Our indulgent society is an unaffordable luxury.
Seven Taboo Political Subjects #5:
The Politics:
“We live in a consumer society. Any attempt to manage demand will damage the economy and America”, or “Yes, our pension and medical systems are expensive and unsustainable, but we don’t want to end up like Europe and give up choice!”
The Reality:
Political and economic stasis was the norm for tens of thousands of years, until the emergence of a merchant class in the 1500’s and the scientific revolution of the 1700’s released a tidal wave of growth. And opportunity.
Productivity gains are the engine powering each generation to a better standard of living and lifespan. Productivity reduces conflict between neighbors and nations over limited resources. It creates options and opportunities beyond the everyday grind of survival.
A country’s aspirations can only be matched by its growth in per-capita productivity. Otherwise, society lacks the freedom to invest or evolve. The past is your future is your present.
A careful accounting of current and likely future expenses (including accruing for infrastructure maintenance, natural disaster mitigation, pensions obligations, R&D intensity, fossil fuel transition, clean water scarcity, …) combined with our low GDP growth, demonstrates, as a nation, we are consuming too much on distractions, and spending too little on those activities which enhance productivity. This growing divergence is masked by the historical one-time gain from plundered natural resources, where societies gorged for centuries on the global trust fund of cheap stored energy and land. A meal which is nearing exhaustion.
A 4% GDP growth is necessary to secure the future, while we idle under 2%. The free-market system is failing our children.
Politicians rarely care about future voters. A hundred million spent subsidizing a casino creates jobs and entertainment today but does little to provide short, or long-term societal value. In contrast, the same $100M invested in building more plebian roads or inventing new farming methods drops the cost of raising and distributing food, allowing everyone to lead a healthier life. But only benefits the politician’s successor.
Nor do politicians want to intrude on private decision making. Two dollars spent by a teenager on bottled, instead of tap water seems innocuous enough (and powers the vaulted consumer economy). But if that $2 were deposited in an IRA it would grow into eight dollars at retirement. Eight additional dollars that didn’t land at the foot of government, or leave that person at risk of future poverty. Plus, by importing “hydration” from across an ocean, bottled water diminishes support for, and amortization of, the public water system.
We want what we want when we want it, and unlike our immigrant forbears, are unwilling to scrimp to offer the next generation a better life. In ancient Greece YOLO meant to live a virtuous life in harmony with objective reality- today it is a call for self-indulgence and worshiping the consumer society.
Politicians (as Jimmy Carter’s sweater knows all too well) are never rewarded for advocating sober behavior. It’s easier to buy votes by approving a new weapon system paid for by snowplowing the cost onto future generations, than to ask people to turn down the thermostat.
The fact is we are a debtor nation to our own future, and the only way to avoid collapse and a long-term decline in fortunes, is to defer gratification, and to consistently invest in long-term productive activities. Yet politicians refuse to do their job and tell the hard truth.
And lead.
Click on any topic to learn more:
