In my previous post, I brought up the sustainability prism and the link between personal happiness or peace and the other three, traditional components of sustainability theory — economy, equity, and ecology.
In this article, I explore the link between personal happiness and the economy in greater depth. Of course, this is just a taste of the full connection between the two since there are enough layers here to write a book on it all, but here is a start and there is plenty of comment space below!
Economy is at the forefront of society’s consciousness these days. It is always a, if notthe, major societal issue for most people. With the current economic crisis, it has stepped up even another level of importance. We all have to wonder, these days, if we will be able to return to the affluence of just one or two decades ago, or, if, on the other hand, the whole economic system of America, and the world that depends on it, will collapse as a house of sand built on a thin board of wood on the ocean’s waves.
We can look to the specific failures of banks and immoral business practices to explain all of this. But these failures, and much more, were built on much more widespread and much less questioned norms than these.
Who were these banks catering to, and who are they continuing to cater to?
它是个人对自己宽敞的房子、自己的汽车和富裕的生活方式的渴望。就在我写这篇文章的时候,我能听到进步的、开明的、善良的人们正义的呼喊:“嘿,这些都是基本商品,是正常生活的基本组成部分,每个人都应该有权利拥有这些!”But if you step outside of this society just to a place in the world where the average human being lives, or a couple of centuries back, you will see the grand difference between this “normal” life and othermore“normal” lives.
Maybe we earned this life, but if we earned it, we would not be on the near brink of ecological collapse and economic collapse that we are on today. Rather than earning it, we bought this life on credit, and have yet to truly earn it. We have yet to earn this life in a sustainable way,but, we are unhappy that the debt has gotten so extremely high and the debt collector is on his way.
Related Post:How to Pay Off Debt by Thinking Like a Homesteader: 20 Practical Ideas to Try
So, this unsustainable idea of a normal life built up our debt, as we acquired more and more of what we could not afford, but what built up this idea? Stepping out from the inside first, here are a few major factors:
1) Contentment (or, the lack thereof)
只有当我们对自己的内在生活感到满意时,我们才能对外在生活感到满意。然而,100次中有99次,我们会向外部寻求解决我们内心的问题,我们内心的不满。正如心理学家(“人类推理和思考的专家”)所确定的那样,那些最不安全、最不确定、最不自信的人,是那些觉得最需要丰富的、获得尊重的外表的人。自古以来,人类一直用外在的东西来掩盖自己被遗忘的自信和价值感——无论是鸟的羽毛和油漆,鞋子和衣服,还是一辆奔驰车和一条金项链。这是一个古老的问题或“现象”,不能指望它会改变,但它却是当今经济问题的最大根源。
The problem cannot be changed on a macro-level, perhaps, but on a personal level, everything is possible. If you want to do your part, lose your own need for outer surroundings and things, and find your own deeper confidence and contentment. (This is a statement not so easy to do as to write, but is a great human possibility as well.)
2) Hollywood
Whether your view on Hollywood and films is positive or not (and I have to say mine is positive), the effect they have had on the goals of the world are nearly incomparable. If you go to India, every adolescent boy seems to ask you the same two or three questions: “Where are you from?… Oh, America! From California?..(Yes/No).. Who is your favorite actor?” before confessing to you without hardly asking that his favorite is Arnold Schwartzeneger. It may seem like a harmless, entertainment issue, but go nearly anywhere in the world and you will find in the dreams and minds of people: owning their own big home, big car, and American things (as seen on so many American films and tv shows).
Of course, where is this dream more real, bigger, more attainable than in the land of dreams, America, itself? Who should have the right to these things, and realizing these dreams, more than the approximately 300 million people of the United States? Thus, the initial “basic” needs of shelter, good clothes, and food grow into a Hollywood or tv dream.
3) Financing the dream
So, approximately 300 million people want to live this normal life. Or, even, much of the population of the world. Any simple economist can tell you right now, “If there is demand, a clever business person can find a way to meet the demand.” So, credit card companies and banks and realtors found a way to supply people with what they wanted but could not afford while still making a profit on it.
用别人没有钱的钱来赚钱,用他们没有的钱来买好莱坞或电视的梦想,这是没有多少可持续的意义的。这就像在海洋表面的木板2022世界杯四强亚盘赔率上用沙子盖房子——第一个大浪或大风来了就会把它全推倒。因此,我们今天所处的情况,如果从这个角度来看,明天可能会被吞没得更多,因为当前的经济世界和当前这一代人的许多梦想仍然建立在我们今天称之为金钱的空气和水上。
Thus, the complicated and intricate (yet truly simple) link between personal happiness/contentment/ peace and the economy is made, and the importance of this factor to a sustainable economy is clear.
The important link is that as long as we are discontent inside, we will look outside to sooth our discontentment, and as long as we are looking outside in discontentment, we will always find and produce more discontentment.
Therefore, if we are naturally discontent, as human beings, and no matter what external coverings we put on to cover our internal calling, we cannot find that peace we are missing, then there is another purpose/reason to this life. Search for that peace where that calling is coming from. Perhaps it is saying, “Look at me, look in the right direction.”
Kylesays
That contentment is all the more difficult to find in a sea of misdirection. There are so many common misconceptions surrounding sustainability. Check out our myth-busting video “What’s Your Big Green Lie?!” which gives a taste of the widespread ignorance of green issues athttp://www.biggreenlies.com.
Martinasays
We’re looking forward to following on some of the resources you’ve shared here. What a valuable resource for the ESG community.