Ian Boyne, Contributor
"A man's life does not consist of the abundance of things which he possesses"
- Jesus Christ
THERE IS no statement of Jesus which more radically flies in the face of capitalist society than this one.
So embedded in capitalist society is the view that a successful, fulfilling life is one of material abundance that, even with the celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas (an historically dubious proposition), there is a preponderance of commercialism and greed, leading many sincere people to plead every year for people to "put back Christ into Christmas".
But while many people deplore, and some even loathe, commercialisation and secularisation of Christmas, the fact is that if the capitalists had not spent so much time hyping Christmas and making loads of money out of it, the birth of Jesus would not get as much attention.
Just think. All Christians agree that Easter is the more significant festival and that the reason for Jesus' birth is to die, yet Easter does not have the greater popular appeal because it does not have the comercialisation and marketing associated with it.
So the Christians should not be ungrateful to the capitalists for they have made Christmas into a very widely observed "Christian holiday".
CONSUMERISM
At a time when people are giving even rudimentary acknowledgment to the meaning of the life of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, it is an appropriate time to look at some of His cardinal teachings and to assess how relevant they are to 21st century society.
Jesus, like other founders of world religions before and after Him, spoke out against materialism and the pursuit of hedonistic values. Jesus taught vigorously against the notion that the good life consisted of the acquisition of things, and that happiness could be gained through striving after material possessions.
One of the greatest problems facing Jamaica today is the dominance of materialistic, consumerist values. It is all the more troubling in a society like Jamaica where our productive profile is way below our material aspirations.
It is well that we look at some empirical work which has been done in the industrialised countries which are at a higher level of productive capacity and Gross National Product (GNP) to see whether the fruits of the vaunted economic growth are really satisfying.
Some interesting social scientific studies have been done over the last few decades investigating the link between economic growth, the rise in material possessions and happiness.
In a special report in the October 4 issue of Britain's New Scientist magazine, titled The Science of Happiness, it is noted that "One of the most significant observations is that in industrialised nations average happiness has remained virtually static since the Second World War despite a considerable rise in average income."
In other words, people's incomes have risen dramatically and their reported levels of happiness have not risen commensurately.
The abundant research has confirmed that above a certain level, money does not add to happiness. In other words, Jesus' words quoted at the beginning of this article are true, after all.
And the Jewish Old Testament writer of the book of Ecclesiastes traditionally seen as Solomon, the reputedly wisest man is right that, "all is vanity" and that "the eye is never satisfied with seeing".
In the book of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher talks of his acquisitions of possessions and indulgence in sensual pleasures, yet he concluded they did not bring him happiness or ultimate fulfilment.
In fact, the New Scientist article goes as far as to say that "survey after survey has shown that the desire for material goods, which has increased hand in hand with average income, is a 'happiness suppressant.'"
One of the most quoted researchers these days on the link between materialism and the lack of satisfaction and happiness in life is psychologist Tim Kasser from Knox College.
In a book published last year titled The High Price of Materialism, Kasser brings together many studies, including his own, which demonstrate scientifically that people who are obsessed with materialism tend to be unhappier and less satisfied with their lves than people who have a non-materialistic philosophy.
"We may want a raise, a new car or greater status. We may even succeed in reaching those goals. Yet evidence suggests that beyond having enough money to meet our basic needs for food, shelter and the like, attaining wealth possessions and status does not yield long-term increases in our happiness or well-being. Even the successful pursuit of materialistic goals typically turns out to be empty and unsatisfying."
Kasser is not just relying on anecdotal evidence or conjecture. He has hard, scientific data.
He quotes the research of Edward Diener who followed the happiness and life satisfaction of almost 5,000 adults in the United States more than nine years. Some experienced large increases in income, some moderate increases and others barely kept up with cost of living increases.
Yet no evidence was found that those with larger incomes were happier. The book is filled with the report of scientific study after scientific study showing that Jesus was indeed right: "A man's life does not consist of the abundance of things which he possesses".
He draws upon studies not only in the U.S. but all over the world.
"Thus far studies with British, Danish, German, Indian, Romanian, Russian and South Korean college students have confirmed the negative associations between materialistic values and well-being," says Kasser, associate professor of psychology at Knox College.Kasser draws on studies of Australians which showed increasing feelings of anxiety, depression and anger and decreased life satisfaction associated with a materialistic orientation.
"Another study headed by Joe Sirgy showed that life satisfaction was diminished when adults in China, Turkey, Australia Canada and the United States scored as highly materialistic on either the Belk or Richins and Dawson's scales. Similar results have been reported in samples of adults in Singapore.
Finally, Edward Diner and Shige Oishi collected value and life satisfaction measures from over 7,000 college students in 41 different nations. Again, a strong value on making money was associated with diminishing life satisfaction."
MATERIALISM
DRIVES CORRUPTION
Twenty-five hundred years ago, the religious thinker Confucius before Jesus said "Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench."
The Buddha had said before Jesus, too, that the source of all suffering in human life was desire and that its suppression was the key to contentment and life satisfaction. Jesus said, "Take no anxious thought for tomorrow."
Jesus was nothing if not a fierce, uncompromising crusader against materialistic, consumerist values. This is not to say he condemned wealth or wealth-creation. Rejecting a materialistic orientation and obsession is not the same as rejecting the need for wealth creation or for a market economy.
The drive to acquire more and more is at the source of the corruption, the drug trade (which fuels terrorism), the dishonest business practices and the exploitation of human beings in the world today. People not only want to have things, but they want to have more things than others around them and they measure their success in terms of how much more than others they have.
They are trapped in a slavery and of the worst kind and they revel in it, calling it freedom.
In a chapter on 'Fragile Self-Worth' in The High Price of Materialism, Kasser gives the rather eye-opening admission from Netscape Founder Jim Clark which illustrates the Sissyphusian futility involved in the materialistic rat race (tell that to our mimic men deejays and hip-hop artistes): "Before Silicon Graphics, Clark said a fortune of $10 million would make him happy. Before Netscape, $100 million; before Healtheon a billion; now he told Lewis 'once I have more money than Larry Ellison, I'll be satisfied'."
Ellison, the founder of the software company Oracle, is worth $13 billion. So there is no final goal to reach in the materialistic race as long as there is someone ahead of you.A veteran researcher on these issues, Professor Richard Ryan from the University of Rochester, in the foreword to Kasser's book says, "Perhaps the most insidious aspect of this modern measure of worth is that it is not simply about having enough; it is having more than others do. That is, feelings of personal worth are based on how one's pile of money and possessions compare with that of others. In this context no one ever has enough because, aside from Bill Gates, there are always others who have more."
Ryan continues, "At all levels of wealth one can find individuals with more expensive toys, status symbols and image builders."Watch VH1, E! Television, A & E and the other cable stations which show how the celebrities live and what they possess: It's a fabulous and futile game. And the people in the Jamaican inner cities lust after that lifestyle and will crucify any politician who can't deliver them their American Dream.
It is no wonder that in the decade 1992-2002 imported consumer goods into Jamaica skyrocketed 300 per cent from US$290 million to nearly US$1 billion, while export earnings grew by only 70 per cent. Our political, social and economic problems are tied up with our excessive individualism, consumerism and materialism, but many of us in the intelligentsia don't have the intellectual breadth to see the links.
THE SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS
Says the October 4 issue of the New Scientist dealing with the science of happiness: "Governments would do well to worry about the happiness of their electorate. Political
instability appears to go hand in hand with low life satisfaction."
The magazine cites a study by Carol Graham of the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, which says countries trying to deepen democratic reforms need to concentrate on middle earners. A study in Peru showed that this group "whose support no Government in a developing country can do without are far less satisfied than the poor, for they take their reference point the very wealthy whose income and status they would be hard-pushed to match. The poor take as their reference point the middle earners who are more within their reach. Once again, what counts is not what you have so much as what others have."
That is why inequality, and not poverty per se, is the major cause of instability in a society.
There are scholars now who are saying politicians must take an interest in happiness and life satisfaction studies, and must actively campaign against a materialistic orientation for that is a major threat to democracy in a developing country. At a time when many are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ it would behoove them to consider some of these things amidst the revelry, merry-making and overspending.
Says Kasser in his book: "When people follow materialistic values and organise their lives around attaining wealth and possessions, they are essentially wasting their time as far as well-being is concerned. By concentrating on such a pointless style of life, they leave little opportunity to pursue goals that could fulfil their needs and improve the quality of their lives."
But tell that to the many thousands of Jamaicans who are in a mad rush to make it big and to "bling" on their friends. Uptown and Downtown are engaged in the same futile game. If people could only sober up. But then perhaps Christmas is not really the best time to carry this message of Jesus.
Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist. You can send comments to ianboyne1@yahoo.com
