I came across The Story of Stuff the other day, while doing my daily drive-by on Facebook. In short: “The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.”
After watching, I had quite the eureka moment: “Ohh. So if I have less stuff, I can work less.” How radical. Some of our Swedish interviewees spoke to this very concept (and a bit more intelligibly):
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The Lattice Group: Where would you prefer to live, America or Sweden?
“Johan,” 24: Sweden. Perhaps I have the wrong picture of the American way…I don’t need a bizillion dollars; I’m fine with, like, one million dollars! [Laughter]. In America, you can make an insane amount of money. When you start making so much money, the more money you have just shows how successful you are. For example, if you buy a whole building in Manhattan, you’ll just use one room. And I’m satisfied buying just the one room!
TLG: Do you think work-life balance is realistic?
“Cecilia,” 24: I hope it’s realistic. I’m not sure it is though. I think the demands on people today are crazy, actually. I think a lot of that pressure comes from how society has developed. It’s become a very blatant consumer society. My parents didn’t spend any time on shopping. Now, it’s not just getting a shirt and getting out. There’s this whole culture around [shopping]. [My parent’s generation] had time for stuff that we don’t have time for today. My mom went to community meetings, non-profit stuff. They had a lot more time for people and for their interests…I think that at some point, people are going to think “Wait, do I really need all this stuff?” “No.” “Then do I need the money?” “No.” “Oh, then I can work less.”
Oh, indeed.
- Vetta
