It’s a truth that has stood the test of time: our lives are structured by a bunch of people who love to jerk themselves off with the invisible hand. Hence the appropriateness of the phrase ‘trickle down.’ We now know that trickle down is myth, as is trickle sideways.
Those with capital like to throw trickle parties sometimes, but what’s the point of a fridge full of Moët if the bastard nanny state won’t let you drive home after a few glasses?
These wankers (probably nice people, just staying true to the metaphor) have their eyes trained on the consumer whore. Nothing pleases them more than when she puts out. Now whoever/whatever you want to do is fine with me. What’s not fine is when economic horndogs get drunk on beautiful mathematic formulas and we all have to wear the same beer goggles.
Nation states are fixated on measuring Gross Domestic Product as if it were the primary indicator of a country’s health. Focusing on GDP encourages us to pay attention to spending. And some transactions are great: $50 spent at ReFuel can be a beautiful thing. But replacing that $50 side-mirror you broke on the way home is not so hot.
If you burn down a school, causing a flurry of economic activity on goods and services, it’s good for GDP so long as the balance is greater than the usual cost of running the school. Burn down the same school while kids are in it: also good for GDP. GDP doesn’t measure human cost. Burn down a forest: not measured. GDP doesn’t measure environmental cost. If you build an electrified fence around your house and pay for armed security guards because you’re on top of an economic pyramid in which everyone else is dirt-poor and desperate … figure it out.
Some countries distinguish GDP from what the average person actually cares about. Bhutan measures Gross National Happiness. European Quality of Life studies measure life satisfaction. Check out “Genuine Progress Indicator” on Wikipedia for some guilt-free procrastination. In contrast, our media’s head is up the arse of any politician who increases ‘growth’. As the Guardian’s George Monbiot put it: “governments are deemed to succeed or fail by how well they make money go round, regardless of whether it serves any useful purpose ... the madder the orgy, the greater the triumph of economic management.”
The Green Finger
