Live Small: THRIFT - RIP. Who is to blame?

According to my handy dandy copy of The Concise Oxford Dictionary, the key words associated with ‘thrift’ and ‘thrifty’ are as follows:

frugality

economical management

thriving

prosperous

Notice how ‘frugality’ is so closely linked to ‘prosperous.’

Without piles of debt (and yes, we have piles), many individuals would actually be quite well off.

Also, according to my recent thoughts (I’ve got a million of them), the line up of suspects associated with the death of THRIFT is quite long.

The suspects include the following:

economists

politicians (including US and Canadian leaders)


banks (Bob Hope once said that a bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it)

reckless consumers (How many credit cards in your wallet?)

In my opinion, the line up of ‘usual suspects’ must also include many large corporations and corporate philosophy.

When did you first realize you were viewed primarily as a consumer or an economic statistic and not as a citizen or person with important rights and responsibilities?

And who primarily views you as a consumer or stat on a financial spreadsheet?

I would say the corporate world, and through a prism chiefly governed by self-interest and profit, and not kindness toward you.

As I’ve been reading The Collapse of Globalism by John Ralston Saul, I’ve been underlining key phrases that suggest corporate philosophy doesn’t promote thrift, or health or prosperity for all consumers.

For example;

“The moralizing message (re the negative aspects of public debt) came from the private sector and from economists who didn’t believe in public programming. Yet the Globalization era would see the most extravagant and irresponsible indulgence in debt by the private sector since the days of the South Sea Bubble.” (pg. 84)

In other words, the private sector will call for thrift in the public sector but not care about it in their own.

“By 2000 the yearly world total value of mergers and acquisitions was $3.5 trillion. That is $3.5 trillion of debt, often attributed to the corporation taken over.” (pg. 81)

High debt loads led to downsizing and loss of jobs on the bottom floors - and the disappearance of thrift and prosperity in millions of homes and thousands of communities world wide.

One of the biggest blows to thrift and prosperity - for the individual - in the US and Canada comes from the corporate world in the field of agriculture.

Want to live close to nature?

I wouldn’t advise it.

Stay tuned.

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THRIFT PT 1

THRIFT PT 2

THRIFT PT 3

THRIFT PT 4

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