Decision Quality Blog

There is a shadow that hangs over boomerdom . . . more than one I suspect, but the one I have in mind is the shadow of dissatisfaction that hangs over a generation that grew up with more affluence than any other generation in modernity . . . and then took it to new heights. In case you haven’t heard, American’s don’t even crack the top twenty in the industrialized world when it comes to that startling declaration . . .

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. [Emphasis added; from the preamble of the US Declaration of Independence if you don't recall]

Well, maybe not the pursuit. We do that better than anyone. It’s the achieving part where we apparently fall short.

Harvard trained economist Bill McKibben has taken a shot at us uber-consumers in his new book called Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. Here’s a quote (from an article in AARP Magazine . . . [read]

“The idea that more is better, which has been orthodoxy for the past 50 years, no longer matches reality. . . More stuff doesn’t make people happier.” In fact, once our basic needs are met, the very opposite seems to be true.

Hmmmm. I haven’t read the book but this quote from the piece in AARP Magazine feels like a bell-ringer . . . [read]

. . . the Eisenhower-era ideal of bigger cars, faster foods, and automatic everything has been nearly as devastating to our nation’s psyche as rampant consumption has been to the earth. Once measured to have the happiest citizens in the developed world, the United States is now number 23, according to research compiled at the University of Leicester. Alcoholism, suicide, and depression rates have soared, with fewer than one in three Americans claiming to be “very happy.” Even more frightening is the trickle-down effect of this malaise on our kids. Studies suggest that today’s average American child reports suffering higher levels of anxiety than the average child under psychiatric care in the 1950s.

“All that material progress” and all the billions of barrels of oil and millions of acres of trees that it took to create it “seems not to have moved the satisfaction meter an inch,” says McKibben. “It’s as if we’ve done an experiment in whether consumption produces happiness and determined that it doesn’t”

The reasons for this paradox are complex. In part, as with McKibben’s daughter, it’s because we all have more than enough stuffed animals in our lives. But McKibben sees a link between our isolated, overstuffed homes and a breakdown in community, the unseen emotional price of cheap goods and big lives. “Our global economy comes at the cost of local economy and human connection,” he says. The pursuit of mammon “has turned us ever more into individuals and ever less into members of a community, isolating us in a way that runs contrary to our most basic instincts.” We scrimp and save for the bigger house, only to find ourselves more cut off from friends and family.

Suburban sprawl has been an undeniable culprit in our widespread alienation. With population density plummeting, and houses getting bigger, the likelihood of bumping into neighbors drops enormously. “An awful lot of boomers began their adult lives doing extremely idealistic things,” he adds. “Many of these ideals fell away as we became immersed in consuming. Now we need to find our way back.”

Lots of possible personal decisions leading to lots of possible decisions come to mind. I know personally that I find myself periodically looking around and thinking, “where did all this stuff come from?” As a small example, I decided to remove from my book shelves books that I was certain I wouldn’t look at again (don’t ask how I came to make those choices). I wound up taking four very large bags of books to the library the next day . . . and could barely notice given how many books were left over.

Not long ago I went through my closet and took out all the pants, shoes, and shirts I hadn’t worn in a year. That added up to two large hefty bags which I donated to a good cause. I look in the closet and still can’t find anything (suggesting more pruning or hacking is in order).

Two small examples, which I offer for no better reason than to tell stories on myself . . . don’t ask about the “junk” we bought this weekend just because it felt fun at the time. One of the opportunities of becoming “empty nestors” (hate that term) is the chance to do a life edit which almost certainly includes a hard look at how much stuff you want to carry around with you. I know we did this a couple of years ago and I’m thinking it’s time again. How about you?

kah

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