Is it Time to Make Wealth History?

The world is in need of a new definition of wealth, activists proposed today, because neither the world, nor its people, can afford our lifestyle. Buy Nothing Day is this weekend - can we make it a turning point for a runaway consumer culture?

London, UK (PRWEB) November 29, 2008 -- Make Poverty History raised awareness of poverty, but it is affluence that poses the biggest risk to the earth and its people. In response, bloggers Paul and Jeremy Williams suggest that it is in fact time to Make Wealth History.

"This week saw the UK government double the national debt in an attempt to tackle a crisis that began with bad debts" said Jeremy Williams, editor at http://www.makewealthhistory.org [Make Wealth History]. "It reveals a fatal flaw in the whole way we have constructed our economy."

The events of this week have exposed a stark paradox at the heart of our consumer society, say the Williams brothers. Since consumer spending accounts for so much of GDP, only shopping can save the economy - but personal debt is now running at an average of over £30,000 for every adult in the UK . To save the economy, we must keep spending. To keep spending, we must keep borrowing, even though it is borrowing that started the crisis in the first place.

Financial instability is only one part of the problem, with our consumer society turning a blind eye to sweatshop labour and unfair trade, as well as environmental disaster.

"We are overshooting the earth's biocapacity by around 30% every year " says Paul Williams, student of biodiversity and conservation at Canterbury University, and co-founder of Make Wealth History. "We can't go on pretending that consumerism, poverty and climate change are issues that can be addressed separately - unjust and unsustainable practices characterise every aspect of our way of life. It's not a political statement to say that consumerism can't go on. It's a mathematical reality."

Perhaps it would be worth it if it made us happy, but it doesn't even do that. Levels of happiness peaked in 1976 and mental illness are higher in rich countries than in middle income economies .

"The good news is that consumerism doesn't make us happy - it makes us stressed, bored, and insecure - and that makes it easier to let go" says Jeremy Williams. "A simpler, slower life doesn't need to be about sacrifice and deprivation, but about embracing life, enjoying relationships, taking our time. We don't want to make wealth history by idealising poverty, but by re-defining wealth. The pursuit of growth makes sense in poorer countries, but eventually it becomes counter-productive. The need for increased growth is now hurting us, hurting the poor, and hurting the earth. We need to broaden our definition of a successful economy to include equality, welfare, quality of life, and sustainability."

Make Wealth History is a campaigning blog drawing the links between consumerism, poverty, and the environmental crisis. It was founded by Paul and Jeremy Williams in 2007, and is not affiliated to the Make Poverty History campaign in any way.

Paul and Jeremy Williams grew up in Madagascar and attended school in Kenya. Paul is now a student at Canterbury University, studying biodiversity and conservation. Jeremy is a writer and journalist.

Buy Nothing Day is held on November 28th in the US, and the 29th in the UK and internationally. It is an Adbusters initiative, now in its 17th year.

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