The nature of comfort has been on my mind a lot lately. Sometimes I wonder what it is I really want in life. On one hand, I really enjoy all of my toys...so much so that I'm continually pining after the next best thing. Not the coolest gadget necessarily, but something that really changes the way I look at the world. "I work hard for this," I tell myself..."I need something to reward myself. I like computers, and Hi-Def TV, and my iPhone.
On the other hand, I read articles like this:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125798440&ft=1&f=1001
and I ask myself "What are the costs associated with the way I live my life?" I'm not sure if it's a stretch to connect the dots between the victims of arguably the worst natural disaster in American history and a consumerist lifestyle. I think the dotted line goes something like:
[I work hard to make money and spend it on stuff] -> [I like buying stuff made in China] -> [Manufacturers in China are making a middle class by creating millions of jobs and operating huge companies on razor thin margins] -> [China keeps exports cheap by tightly controlling those companies, their margins, and their currency policy] -> [Undervalued currency helps China buy American treasuries and fund American spending] -> [American deficit spending is accounting for over 700,000 census jobs alone, an odd uptick in jobs created in an awful economic climate] -> [The state of the American economy is contributing to the suffering of a lot of people, mostly those who can't afford to suffer any more] -> [I wonder what percentage of this nation's poor live around New Orleans?]
Okay, it's a bit of a stretch.... But still, how do we really know what the costs are of the things we buy? We know what we pay at the cash register. But what are the indirect costs? How many irresponsible decisions are foreign manufacturing companies making (where, presumably, workers rights are much more easily trodden upon) to save me $100 on my TV? Can one reasonably claim that the ability of foreign manufacturers to attract business by maintaining a cheap labor force takes that job away from an American worker? Would this cause that American worker to have to accept a job that keeps them in poverty? Does my lifestyle in some way indirectly lead to the suffering of others due to the ebb and flow of socio-economic forces?
Back to an earlier point, the price of things seems to drive a lot of my desire to succeed in my career, so that I can earn more money and buy more things. Or things more frequently. Whatever. But is that really what it means to be comfortable? What if I lost my job and could only find work that paid 1/2 of my current salary? What would I give up? Would I still be comfortable? Would I redefine comfort?
So if none of the things I strive for now would make the cut, and the things I strive for may be causing American society to deteriorate*...am I focusing on the wrong things? Would I be happier if I adjusted my priorities now and took control of an apparently insatiable appetite for toys? What would such a fundamental life change look like? I wonder if I'll ever have the guts.....
* - I believe that the concentration of American wealth over the last 25 years into 5% of the American populace is the single biggest contributer to social deterioration and generally bad stuff happening in our cities. Probably more on this another time. Interesting read:
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
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