How Much Is Enough? Lifestyles, Global Economics and Justice
Pray. Listen to your heart. Listen for God's voice in the longings of your heart.
I wonder what you find there. Consumer society loudly proclaims that, no matter your longing or desire, its fulfillment can be found in a product. Consumer society literally banks on our tendency to continually fill our hands while ignoring the call of our hearts.
"Repeated opinion polls of people's sense of well-being show that no more Americans are satisfied with their lot now than they were in 1957."
However, there is another reality. Christianity proclaims our desires are met through relationships: with God through Jesus Christ and with one another through the Church, the Body of Christ. Christianity proclaims, "Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee" (St. Augustine).
If fulfillment were to be found in a product, Americans would be the most content, fulfilled people on Earth. Yet in spite of our incredible wealth, many of us share a vague sense that we are "off-center."
Despite the phenomenal growth in consumption and economic output since the 1950s, "Repeated opinion polls of people's sense of well-being show that no more Americans are satisfied with their lot now than they were in 1957," according to author Alan Durning in How Much Is Enough?
Maybe we are willing to admit that our affluence does not provide all that it promises. And some of us are beginning to see the connections between that affluence and the overconsumption that goes with it and the degradation of God's Earth and increasing global poverty.
The links between our consumer habits, others' poverty and the degradation of God's creation are simple and direct. The reason they do not necessarily appear so is also simple: Our economic system does not see itself as embedded in the larger world of nature.
We futilely hope that the waste referred to as "externalities" by economists created in economic processes will be assimilated by the Earth. However, we have obviously already exceeded Earth's assimilative capacities. The pollution our consumptive habits create today show up tomorrow as increased cancer rates, birth defects and oil-soaked birds.
As Philip Sherrard said, "We are treating our planet in an inhuman and God-forsaken manner because we see things in an inhuman, God-forsaken way. And we see things in this way because that is basically how we see ourselves."
Christians, however, believe that "the earth is the Lord's (Psalm 24:1) and that to degrade it is wrong. We also believe we are created in God's image and live most fully when we understand ourselves to be part of a community (the Body of Christ), not as individuals-in-a-market. And that perspective, notes theologian John Cobb, is the perspective by which our globalized world is operating.
Consider our food choices as one small example. The average morsel travels 1,200 miles to reach our plates. The agribusiness industry consumes at least nine calories of fossil fuel energy to produce one calorie of food energy.
In light of global economic relationships, many believe Wendell Berry points in the direction we must move. He suggests individuals move from abstract global concerns to concrete local actions to create a more compassionate and just economy.
It is preposterous to think that any of us can do anything to heal the planet, Berry says. Instead, each of us can preserve our "humble households and neighborhoods." Were all such neighborhoods preserved, he says, it is possible that most planetary problems would disappear.
Consider our food choices as one small example. The average morsel travels 1,200 miles to reach our plates. The agribusiness industry consumes at least nine calories of fossil fuel energy to produce one calorie of food energy.
Following Berry's suggestion, we would take care of our neighborhood (local farmers) by buying locally grown produce. We would care for our soil and water by purchasing organics, which are grown without the chemicals that often pollute soil and water.
Notice that, through focusing on local, everyday choices, we also address a significant global concern. In this case, buying locally shortens supply lines, thereby decreasing transportation costs, related carbon dioxide emissions, and a portion of our own contribution to greenhouse gases.
Individual choice, rooted in caring for local people and places, is crucial. But there is more. Individuals must also join together to create political will for societal change.
Increasing economic growth is perhaps our most powerful cultural idol. Idols promise that which they cannot finally deliver.
If growth were the answer to social inequity and degradation of God's Earth, however, the economic gap between rich and poor would not be growing. One-quarter of the world's vertebrate species would not be in danger of extinction and those who so greatly benefit from this growth?
Our hearts would no longer be restless. While many in the world today certainly require more material wealth, others of us need to ask the difficult question: How much is enough?
Michael Schut coordinates Earth Ministry's Simpler Living Project and is editor of the best-selling Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective. Portions of this article are reprinted with permission from the June 2000 issue of The Witness.
2000 Michael Schut. Used by Permission.
