Gittins - Gittinomics

Theres a last question to cover before I offer my take-home message: are we perpetrators or victims? Are we working so hard because were mad materialists or because our occupations or our bosses leave us little choice? Are we volunteers or conscripts in the rat race? As cogs in the capitalist machine, how much choice do we get in the lives we lead? Let me tell you a story.

On a bushwalk with a neurologist mate the other day he mentioned that hed just been to a good lecture on nature-versus-nurture. Oh great, I said, so whats the latestwhich side did they come down on? The usual, he replied, 50/50. Its always 50/50. (And, indeed, thats the answer most psychologists give when asked if our happiness level is determined by our genes or our circumstances.)

So thats my answer to whether were perpetrators or victims: a fair bit of both. The capitalist system is a system and it does promote and reward conformity. We are cogs in the machine and this does constrain our freedom of action. What the capitalists require of us is simple: produce, consume, die. While the economists ideology proclaims consumer sovereigntythe producers are there merely to wait upon the consumers every wishthe producers maintain a barrage of advertising and other marketing to keep us spending. None of us is impervious to the blandishments of advertising, though some are more affected than others.

But Im the son of a preacher and if you think Im going to absolve you from personal responsibility youre much mistaken. Whatever the constraints, we must be masters of our own destiny. Its when all the individuals surrender their autonomy that the system really does take over. And its when enough individuals resist that systems must accommodate them or face revolt.

I know enough psychology to understand that were social animals. We care deeply what other people think of us, we like to fit in, hate being left behind and are comfortable when were doing what everyone else is doing. We are also, however, thinking animals. Were not slaves and we can stand out from the crowd if weve got a good enough reason to. If youre conforming more but enjoying it less, consider stopping.

One thing economics has taught me is to avoid all-or-nothing thinking. Life is about trade-offs and the winners are people whove found the trade-off that most suits them. The choice we face is not between being a mindless company man and a hippy dropout in Nimbin. There are plenty of intermediate stops.

I suspect theres a lot of self-deception among those who assure us theyd like to spend more time with the kids but their financial pressures or the particular business theyre in just wont permit it. Too often, all theyre saying is they wish they could have their cake and eat it. Or theyre making excuses to cover up the priorities theyve picked. Life is about opportunity cost. We cant have it all; we do have to choose. And often the choices we make reveal our true preferences. We would like to spend more time with the kids, but we dont want it so badly that well settle for a slightly less comfortable lifestyle or risk losing our next promotion. Wed love to have more leisure time, but not so badly that were prepared to curb our workaholism. There is a price to be paid for shifting to a more fulfilling, satisfying life. Dont let anyone convince you otherwise. But if you decide that price is too high, dont solicit sympathy over what youre missing.

OK, let me try to summarise this books message. Theres more to life than work and consumption. All of us know people are more important than things; our relationships are worth more to us than our possessions. But we live in an era where the material is crowding out the human. Its happening all around usand its easy to go along with the trend and hard to resist it.

But if we care about it enough there is much we can do, short of dropping out, to get a better balance into our lives. Consciously give your partner and children a higher priority. Dont be in such a tearing hurry. Opt for the simple pleasures. Control the television in your life. Take all your holidays and spend them with your kids. Stop trying so hard to display your status to the world. Be a little less concerned about keeping up with the neighbours. Let em think theyre beating you. The reward is less worry about money. Try to get into a job you can enjoy for its own sake. And heres the big one: experience the remarkable liberation of ceasing to care about your next promotion.

But above all, dont let people preach at you.

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