In Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers? Bauman, a former communist, argues that we would be better off altogether if we could control our need for “stuff”.
The longer book review is of interest. The longer book is not. In other words, Bauman has helped me control my need for "stuff."
Is the goal of an economic system maximizing “stuff” or maximizing utility?
The mavens of Madison Avenue seem to have one perspective.
Here’s another perspective, albeit from someone who was not always sympathetic to capitalism:
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pound six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.† – Charles Dickens
Zing! Good one Tyler.
It is not just about stuff. If you have enough money you can buy time. You can retire early, pay someone to cut your lawn, etc.
Andrew, a family here in the Netherlands, did prety much exactly what you describe. They had a ‘Cycle-store’, a second hand goods store with a philantropic element to it. They built a website where you could post for-sale ads for second hand stuff, and it became the largest shopping site in the country. Eventually it grew above their heads and they sold it to EBay – for 150 million euros or so.
This is a few years ago, and in interviews they still look completely surprised about it.
Would this Bauman guy be pro- or anti- eBay? Doesn’t it faciliate our ability to acquire “stuff”?
we would be better off altogether if we could control our need for “stuff†.
We’d be even better off if those prone to it could control their rage that somebody else has more stuff than them.
Andrew: “So, is “former communist” code for “communist?” I seem to see that phrase a lot.”
Yup. Sort of like saying, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but…”
Imagine waking up one morning and being two inches tall. Only being able to look up and not being able to control anything around you. That is how Bauman felt after making his transition from communist to “former communist”. And what “former” communist bastard could possibly contemplate the supply and demand for “stuff” in a market economy? Not to mention the statement he made:Society promotes the act of shopping as an “appeal to forever-elusive happiness”. Well congrdulations to Bauman he knows the deffinition of marketing. The fact of the matter is that society promoting the act of shopping is what keeps the heart of the American economy pumping.
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