Deep thoughts about "Deep Economy"

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
by Bill McKibben (2007)

I have been struggling with this book for a couple of weeks, and just finished it this morning (I woke up early to do so, and Tessa is obliging me by sleeping in!).

I recommend it highly. HIGHLY.

The book is about global markets, personal economies, the environment, communities, and happiness. Well, that's my take on it, anyway. The book jacket reads:

In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. For the first time in human history, he observes, "more" is no longer synonymous with "better" - indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites. McKibben puts forward a new way to think abouut the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all.

The animating idea of Deep Economy is that we need to move beyond "growth" as the paramount economic ideal and pursue prosperity in a more local direction....

Every page is filled with data, statistics, and anecdotal information about the world we live in, with suggestions of how to use this data in useful ways to change our lives for the better.

Of course, this is right up my alley. I am convinced that the current way in which we live our lives doesn't make us happy. I want to be happy - I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Pretty much everything I want in the world (peace, compassion, health, love, joy) can be summed up in that word: happiness.

And it's pretty clear that as Americans, as a whole, we are NOT happy. It's also clear that in our desire for more, we are becoming less happy. More and better are not the same thing.

Look at the country of Bhuton, which has replaced GNP with a happiness index. This tiny, poor nation has managed to "increase life expectancy by nineteen years since the mid-1980s, and it spends what money it has on education, health care, and the environment..." (p. 217)

But bringing it back home, the book talks about simple examples. The Scandanavian countries have an incredibly high standard of living (unemployment, health care, literacy, humanitarian work, poverty rates....). But Americans don't "get it." Here's another excerpt from the book:

For Americans caught up in the orthodoxy of getting and spending.... A writer based in Oslo, for instance, recently wrote a piece for the New York Times with the lovely title, "We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story." He pointed out that while Americans had $32,900 per person to devote to "private consumption," the European averages ranged between $13,850 and $23,500. That is inedeed a big difference; the Europeans were definitely "poorer" than we, and the writer delighted in listing the ways. "They hang on to old appliances and furniture that we would throw out," for instance. And this: "One image in particular sticks in my mind. In a Norwegian language class, my teacher illustrated the meaning of the word matpakke - 'packed lunch' - by reaching into her backpack and pulling out a hero sandwich wrapped in wax paper. It was her lunch. She held it up for all to see. Yes, teachers are underpaid everywhere. But in Norway the matpakke is ubiquitous, from classroom to boardroom. In New York, an office worker might pop out at lunchtime to a deli....In Norway she will sit at her desk with a sandwich from home." (pp. 223-224)

But Europeans work, on average, 40 weeks per year, and Americans work 46 weeks per year. (This statistic is quoted somewhere in the book; I've heard it before this, as well. Sorry for being too lazy to look it up to cite here - this isn't an academic article, it's my un-edited blog.)And I would gladly trade in six weeks at the office for a whole year of home made sandwiches.

The metaphor of the sandwich is quite clear to me. I would rather make my own sandwich (out of local, fresh, organic ingredients when possible) than spend an extra six weeks in an office. I would rather play on the beach with my family (we're fortunate in that it's walking distance from home, as long as we have a bit of extra time) and have old furniture than I would spend time in an office preparing to buy new furniture.

Tessa is up and asking for breakfast now, so it's time for me to get on with the day. I hope you do something today to add to your own personal happiness, and that these thoughts encourage you to do something about your own path to happiness.

Love,
Kristina

PS Tessa's favorite breakfast is now "Mama's Oatmeal."
- organic whole grain oats from PCC's bulk bins (Bob's Red Mill, from Milwalkie, OR)
- organic non-fat plain yogurt (from Trader Joe's)
- organic frozen berries (also from Trader Joe's; we'll do fresh when they're in season)
- organic maple syrup (also Trader Joe's)
Cook oatmeal according to directions. About 1-2 minutes before it is finished cooking, when not quite all of the water is absorbed, add the frozen berries and finish cooking until the berries are defrosted and the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, and add yogurt and maple syrup. Serve immediately. (When the berries are fresh, we'll cook the oatmeal, then add the berries with the yogurt and syrup.)
Total cost: less than $1 (pennies worth of oatmeal, perhaps $.25 worth of yogurt, $.40 of berries and $.20 worth of maple syrup)
Preservatives and artificial ingredients: Zero
Nutrition: Oodles! (no, I'm not going to look it up)