| This question <21|17> overall <14|16> Rosie: <424-4|115>. graded A |
| Question 12: Describe a situation in daily life in which this “abstractness” of wealth becomes an issue. |
| [15] Rosie: Abstractness of Wealth The abstractness of wealth created by a disconnection between the individual and his or her wealth described by Marx, has become a crisis of modern life. An entire movement has arisen as people seek to simplify their lives, and escape the clutter of excess that is capitalist consumerism. Even the August cover of Fortune Magazine calls on its readers to Simplify. Abandon the eighty hour work week, the race the clock vacations, and the micro scheduling of every waking moment for a simpler and more satisfying life. |
| How can this be possible? The growth is good mantra of neoclassical economics translates into more is better. We live to have it all, and what we have is never enough. Money and consumption become our definition; the right house, car, clothes, or in my family's case, the newest skis, mountain bikes, and climbing equipment, until you are so overwhelmed with possessions that in their value eventually mean nothing to you as an individual, or in the context of the labor that you perform, and you no longer derive any self-worth from these objects. Joe Dominguez, in his book, Your Money or Your Life, depicts this dilemma graphically as The Fulfillment Curve. Fulfillment appears n the Y-axis, and Money Spent on the horizontal. Point A moves upward from the origin, representing survival, meaning you have enough material wealth to satisfy your basic needs, food, clothing, shelter. This was the point most where American families would have been found around the turn of the century, at the height of the industrial revolution. Then higher, at point B, comforts enter our lives. Amenities such as a car, a washing machine, a TV begin to enter our lives around fifty years ago. At point C we move from comforts to outright luxuries. The curve begins to plateau and then moves downward. These luxuries are providing an ever decreasing amount of fulfillment until they actually become a burden to us. |
| I don't know if a substantial demographic will recognize this crisis and seek to make the necessary changes in their professional and personal lives. The literature on this simplification movement seems to suggest that only those past the peak on The Fulfillment Curve, those who have experienced a life of luxury, and come to understand the meaning of enough, are targeted here. Although a substantial number of the middle class do live this life, by what means are they arriving there, and why is this the American dream? My husband and I felt disgusted and ashamed at the largesse of our existence after an extended European vacation, which in itself seems paradoxical. After a large spring cleaning and massive donations to the DI, real change is much more difficult. We are, after all, creatures of our environment. |
| Hans: This is a good example how the abstractness of wealth, which exists for everyone, rich or poor, has become a matter of personal experience for you. It is still a rather benign example. A more dramatic example would be the person with AIDS who has to die because the medicine is too expensive (even if it is cheap to make for the pharmaceutical firm once it is invented). |
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