I am somewhat disconcerted by the world’s obsession with the need for so called economic stimulus as if it is a panacea for all the unfortunate things happening on this planet. From the US ready to inject one trillion dollars into the economy like Santa Claus handing out gifts to good children, to this country’s little efforts at creating more government spending, it looks as if every country’s worse fear is an economic slowdown leading to recession, even depression, with the government willing to do anything to stimulate some kind of economic activity.
How frightful the sight of people not producing things, not buying things and not consuming things, in other words, just sitting around as factories close down, shops go bankrupt and people have no jobs to go to. So much so that in The States where the pain and the fear is biggest, the government is quite willing to put money in people’s pockets so that they will go out and spend it or bury bottles in the ground so that people would dig them up and get paid for it.
I can understand the anxiety of countries that find themselves left behind in the march towards prosperity when others are thriving and growing, but if the entire world is facing a global economic crisis and in danger of stopping to a halt, then perhaps it is time to actually take note and understand the message behind it.
Time to understand that perhaps this is the break that this planet needs after centuries of constant stimulation. That now is the time to slow down, look around and take stock of what we have done so far and meditate on some of life’s big questions that we failed to ask in our constant search for answers – questions such as what is our real purpose on this planet and are we doing things the right way?
But who says we need to always be stimulated to survive? To always be producing and consuming in order to feel well off? To constantly build and construct things in order to achieve progress? Let’s face it most of the things that we consume on this planet serve no particular purpose other than satisfy our covetousness for material things and the feeling that we are doing something and going somewhere.
What is wrong in just standing still, not doing anything other than watch the grass grow and the sun rise, not producing anything other than the bare essentials, not consuming much other than what is needed for basic survival? So we would have less things in our house, own less objects, but then we would have a lot less mess to clean up, less energy to waste and less clutter to maintain.
Imagine how much less of a headache life is when we have a lot more cupboard space, less bills to pay and more time in our hands. Imagine how much less pollution and waste we would be creating and how much opportunity we would give for trees to grow, for animals to proliferate and for our earth to heal its wounds.
Peace and happiness after all are states of mind, not possessions. Who knows this is the planet’s way of reminding us that wealth lies not in the tallness of our buildings, the dizzying amount of our consumer goods or the growing number of our shopping malls. That intelligence lies not in the sophistication of our technology, the speed of our communication or our ability to multitask.
That true wealth does not lie in the things we do and possess as individuals but in the things that we can all enjoy together, such as the purity of the air we breathe, the abundance of our forests, the wonder of the oceans and the magic of the animal kingdom. While true intelligence lies in the ability to see and appreciate their beauty, the capability to feel respect and be in awe of them and the desire to live in harmony with them.
The danger of equating progress with economic growth and the pursuit of happiness with the pursuit of wealth is that when both growth and wealth are under threat we slip into a fear mode of self-defence and short-term thinking. When we equate slow down with recession, we slide into depression and despair. And then our impulse is to seek a cure in the form of an instant happy pill or a stimulant.
But consuming and producing in the name of economic activity might not be the answer. After all, didn’t we get into this mess, including messing around with our climate precisely because of too much economic activity to begin with?
Now that we are facing a global slowdown, far from giving ourselves more Stimulus, perhaps the whole planet should do the same thing: Slow down and give the earth and ourselves a much needed time to rest and heal. Who knows we might even achieve real growth in the process. (Desi Anwar: First appeared in Tempo English)
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form
