Jan 2006: Our political systems and government seem to have lost sight of any vision for a better society beyond that of entrusting our future to wherever the market economy takes us. The obsession with economic growth is done at the sacrifice of other things that could improve our wellbeing. The values of the market—individualism, selfishness, materialism, competition—are driving out the more desirable values of trust, self-restraint, mutual respect and generosity.

Economic growth is treated as the panacea for our ills. But growth in our Gross National Product (GNP), the benchmark US economists have used for decades to measure the country’s health, has almost no connection with improvements in the national wellbeing. Wars, car accidents and crime waves all increase GNP; but they don’t make us better off. The GNP takes no account of how increases in income are distributed or the damage economic activity can cause the environment. Our government needs to develop an alternate set of benchmarks to monitor our progress. They should report on the quality of work, the state of our communities, crime rates, our health, the strength of our relationships and the state of the environment. Government and elected officials should be judged by how much our wellbeing improves, not by how much the economy expands.

Happiness is not a goal but a consequence of how we live. It comes from being content with what we have. Today, we are sold a different message—that we will be happy only if we have more money and more of the things money buys. Human experience and scientific research don’t support this message. Our wellbeing is shaped by our genes, our upbringing, our personal circumstances and choices, and the social conditions in which we live. Buying a particular brand of shoes cannot give us a happy family and owning a Hummer will not deliver us from boring lives. But, advertisers seek to persuade us otherwise. Advertisers especially prey on children because they lack the ability to distinguish between facts and advertising fiction. We need commercial-free zones in our cities and limits on shopping developments. The government should use tax and retirement policies to help people who want to change to a less materialistic lifestyle.

There are certainly lots of people who feel a desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves and to participate in some way to making a difference for the better on this little planet. But, any meaningful cultural changes will almost surely require changes in how our existing political & commercial institutions operate. These institutions are presently focused on and controlled by money & power. With the depth of control they assert over our culture, most communal opportunities for change never see daylight. The challenge of our age may be to build a new politics that is committed, above all, to developing visions of societal improvement that transcend money and power.