We are not satisfied with our lives!

I think the overall point that Ferenc Mate is trying to make is that we are not satisfied with our lives overall. Forces in our society, our economy, the media, etc are all making us "want more", and be unsatisfied with what we currently have. We must have a new car every three or so years, a new video game (hint assassin creed ii these days), a new christmas tree and so forth. We aren't satisfied with our current car, the current games or computer that we own, or perhaps buying a plastic tree for several years.

This desire for more is what the elite are counting on for stimulating the global economy- which happens to be based on everyone consuming mass amounts of "stuff". To get to economics, this is the neo-liberalistic capitalist view of the world. I'm not saying that capitalism is bad, it is better than communism, but any unrestrained economic system is detrimental in the long run. We need to find a way to run the economy so that we desire, and then subsequently consume, less stuff. Do we constantly need GDP growth?? I don't know, but it doesn't usually seem to be correlated to real income growth does it? No it does not.

Speaking of real income, it has grown alot. We no longer live a third world lifestyle. But we aren't satisfied having the lifestyle that we have (a car, a tv, food, and an internet connection). We constantly want more of it, faster, and better. More cars, bigger living space, more computers. This unnecessary desire creates a need for huge uses of energy, which is unsustainable in the long term.

In "A reasonable life", Mate proposes that we all grow gardens on our front lawns. I actually like this idea (although in NY, could be a little difficult with winter snow). It is a helpful practice to grow our own food, but the fact is that most of us live in cities and cannot do so. Also, simply having a garden doesn't solve the transportation problems of suburban living- you still need to drive to work, see friends and family, etc. I think that we are naturally inclined to live in higher-density cities, but we need to focus on making that living more economically and environmentally sustainable for future generation while working on problems such as Peak Oil and world food production for the growing (primarily urban) population.