It's Not About Consumption

The American Interest: Beyond Blue 6: The Great Divorce  Walter Russell Mead

(Note: For an explanation of the "Blue Social Model" click here.)

The decline of the blue social model is a subject I’ve been thinking about for the last thirty years. ...

... One of the realizations that helped me accept the need to move on was the corrosive effect of one of blue model America’s most unattractive features: the emphasis on consumption rather than production as the defining characteristic of the good life. As I reflected on the corrosive consequences of this shift, and also began to see that a post-blue society might reverse this priority, I began to think more positively about what could come next. Frank Fukuyama wrote about the appearance of Nietzsche’s Last Man at the end of history; that Last Man is more or less Homer Simpson come to life, a mostly passive, consumption-focused individual whose life is all episode with no plot. But if the blue model isn’t the end of history, and if we are moving to something new — there is hope. Bart and Lisa just might grow up into a bigger world that would stretch their capacities and make them something more than Homer and Marge.

Under the blue model, Americans increasingly defined themselves by what they bought rather than what they did, and this shift of emphasis proved deeply damaging over time. The transformation to a new and higher kind of political economy will require us to put production and accomplishment back at the center of our value system. Both on the left and on the right this is something that should be welcome to a lot of thoughtful people. ...

... We are seeing those changes now. Competition from low wage labor overseas and automation at home is forcing millions of people to face life on new terms. The low rent cocoons of the welfare state — warehousing “surplus” people for generations at a time — are becoming unaffordable. We are being called — driven — to a new kind of life and a new social model that gives us another chance to get the balance between consumption and production right.

It took me a while to see it, but since the 1980s I’ve come to understand that the shift away from blue is not all loss. The blue model was a very comfy couch, but there is much more to do in this world than watch Simpsons reruns while eating chips. ...

Comments

[John]

On the contrary it is all about consumption, or consumerism, including "religious" (whats-in-it-for-me) consumerism and nothing else. One of the root meanings of consume is to destroy!

http:www.coteda.com/fundamentals/index.html

http://www.beezone.com/up/criticismcuresheart.html

[Michael W. Kruse]

John if you'll read the post, Mead is making your point. "We are being called — driven — to a new kind of life and a new social model that gives us another chance to get the balance between consumption and production right."

The "IT" in my title is "the meaning of our existence." The title is "It (i.e. the meaning of our existence) is not about consumption." What is your complaint? You need to read more closely.