The Economics of Happiness argues that globalization creates conditions that undermine our personal and social well-being.
Consider the following question: “Are you happy with your life?”
The number of Americans who say, “Yes, I’m very happy with my life” peaks in 1956, and goes slowly but steadily downhill ever since . . . in that same fifty years we have gotten immeasurably richer. We have three times as much stuff. Somehow it hasn’t worked, because that same affluence tends to undermine community."
-Bill McKibben
Happiness is difficult to define and measure. What does happiness mean to you?
Another thing to consider is that as globalization has proceeded inequality has soared, both within and between countries: today, the richest 300 people on earth have the same wealth as the poorest 3 billion. As the wealth gap increases, social cohesion and social health deteriorate, as a result psychological well-being also declines. In sum, globalization is the economics of un-happiness.
Watch this short animated video to learn more about the startling scale of global inequality:
2. Globalization Breeds Insecurity
Corporate PR firms and advertising agencies deliberately manipulate and exploit natural human insecurities, feelings of inferiority, social comparison, greed, fear, envy, and shame. In the name of expanding markets, corporations create new needs, dreams, expectations, and dissatisfactions. They undermine the sense of "enough", and expose people everywhere to romanticized, glamorized images of affluent lifestyles and "perfect" bodies.
Check out this video from Dove's self esteem ad campaign:
Now, just for fun, take a look at this response ad from GreenPeace:
All of this is carefully designed to erode a secure sense of self in order to prepare people for an endless treadmill of consumption. One especially troubling aspect of the consumer culture is the commercialization of childhood.
Reaction Paragraph
“The average television viewer watching television for four-plus hours per day is hit with about twenty-five thousand commercials per year, and by age sixty-five, that number exceeds two million. That would be twenty-five thousand annual repetitions of basically the same message: You will be happier if you buy something.”
-Jerry Mander, The Privatization of Consciousness
In 7-10 sentences, reflect on and discuss how media imagery and messaging affect your own sense of self-worth and self-esteem.
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