by Hrvoje Butkovic

Growing up in rural socialist Yugoslavia during the 1970s and 1980s, I became accustomed to a lifestyle typical of the region. Most families owned houses, though they were often old, small and largely unfinished, relying as they did on ongoing slow acquisition of money and materials with which to resume previous years’ work. Some of the households owned cars, most of which were small and aging basic models. It was common to work the fields or perform odd jobs to supplement the regular income. Purchase of items outside of basic necessities required careful budgeting. Life was hard, but one could get by.

What made it harder was exposure to the modern Western lifestyle – particularly that from USA and Western Europe – that entered our homes via television. Most families owned a TV set. Imported movies and TV series were frequently watched; I remember Dynasty and Dallas being particularly popular. From them, we learned that living in new, spacious, and well furnished homes was commonplace in the West. Everyone owned cars, which were newer, faster and much larger and more sophisticated than the ones we had. In fact, very few material worries seemed to afflict these people.

Our impressions were confirmed by our countrymen who used to live in our midst but had since moved abroad. They returned for infrequent visits, often building expensive houses in our neighbourhoods and driving expensive cars. We weren’t familiar with the trials and tribulations of their affluent lifestyle, but watching their display, we could clearly see what ours lacked. We aspired to be like them.

After emigrating to South Africa, I discovered that similar sentiments were widely held by a large segment of the population that was exposed to the same lifestyle of privilege. Like us, they learned about it through their immersion in the media, especially television. Unlike us, many of them had frequent contact with the wealthy minority that lived in this manner, primarily through working in their houses and tending their flower gardens. Over the years, my family was able to change its fortune and become a part of this First World minority.
I subsequently learned that the widespread yearning to emulate the West in its high standard of living was so widespread and so powerful that it shaped the economic policies of entire countries. China and India are the most prominent examples, both due to their size and the rate at which they are closing the material gap. However, practically all of the Third World countries are trying to do the same, even if many are failing at it and falling further behind.

The power of our example and the ferocity with which it is being pursued by the world at large prompts me to examine its quality. Masses of people are following us, but where is it that we are taking them?

On the one hand, numerous warnings have been issued by scientists and scholars over the past few decades about widespread ecological devastation that is following in our wake. The buzz about global warming is perhaps the best known example. I find the data convincing. Even if it is not, there can be no doubt that a lifestyle that seeks to maximise consumption is inherently unsustainable. It is not a question of whether it will lead to environmental collapse, but when.

On the other hand, the desirability of a lifestyle that is single-mindedly focused on material consumption has also been brought into question. Numerous surveys have found no correlation between affluence and happiness past the point of basic needs being met. Having experienced two very different ways of living, I can see why.

My children can afford to go to movies every weekend; for me it was an annual event. They also have far more clothes and toys than I did, and eat more expensive food. Yet I never felt short of any of these things. What I missed was not spending more time with my parents, who were working hard to make ends meet. I only felt that I was missing out on one occasion, when we visited people whose son literally had a room full of toys. I was awed by the spectacle. I couldn’t comprehend how he could be bored with every one of them except the newest few.

The question that I would like to explore is one that naturally follows from the above considerations: Who should spearhead the much needed change of direction towards a lifestyle that is still desirable, yet also attainable by all and sustainable over a lengthy period of time?

If my childhood experience is anything to go by, we cannot expect people who are longingly aspiring to the Western lifestyle to play the lead role. It is difficult, if not downright impossible, to be satisfied with a life of forced scarcity when one is continuously bombarded with images of affluence, and messages of freedom, opportunity, convenience and luxury that they convey. People in this position can easily see the abundance of prospects that accumulation of wealth can offer them, without getting a good sense of their drawbacks. Thanks to grossly uneven distribution of wealth and the proliferation of the Western lifestyle via the media to every corner of the globe, most people are in this position.

The reality is that it is up to us, who are leading the world by example, to change our destination and hope that others will follow.

We can refrain from acquiring items that we don’t really need and reuse those we do, not because we can’t afford to buy or replace them, but because we are not prepared to let financial considerations determine the burden that we place on the environment. After using what we need, we can return what we have left over for others to use, or simply share it with them.

We can compost our organic waste instead of dispensing with it at the dumping grounds, not because we need it and can’t afford to purchase chemical fertiliser, but because doing so is an integral part of properly relating to the natural world. We can also surround ourselves with plant life, edible or not, instead of dowsing our environment in concrete and steel wherever we go.

We can use car pooling, public transport, bicycles or even walk in preference to relying on private cars, not because we can’t afford them, but because we value clean, healthy environment over convenience and status. We can also restructure our lives so that we are not required to spend hours commuting between home, work and other places of interest on regular basis.

We can deprioritise accumulation of wealth from our lives to bring it into balance with other pursuits, particularly spending quality time with our family and friends. We can take this a step further to build a sense of community where we live, choosing to get to know and relate to our neighbours and people whom we rely on for the provision of goods and services.

These lifestyle changes, and many others, would send a clear message that the modern western lifestyle is one-dimensional in its approach, that it seeks to maximise material wealth at the expense of other equally important aspects of human existence, and that, as such, it is far from the panacea that it pretends to be.

While living in Yugoslavia, I encountered this message frequently. I didn’t find it persuasive because it was coming from people like me, people for whom such a lifestyle was well out of reach. It was difficult to receive their renunciation without cynicism, knowing that they were merely giving up what they couldn’t have.

For the message to carry any weight, it must come from those who have succeeded by the Western standards, who have all of these perks at their fingertips, yet choose not to indulge in them because they recognise that their costs outweigh the benefits. Only then will people like the ones I grew up with pay heed to the message. Only when we relinquish our conveniences will those who’ve never had them reconsider trying to attain them.

This is not an easy message to send. Many times I have found myself accumulating wealth in the pursuit of ever-elusive happiness, oblivious to the fact that it wasn’t getting me there. I’ve come to realise that, if I’m to undertake this task, I have to be clear on who I am and where I stand with regard to these matters.

Consumerism entices us with its promises in many different ways. Many others prey on our fears of what the consequences will be for not coddling up to it. I had to shut all of that out to be able to pay attention to my experience. This is what it has taken for me to start making these kinds of changes in my own life. I don’t think that extending the example into the public domain demands any less.

Hrvoje Butkovic is the author of the book A Glimpse of Another World and the forthcoming book Living Deliberately. For more information, please visit http://fluffygroovy.com.