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

by Juliet B. Schor

necessities. Interview research in late 2008 found a five-stage process that began with a “goodbye homo economicus” epiphany and continued through to a recalibration of what is important in life. People talked about a shift from an economy of “me” to an economy of “we,” from status-oriented spending to reengaging with the difference between needs and wants. The anthropologists who conducted the study were surprised to find this “larger, more existential debate.” But the public is aware that the American way of life is not sustainable. Surveys I worked on as early as 2004 found that more than 80 percent of the population agreed that protecting the environment would require “most of us to make major changes in the way we live.” The years since then have increased ecological awareness and urgency. There’s no consensus on what to do, but there’s recognition that business-as-usual is failing.