Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Boomers and the Revolt Against Mass Overconsumption

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by

James A. Bacon
in

In my new capacity as SVP-publishing at The Boomer Project, one of my jobs is to scan the horizon for emergent trends relating to the sociology and psychology of Baby Boomers and other generations (Silent Generation, GenX and GenY) and blog about them on the Boomer Consumer blog. Those insights, and those culled by Boomer Project principals Matt Thornhill and John Martin from their years of study on the subject, are distilled into columns that run biweekly in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Readers of the Bacon’s Rebellion blog will find the theme of the latest column, “Boomers and the Revolt Against Consumerism,” to be familiar. Indeed, if you take the insights of generational analysis and cross-fertilize them with the critique of Mass OverConsumption on this blog, you wind up with the thesis of this op-ed piece: After years of excessive consumption, the United States is rediscovering the virtues of thrift and frugality. From the op-ed piece:

We believe this change is being driven by more than temporary financial hardship. Long-term, the consumerist backlash is energized by: (1) the natural maturation of the boomer cohort, (2) a dawning recognition that longer life spans and longer retire ments require more money, and (3) the spread of a “sustainability” ethic among all segments of the population.

Boomers now range in age from 44 to 62 years old. Following the path of previous generations, they are now at the age where they derive their self-identity less from their material trappings and social status than from their own inner compass. They are less concerned about acquiring status symbols like Beemers, vacation homes, granite kitchen countertops, and $1,200 purses and more about building ties to friends and family, and nurturing their self-identity and self-respect. Deriving less satisfaction from the accumulation of “stuff,” they are seeking the financial security and flexibility in their extended, post-65 lives that only saving, paying down debt, and investing can get them.

The growing anti-materialism of the boomer generation dovetails with the spreading environmental revolt against an economy organized around mass consumption. Creating an environmentally sustainable society entails buying less stuff: plundering less land for the extraction of raw materials, consuming less energy during production and distribution, and filling fewer acres of landfills when the stuff wears out.

The leading edge of this movement is driven by what Harvard Business School professor John Quelch calls the “middle-aged simplifier” — well-off people who are turning their backs on conspicuous consumption and the accumulation of stuff. Turning their backs on Hummers, McMansions and other symbols of material success, many of these are he writes in his blog, includes “empty-nester baby-boomers . . . who are tired of heating unused spaces in cavernous mansions, now preferring smaller houses with architectural character and intimate spaces, more charm and less maintenance.”

Implications for Virginia: So, why post on this topic on a blog of Virginia-specific politics? Because the trend is national in scope and will change consumer behavior in Virginia as it will the rest of the country. The quest for “simplification” and “frugality,” I hypothesize, will manifest itself as reduced demand for the traditional symbols of conspicuous consumption: huge houses, multiple cars in the garage, lavish vacations, frequent dining out, shopping as entertainment and the accumulation of stuff. These changes, in turn, will impact human settlement patterns, transportation systems, retail sales (and sales tax revenues) and any number of other pillars of Business As Usual.

It would be a huge mistake for public policy makers to assume that the patterns of the past half century will continue in a straight-line projection from the past. We have reached an inflexion point. Policy makers take heed.
(Photo credit: PBS.)

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10 responses to “Boomers and the Revolt Against Mass Overconsumption”

  1. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    In terms of overconsumption and people looking for more sustainable lifestyles – what is the conventional wisdom with respect to

    1. – electricity usage per capita?

    2. – the source of it… how it is to be generated?

    Isn’t electricity – and the use of it probably in the top 3 things where .. cutting back consumption would have a measureable .. meaningful impact?

    Let’s rephrase – what do we think the goal is for these folks who want a more sustainable lifestyle in terms of electricity usage?

    If they are planning on giving up their granite counter-tops.. how do they feel about electricity?

    Are the boomers – hold on to your hat – are they so bold and brash as to question our current lifestyle that is based on … twice as much consumption as most other industrialized economies?

    or … does electricity have nothing to do with any of this?

  2. Darrell -- Chesapeake Avatar
    Darrell — Chesapeake

    I think “the middle-aged simplifier” is being overly simplistic. Guess that’s what happens when you base conclusions on questions than almost anyone would answer Yes to.

    Boomers have lost a mint in the past couple of years. Whether they invest in bonds, stocks or real estate the results have been a loser. Of course they are going to pay down debt and spend less, there isn’t as much decressionary money to spread around before they face retirement.

    That said, I do think that you will see Boomers become less materialistic as they develop their own form of globalism. They will become the first generation of a truly rootless society, moving from country to country as economic benefits present themselves regardless of former status. The expat retiree movement will become a growth industry as people find they can not afford to stay in their home countries.

  3. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    Maybe it isn;t so much a revolt, as satiation.

    RH

  4. Frank Avatar
    Frank

    If you take the insights of generational analysis and cross-fertilize them with the critique of Mass Over Consumption on this blog, you wind up with the thesis of this op-ed piece.

  5. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    “Frugality and happiness aren’t something society usually puts together. Frugality often brings up images of great sacrifice. We think of the miser who lived in poverty only for others to find millions saved after the miser passes away. What was the use?

    Frugal living isn’t necessarily what you may possibly consider it to be. Frugal people live very happy lives. They find happiness in meeting goals, reducing their financial burdens and living stress free.

    How happy can you be when you are drowning in debt and struggling to make ends meet? You aren’t living frugally, but you aren’t happy either.

    The frugal person often sees each step towards being debt-free or early retirement as a great success. They don’t focus on that outfit they didn’t buy or that new car they aren’t driving. They focus on having spending money left over at the end of the month. They focus on the things that really matter.”

    Dianetics.org

    ————————

    They focus on the things that really matter – having moey left ofver at the end, like the miser in the first paragraph.

    Assuming you are not frugal perforce: you haven’t got anything to spend, then what IS the point? If you are saving for retirement, you will spend it now, or spend it later – maybe.

    Like the miser.

    Of course, if you DO spend it later, you WILL consume less, but probably because everything costs more.

    But, assume you make enough to have all you need, and a little more. What do you do with the excess? Unless you put it in you r mattress, just about anything you do with it will contribute to more production and more consumption.

    That is the entire purpose for money.

    RH

  6. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    ….”…just about anything you do with it will contribute to more production and more consumption.”

    then it should be given to the government to spend on green infrastructure – right?

  7. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    Only if it provides a net social benefit.

    No doubt we will find new and unusual ways to use green infrastructure, and “free energy” ,as Robert Kenedy Jr. proposes we can have, to provide still more consumables to screw up the planet with.

    We will pave paradise to put up a parking lot – filled with solar plug in hybrids. We will be driving them to even larger homes, in “wronger” places, that we can now heat and cool for “free”, thanks to subsidies paid by our taxes.

    RH

  8. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    if both Humvees and Green Infrastructure BOTH provide net social benefits – how do you decide how much of each you can afford?

  9. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    Whether you choose to believe it or not,there are well established ways to measure such things.

    Basically, all you have to do is establish boundaries large enough to capture most of the people affected.

    Then you add up all the costs, and all the benefits.

    If they both afford social benefits, thenyou can only afford the one that provides the highest benefit for the money spent, until you have all that you need.

    Then you switch to the next highest one on the list.

    Period.

    Any other result is sub optimal.

    Now, you are going to say that a battleship without destroyer escorts and oilers isn’t worth much. That yu need a mix of benefits to get the best overall results.

    The key phrase here is “until you have all you need”.

    As soon as you build that Battleship, an oiler or two becomes a high priority.

    This is elementary mathematics, in any MBA or management program.

    RH

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