Selling Out

In addition, despite the fact that unsustainable growth has generated enormous wealth in the United States since World War II, it has not been distributed equally or fairly.  In fact, there is no correlation between growth and quality of life factors such as healthcare, quality education, living wages and a safe environment.  Although the United has the highest GDP in the world, it ranks last among OECD countries in most quality of life categories such as healthcare, infant mortality, child poverty, quality of education and unemployment.  Ongoing increases in growth since World War II have not fulfilled their touted objectives of social and economic progress.

To shift the paradigm from a culture of thrift, frugality and moderation after World War II, business needed a plan to persuade people that shopping was the path to salvation.  Part of the plan for continually expanding consumption was to create an axiom that the economic health of the nation depended directly on economic growth.  It was essential for the creation of new jobs and for raising the standard of living.  It alone could guarantee prosperity for the nation.

Economic theories always requires the assumption that “everything else being equal”.  It is not really a science because the human element is critical to predicting outcomes and human nature can’t be reduced to an equation.   Although in abstract economic terms, growth makes sense since more production will presumably create more job and increase wealth. 

Issues such as the power of the owners of production to thwart efforts of workers to improve their wages, benefits and working conditions and to exploit cheaper labor in developing countries has been absent from social and economic discourse.  So have discussions about the environment and depletion of resources except on very limited terms.  Healthcare and other social programs to assist those experiencing hardship were also absent.  So far, the election of Obama has changed very little.  His healthcare plan is well short of a single-payer system which provides universal, accessible and affordable medical care.