This is a topic I have just recently been informed of (shame on me, I know)… I need to further inform myself, but I wanted to write something brief for my own posterity.
During a recent flight from Chicago to NYC, I was reading “Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. In one of the early chapters of the book, the pair shares some details about how consumerism was manufactured by the US government to prevent economic downturns. Apparently, during the industrial era, as humans began to build machines to streamline labor, they sought to reduce the amount of time they allocated to their work (if output was 2x efficient, output remains constant with 1/2 the effort).
However, the government was concerned that this would lead to reduced
spending (and thus a reduced demand for goods), leading to need for a reduced workforce, halting economic growth. Instead of allowing this to take place, consumerism was manufactured, compelling members of the society to purchase products that they don’t need via marketing & advertising.
It’s interesting how effective this strategy has been over the past century… I wonder how life would be in 2026 if we decided to reduce our time allocation to work. Would we be as “productive” as we are today? Would we be more innovative or less?