Lindsay Mitchell
lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com
Simplicity of idea is always desirable. But the idea still has to make sense. A professor reported on RNZ says:
“I think the pandemic spells the end of the neoliberal era and I think the idea that government should be small and inactive and everything should be left to market forces has seen its day.”
People had few possessions until there was an explosion of prosperity in the 20th Century, and now people have garages, basements and houses full of stuff, and full themselves with too much food, Westacott said
But if Westacott wants to frame matters historically the, “small and inactive” government he decries coincided with when, “people had few possessions”. His nirvana.
Some people have ‘too much stuff’ even for the size of their homes as evidenced by the explosion of the storage industry but their consumerism has contributed to voluntary wealth redistribution globally, lifting many out of poverty. Voluntary is indisputably better than forced wealth redistribution.
I wonder how the professor squares the well being of people in developing nations making our imports – those emerging from poverty – against ours? Or does philosophy have geographical borders?
It’s an indulgent novelty for rich countries to play at non-consumerism.
The pandemic should not be encouraged to end the general progress to a richer, more peaceful globe.