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Preeti on the Web |
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Providing Food for Thought |
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Macy’s Is Wrong |
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The values that govern the economic sphere of our society have long been at odds with the moral values that most of us have been taught by our parents and religion. |
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Sorry, but you can’t buy happiness |
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December 6, 2005 |
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To Contact Preeti: preetiontheweb at yahoo dot com |
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Please note that all text on this webpage is copyrighted ©. Please do not quote or paraphrase without using proper citations. |
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During last year’s Christmas season, I came across a department-store shopping bag that was so ironic I had to save it. This Macy’s shopping bag had the phrase “Who says you can’t buy happiness?” printed along its top edge, right underneath the handles. There in the middle of December’s busy Christmas season Macy’s was encouraging consumers to question an idea preached by every major world religion: money doesn’t buy happiness. The Bible, for example, says, “Love of money is the root of all evil.” To make money off Jesus’s birthday, however, Macy’s was going to have to subvert some of the very values this religious leader preached. Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised at Macy’s tactless attempt to challenge old-fashioned moral admonitions against materialism and greed. The values that govern the economic sphere of our society have long been at odds with the moral values that most of us have been taught by our parents and religion. Sharing, patience and thrift may be virtues, for example, but the economy knows that at our basest levels, we don’t want to share, wait or save. Over the past 50 years, the average American home has more than doubled in size, while the average family has only gotten smaller. When I was a child in the early 1980s, it wasn’t at all uncommon for siblings to share bedrooms. Today, with the mushrooming of McMansions, individual bedrooms are the norm. When I was a kid, the idea of permitting children to have televisions in their bedrooms would have been considered crazy. Today, I increasingly see more children not only with their own televisions, but with their own phones and computers. The more that kids have their own stuff, the less family members are burdened with the horrid task of sharing. No more fights over the remote control for the television in the family room. No more little sister pressuring big sister, “Hurry up; get off the line; I need to make a phone call now.” No more, “How much longer are you going to be on-line? I need to check my email.” But also, fewer opportunities to learn the valuable skills of sharing and conflict resolution. Opportunities to learn the virtue of patience have also dwindled as the economy caters to consumer demand for instant gratification. The GEICO car insurance company promises a quote in 15 minutes. Banks offer same-day loan approvals. Internet surfers became too impatient for dial-up, so the economy offered DSL, and then cable Internet, and who knows what next. Tevo relieves people of the need to wait through television commercials. “Convenient” TV dinners that used to take 40 minutes to heat in the oven are now piping hot after five minutes in the microwave. Even the family road trip has become more bearable now that cars can come equipped with DVD players. But, what about the need to learn that sometimes in life, we’ve got to wait? When it comes to thrift, Americans clearly don’t understand the concept of a piggybank. Treasury Department statistics show that the savings rate is currently 0.4 percent of after-tax income—zero for all practical purposes. Consumer debt has skyrocketed since the late 1990s. So has the national debt. Credit card applications flood people’s mailboxes. More people each year are declaring bankruptcy than graduating from college. In a sense, our free-market economy is turning us into a nation of pampered, spoiled brats. We increasing have less experience with sharing, patience and thrift. The economy caters to our every selfish desire. Burger Kings tells us, “Have it your way.” In advertising its dipping sauces, KFC says, “You’re the boss when it comes to sauce.” An ad for the Mercedes E350 says, “More Horses, Bigger Engine, Increased Envy.” Twix candy bar greedily declares, “Two for me; none for you.” Granted, the economy has its merits. We have available to us a broad choice of products that match consumer demand. But, what price do we pay? Children who’ve never shared a bedroom or much else within a household will one day get married and have to. Conservatives preach sexual abstinence, but people are habituated to instant gratification. Social Security is under strain and fewer companies are offering generous pensions, yet Americans aren’t saving for old age. Old-fashioned values still have value. I doubt that today’s 3-person family living in a 4,500-square-foot McMansion is any happier than the 1950’s 5-person family living in the average 953-square-foot Levittown home. Sorry Macy’s, but money can’t buy happiness. |
