Keeping up with the Joneses - the race to the bottom

We have all hard the saying "everything in moderation". It certainly applies to Greed and Envy, two of the "deadly sins", which, in the right amount can be powerful motivators to improve ones station in life. In the iconic words of Gordon Gecko, "greed is good." A true enough statement, but only up to a point.

In the right amounts greed and envy can be healthy. You see someone else doing well for themselves, you will be motivated to do better yourself. But when greed and envy become the the dominant aspect of ones thinking it becomes an unhealthy spiral to the bottom. Life ceases to be about excelling in life and moving forward as much as it is an unstoppable arms race to the bottom.

Yes, your next door neighbor might have a better car than you. He might have a big tv and be able to take his wife out to expensive dinners on a regular basis etc. He might have an easier time earning steem on this website than you, in spite of all the work that you put in. There is nothing wrong in wanting that. There is something wrong in going down a destructive path for the sake of keeping up appearances for the sake of your ego.

People get into huge amounts of debt so they can pull up to their driveway in a flashy car or afford a bigger house, not because they want or need it, but because they want to keep up in the game. Taking on huge amounts of stress to be able to service debts, then watch it all crumble away when something goes wrong.

This is not just a personal issue, but something that has become systemic in society. Consumerist culture has encouraged this, to sell more trinkets, gimmick gadgets and brand names, and financial institutions have encouraged this behavior to increase their loan generation. Whole neighborhoods are purchasing unnecessary rubbish for no reason other than their mate is buying unnecessary rubbish and they don't want to be left behind.

The result? Since 1990, the ratio of household debt in Australia has risen from ~56% to nearly 180%. Canada and the United States have experienced similar increases in debt levels.

This can only lead to greater dependence on the wider economy, namely the machinations of large financial institutions, Central Banks and government fiscal policy, which all impact the interest rate, and wider economic climate. People buried under such mountains of debt are so sensitive to the movements of their interest rates, that their whole lives hinges on the movements of politicians and bankers, a recipe for disaster if there ever was one. Would so many people have had to default on their home loan or declare bankruptcy in the GFC if the level of private debt was lower?

The saddest part of all this, is that after all the debt, all the stress, people who play this game are doomed to lose regardless, and have nothing of real value to show for their efforts. Its an unhealthy lifestyle to constantly be looking over your neighbors fence, freaking out because the barbecue he just wheeled out onto his patio is better than yours, which apparently makes you less of a man. Its nothing more than a prisoners dilemma, where each person stands to gain more if they both stop playing, but neither will out of fear that the other will out do them.

The reality is, unless your name is Warren Buffett, there is always going to be someone with a nicer car and a bigger bank account, so don't bother playing. Keep things that make you happy. Don't bother looking over your next door neighbors fence, because chances are, he is looking over someone else's anyway.

Other Posts I Have Made:

8 Reasons The Government Sucks
Free Speech in Politically Correct World.
Destroying central planning with a Banana