharing our surplus, whatever that might be, rather than accumulating it. This doesn’t just mean sharing your things. You could give your surplus time, give a hug, share your passions, or give someone advice.[x] ‘Social wealth over material wealth.’[xi] No payment, but gratitude and reciprocity. Work can then become the expression of our gifts, motivated by passion, not determined by money.[xii]
‘The less we use money, the less time we need to spend earning it, and the more time we have to contribute to the gift economy, and then receive from it. It is a virtuous circle.’[xiii]
The current societal value of independence is an illusion. While we may be economically independent from our peers, we are ‘just as dependent as before, only on strangers and impersonal institutions, and, as we are likely to soon discover, these institutions are quite fragile.’[xiv] Rather if we turn inwards to our communities for dependence we can shift the balance of power in society, reducing our dependence on traditional markets.
The significance of this culture shift is not to be underestimated. While it will destabilise the economy because of reduced spending, our financial and ecological systems are facing collapse with or without this shift. Resilient communities will help mitigate the severity of the changes needed to secure a future for this planet.
References
i Richard Heinberg. (14 April 2015). The Brief tragic reign of consumerism and the birth of a happy alternative. Post Carbon Institute. Retrieved from https://www.postcarbon.org/the-brief-tragic-reign- of-consumerism-and-the-birth-of-a-happy-alternative/
ii Richard Heinberg. (14 April 2015). The Brief tragic reign of consumerism and the birth of a happy alternative. Post Carbon Institute. Retrieved from https://www.postcarbon.org/the-brief-tragic-reign- of-consumerism-and-the-birth-of-a-happy-alternative/
iii The School of Life. (7 October 2016). History: Consumerism. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Unq3R--M0
iv Dave Brooks. (22 July 2008). The Culture of Debt. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/opinion/22brooks.html
v Ted Talk. (8 October 2010). Tim Jackson: An economic reality check. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_jackson_s_economic_reality_check/transcript?language=en
vi Mariella Caponnetto. (12 January 2017). Debt system and capitalism: what are the links? Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt. Retrieved from http://www.cadtm.org/Debt-system-and- capitalism-what
vii Ted Talk. (8 October 2010). Tim Jackson: An economic reality check. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_jackson_s_economic_reality_check/transcript?language=en
viii Kristen Ghodsee. (20 November 2018). Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism. P. 173
ix Charles Eisenstein. (30 November 2010). A Circle of Gifts. Retrieved from https://www.countercurrents.org/eisenstein301110.htm
x Kiwiburn. (n.d.). Gift Economy. Retrieved form http://kiwiburn.com/about/gift-economy/
xi TedEd. (23 December 2014). What is a gift economy? — Alex Gendler. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaxjxICgahc
xii The Guardian. (30 July 2012). Charles Eisenstein: In a gift economy the more you give, the richer you are. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S1egXWYwXo
xiii Charles Eisenstein. (30 November 2010). A Circle of Gifts. Retrieved from https://www.countercurrents.org/eisenstein301110.htm
xiv Charles Eisenstein. (30 November 2010). A Circle of Gifts. Retrieved from https://www.countercurrents.org/eisenstein301110.htm
