Status and consumerism

There are lots of drivers that determine human behaviour. Once you get past the "biological necessities" of food, shelter and safety there are a number of needs that are somewhere between the biological and the psychological. One of these is the need for status.

Everyone wants status -- status determines how others view us and that impacts everything from friendships to procreation, power, wealth and authority.

Status, class, psychology and consumerism

I have just finished reading the book Stuffocation, which discusses the problem of people having too much stuff in their lives, and says that we are in the midst of a transition from materialism to experiencialism (instead of material objects being valued and conferring status, experiences will). The author thinks that is a good thing because it will lead to less consumerism and be less taxing on the natural world (the reasoning here seems very confused to me, but I'll get to that another time)

This reminds me of another book I read a few years ago, Watching the English, which is an anthropological study of the English. I'm Australian, but think it's fairly applicable throughout the English-speaking world. One of the memorable anecdotes in the book was the way that middle-class English people are extremely sensitive to the status-implications of the things they own. Fish knives were the example, and showed the way that people could be persuaded to buy useless things as an expression of status. It was also interesting that upper-class people were generally highly disdainful of such possessions -- the status of upper-class people is beyond question, so they don't need the sorts of status-symbols that middle-class people need. (this is an important observation)

I think that a lot of stress and worry comes from concerns about status -- however, it is not just direct. A big part of it comes from the financial pressure that people put themselves under when they strive for high-status houses, cars, clothes, hobbies, etc.

The compromises that status demands

Because material status is inherently superficial it encourages unsustainable personal finances, and short-term thinking. Two related thoughts spring to mind here:

1. Most new-built houses are poorly designed and constructed, but look grand. There might be large pillars at the front (they are usually hollow!) or slate-fronting on the house (though it is just a veneer). The houses are poorly made to save money (eg. many lack eves that help keep them cool in summer) and make design choices based-on aesthetics rather than utility (eg. black roofs). This allows the builders to focus on the status perception of the building rather than its longevity, sustainability or utility.
2. Many people spend their money to appear high-status (at least in the short term), and don't put their money into long term returns. I believe that this largely explains why Australians have so much personal debt, despite 10 years of a booming economy. The mining boom is now behind us, and we have nothing to show for it (except more debt).

But status has always been important -- why is this a new problem? As discussed in Stuffocation, the rise of consumerism was managed by the marketers who use the very powerful psychological tools of status-envy and status-anxiety to sell us things. The pathological behaviours that we see in people's short-termism, status-driven building and debt accumulation are (I believe) a direct consequence of the manipulation of status psychology by marketing and advertising departments.

The behaviours that result, I call pathological, because they are detrimental. Clearly, a person who is focused on keeping up with the Joneses will be less focused on their future well-being. Having lower levels of debt is clearly good, as is having more assets. Any money that is spent chasing status-symbols is money that is not spent doing something useful like reducing debt or making investments.

I am not saying that you should accumulate a huge pile of gold and sit on it, just for fun. If you can reduce your debt and become financially secure, it takes pressure off you at work. I know people who are very unhappy in their work but are compelled to stay there because of their debt. They are yoked to their work by their debt -- it is like voluntary serfdom!

Therefore, if you want personal freedom, if you want to be able to say "no" to your boss, if you want to do what you want with your life you need to worry less about status, spend less money, and live a more frugal life.

Does it work?

A personal anecdote: my family and I moved back to Adelaide 3 years ago and bought a house here. We could have bought a much more expensive house than what we did, but we didn't want too large a mortgage.

• Our (single) car is 10 years old (if I was buying a car now, I'd buy one older and cheaper than that), 
• we regularly shop in op shops and collect things from the side of the road. 
• I've bought one mobile phone in all my adult life (the rest were hand-me-downs) and have always found the cheapest plans 
• we cycle lots (on old but good bikes) and use public transport
• unless the situation demands good clothes, I am quite happy to wear old and worn clothes

I am quite proud of our successes in this area (eg. we have found some great stuff on the side of the road), though it is interesting to see the reactions of other people of similar income to us. Generally, people are supportive and appreciate saving money, but I think that many people would feel inhibited from replicating our behaviour.
I've been called "tight" before -- though I don't think that describes it. It would be more accurate to say that I have different spending priorities. (I should say here that, though we are frugal, we are not that frugal. I know people who are much more frugal than we are.)

Our frugality has had marvelous consequences for our personal finances: if my wife and I were both without income for a year, it would not matter. You can benefit in the same way, if you choose.

A Vision

Imagine a 19th-century or early-20th-century member of the landed gentry in the UK countryside. They often wore plain but good quality clothes (such as tweed) and cared little what peasants thought of them. While a lot of those people were scumbags, we can learn something from them: I think that a lack of concern for the opinions that others have for one's status (as did the landed gentry, as to the upper-classes today) and a disdain for conspicuous consumption ("crass", "naff") could provide a path for people to reduce their levels of consumption and increase their personal wealth and security.