How Americans Are Rethinking Prosperity

How Americans Are Rethinking Prosperity
U.S.News & World Report

By Susan Johnston | US News – Wed, Nov 23, 2011 11:22 AM EST


Despite lingering unemployment and a still sluggish economy, many Americans are finding reasons to be thankful this time of year. In fact, for some, unexpected layoffs, financial setbacks, or simply a desire to spend more time with family have served as a reality check, a wake-up call for consumers to rethink their idea of wealth and prosperity.

"People are focusing more on life satisfaction than satisfaction by consumption," says Ethan Willis, co-author of Prosper: Create the Life You Really Want and co-founder of Prospect Inc., a one-to-one distance learning company that focuses on topics like real estate, entrepreneurship, and personal development. "One of the big shifts is that people are questioning, 'Is the time that I'm spending bringing me greater satisfaction in my life versus something that is just on autopilot?'"

More money doesn't necessarily lead to greater happiness, says Willis, so many consumers are getting off the "hedonic treadmill" and looking for ways to realign with family and the values that matter to them. He calls this finding one's "Polaris Point," a personal philosophy or set of values that guides decision-making.

For some people, like Shelly Cone of Santa Maria, Calif., that means starting a business that allows for greater flexibility, even if it means less money. Cone and her husband are serial entrepreneurs who once owned a successful real estate business. The housing bust took their business down with it, but Cone has made her peace with that. "We've learned that money can come and go, but life's experiences remain with you," she says. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/americans-rethinking-prosperity-162216815.html

I'm reading In Cheap We Trust: The Story Of A Misunderstood American Virtue by Lauren Weber (2009).

From the back cover:
Cheap suit. Cheap date. Cheap shot. Cheap is almost a dirty word, laden with negative meanings. But in hard times, quesions about Americans' conflicted relationship with consumption and frugality become urgen and provactaive. Why do we ridicule people who save money? Where's the boundary between thrift and miserliness? Is thrift a virtue during a recession?

In addressing these questions, In Cheap We Trust offers a colorful ride through the history of frugality in American -- from Ben Franklin and his famous maxims to today's Dumpster divers and freegans, from the stereotyping of Jewish and Chinese immigrants as cheap to John Maynard Keynes's "Paradise of Thrift." In Cheap We Trust teases out the meanings of cheapness and examines the wisdom and pleasures of not spending every last penny.

afford. Not price be damned, but the best value. Cheapest is not always best. Which I think may have been the rational of the $600 hammer that became the lowest bidder and hence the Cheapest quality and price and the decay of the structure.