Spend better to improve the quality of the economic recovery

Having seen some political stories recently related to the slow but steady improvement in the economy, I would like to make a pitch for a new economy, one based on a vision of a better future, rather than a stumbling back to a false economy based on blind consumerism.

I like to look at "the big picture."  The bigger the better.  This means considering as many aspects of cause and effect of as many factors and issues as possible, over the longest time frame relevant to humanity.

Statistically, Americans are the greatest consumers in the history.  We, in recent decades, have not used that consumer power for the greater common good, but have used our resources for satisfying our own self serving desires.  Some economists believe that if we all act in a self serving manner, then "the rising tide" of all of that individual self satisfaction "will raise" the "all boats" of the collective economy.  I think Adam Smith called this "the invisible hand"(?)

I believe that as our human population has ballooned to 7 billion, and as technology has changed our economy, and as our world has become more economically connected, that this self serving consumerism does not serve the greater good.  People do not eschew their own self interest for the common good.  Cheap goods are seen as better because we can have more.  More is seen as better.  Greed is good.  Why have a small number of high quality items when one can, for the same money, have a high number of low quality items?  We all seem to want to save money to live better.  But does it really work out that way?  I do not think so.

As our economy recovers, I believe we should all consider the ways we use our individual resources to benefit ourselves AND the greater good.  If we think about the true costs of the goods and services we consume, and weed out the wasteful short term advantages of those things that we have collectively become accustomed to, we have a chance to build a more sustainable positive future for our economy and the planet.

We all consume, but in doing so, I advocate for eliminating wasteful consumption.  In some cases this is not easy.  Planned obsolescence is built into our economy in many ways.  I have heard it described as the fact that we use permanent materials to produce temporary items and temporary materials to produce permanent items.  "Disposable" is seen as a positive attribute of many of our consumer choices.  But if we consciously try to eliminate from our consumption those things that provide short term reward we can make a start to change our economy.  When purchasing something physical, consider the utility of the item as well as how long that utility will last, how long until that item is disposed of, and what the state of it is at disposal.

One of my greatest peeves is that so many items produced today are intended to be disposed of in the same condition that they are in when they are coming off of the production line.  For a simple example let's look at the basic thing that is a plastic fork.  Okay, yes they can break, but the vast majority of plastic forks are throw away (read land filled or incinerated) in exactly the same form as when they are produced, and after having been used for mere minutes. This is not something that serves the greater good.

So, as our economy recovers (I will reserve my many other observations on this topic for later posts) I encourage everyone to think about the goods and services they purchase with consideration to the real benefit they are providing and the real cost, including external costs, that they incur.