15 ms·

Not everything is about the economy.

Jedi72 8y ago
"Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - the GNP counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures then, in short, everything except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America, except whether we are proud to be Americans." - Senator Robert F Kennedy, 1968
- PavlovsCat 8y ago
  > Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption. The measure of social status, of social acceptance, of prestige, is now to be found in our consumptive patterns. The very meaning and significance of our lives today expressed in consumptive terms. The greater the pressures upon the individual to conform to safe and accepted social standards, the more does he tend to express his aspirations and his individuality in terms of what he wears, drives, eats - his home, his car, his pattern of food serving, his hobbies. > These commodities and services must be offered to the consumer with a special urgency. We require not only “forced draft” consumption, but “expensive” consumption as well. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing pace. We need to have people eat, drink, dress, ride, live, with ever more complicated and, therefore, constantly more expensive consumption. -- Victor Lebow, "The Real Meaning of Consumer Demand", Journal of Retailing, 1955
SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
Considering "the economy" determines whether or not we can eat, have somewhere to live, get access to healthcare etc. (rightly or wrongly), I'd say it's pretty central to everything that we do as a species.
- skrebbel 8y ago
  Nobody is starving because of GDPR.
- onion2k 8y ago
  Suggesting that everything people spend money on in the economy is equally important to necessities like food and housing is a gross false equivalence.
- Carpetsmoker 8y ago
  Facebook isn't contributing one iota to any of these things, and neither are most tech/internet companies. Whether or not we can eat is determined by farmers, truck drivers, distribution centre workers, store clerks, etc. Whether or not we have somewhere to live is determined by construction workers, electricians, plumbers, engineers, etc. Access to health care is determined by doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc. All these things existed well before the internet. In other words, we'll be fine. Not all parts of the economy are equal. Losing 25% of farmers or doctors would be catastrophe. Losing 25% of electricians would be a problem. Losing 25% of software developers would be a bit annoying. Losing 25% of marketers would be a reason for a party.
  - Mary-Jane 8y ago
    Is this perspective so pervasive on this forum that no one's going to challenge these incredibly naive statements? The economy is intertwined with virtually all parts dependent on or at least benefiting from the others. Software contributes to increased efficiencies all across the economy; from food production to fuel consumption to medical diagnosis the world would be demonstrably worse of without it (and the people who wrote it).
    - deleted 8y ago

"Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - the GNP counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures then, in short, everything except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America, except whether we are proud to be Americans." - Senator Robert F Kennedy, 1968

PavlovsCat 8y ago
> Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption. The measure of social status, of social acceptance, of prestige, is now to be found in our consumptive patterns. The very meaning and significance of our lives today expressed in consumptive terms. The greater the pressures upon the individual to conform to safe and accepted social standards, the more does he tend to express his aspirations and his individuality in terms of what he wears, drives, eats - his home, his car, his pattern of food serving, his hobbies. > These commodities and services must be offered to the consumer with a special urgency. We require not only “forced draft” consumption, but “expensive” consumption as well. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing pace. We need to have people eat, drink, dress, ride, live, with ever more complicated and, therefore, constantly more expensive consumption. -- Victor Lebow, "The Real Meaning of Consumer Demand", Journal of Retailing, 1955

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago

Considering "the economy" determines whether or not we can eat, have somewhere to live, get access to healthcare etc. (rightly or wrongly), I'd say it's pretty central to everything that we do as a species.

skrebbel 8y ago
Nobody is starving because of GDPR.
onion2k 8y ago
Suggesting that everything people spend money on in the economy is equally important to necessities like food and housing is a gross false equivalence.
Carpetsmoker 8y ago
Facebook isn't contributing one iota to any of these things, and neither are most tech/internet companies. Whether or not we can eat is determined by farmers, truck drivers, distribution centre workers, store clerks, etc. Whether or not we have somewhere to live is determined by construction workers, electricians, plumbers, engineers, etc. Access to health care is determined by doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc. All these things existed well before the internet. In other words, we'll be fine. Not all parts of the economy are equal. Losing 25% of farmers or doctors would be catastrophe. Losing 25% of electricians would be a problem. Losing 25% of software developers would be a bit annoying. Losing 25% of marketers would be a reason for a party.
- Mary-Jane 8y ago
  Is this perspective so pervasive on this forum that no one's going to challenge these incredibly naive statements? The economy is intertwined with virtually all parts dependent on or at least benefiting from the others. Software contributes to increased efficiencies all across the economy; from food production to fuel consumption to medical diagnosis the world would be demonstrably worse of without it (and the people who wrote it).
  - deleted 8y ago