#6. Expecting less (developed markets only)

I have a bad feeling about this one. In theory ‘Enoughism’ is in full swing. We have seamlessly shifted from greed to good — from me to we — and we are now at the start of a new era in which social, environmental and ethical considerations are central to any discussion, issue or idea. There are clearly still people that believe in free market dogmas but they are looking increasingly silly. Or perhaps not.

Part of this shift from the primacy of the individual to that of the group means that the needs of others have to be taken into account. Thus, the idea that all of the world’s people should be able to share a slice of the pie. This inevitably means that some people will get more and some will get less than they have been used to. In developed economies this means buying less, consuming less and perhaps fixing or mending things rather than replacing them. It also means doing without certain things.

Books such as Enough by John Naish and How to be Free by Tom Hodgkinson tap into this ethos and there are undoubtedly a large number of people out there for whom ‘less’ is the new aspiration. But will it last? Is greed really dead or is it just resting for a while? Personally, I think it’s largely a fad.  Either it won’t last or it will only affect a small number of people. Moreover, whilst ‘Enoughist’ values become popular in developed nations, such beliefs appear rather ridiculous in other regions. Across much of Africa and Asia people many people barely have enough and in fast growing urban areas such as Dubai, Shanghai or Mumbai people can’t, it seems, get enough. Part of this is clearly a re-balancing of global consumption. But from a values point of view it is almost as though we are witnessing the desire to trade places.

Links with: Environmentalism, resource shortages, rising costs, make do and mend, frugality, no-frills, utility, declining real wages.

Conflicts with: Greed, instant gratification, culture of immediacy, individualism, sense of entitlement.