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I just read a great article in the new May/June Orion magazine about how consumption (and working hours) was ramped up quite deliberately after the Great Depression.

"The Gospel of Consumption: And the Better Future We Left Behind" by Jeffrey Kaplan. http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/2962

It's better in print as there are some amazing photos, but full text is free online. Kaplan considers at length about the Kellogg cereal company's long-time 6 hour work day (which ended sort of recently). It's a historical argument that shows just how incredible the last 30 years have been in terms of per capita consumption. Perhaps the argument is best summarized with the line: "Citizenship requires a commitment of time and attention, a commitment people cannot make if they are lost to themselves in an ever-accelerating cycle of work and consumption" (47).

Anyway, thought folks here might be interested in the topic! Would love to discuss if you get a chance to read the article.

What a great find, Kinder. :) This is by far the best explanation I have ever read of how we can be so rich in dollars and material trappings but be morally, spiritually, socially and emotionally bankrupt at the same time.

As a counterpoint, here's a great counterpoint from CNN that is similar to how I live.

YAWNs the new YUPPies? (http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/08/young.frugal.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch)

Similar site for older folks.
Downshifting your life (http://www.downshiftme.com/2006/03/are-you-ready-to-downshift.html)

Nice, YAWNs! Hadn't heard that term before. Although "wealthy" doesn't apply to me, by both my own definition and the one in the CNN piece, the other parts of the term do.

To paraphrase Ed Abbey, "Growth for the sake of growth is the ethic of the cancer cell."