Betsy Taylor is the co-founder of the Center for the New American Dream, president of 1Sky, author of What Kids Really Want that Money Can’t Buy and Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the 21st century. Reading Betsy’s blog was like looking into a mirror. We agree on so many issues of the world we live in today. She talks about how Americans work very long hours with little vacation time and family time. Our economy is structured around buy more! We are very materialistic culture and one of the reasons we work long hours….we want a better car, bigger house, and more money. Until we get used to the norm, we again search for a bigger house, better car and the cycle repeats. She talks about the American dream that with hard work we can lead a good, happy life. Today, that dream has modified a bit because we do work hard to lead a good life but not necessarily a happier one. We are constantly comparing ourselves to one another and will always find fault in ourselves. We are truly never happy. Why can’t we just be content? It’s hard to do this because advertising is all around us, 24/7. You think it doesn't affect but studies show advertising does affect us. To stop the constant social comparisons and just be content with what we have, we must turn off all technological devices and find peace in ourselves. This can be challenging but even meditating for even 10 minutes a day can pay huge dividends. Sometimes we just need to get away from the word.
Betsy brought up a good point that I totally forgot. After 9/11, the first thing President Bush told the American public was to shop in order to keep the wheels of the economy moving. So much to the point people bought things with money they did not have. Thus, the use of credit went berserk. The paradox of the chapter highlights opposing interests in the planet and people. In order to have a fruitful economy, people need to spend and that generates revenue and employment. However, this use and purchase of goods hurts the planet because it leads to pollution, excess waste. So what do we do?
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