Western countries should rethink consumerism

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online 

Project Syndicate, an international newspaper syndicate, recently published a commentary titled "Is Capitalism Doomed?" on its website, commenting on the slide of Western capitalist countries into economic, political and social crises.

Many Westerners have attributed the crises to the incompetence of governments. Some people ascribed the global financial crisis to a lack of government supervision. Commentators have said that the London riots were mainly caused by the British government's sharp cuts in public spending, and the Conservative Party was to blame because it made far-reaching decisions "in a relaxed, almost recklessly confident way." 

However, is it all the fault of governments? Are incompetent governments really the root causes of all major issues in the Western world? Japan has changed seven prime ministers in 10 years, and more than 60 governments have risen and fallen in Italy over the past more than 60 years since the end of the Second World War, but that has not stopped economic and social crises from hitting the two countries. 

Western society needs to be aware that the root cause behind the current economic and social issues lies in not only the government but also the Western culture. The major problem in Western culture is hedonism and consumerism. Fordism, represented by the mass production, created a mass consumption society in the early 1920s and mankind underwent a "consumer revolution." 

Except for totally impoverished people, all people began increasing consumption. Meanwhile, the traditional Puritan ethics in Western society before the 20th century that embraced frugality, conservation and self-control and restrained impulse were rapidly ruined. A Western scholar said frankly that hedonism had justified capitalism in terms of culture. 

Few people in Western society today are willing to work overtime during weekends and many cities become empty during the holiday season. Hotels, restaurants and entertainment sites are filled with consumers on the night of payday and many people even mull over on workdays how to consume and enjoy themselves, thus how much economic and social value can they contribute to society? 

If people pursue pleasure by using their own earned incomes, it is acceptable even if they spend all their money. However, excessive consumption and pleasure by relying on installments and credit cards would be very dangerous. The modern credit consumption system represented by installments provides convenience for excessive consumption but also sets traps. 

Personal credit consumption, once out of control, will bring about high debt ratios for individuals and families. The U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis caused by providing credit for people without consumption capacities and the subsequent global financial crisis are the freshest illustrations of such excessive consumption. CNN listed 10 people that should be blamed for the financial crisis, and the ordinary American consumers rank first. "You are not victims of the financial crisis, but the prime culprit." 

Another Western social and cultural problem resulted from hedonism and consumerism is that members of the society are unwilling to bear hardships and avoid taking responsibilities. A typical and highly influential example for such a problem is education. The failure in education has led to the reduction of social productivity and competitiveness in the United States and other Western countries. 

Many Western scholars have seen the far-reaching influence of education problems on Western economies and social problems. Moreover, the key to increasing social employment is improving the capacity of the labor force and stimulating the creativity of members of society. Without enterprising, diligent and hard-working students, however, even an excellent educational system would hardly work. 
The low marriage rate and high divorce rate are the typical indexes reflecting the irresponsibility of members of society. In the United Sates, one-third of children are born to unwed mothers, 45 percent of marriages end in divorce, and 40 percent of children cannot live with their birth parents. 

In Europe, unmarried births account for an even larger percentage. In Sweden, 55 percent of the children were born by unwed mothers in 2008. Marriage is a foundation of civilized society. If a society has a marriage problem, a lot of social problems will appear along with it. Teenagers will have a high crime rate because of the shortage of education, expenditures on social welfare will increase, and more importantly, the marriage problem will severely damage the members of society both mentally and physically. 

Marriage is also a source of happiness for human beings and a stabilizer for society. If a society is based on a foundation with so severe a marriage problem, it will be impossible for the society to have healthy social and economic development. 

Some western scholars, such as Max Weber and Dennis Bell, already clearly realized this in-depth contradiction of Western capitalist societies a long time ago. But in the overall peaceful world with songs and dances after the Second World War, how many people have carefully listened to them? Currently, Western societies have fallen into an unprecedented difficult position, and it is time for them to reflect their culture deeply and profoundly.

(The authour is a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University.)