Here's another economics book for you... Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben. Now, I haven't actually read the book, but I did read all the reviews on Amazon so I can speak with authority about its contents. :-)
McKibbin argues that as a society, the West is over-consuming resources and endangering the planet as a result. To me this sounds a bit like The Limits To Growth published in the early 1970s by The Club of Rome. It made somewhat similar arguments about the coming demise of the planet due to unbridled growth. Most of those predictions have not come to pass because they did not consider the advance of technology and our increasing ability to produce. McKibbon makes a more subtle argument, but perhaps falls victim to a similar extrapolation error.
The really interesting thing that he seems to be saying is that "more" is no longer making us happy, and that perhaps there's a better way. On his web page, McKibben makes the assertion, "For the first time in human history, 'more' is no longer synonymous with 'better'—indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites."
This then is the riddle. Most of us would agree that the unrestrained pursuit of material riches is not good and will not ultimately make us happy. Yet as a society we seem to be doing it anyway. According to an article in Slate, "the country now possesses some 1.875 billion square feet of personal storage." This has grown by 75% in the last 10 years, and these facilities boast a 90% occupancy rate. On top of this, in the last 20 years the size of the average American home has increased by about 700 sq ft. We have bigger homes and still feel the need to lease additional storage space for our "stuff."
You you see anything wrong with this picture?
And, by the way... do YOU have a storage locker?
5 comments:
That's funny. We've been living in the same house for over 20 years, and I haven't noticed it getting any bigger. In fact, it seems to be getting smaller! Oh, wait, maybe that was your point....
I agree that society is coming to understand that more is not necessarily better. The problem is, most people don't KNOW of a better way. Let's face it: most people in the United States have far more than they need, but what else is there to do but get more of it?
As far as the storage space: I live in a 2300 sq. ft. house with four enormous closets, all of which of are filled to the brim. And while I'm not renting a storage closet, I did have to get my father-in-law to help me stick a play-kitchen into the very inaccessible rafters over my garage. Hmm, maybe it's time for a yard sale...
No...not A storage locker. Two!
JH, it's good to see somebody trying to keep the average up...way to go! Seriously, you probably bust the average the other way because you're way to sensible to get drawn into the feeding frenzy.
CB, you may be right. People probably know deep down that more is not the answer but they get sucked into the flood of advertising and give up thinking about it.
Some call it storage while others call it clutter. I blame my wife for the latter. But then i guess if it wasn't for her I'd still have a mattress on the floor and think cinder blocks with 2X6's make great furniture.
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