How We Emerge From Consumerism

It was a brisk January morning in Paris in 1918, and President Wilson and his staff were unsure of what kind of reception they might receive on their way to the Palace of Versailles. Just a few months prior, several hundred thousand troops from the German Empire were within 80 miles of capturing the city and had caused some residents to flee their homes. The war had since ended, but those in attendance at the Paris Peace Conference could be excused from not appreciating the first US President to ever travel to Europe while in office, or recognizing his role in leading a postwar world.

As it turned out, the reception for President Wilson was that of a hero. Wilson’s staff had spent a significant amount of effort with the press in the weeks leading up to the event in order to portray the United States as a harbinger of democracy to all of Europe, rather than a restorer of the old empires that came before it. The messaging was designed to appeal to the deepest desires and aspirations of a group of people who had suffered centuries of oppression and war as the result of the belligerent ambitions of a privileged aristocracy. The architect of this campaign, a young press agent named Edward Bernays, needed no additional evidence of the influence of a force we refer to today as mass marketing.

While applications like these were profound, Bernays owed much of his success to the work of his uncle and Viennese psychologist Sigmund Freud. Over the course of his career, Freud methodically deconstructed the inner workings of the subconscious mind, as well as its associated beliefs and desires. Rather than the previously-held belief that the conscious mind dictates human functionality, Freud suggested that the conscious mind was actually the result of a much more complex set of forces stemming from our experiences and biology. While a number of his more notorious theories have been disproven, especially those associated with human sexuality, most psychologists still consider Freud’s work to be among the most significant contributions to our modern understanding of how the mind works.

Bernays would return to a postwar American society with this proof in hand to lead similar efforts to sell products and services for more than 30 years on behalf of corporations. These businesses, which had scaled their operations to unprecedented levels in support of war efforts, were seeking ways to encourage greater levels of consumption by Americans during peacetime. Bernays’ differed from predecessors in that he leveraged emerging communications vehicles like radio and television to appeal to the deepest desires and aspirations of large groups of people. In one such campaign, Bernays partnered with the American Tobacco Corporation to reach a generation of women seeking independence by promoting their use of cigarettes at culturally significant events, which was considered socially provocative and a taboo at the time.

We continue to live with the legacy of Freud, Bernays and the ‘mad men’ era that their work would usher in.

While the efforts of government and industry to promote behaviors centered around self-interest would lead to one of the largest and most successful middle classes in history, we are learning that the impacts on our health and the environment were of limited concern or even basic understanding. In 1930, the population of the United States was nearly split between rural and agricultural communities, and each economic model functioned without the widespread use of an automobile. Yet efforts in the 20th century to make home ownership desirable on the part of industry and obtainable on the part of government has created an environment where most Americans live in suburbs, and no longer consider walking a viable or convenient means to meet their most basic economic or physiological needs. Further to this, our transition to a knowledge economy has led to a situation where, according to a 2008 study, most adults spend 50 to 70 percent of their waking hours sitting.

Appealing to inner aspirations as a vehicle toward profit has not only prevented millions from leading more active lifestyles, but has also contributed toward an obesity epidemic. A committee led by US Senator George McGovern released its findings on the state of the American diet in 1977. The report, which argued that high sugar and fat were contributing to poor health, was largely rejected by the egg, sugar and meat industries, and re-written to encourage greater consumption of leaner and lower fat products. For the subsequent thirty years, the rate of obesity in the US doubled as the food industry promoted 'low fat' products as a means to lose weight, supplementing these products with significant amounts of sugar to make them more palatable. As a result, the average American consumed 19 teaspoons of sugar per day in 2008 or more than twice the amount recommended by the American Heart Association.

While western industry enabled protection from external threats in the 20th century, it became an internal threat by leveraging government influence to reinforce claims. Organizations such as the USDA were unable to resolve the conflicting interests of promoting agricultural industries such as corn, sugar, diary and wheat while promoting the health of American citizens. Beginning in 1980, the organization partnered with industry to issue dietary guidelines that promoted a diet heavily based on carbohydrates, as evidence continued to mount that a diet rich in carbohydrates is counter to the goals of a healthy lifestyle. With 65% of Americans reported as obese or overweight, one may question the ability of the country's economic engine to continue to prosper.


Fortunately, the effects of these influences have not gone unnoticed, and the old model of self-interest is slowly making way for a renewed spirit of collectivism. Scientists have questioned how humans were able to substantially differentiate themselves from the rest of the animal kingdom. The results suggest that progress was not a result of a substantial leap in brainpower, but because of their ability to use tools and to transfer knowledge to future generations.  In the past few years, major technology companies likes Tesla, Facebook and Google have announced plans to deploy internet access to every human on earth, connecting an additional 2 billion people with all of recorded knowledge. The American artist Andy Warhol once quipped about the significance that a product like Coke is enjoyed the same by those at the top of society and those at the bottom. With the increasing affordability and ubiquity of mobile computing, we can remain optimistic that future societies will have the tools and information to make substantial improvements in our sustainability, our health, and our efficiency.

4 Lessons From Marcus Aurelius and The Billionaire Trying to Save The World

In many ways, the industries admired most for their contributions to innovation have become utterly boring.  Some of the best minds of Silicon Valley, a region that brought utility to the internet and access to mobile computing for millions,  apply themselves to sell advertising through services like Facebook and Twitter. Those who grew up enamored with the prospects of exploring space now enter a workforce where the most advanced space faring organizations rely on a soviet-era capsule to get people into orbit- complete with mechanical knobs and computer screens that appear unchanged from its inaugural 1966 flight. Those who wish to design the cars of the future might also be disappointed to see companies using ‘sign and drive’ promotions as primary selling points - opportunities for a slightly less miserable buying experience.

Companies led by Elon Musk, which include privately-held rocket company SpaceX and electric car maker Tesla Motors, are among our best hopes to reinvigorate innovation in America, and the intriguing story of their founder is one characterized by risk, failure, vilification, and vindication. In the book ‘Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future’, New York Times tech reporter Ashlee Vance follows the journey of a man as he emerges from a family of adventurers and a childhood filled with torment to become tougher and more confident after a series of near catastrophic business failures.  The authorized biography gives a deeper and more honest portrait by meeting the people who feared, loved, loathed, and admired a man emerging from Silicon Valley as a millionaire, and risking his fortune on risky business ventures only to persevere as a billionaire.

In our own efforts to become better, biographies such as these give us a tremendous opportunity to learn from the trials and tribulations of others and apply them toward ourselves. Elon Musk joins figures such as the first century Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in demonstrating the philosophy of stoicism and a commitment to finding moral and intellectual perfection. Here are a few examples:

	Marcus Aurelius	Elon Musk
On seizing the moment…	'The present is all you have, and what you do not have, you cannot lose.'	‘I expect our revenue in ten years to be ten million dollars a day. Every day we are slower to achieve our goals is a day of missing out on that money.”
On ignoring what people think…	''Is it your reputation that's bothering you? But look at how soon we're all forgotten. The abyss of endless time swallows it all.'	‘I will spend my last dollar on these companies. If we have to move into [my wife’s] parents’ basement, we’ll do it.’
On remaining focused through hardship…	‘Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix your eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being’	Equity partner Antonio Gracias “What he went through in 2008 would have broken anyone else. He didn’t just survive. He kept working and stayed focused.” That ability to stay focused in the midst of a crisis stands as one of Musk’s main advantages over other executives and competitors.
On emotion as a poor servant….	‘The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.’	On the death of his infant son “I’m not sure why I’d want to talk about extremely sad events. It does no good for the future. If you’ve got other kids and obligations, then wallowing in sadness does no good for anyone around you.”

Leave Yourself Open

Without realizing it, the experiences that leave us feeling tired, hurt, disappointed, or frustrated end up influencing our view on the outcome of future experiences. If your days at work leave you feeling unfulfilled, you are more likely to expect an unfulfilling day once you begin a new one. If someone in your life consistently drains you of energy during your interactions, you are more likely to expect an interaction with that person to be anything otherwise. If you recently made a commitment to start exercising, and found the first few workouts to be absolute misery, you are going to find excuses for why you won’t be able to do it again. Pain avoidance is a natural and important heuristic that humans have developed in their evolution to survive in a challenging environment.

The problem with pain avoidance is that it assumes that our environments won’t change. In the 1960s, a psychologist in the US named Martin Seligman ran an experiment where dogs were administered with a series of painful shocks. At first, the animals would test and try different methods to avoid the shocks. But after receiving enough of them, they simply endured the pain. Even after they were presented with ways of escaping the pain and the circumstances of their environment changed, the dogs took no action. This behavior was later referred to as learned helplessness.

If we are to live lives of presence, fulfillment, and compassion, the notion that our environment can’t change without our intervention could be considered learned helplessness. Beyond the dynamic changes you may have experienced in your relationships and growth in the past several years, consider the pace of technology and how it may have affected your life. Magical pocket computers that give us access to all of the world’s information have only been in use by most Americans since 2013. Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.

What forgone conclusions of struggle or disappointment have you made in your life?

By closing ourselves to the possibility that we can change someone’s life or transform our own in a given moment, the parameters of our past become barriers to our development in the future. Each day is an opportunity for us to acknowledge that while we have limited influence over the people, resources, and circumstances of our lives, we cannot control them entirely. And since we’re still here, in a mind-numbingly complex arrangement of space and time, perhaps we can consider each and every moment an opportunity to become our best selves.