...Economic growth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product, will slow down and might even become negative...

More from Affluenza

What if Americans started buying smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, driving them less and keeping them longer? What if we took fewer long distance vacations? What if we simplified our lives, spent less money, bought less stuff, worked less, and enjoyed more leisure time? What if government began to reward thrift and punish waste, legislated shorter working hours, and taxed advertisers? What if we made consumers and corporations pay the real costs of their products? What would happen to our economy? Would it collapse, as some economists suggest?
Truthfully, we just don't know exactly, since no major industrial nation has yet embarked on such a journey. But there's plenty of reason to suspect that the road will be passable, if bumpy, at first, and smoother later. If we continue on the current freeway, however, we'll find out it ends like Oakland's Interstate 880 during the 1989 earthquake--impassible and in ruins.
Sure we cant deny that if every American took up voluntary simplicity tomorrow, massive economic disruption would result. But that won't happen. A shift away from affluenza, if we're lucky enough to witness one, will come gradually, over a generation perhaps. Economic growth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product, will slow down and might even become negative. But as economist Juliet Schor points out, there are many European countries (including Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) whose economies have grown far more slowly than ours, yet whose quality of life--measured by many of the indicators we say we want-- including free time, citizen participation, lower crime, greater job security, income-equality, health, and overall life contentment--is higher than our own. Such economies show no sign of collapse. And their emphasis on balancing growth with sustainability is widely accepted across the political spectrum. As former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, a conservative, put it:

It is true that the Dutch are no aiming to maximize gross national product per capita. Rather, we are seeking to attain a high quality of life, a just, participatory and sustainable society. While the Dutch economy is very efficient per working hour, the number of working hours per citizen are rather limited. We like it that way. Needless to say, there is more room for all those important aspects of our lives that are not part of our jobs, for which we are not paid and for which there is never enough time.

So says Affluenza. Good book and I want to believe this paragraph but I can't. The problem is that not everyone shares the opinions and worldviews of the Dutch. Someone is going to come and clean their clocks on price and profit and then there will be less and less Dutch companies that will be able to compete in a brutal global workplace. That's the problem. Already economists are forcasting long term pain for the EU as its immobile workforce is left behind by companies moving to the Pacific-Rim and other places that have cheaper manufacturing abilities. In a globally connected world, it isn't always up to American's (and Canadians) to decide all of their values anymore. There is a reason why Thomas Friedman says that countries have lost much sovereignty in today's world and our leaders are more like governors who vie to attract investment of multinationals (Team Canada trade missions anyone?) rather than a sovereign head of state (and risk the flight of foreign capital). I am not an anti-globalisation, I am just saying that the rules have changed and I think the authors of Affluenza may have missed some of the changes. As Peter Drucker points out, capitalism is defined by greed and if American companies don't respond, some Canadian or Japanese or Aussie company will and that will result in job losses. It would take for a reorganization of the world economy for this to happen and I can't see it happening soon. That's the tension. Jihad vs. McWorld or as Friedman puts it, the tension between the Lexus and the Olive Tree. As long as there is greed in the world, someone will find a resource to exploit.