True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans Are Creating a Time-Rich, Ecologically Light, Small-Scale, High-Satisfaction Economy

by Juliet B. Schor

A groundbreaking statement about ecological decline, suggesting a radical change in how we think about consumer goods, value, and ways to live. In True Wealth , economist Juliet B. Schor rejects the sacrifice message, with the insight that social innovations and new technology can simultaneously enhance our lives and protect the planet. Schor shares examples of urban farmers, DIY renovators, and others working outside the conventional market to illuminate the path away from the work-and-spend cycle and toward a new world rich in time, creativity, information, and community.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Sociology, Environment, School, Academic

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2011

About the author

Juliet Schor’s research over the last ten years has focussed on issues pertaining to trends in work and leisure, consumerism, the relationship between work and family, women's issues and economic justice. Schor's latest book is Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture (Scribner 2004). She is also author of The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure and The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting and the New Consumer. She has co-edited, The Golden Age of Capitalism: Reinterpreting the Postwar Experience, The Consumer Society Reader, and Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the 21st Century. Earlier in her career, her research focussed on issues of wages, productivity, and profitability. She also did work on the political economy of central banking. Schor is currently is at work on a project on the commercialization of childhood, and is beginning research on environmental sustainability and its relation to Americans’ lifestyles.

Schor is a board member and co-founder of the Center for a New American Dream, an organization devoted to transforming North American lifestyles to make them more ecologically and socially sustainable. She also teaches periodically at Schumacher College, an International Center for Ecological Studies based in south-west England.

from http://www2.bc.edu/~schorj/default.html

Reviews

[Russell Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have used essays by Juliet Schor and chapters from this book of hers for many years in my "Simplicity and Sustainability" class, but I recently re-read the book entirely in order to remind myself of the full range of her proposals and arguments. It really is a fine book; her notion of "plenitude" (which was the original title of the book) is a powerful one, which combines the liberating and empowering potential of internet technology with her long-standing conviction that the route to a less environmentally and materially wasteful, as well as a more egalitarian and healthy, world will be one that makes it easier for people to get off the corporate work-spend-accumulate track, and instead satisfy their needs more through sharing resources and community-based DIY commerce. Basically, she wants people to work fewer hours, do more with less, and pool knowledge and resources in order to generate satisfaction-giving activities that don't require as many material goods. There are large portions of the book which are downright psychological, looking into how human beings respond to changes in the social landscape and construct systems of valuation, but mostly it is (as reflects Schor's own background) an economic exploration. Her ideas about the "materiality paradox" (the fact that making material goods smaller or more efficient does not necessarily result in a lessening of the environmental burden generated by the demand for material goods) is an powerful and important insight, and that's just one of several excellent points she makes. Ultimately, though, I can't give it more than three stars, because there is, to my mind, a huge assumption which guides her writings, an assumption which simply isn't warranted. Specifically, her book constantly presents its proposals as "win-win," with every cut-back in earning or turning away from plentiful consumer goods being made up for with rewarding free time or more durable, alternative consumer goods. There is no tragedy in this book, no hard choices that the environmental and economic challenges that face us which we can't negotiate. So not only does she not confront the real difficulty that the political changes necessary for her proposed solutions (entirely portable--that is, universal--health care so as to free people from their dependence upon growth-demanding jobs being the largest example, but far from the only one) involve, but she doesn't admit that many of the good things in our lives really are tied-up with the systems of over-production and wealth-generation all around us (the ridiculously cheap food produced by industrial agriculture for one, the amazing life-saving potential of incredibly specialized and expensive medical procedures for another). Until Schor recognizes the difficulty and losses which moving towards sustainability must involve, I can't give her book as high a recommendation as her good analysis and ideas warrant.

[Julio Armas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book!

This book introduced me to the conversation that is going on about the way we are using the planet resources, and how this is making a impact on our planet.

Also, it suggests and shows that there are other ways to do it. Other ways of living that gives back to the Earth and helps us feel better along the way.

The book is full of references and examples, so I'm positive that anyone who is interested in learning about other ways of wealth will find this book interesting.

I found the language difficult at times, but English is not my native language. With a little bit of effort I feel I was able to understand a good portion of the ideas exposed in this book.

Enjoy 🙏🏽

[C S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book definitely made me examine my own carbon footprint and what I can do to have a more minimal impact on the environment. I am very fortunate to have a job with few working hours but I know that suggestion is very difficult for others. I see the benefit in being able to use that time to learn and better yourself. Overall interesting points.

[Brinda Narayan · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://brindasnarayan.com/juliet-sch...

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book pairs well with the personal stories of simpler living that I have recently enjoyed. It is a nice academic overview of the environmental and psychological/health reasons to live more simply and the major ways people are pursuing these better lifestyles. This was a small book, and I would love to learn more details on what an economy that does not have planet-devastating consumption at its heart might look like. If there is much less demand for jobs in industries in manufacturing and retail in this new economy, what kinds of jobs can we replace them with? And, how do we create the eco-friendlier jobs, such as those in education and the green sector? Will much of these changes require government policy or big collective action, or are there also things that I as an individual can do?

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book carries a strong message, that beyond a certain point, growth, taken to mean the expansion of output, does not lead to more happiness and satisfied lives, has been and will continue to be detrimental to the natural world and its life support capacity, such that humanity should move away from conventional market based economics towards a model of self reliant, decentralised societies based on less income and more time in which to practice sustainable lifestyles. The evidence of mankind exacting far greater impact on the environment and planet than its carrying capacity, due to the capitalistic market economy is very well presented and compelling. The author's suggestions of ways forward are interesting but less so, since when it comes to implementation the devil is in the details, and no one has yet found a definitive solution to truly sustainable living.

[Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The vision of smaller more responsive, responsible companies and potentially being time affluent as opposed to merely having more stuff is appealing. I liked the idea of "simplicity has become an evolutionary superior trait."

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once I slogged through the preface and introduction and pretty much got the gist of the book, I couldn't bring myself to actually read it. I feel like the whole thing could have been summed up in a bullet point list, or maybe a graph.

[Liz De Coster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry and uninspiring.

[Jack Oughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rarely have I felt so inspired by a book.