Can’t Buy Me Love (or a Long Life)
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 01.23.07
TreeHugger was conceived with the intent of showcasing those cool products and services which could help the hesitant move toward a more sustainable lifestyle, without feeling they’d have to revert to hippydom. But from the outset we were very aware that it is simply not possible to buy a greener life. Money can open up choices, but it cannot be traded for core values or attitudes. And this is one of the determining factors for the dilemma we find ourselves in. We are conditioned by advertising, TV, cinema, and so on, to believe that more stuff will make us blissful. If the glow of owning a new plasma TV wears off, we jet away to the Bahamas, or buy another pair of shoes to fill that gnawing happiness void. (It is the materials extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use and subsequent disposal of all this desired ‘stuff’ that is at the root of our environment (and social) woes. Yet, while it has been long studied and reported that there is no link between wealth and happiness, we still pursue them. Recent related research now suggests that wealth and longevity are not good travelling buddies either. The US is up the top of list when it comes to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the measure of a country’s ability to spend money. But it ranks way down in 30th spot for life expectancy.
“On average, Chileans can expect to live longer than the average American, even though GDP per person is about a quarter of America's. A Cuban male has a better chance of surviving until 65 than an American male, even though GDP per capita in the US is about eight times Cuba's.” And this is also despite the US spending 15% of its GDP on health. Cuba, for, example averages around $623 USD, per person a year, while the US manages $5,711, even though Cuba has the world's highest proportion of doctors, per capita. So ain't it odd that we're raping forests, digging vast holes in the ground, polluting our air and water, etc, so we can chase more 'stuff' that will neither make our lives happier nor longer? Maybe, just maybe, this is a merry-go-round ride from which we need to dismount. ::UN Human Development Report 2006, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Thank you for an interesting piece.
The financial economist in me is troubled by the reliance on all of the "average" and "per capita" values. I suspect that this argument would be much stronger if one could use median, quartile or decile values for the key numeric data (GDP, life expectancy, etc.).
Has anyone done this type of analysis?
I know that classic macroeconomics intentionally ignores distribution of income. That represents a critical analytical gap that this kind of work could fill.
In my opinion, this is what it's all about. Good on ya Warren. The struggle to keep up our big house, green lawn, hot wardrobe, and new car plays a huge role in environmental and social degradation. The obvious question is, then, how do we effectively convince people that there is another (and in our opinion better) way of life? I wish I knew the answer.
For the vast majority of Westerners, there are two basic choices. One is to work long and hard so that one can have the money to buy a lot of toys one does not need and does not have time to enjoy and get all stressed. Or one can work less hours in a less demanding job that doesn't pay nearly as well but that enables one to have the time to actually enjoy the few toys one has without getting stressed about life. (Of course, these are generic poles on a spectrum. Most of us fall somewhere on it.) I personally don't need a bunch of toys to live life. And I am pretty sure that most of those others who think they do only think that way because of societal pressures to 'succeed'. He who dies with the most toys wins; what illogical crap!
Love that this is getting attention here.
Please keep these types of posts frequent. Maybe at LEAST once a month.
Love it.
I David, good suggestions. But, um I don't understand what your talking about.
Something not gone over is about the people who have been indoctrinated to work hard as hell. They get very little from life from it, and suffer a lot of turmoil. What paradise do we get?
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