ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES

Old and New

About 65 years ago I was riding on a bus in NewYork City, probably 5^th Avenue, more appropriately Madison Avenue. I was reading the signs above the windows on both left and right sides of the bus.  Each one conveyed a message and, either to pass the time, or just out of curiosity, I read each one in detail.  As I got off the bus and began walking, there was something about the signs that bothered me but I could not figure out what it was.  After several days of brooding about the experience, it came to me, whether one night suddenly, or in a moment of more conscious thought and reflection, I cannot remember.

What it was that disturbed my thoughts was that almost all of the signs were in the imperative.  They were telling me what to do, and in some cases, when and how.

Examples:  “Get the best mortgage rate available/”   “Call now to reserve your place at the hotel of your dreams.” “See the new model at your favorite dealer. “   “Stay at New York’s finest….”   “Pay no more than 10% down….”   “Eat at Joe’s Diner”“Win a trip to wherever…”

You can think of examples from ads such as a slogan connected to a sports shoe that said, “Just do it!”  Or the Apple logo “Think Different.”  And from the world of fitness, “Beat the bulge.”  And “Lose the flabby look.”  Here is a current one, “Ask your doctor about ______”. These messages are everywhere and this is not surprising to anyone alert to conspicuous consumption and the world of advertising.

These were among the first sound bytes in my experience because, depending on the length of the ride, there wasn’t much time to get the message across.  They were not infomercials!

I had a revelation that these subtle manipulations of my mind would result in a sequence of five behaviors.  We have all been active participants at some time and at some level in our consumer response, whether buying a car or the latest techno gizmo.  I went to an Apple store in NYC recently to get a new battery for my old Macbook Pro and walked out with a brand new Macbook Air.

The five economic imperatives that came to me are SPEND, BUY, WASTE, WANT, and BORROW.  Spend money, buy what you want and even if you don’t want it.  Buy it anyway for some other purpose such as keeping up with the times or to improve your station in life.  Waste or throw it away or trade it in or upgrade. Want the newer “better” or more expensive model, and if you have to, Borrow, in order to start all over again on the cycle of spend, buy, waste, want and borrow.

Advertising is designed to sell, one way or another, if not directly, then indirectly.  Classic examples are the television ads during super sports events that cost millions of dollars per minute, 7 million dollars for 30 seconds in Super Bowl 2023.  It is because of the great visibility by the consumers. This kind of advertising has created its own entertainment value.  And the companies who pay the millions upon millions believe those expenses are justifiable.

This essay is not so much about advertising as it is about the conflict between the external message and my internal reaction. Although I was able to identify these economic imperatives, it was only later that I could identify the inner conflict. The reason for the turmoil was about the difference between what I learned as a child and what I was now experiencing as an adult.  And it was mostly about values.

What I been taught by my depression era parents was a set of values AND behaviors that were in direct opposition to those of the consumer oriented advertising.  While the

SPEND, BUY, WASTE, WANT, BORROW scenario went to work on my senses, the deeply ingrained values of my parents in direct opposition were SAVE, USE, KEEP, HAVE and GIVE.  And there you have it.  These latter values and practices were resisting the former ones. 

I believe the issue is how we choose to allocate our resources, especially financial ones, and these choices reflect our values, regardless of how much we have available to spend or to save or to give. After we take care of the necessities of housing, clothing, health and transportation, how do we allocate the remainder?  We may have other expenses that we consider necessary that have to do with raising children or helping parents.

So what is the point in all of this?   Perhaps the new imperative can be simply, in the words of Larry Mellon, inspired by Albert Schweitzer, “Help life where you find it.”  Larry and Gwen Mellon opened the hospital in Deschappelles, Haiti, in1956 and it became their life work.  That was their choice and they could have chosen anything and yet they personified the Save, Use, Keep, Have and Give motif, inspiring others along the way to join them in their efforts to bring better health care to the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  One does not have to travel far to find something worthy and deserving of a gift.

The question for us may be this.  What is it that we would like to give to beyond ourselves?   It does not have to be a lot nor does it have to be heroic. Gifts of self and substance are welcome in many quarters and those of us fortunate enough to live in a place of plenty, maybe abundance, can find a way to reach out and let someone else benefit from our generosity, however large or small.  So much to give, so little time.  Places to go, things to do.  People to see, work to be done.  “To whom much is given, much is required.”

Perhaps these words of Aristotle sum it up best:

"To give away money is an easy matter, and in any man's power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man's power-nor an easy matter. Hence it is, that such excellence is rare, praiseworthy and noble.”