Ian Boyne
IT MUST have been highly disconcerting for Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to have read the Don Anderson poll in last week's Sunday Gleaner that an astounding 91 per cent of Jamaicans believe that
corruption has increased,
primarily in the public sector, over the last five years.
And that was the same day when a new scandal, this time at the National Solid Waste Management Authority, grabbed the newspaper headlines. An amazing 70 per cent of Jamaicans believe that most of this corruption resides in public sector agencies, while only 25.7 per cent believe that the private sector accounts for a greater degree of corruption. It seems that Jamaicans underestimate the level of corruption which takes place in the private sector. Many, on the other hand, realise that the public sector is often more loose in its procedures and systems of accountability, and that the
political class has traditionally been associated with dispensing spoils and scarce benefits.
The public must insist and demand that proper systems of accountability be enforced in the public sector, and this column joins all well-thinking Jamaicans in making that call. However, there is a deeper issue, and that is the obsession with money and the elevation of materialistic interests as the primary goal of human life.
Unless we deal with that root problem money-lust and the
philosophy that life is about
acquisitiveness we can never deal with the problem of corruption. Jamaica is increasingly being sucked into the materialistic and consumerist web, as we become drunk with American values, more
particularly, its decadent values (As opposed to those truly
positive American characteristics).
MONEY IS KING
The late Professor Carl Stone, one of the most brilliant social scientists this region has ever produced, wrote in his seminal paper on values (Values, Norms and Personality Development in Jamaica): "The dominance
of money as the single most important currency of influence, power and status, and the decline of respectability as a status-
defining factor, have promoted increased and rampant corruption both in Government and in the private sector corporate world."
Let me forestall some
criticisms: I acknowledge that poor societies engender
corruption, and that wealth
creation provides a positive foundation for tackling
corruption. The empirical studies show that growth is a good
antidote to corruption, though
it is no guarantee against
corruption. The two most corrupt countries in the world are two of the poorest Haiti and Bangladesh. But, do not make the unsubstantiated assumption that the richest country in the world is the least corrupt, for it is Finland, not the United States or the wealthiest states which are in the number one position. While some degree of growth and wealth are important in
combating corruption, it is not sufficient.
The challenge to society is how to promote wealth-creation, respect for a market economy and private enterprise which are critically important without fostering money-lust and an obsession with nihilistic
consumerism. In fact, the best studies are now showing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is no direct correlation between economic growth and human well-being. Many have
uncritically accepted the Western bourgeois notion that increasing abundance and material
prosperity promote well-being.
THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS
In the book chosen by Choice Magazine as the 'Outstanding Academic Book' for 2002 The High Price of Materialism Professor Tim Kasser cites a range of studies to prove that materialism does not promote welfare.
He sums up his thesis: "Each of these studies reveals that beyond the point of providing for food, shelter and safety,
increases in wealth do little to improve people's well-being and happiness. The implications of this for a materialistic orientation are deep. First, 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." Pretty strong
statements coming from a
recognised social scientist.
And Gregg Easterbrook, the author of the book The Progress Paradox, in an article in Time magazine's special issue on
happiness (January 17) titled 'The Real Truth About Money' says, "Millions of us spend time and energy pursuing the things money can buy than engaging in activities that create real
fulfilment in life like
cultivating friendships, helping others and developing a spiritual sense."
Just take the United States, paradise for many Jamaicans and the world's model of a wealthy and prosperous society the 'city on a hill', the most prized place for the world's immigrant
communities. In polls taken by the National Opinion Research Centre in the 1950s, one-third of Americans described themselves as 'very happy'. This same poll has been conducted over the years and the percentage of
people reported as happy remains exactly the same, despite the fact that GDP has increased significantly, the size of the typical American house has doubled, inflation-adjusted income per American has almost tripled and America has moved to a three-car home.
Also, clinical depression among Americans has grown by up to 10 times, according to some estimates, and a recent study by Ronald Kessler of the Harvard Medical School
estimated that each year, 1 in 15 Americans experience an episode of major depression. Says Easterbrook, in his Time essay: "Over the past two decades, in fact, an increasing body of social science and psychological research has shown that there is no significant relationship between how much money a
person earns and whether he or she feels good about life."
Edward Diener, perhaps the
leading happiness and well-being researcher (apart from the father of the positive psychology
movement, Martin Seligman) has interviewed members of the Forbes 400 richest list and found they were only a tiny bit happier than the public as a whole.
Opines Easterbrook: "Because those with wealth often continue to feel jealously about the
possessions or prestige of other wealthy people, even large sums of money fail to confer well-being." Adds Tim Kasser in his book The High Price of Materialism: "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. 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."
PERPETUAL TREADMILL
And Madison Avenue and the Western capitalist machinery are designed to keep you on the
perpetual treadmill, slaves to consumerism, all the while with your believing that you are freely pursuing the 'good life'. Governments organise themselves around providing material benefits to citizens, as though that will provide well-being.
Even orthodox Marxism was not radical enough in its critique of the concept of progress enshrined in Western society: Marx only concerned himself with ensuring that the material benefits were shared equitably and that the ruling class did not deprive the masses of the
goodies. Of course, he taught that social relations would be improved in a classless society, but he and the traditional Marxists and the Leninists
failed to give the thoroughgoing critique of the bourgeois concept of the good life that that should have attended the radical critique of capitalism.
One of the finest critiques of materialism from a political scientist is Yale Emeritus Professor Robert Lane's The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies. It contains a
gold mine of information,
statistics and studies showing the declining utility of materialist values and how counter-
productive those pursuits are to societal well-being.
The December 2004 Psychology Today has a lengthy article on the sad state of America's youth, who are
suffering record levels of
anxiety and depression despite unprecedented wealth. "By all accounts, psychological distress is rampant on college
campuses," says the article. The High Price of Materialism quotes studies from around the world showing that materialistic values are negatively associated with happiness and well-being. A survey of life satisfaction
measures of 7,000 college
students in 41 nations shows that "a strong value in making money was associated with diminishing life satisfaction," says Professor Kasser.
Yet, many are oblivious to these studies and to the serious and abundant empirical work being done around the world. They are too busy in
materialistic pursuits and
hedonic revelries, slaves to Western hedonistic culture, which exploits them emotionally and, therefore, politically. Small wonder our import bill is so high as our lifestyle far exceeds our productive abilities. Our society is built on consumption, not
production, and Omar Davies and Audley Shaw both need to see the philosophical
underpinnings of our economic challenges. They will be busy during budget time arguing over how to build a better mousetrap rather than radically questioning paradigms.
LARGE-SCALE EMIGRATION
Carl Stone has the last words (Values Norms and Personality Development in Jamaica): "Large-scale emigration has weakened the traditionally-strong family bonds between mothers and children, and has undermined the nurturing and parenting associated with family life, leading to the emergence of more aggressive, violent and criminal tendencies throughout the society." The solution from this outstanding political
scientist?
"Our nurturing institutions and socialisation agents from which people get their values and learn behaviour norms (school, church, community and family, as well as the mass media,
political parties and interest groups) must begin to tackle the problem of developing more
positive values, norms and
personality traits..." But will the politicians and other influentials ever really get it?
Ian Boyne is a veteran
journalist. You can send your comments to ianboyne1@yahoo.com or
infocus@gleanerjm.com.
