ETHICS OF CONSUMPTION : The good life, justice, and global stewardship Contiene: Cap. 10 y 13 EDITOR : Crocker, David A. and Toby Linden ESCANEADO DE: Ethics of consumption: the good life, justice, and global stewardship / edited by David A. Crocker and Toby Linden.-- CATEDRA: Economia, Humanismo y Valores SEMESTRE: Otofio 2008 “USO EXLUSIVO ALUMNOS FEN CON FINES DE DOCENCIA E INVESTIGACION”EiiesConsumpton The Good Life, Justice, and Global Stewardship ced by aid A. Crocker and Toy Linden ¥fTihte (onsumption The Good Life, Justice, and Global Shewardship edited by David A. Crocker and Toby Linden10 Consuming Because Others Consume Judith Lichtenberg Critics have long decried the levels of material consumption and indut- ence prevalent in advanced industrial societies, but over the lst several decades their voices have become more insistent. In the press and in the political arena, the matter came to a head during the 1992 Rio Earth ‘Sumit, when (to put it succinctly) the North accused the South of overpopulation, and the South accused the North of overconsumption, Contemporary concems about consumption and materialisin have’! three different, although not mutually exclusive, roots. One is increas. ing international interdependerce and the resulting sense that we inhabit 2 global community, which mckes it hard to ignore the juxtaposition of some places with die poverty elsewitere, Another is ental awareness, which raises the possibility that our levels of consumption are irreparably harming the planet and its inabi- tants, Finally, technological progress combined with the bombardments of the media have given us the sense that we are increasingly inthe grip of having and owning—that we have more than anyone really nee, and that this excess is incompatible with virtue or true human flour, ishing Not everyone agrees, of course, that we middle-class North Ameri- cans and others similarly situated consume too much, and indeed itis noteasy to say by what standards one decides how much is too But the feeling that we ving at a higher level of materia dependence and indulgence than we ought to is prevalent enough in our culture, even if the dictum that “Action speaks louder than words” forces us to say it is not that prevalent. The concer has dominated ‘moral philosophy over the last twenty years What has driven the philo- sophical debate, in addition to the reigning (but practically unbearable) 155156 Judith Lichtenberg interpretation of utilitarianism as requiring one to maximize the good, is the palpable presence of millions or perhaps billions of people work ‘wide who live in serious poverty, combined with the knowledge that | we (individually, and even more collectively) could do something 10 alleviate that poverty if we chose. The question is whether or in what sense we ought to do something about it—whether, in particular, we are morally obligated to do something and, therefore, are morally blameworthy or deficient when we continue to live in relative or abso- Jute Luxury while others struggle to survive or subsist.” T do not want to enter into this debate here, but rather to change its focus. This is partly because I think the debate is becoming stale, with ‘one side arguing that we do have strong moral obligations to do more for others, even if it means lowering our own standards of living sig- icantly, and the other side arguing that the threat to personal integ- rity, to the concept of a life with which one may, within certain crucial constraints, pretty much do as one chooses, would be too great if we acknowledged such demanding moral obligations. Each of these points of view pulls hard on us. The latter has “common sense” on its side, bbut it arouses our suspicions just because itis altogether too convenient to believe. The former, even if theoretically persuasive, moves too few people to action. This leads some, who assume ethics must be practical and take into account “human nature,” to think that the morally strenu- ‘ous view cannot be right; it leads others, committed to social change, to conclude that even if right, itis ineffective and thus irrelevant. But where do we go from here? ‘This debate tums out to be partly otiose if the general view set forth here is correct. I think we have been missing features of the social and psychological landscape with important implications for our moral and practical views. My aim in what follows is to go some way toward establishing the thesis that, to a large extent, people consume because others around them do. There are a variety of reasons for this relational feature of consumption. Among them are the aim of gaining status and superiority that the notion of “consuming because others consume” tends to evoke, an aim that has been cited almost to tedium ever since ‘Thorstein Veblen published The Theory of the Leisure Class in 1899. Even this idea, I shall argue, is more complex, and less clearly damning, than is usually thought. But there are other reasons for consuming be- ‘cause others do—some having to do with the pursuit of status, but with the desire for equality rather than superiority, and some having nothing at all to do with status, In what follows I describe and evaluate the various other-regarding reasons for consuming. This thesis about the relativity of the desire to consume has implic tions of two kinds, which I explore later in this essay. One is practical: mauningBecese Others Conse 17 22, ‘othe extent that a person consumes hecase others do, se code sume les if others id too without dimnishing her well boos na lows that the hand-wringing about how much we can nee demand tat peopl serie forthe wel being of ols hese for reduction in consumption, when efected'n a core eee no involve deprivation nthe way generally envisioned. Wc nee ter of "sterifcng because others scrfie bu sat of mek an steice when material consumption falcata The other implication is moral. Critiques of consumption often ammount to indictments of humn character: the view tnt Pale ee sume because others do secs to suggest they we conan nea, | KB and preceuped with mater things sta an one ee though we should not discount these tals shogetter se gears of the complexities of consumption shows wt itis ofee are ce and respectable for a peron to consume Wher oes eee aly ilminates certain recs aout hutan denies sed meee ‘The Relativity of Absolute Well-Being, How ae people's desires fr and consumption of things dependent on ‘hat others have? We can bes answer his quescon by ease etn thir dsines for and consumption of things are not depondens ey others have tis natural thik herein terms of base reel mum reguirements-—contons that must be met ft pence ene a 8 minimally decent ie A person's ee to consume sone mate calories and ution, ort have clothing anf slr seen nee ments, exists independent what ete people have ee da food oe dies; wht ther people do's nleen yen biological needs, However, ae not wholly dependent of con texto cicumance na solely in which suensowspiyeea css is importan—either because physical activity in socal ake cae sty region wegl or ed toe ees veater caloric intake might be heeded to funcion sien Whether ll neds ae pel slave to What eis do ood in some cases to “ways of i” is a question we need hot ance ne ‘Two points are worth noting, However Ft great deal depen, how we scl or desribe needs Suppose for cine ween ope have a ase need far enough fort survive we tnes Sea this way, the ned i absolute inthe sense of Weng inate es stance including the behavior of thers But how nh eed 2 survive or thrive will ery depending on th cameeeeea ae although we can describe the need absolutely, its satisfaction may def 158 Judith Lichtenberg pend on relational facts As Amartya Sen argues, “the absolue satis jon of some . .. needs might depend on a person's relative postion avis others."* ‘Second, some needs are much more relative dhan others. The need for air is quite nonrelative. Think, by contrast, of the ability (0 work, or, even more simply, 0 get around and do things (acquire food and the like) for oneself, In many contemporary communities, itis dificult to perform these tasks without private ransportation, The need for a car is not “absolute” in the sense of existing imespective of context. The economic system and the infrastructure could have evolved differently, 50 that a car would not be an indispensable item of modern life. A well- functioning system of public transportation creates and perpetuates de- mand: the larger and finer the net it casts, that is, the more places you ‘ean get to using it, the more people use it; the more people use it, the greater its economies of scale; the greater its economies of scale, the better and cheaper it gets. In such cases, people have purely economic and practical reasons for doing as others do. Ta many communities today, however, a ear is a virtual necessity. Indeed, fora suburban or rural family two cars are often required. A person's desire for a ea, then, although dependent on what other people have and do, need not be rooted in greed, envy, or the desire for status.* Many items once thought of as high-tech luxuries—televsion, cable television, computers, on-line databases—are becoming increasingly necessary for the citizen in a technologically sophisticated society. In- vention is the mother of necessity ‘ust how far the point illustrated by this example extends is a dificult «question, The danger on one sie is being led to say that every depriva- tion relative (ooh ih_one's society is the frustration of « basie”or Important néed. Oi the other side, ertics of contemporary Westenrcul- ture—those Who decry “conspicuous consumption” and materialistic values—often pay insufficient attention to the significance of relative deprivation for absolute well-being, ‘Even when it would be an exaggeration to say that a particular item thas moved from the status of luxury to necessity, new goods often be- come entrenched ina society—become more needlike—in a subi and interesting process. We can observe this transformation with many re- cent innovations: microwaves, answering machines, VCRs, electronic ‘mail. When first introduced, such items may have appeared frivolous, at east to those not mesmerized by gadgets. Gradually —but really very ‘uickly—even the skeptics started to notice these items’ uses. For ex- ample, while the benefits to owners of answering machines were imme- diately apparent, some callers at first found the devices awkward or even insulting. Soon, however, even skeptical callers began to notice Consuming Because Others Consume 159 th advantages to themselves not having to cll back repeatedly when no one answered or avoiding unvanted and unnecescalyprelonged Conversations. Complains sbout "lking to a machine” fre aly head anymere. Similarly, cc phones, which when fs intoduced were widely viewed as mere sates symbols, ae now recognized for thc convenience and safety-enbancing features Gia dangerous World of carjackings and oter eres) ‘ How does this phenomenon of the entenchnent of new produ bear on the relational aspects of consumption? Acquston af good by many people can render t more necessary in an absolute sense even i not alvays a *necesity.” In some eases—public versus priate tone portation—ihis isa question of infastrature: wher oes take ones there will be buses, availabe o all and I will have less eed fora atc 4:@04 In ber cases, sch elcome mall and ontne dates, we hee Sa what economists call networking effects: one lacking the service tof ‘made worse off by being cut off from the flow of information. Even the4,,-cone humdrum answering machine can affect how people conduct business, baba so that those lacking them may both suffer disadvantages themselves and also inconvenience others. So, for example, where it ir weaned that most people have answering machines, it might Be teasoable to ask someone fo make a doven phone eal, onthe sumption hat nee Sages canbe let no one answers. The person without an evening machine fores the messenger to work harder by calling repestedl and is mor likely not to be eached at all This may be nore tan convenience: It may cost a businessperson he livelihood i th ele isa customer with alleatve providers Salient Things ‘The proces by which new goods get entenched in a culture bears in second way on the relational specs of consumption the acquston of oods by others serves as acacia for of publ, Leaving ade for the moment questions about satus and the net “Keep up wih the Soneses,” the fat hat one's fends and neighbors have someting nee act a stimuli the good tas intinsc appl of ay Kind era ers have alvays been filly aware of tis phonomenos, which cn be understood in terms of what cognitive psjehologis call “slicer the py pesene of nt makes re able fo concn ness. The economist James S. Duesenbertydescbey this proces terms of what he call "the demonseion eee PS In gv eemstane vidal uals. cme it conat with gods stperioe othe ones teas wh ceri fequne. Each sc ceo100" Judith Lichtenberg is a demonstration ofthe superiority of those goods and is @ eat t0 the ‘existence of the current consumption pattern. Iisa theeat because it makes active the latent preference for these goods... . For any partieular family the frequency of contact with superior goods will nctease primarily as the consumption expenditures of others increase.* In our zeal to find sophisticated or deep explanations for people’s de- sires to raise their level of material well-being, we have neglected the simple yet powerful effect of firsthand experience on wanting. It stands to reason that a person is more likely to want something if he sees it than if it exists for him merely as an abstract possibility. (Indeed, an abstract possibility is usually an unconceived possibility, which moves, us not at al.) Familiarity breeds desire more often than contempt. ‘This desire-stimulating process seems perfectly respectable, as plau- sibly attributable to human curiosity or to being alive to one’s surround- ings as to greed or envy of status seeking—the explanations more ‘commonly offered by critics of consumption. Some might argue that, ‘on the contrary, this fact about human beings is precisely what terms like greed and envy ate meant to denote—wanting things when you see them, being moved by the consumption habits of others, How are we 10 resolve this dispute, where both sides agree on the evidence but disagree about what it shows? It seems wrong to say the disagreement is merely terminological (how you define greed or envy), since the two sides ‘make very different moral judgments about the human qualities in ques- tion. One solution is to have it both ways: to acknowledge an element that is morally neutral or even praiseworthy (curiosity, aliveness to ‘one’s surroundings), but also an element worthy of criticism (lack of self-sufficiency, overdependence on material things). Yet whether moral criticism is appropriate depends partly on other issues that await resolu tion. Under what circumstances, and for what reasons, does attraction to material things constitute a vice? Some issues relevant to answering, this question are discussed briefly below. However we resolve these questions, it is clear that as a matter of fact, salience—here constituted by the possessions of my neighbors’— acts as a powerful stimulus to the desire to consume, Now that the ‘world’s poorest people have instant and constant access, through televi- sion and other mass media, to the lifestyles of their affluent “neigh- bors,” the significance of the demonstration effect can hardly be exaggerated This is not to beg the question of whether, all things considered, having more things necessarily makes a person happier or better off. ‘We may acknowledge that getting what one’s neighbors have enhances ‘one's welfare, without denying that everyone might be happier living Consuming Because Others Consume 161 "ote simply. The explanation for these seemingly confitng Fat rest om the intraetion of three phenomena: salience portant ees collective action problems. Thu, if we assume (ohaltne eee Presuably woul ol ht he ie of things enhance one's wees I cecal respecs, then, begining Irom he iain suet cere tonevieted clue and aeqaitance with ome nes thoes he may improve one's wear, even though a ciferem bundon es nes inconsistent with having it (that i, begining tees ise, baseline might improe one's welling even more Chen foe neighbors hve ian hat the hing poses a ert sone sal in or asthtc viru, Lay be Peer of avg i K's aed pul hat material things exert on most people's deones wag ‘nowledging thei intinsie atactions, however shallge on es these might be. ° consumption “life packages” {ent nonmaterial goods instead. The present discussion ofthe beret liscussion of the benefits of copmution, however, is about micro, not macro partial, not complete compliance; the world of second-best’ about the reasons for concen when others around you do? : Consumption and Self-Respect “Letus tur nowt the esons fo consuming that probably loom when people tink about eontmpionin'inoder eae ese tiny if they het of “consumug because others conse Weg of conspicuous consumption keeping up With he Tone ne ok tows display of wel and tncexcessive lance ome a say of aang sau. But the contemptuous ati eee these desctpdons depends party. T elise on ¢ micar eas otheregarding consumption. {have aledy, ghee reg162, Judith Lichtenberg None of this is to deny thatthe desire to improve one's pusition vis- avis others plays an important part in the urge to consume. We want t have things, and to have others know we have them, in part in order to say something about ourselves to others. It is this expressive furietion that we now need to analyze more carefully. First, we should note that not all expressive consumption need in- volve the desire to say something about one’s worth. A person who wears one earring or long hair, or drives a Jeep Cherokee or rides a battered bicycle, is expressing himself—we might even say he is mak- ing a statement about himself and his values—but he need not be at- tempting to secure a place in a hierarchy.” I¢ may even be questioned ‘whether his behavior is communicative. Terms or phrases like self-ex- pression and making a statement can be understood to imply commu cation to others, but they can also be understood in a more private ‘way—perhaps as an outpouring of inner feeling. Let us assume, how ever, that for most people such forms of self-expression as fashion do include a crucial communicative component, In part, this communica- tive component is rooted in practical aims: itis useful to tell others what ‘one is like in order to find those with similar interests. (This function is discussed further below in terms of ability signaling.) But acts of consumption are sometimes designed to communicate to others something about one’s own worth, and it is this expressive function in which we are interested. Such status seeking has a bad repu- tation. A long tradition of moraliss advises that what other people think cof us is not important, that one should not base one's actions on the ‘opinions of others, and so forth, Ithis were tue, then all consumption aimed at sending a message, especially a message about one's worth, ‘would be less than reputable. But although itis easy to describe situa: tions where one shouldn't care what others think (for instance, where there is aright thing (o do, and one must brave public opinion and do it), it seems too sweeping a judgment to say that its always disreputable to care. The person wholly unconcerned with how others see her seems at best too saintly to serve as a model for the ordinary person; at worst, she may be pathological or contemptuous of other people. ‘Atleast in part, consumption designed to send a message about one’s worth has a bad reputation because it masks a morally significant ambi _auity. We imagine a. world in which everyone is trying to outdo every- one else—trying not merely to keep up with the Joneses but to surpass. them. Veblen certainly did much to promote this interpretation: “the end sought by accumulation is to rank high in comparison with the rest of the community in point of pecuniary strength... . However widely, ‘or equally, or ‘faily,’ it may be distributed, no general inerease of the ccomnmunity’s wealth'can make any approach to satiating this need, the ee Consuming Because Others Consume 163 ground of which isthe deste of every one to excel every one else in the accumlaton of goods "= But although powan mig conags on show tat hes beter than others, he may lso consume sete nes that hei 8 good as others. Veblen fas o draw is distin on "betowe i both morally ignitcant and prychloceay sat ae fist ask why itis accepts and import for people gone Inesur of petcived equally with tht fellowsand sh a oe extent people want not merely equality but supe For al but the most extnordialy set sue individuals, self respect requires espet fom one's fellows it eques tha ea ae Before then, I take this kindof self vespoct andthe mene trom eters it implies tobe fandamental human need; sone area have cent life without thm" As Veblen himalf fas te cent individuals wih an aera temperament can inthe Teg nn soak, their seletcom in the face of the diestcem ofthe flee satan of ese neds ls for en Kind of equa spe ory means having erin things thal oes hae ey sani that hers hive, not mre than Adam Swi atculated tis point—and is conection wih been surpassed: : _— By necessaries I nderstnd ot oly the commas which ar inks pensaly necessary forthe spp fi, but whatever ie ens thc Saunt renders it indecent for eetble peopl, even te et oe a) | be without A ine hi for earpe ly speaking nots meres oft. The Grek and Roars ed spon very cou tases {hey had no linen. But in the present times, through the greater patt of Epes cedahiediy-Lbouer would he ashamed (0 appear ng without linen shit he wan of which woul be suppored eden sisgretul dere of poverty, which x presumed. boy os we ino without exten Bad conc. Caso, in the sme mag he dete leather shes a necssar of ie in England. The poor cea person of eer sex woud beamed to spear npc mittee da Extapolating from Smith's salyis, we migh malysis, we might say that the need for selfespet—or put negative the ned to wold tame bod univers But wht thes to aiay that need varie wil hea tine and plas wo pace. Ths pom cool he faseaing ope ions. In Smiths soit, selfvespect meant lene shoes a cles in the 1990s it means Nikes. _— Why some goods-such a5 shoes, ofall : 6, oF al hings!—should have the Kind of signicance Smith desribes is an inaresing ectcn te on {shall not pursue ere. We cam see a east tat Beads nen164 Lichtenberg ng respect from particular reference groups to themselves, iain goods become “necessaries” mu others arouses our suspicions. In_Kantian erm possible to will everyone to succeed in. their striving. for equality, but Con striving for superiority (or more siraply. itis posible tow thai evervon be equal ut of egalitarianism wot can aim to do as well as one can or achieve a gi at hand rather than by the achies ‘Whether this argument can succeed in throwing out the bathwater (the desire to surpass others) without the baby (excellence and individu- 'y)—and, more generally, whether the desire to surpass others is mor- objectionable—are questions we cannot settle here. But there is another difference between the desire for superiority and the desire for ‘equality. The first can lead to prisoner's dilemma situations, which are ‘among the primary reasons for thinking consumption in the contempo- rary world problematic. (It need not always lead to them, however; ‘on proving thei status. The desire for equal status does not appear to generate such 's spirals. tres more general be merely as good to excel in some. It would study conducted during and The American Soldier, sheds light on these issues. ice, opportunities for promotion were jon was higker than in the Air Corps, where opportu- icely sum166 Judith Lichtenberg will we rlvely content where half he members ofthe partment fave endowed chai the sition ofthe unendoved wil tne: A psc on an a ll and sly We Fong a eos ter member of her rence poup-—te 0 wpm ‘hc compars hese ae inthe ne boat Te sue of deprivaon [ied iste ons exciton and hse nn depend oo ‘hat ibs around one hate ("Th sors heen ht sui i aston xane [rman pont many stants sae el ‘set ate heen rsp cn tebe as by peony lave to ontseerence pup. Ps empha ont UHcerdovinéal cons wna vew of kan sings ing mors in imocyptEen wi ee season sai lane veya tenn cn few Sai orto be excita puson's amis lave er shoots endowment having more tan eles—taber an moe and mre and more sue ; Boi the moval concer about the dese foc spiny (hat its rercnsbl) andthe praca once (halt uy esate wou Suczass) wil be more seus I thre ae easone for dang the Sythe dctoneecth see ory ane for supenely,We tm nowt hi gueton. Te dis eso ino gener gusions abou te ene to which he ques for sas infers dion about consumption Status and Other Goods To think that by navng or owning or showing certain things a person Si denon rat sek si oh gone te ota ign ne om ble condone 0 mental to the way material goods ae viewed ino society tha 5 Aiea to inagine nt viewing ean a this way. . ‘The economist Robert rank cal this eral function of consump ton ability signatng Ts wort quoting him a some length In societies in which economic and social interactions between people are evasive and imporian—that is, in every known fman society information about people with whom we might interact has obvious value Many of the most important decisions ever made about us depend on “how strangers see our talents, abilities, and other characteristics. People’s various talents and abilities are not like numbers tattooed cm thir foreheads there fr alte word to observe at lane; The assessment is a subtle and complicated task, which to accomplish wit Consuming Because Others Consume 167 Feasonable accuracy requires a heavy investment of ime and effort, Time and effort, however, are valuable for other purposes as well and so ne ne Jed to seck ways of economizing on the evaluation process, ‘The importance of consumption goods as signals of ability wil be different for different occurations. Earnings and the abilities Unt enone ‘most among research profesor are not very strongly correlated, and peo, Fessors think nothing Of continuing to drive a 10-year-old automobile ta Ranaseres them reliably. But only in avery small town, where people Know one another wel, might it not be a mistake fr an aspiring young atiomey to drive such a cat inthe presence of his potential eens Goce lawyers generally eam a lot of money, and people with lot of money Senerally drive fashionable new cas. ‘The potential client who dese know better will asume tha a lawyer with a battered car is not mech sought after = If itis true that we need information about each other that would ordi- harily be impossible or inefficient to acquire directly, we must read iz off from more visible signs. We can, of course, argue about the relabil, ity of different signs, but that is another matter. Individuals do not de, ide what the signs are or should be; they must pretty much take them: js given. If you want to convey information, you have to speak the {Anguaze, One decides to drive an Acura Legend orto wear Guess jeans, Ve ‘one does not decide what information is conveyed by these choices, Sometimes, of cours, the infermation will be misinformation: So hens cates what other people think one must be sure fo leamn whal iffecee consumption choices are taken to signify ‘The purely informational aspect of ability signaling obviously per forms 2 useful function. Reading surfaces is a shorteu and espe in mass societies where typically we are strangers to one sneer need shortcuts." This function of consumption extends 1 is pucly jticen consuming to demonstrate one is as good as others and consume 178 19 Show one is better, and between either of these and consuming simply to convey information, begins to blur. Insofar as a person jempting to convey information about his abilities, he is saying | have these traits, these talents, 1am iis good (... so hire me, ot ler me | nfo your university)” He is serving the usefl function of providing (information about himself, but he is also trying,in a competitive works {o obtain a scarce commodity, ‘The consumption of education provides illuminating examples of168 Judith Lichtenberg these complexities, (It also shows that the consumption of nonmaterial {goods like education is in important ways just like the consumption of material goods.) What is the good that we desire, and that we hope to ‘obiain for ourselves or our childzen, by enriched educational programs, private schools, prestige colleges, and advanced degrees? There are three kinds of possiblities. First, T may want my child to acquire the intellectual resources to appreciate Shakespeare or Einstein, What 1 seek here isa nonrelative good, To attain it, my child will needa certain ‘ality of education. Theoretically, atleast, everyone could have such an education; there is plenty of Shakespeare to go around, and my child’s gain need be no one else's loss. Perhaps, though—instead or in addition—the good I seek through education is a chance at one of society's better jobs, Better jobs are scatce, and we can assume that those with more and better education have an advantage in obtaining them. But better jobs can be searce in ‘so quite different ways. A job can be better because itis more interest- ing or rewarding (defined however one chooses) so that a person with a better job will have a better or richer life. Here again, what is wanted is a nontelative good; it is a good that happens to be scasce, howsser, because of certain unfortuiate accidents of the world we inhabit, and so ane person's aving-the good! excludes others from having it. Thgre is no nec ia person who wants a better job in this sense wants staus—eertainly not superiority, not nécessarily even equality. Status ‘may not enter asa consideration at al, Nevertheless, such a person will ‘want fo be better than others so that she will get the job. A job can be better ina different sense: it can occupy a higher posi- tion in the social hierarchy. A person who wants a better job in this sense clearly secks superiority over others; the good sought is what Fred Hirsch cals a positional good, one that is inherently scarce. Only in this case do we find the concern with status that has so dominated thinking about consumption, OF course, Ihave been arguing that the concern with status, insofar sit represents a desire for equality rather than superiority, is not repre- hensible. Yet educational goods illustrate the instability of the distic- tion. We can further clarify this point with the example of so-called gifted and talented programs in the public schools. As a parent, I may believe thatthe educational needs of my children and of childeen gener- ally are better served by an environment that deemphasizes tracking and that does not label academically talented students and segregate them from other students in special programs. I may hold this view even if my children are among those chosen by the elite system. Never- theless, given the existence ofa gifted and talented program, I will want my children to be selected for it. For once the system is in place, if my ee Consuming Because Others Consume 169 children are not labeled as better, they are thereby labeled as worse. It is simply rational to hope they are chosen, even if I disapprove of the system. A similar analysis can be given of the flight from public t0 private schools, “white flight” from integrating neighborhoods, and many other phenomena. In such situations, one who fails to practice ‘what she preaches has at least a partial defense against the charge of hypocrisy. We come back to the prisoner's dilemma situations mentioned in passing earlier. Just how large a range of consumption practices should be understood in these terms is a question that needs further investiga tion. But it is clear at least that some such practices do fall into this category: if you don't move ahead, you fall behind, So the decision not, ‘o acquire more of the good in question is not simply a decision not to improve one’s well-being; it is in effect a decision to lower it. When high school diplomas are a dime a dozen, employers will start to require college degrees; even if the additional education is not necessary to do the job, it serves as a sorting device. When college degrees are a dime a dozen, employers will require MBAs or law degrees, even though the additional education is not necessary. As Hirsch puts it, when everyone stands on tiptoe, no one sees any beiter. But if you don't stand on tiptoe, you won't see at all. If you want to see better, you'll have to get sls, But when everyone gets stilts Another way in which the line between the desire for equality and the desire for superiority blurs emerges from a more eareful examination Of the idea of the reference group. It may be true that people often want only equality with respect to those groups to which they aspire or to which they think they belong. But sometimes it is part of the group's identity to derive satisfaction from what Veblen calls “invidious com- parison” with other groups. A member of Mensa may be content so Tong as his 1Q equals that of other members. But he may also derive satisfaction from knowing he is smarter than others who do not qualify for membership. Some would argue that class membership works simi lary: a person’s satisfaction with being middle class rests partly on knowing there is a lower class. The instability of the line between the desire for equality and the desire for superiority depends on how central invidious compatison is to a group's identity. It is probably safe to say that feeling superior is central to the identity of some groups but not others. What’s Wrong with Consuming, Anyway? How much space do the relational aspects of consumption occupy in the totality of reasons for consuming? It is not easy either to interpret170 Judith Lichtenberg this question concretely or to know how to go about answuing it. My ‘own view is that the relational aspects of consumption are extremely important: the reasons people want things have a great deal to do with hat others around them have. This proposition has not been fully es- tablished by the foregoing arguments; but I believe that observation of and reflection on social phenomena support the conclusion that con- summing because others consume explains a great deal An important corollary is that €0 the extent that people's desires to consume depend on what others around them consume, collective re While the United States is not the most depressed country in the world, it may be on its way (o that infelicitous rank. On the basis of ‘0 earlier (1982, 1985) epidemiological studies funded in the United States by the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration involving a total of about twelve thousand people in 1982 and 1985, a rate of increase in depression in the United States much higher than the rates of other countries seems evident: “People bor after 1945 were 10 times more likely to suffer from depression than people born 50 years carlier."* Myra M. Weissman and her associates report research cover- ing five sites in the United States with similar, but less startling, results ‘These authors find “an increasing risk of depression at some point in life for younger Americans. For example, of those Americans born be-ay Robert E, Lane fore 1955, only one percent had suffered a major depression by age 75; of those bom after 1955 six percent had become depressed by age 24." ‘This finding corresponds to an earlier report ofa sin-year study tracking 956 American men and women: those under forty were three times more likely to become severely depressed than were older groups.’ The Weissman study suggests that about a quarter of the population now experiences some of the clinical symptoms of depression at least once uring a tifetime.* Because all mental illness is painful, itis relevant ‘that Ronald Kessler reports evidence showing that during their lifetimes almost half of the population (48 percent) will experience some kind of ‘mild or severe mental illness, of which major depression is the most common ‘Studies of mood disorders in children are even more disturbing, For example, one study in Britain finds a 42 percent inerease of mood disor. ders trom 1985 to 1990 among children under ten years of age."® Re- ports from the United States indicate similar increased childhood rates, ‘adding that childhood depression is a strong indicator of later depres. sion in adulthood."' Since children of the depressed are much more likely to be depressed themselves," a malign, self-reinforcing cycle seems to envelop us. ‘Major depression is not just a matter of mood. ‘The recently standard ized test for depression used in the nine-nation study mentioned above includes such further criteria as insomnia, loss of energy, hypertension, “loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities,” “feelings of worthless. hess, self-reproach, ot excessive or inappropriate guilt,” and “recurrent ‘thoughts of death, suicidal ideation, wishes to be dead, or suicide.” One classic formulation focuses on the trinity of hopelessness, helplessness, ‘and worthlessness."* Although depression and anxiety are separate ill. esses, most research report link the two. Hopelessnes is said by some to be the key variable,"* Let us take a moment to question the reliability and validity of these studies of rising depression. One reason for questioning them is that although measures of subjective well-being (happiness, satisfaction with life-as-a-whole) are, as we might expect, closely and inversely related to depression at any one time,'* over time they do not track the ‘measures of rising depression. I believe that this discrepancy between simultaneous and diachronic measures occurs because the happiness ‘measures are more sensitive ( the adaptation phenomenon, whereby people take as a standard their current or very recent moods, whereas the depression measures are not similarly sensitive. In any event, the measures of depression are more reliable than the simpler measures of happiness (in general surveys, often tapped by a single question). Other reasons for believing that the measures of rising depression are both TC | The Road Not Taken 221 teliable and valid are these: (1) the reliability of self-reports of depres- sive episodes has been demonstrated in careful retests of depression assessments after a four-year period’; (2) the studies of depression do fot rely on visits to therapists (which are contaminated by self-selec. 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