The Silver Lining of the Recession

The recession. It seems as if we can't escape the negative news about it. We hear about it on tv, the radio, from our friends, teachers, parents... it all seems pretty depressing. When I was looking at a news website, I found an article titled "A silver lining to the economic crisis?" Interested in hearing some POSITIVE news I continued to read the article. It began with some quotes from the prominent US preacher, Jim Wallis, who believes that the recession will allow us to make  changes in our lives. He says "The important question is: how will the crisis change us?".He believes that we can use the recession  to re-evaluate our consumption habits. Americans have always been huge consumers, we constantly buy new products when we don't really need them or just discard objects instead of getting them fixed. His belief is shared by a group featured in the article called, The Compact. The Compact is a group that tries to avoid consumerism by making changes such as getting books from the library instead of purchasing them or by re-selling old items instead of throwing them out. Martin Raymond, a founder of the company called The Future Laboratory, which does market research to identify future trends says that changes like getting books from the library or re-selling old items are becoming more and more popular. People are seeking out others in an attempt to rely less on consuming. Raymond believes that these changes are creating a heightened sense of community, he says "People are trying to understand that we are all in this together, not just in an idealistic, altruistic way, but in a practical way."

This article called to mind many of the topics we have covered in class.  Such as the "Culture of Affluence" article and its study of affluent communities. The article stated "The rich are the least likely to experience the security of deep social connectedness that is routinely enjoyed by people in communities where mutual dependance is often unavoidable."  As more and more people are losing their jobs, people can no longer hire help, they  become increasingly reliant on help from the community. This fosters the growth of friendship and has been proven to lead to a stronger sense of security. The workplace is also becoming less competitive as people become more concerned with the well being of their co-workers. Like we read in some of the AIG comments, people are cutting back on hours or giving up privileges so that their co-workers do not lose their jobs. As people become less competitive and more sympathetic to those in need, the Cycle of Poverty could become less defined. In class, we talked about how prejuidice or shame often cause people to be trapped in this cycle. As more and more wealthy people are getting laid off, they might be less inclined to judge the unemployed. The recession could alleviate some of the tensions between social classes, because everyone is affected by it. It is too soon to tell if these changes will last, but perhaps they can be a positive legacy of the recession.