{"id":667,"date":"2025-01-22T09:46:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T09:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/jimmy-carter-was-right-about-materialism-but-alas-wrong-about-us\/"},"modified":"2025-01-22T09:46:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T09:46:03","slug":"jimmy-carter-was-right-about-materialism-but-alas-wrong-about-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/jimmy-carter-was-right-about-materialism-but-alas-wrong-about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Carter Was Right About Materialism but, Alas, Wrong About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Halfway into his presidency, Jimmy Carter\u2019s back was against the wall. It was July 1979, the height of the energy crisis, and the beleaguered president went on national television to deliver not a speech, but a kind of sermon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The address \u2014 called <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cartercenter.org\/news\/editorials_speeches\/crisis_of_confidence.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cCrisis of Confidence\u201d<\/a> \u2014 challenged Americans to acknowledge personal failings that he believed were compounding very real public problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cToo many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption,\u201d said Mr. Carter, who died Sunday. \u201cHuman identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we\u2019ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The dangers of a society\u2019s growing ever more covetous of bigger and better and more seemed obvious enough to Mr. Carter, who grew up in rural Georgia and lived in public housing as a young adult. By appealing to our better angels, he believed he could inspire in all of us a sense of thrift that would help heal America\u2019s ills: environmental degradation, dependence on foreign energy, the power of special interests and political extremism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For a fleeting moment, Americans listened. Mr. Carter\u2019s approval ratings jumped 11 points within hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But partisans smeared the address \u2014 they almost immediately called it the \u201cmalaise speech\u201d \u2014 and pilloried Mr. Carter, saying he was blaming Americans for problems that they hadn\u2019t created and that presidents were supposed to solve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Everything that happened after the speech \u2014 from persistent inflation to the Iranian hostage crisis \u2014 wiped away any warm feelings the voters had. He lost his re-election bid in a landslide to Ronald Reagan 16 months later, at the dawn of a decade that glamorized materialism like few if any that had come before it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The decades that followed have shown that Mr. Carter had the diagnosis right. Materialism has become epidemic \u2014 endemic, even. We mostly fail to ask ourselves one searching, overarching question: How much is enough?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Carter misread the nation in thinking that we would look within and without and then answer. In fact, there is little about our patterns since his address to suggest that we wish to earn, own and consume less, or that we have awakened to the fact that having, buying and using more may fail to make us happier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Consider how our children feel after we\u2019re mostly done raising and educating them. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, surveys first-year college students every year. The percentage who named being \u201cvery well off financially\u201d as an important goal doubled from 1967 to 2019. Those who wanted to develop a \u201cmeaningful philosophy of life\u201d decreased by nearly half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2013-23661-004\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Research<\/a> by <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.knox.edu\/academics\/faculty\/kasser-tim\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Tim Kasser<\/a> and Jean Twenge showed that materialism among 12th graders increased over time, peaking in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Generation X, and then stayed at those historically high levels among millennials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere was a trend underway at the time Carter was making this speech, and it basically just amplifies in the next 10 years rather than being suppressed,\u201d said Mr. Kasser, an emeritus professor of psychology at Knox College and the author of \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/mitpress.mit.edu\/9780262611978\/the-high-price-of-materialism\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The High Price of Materialism<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The lingering belief that Mr. Carter\u2019s presidency was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/opinions\/jimmy-carter-why-he-failed\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a failed one<\/a> casts its own cloud over the \u201cCrisis of Confidence\u201d speech, but whatever ailed the American psyche was mostly not his fault. A nation\u2019s character, like its economy, is never the province of a single leader. Nevertheless, Mr. Carter\u2019s words were easy political pickings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Reagan used Mr. Carter\u2019s call for moderation as a kind of anvil to define the sitting president. \u201cAre you better off now than you were four years ago?\u201d Mr. Reagan asked. \u201cIs it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Jonathan Alter wrote in \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanalter.com\/work\/his-very-best-jimmy-carter-a-life\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">His Very Best<\/a>,\u201d his excellent biography of Mr. Carter, \u201cThe politics of candor were terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Carter\u2019s wise counsel made him an easy mark for anyone inclined to criticize him as a finger-wagging scold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf you have concerns about consumption in society, it\u2019s very difficult not to sound moralizing and patronizing,\u201d said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northampton.ac.uk\/directories\/people\/alison-hulme\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Alison Hulme<\/a>, associate professor of social and cultural change at the University of Northampton in England and the author of \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk\/9781526128836\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">A Brief History of Thrift<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And so we got the opposite of what Mr. Carter wished for. Yuppies arrived in the 1980s, and the 1990s brought us Hummers to guzzle the gas that people had waited in line for 15 years earlier. In 2001, President George W. Bush <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov\/news\/releases\/2001\/09\/20010927-1.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">wanted us<\/a> to get back to our daily routines and fly to Disney World after the Sept. 11 attacks. And the Obama administration couldn\u2019t bear to slice away at a whopping tax break that makes it much easier for affluent families to spend $400,000 per child on college.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since then, the rise of social media has been marked, among other dreadful things, by lifestyle braggadocio and algorithms fine-tuned to serve scarily relevant ads. And then a man who named a gold-tinged tower after himself became our president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Rarely has there been an acute need for collective financial sacrifice during these last few decades, or much of any other kind of national sacrifice for that matter. When a test has arrived, we haven\u2019t exactly passed with flying colors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A considerable minority of Americans resented staying home and wearing masks during the early, uncertain stages of the coronavirus pandemic, amid ongoing protestations of a so-called loss of freedom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe tying together of rights with consumption is absolutely rife,\u201d said Dr. Hulme, whose academic research focuses on both of those topics. \u201cThis drives me insane,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kasser watched these developments with a sense of foreboding, because his research has shown that higher levels of materialism are associated with societal instability. The pandemic only turned up the heat on a roiling cauldron of social problems: growing economic inequality, horrific episodes of racism, worsening political divides and a deep mistrust in the legitimacy of our elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAnd it\u2019s not like advertising let up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">We will be tested again. Next time it may be a climate-related catastrophe, driven in part by the very patterns of consumption that Mr. Carter warned against in his speech. He called for turning down the thermostat in the winter and for 20 percent of the nation\u2019s energy to come from solar power by 2000 \u2014 all these years later, we\u2019ve done neither.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI think in Carter\u2019s mind there was some hope,\u201d said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ohio.edu\/cas\/mattson\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Kevin Mattson<\/a>, a professor of history at Ohio University and the author of a book about Mr. Carter\u2019s speech, \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/what-the-heck-are-you-up-to-mr-president-9781608191390\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?<\/a>\u201d \u201cBut I think there is profound doubt that we can muster the strength to do something about a problem that could destroy the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It seems unlikely that politicians today would give a speech anything like Mr. Carter\u2019s address. That would violate the vague but powerful principle that American exceptionalism should not be questioned \u2014 that the answer to every national problem of any import is blunt-force innovation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But it really isn\u2019t always the answer, and Mr. Carter knew it. After voters determined that he was not the kind of president they wanted, he demonstrated a mostly humble form of public service: As he maintained an international diplomatic profile, he led Bible study sessions and built houses with Habitat for Humanity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMaybe seeing the kind of work that he did after his presidency is another sign of hope,\u201d Professor Mattson said. \u201cThat someone can make an impact by being a citizen activist rather than by being president.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">We as individuals cannot block the sun or bridge the racial wealth gap. But we can do something \u2014 5 or 10 or 20 percent more than we have done before. Individually, it won\u2019t move the needle much, but change can be catching.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI think of the knock-on effects it can have,\u201d Dr. Hulme said. \u201cIt\u2019s more about a kind of culture change that can potentially lead to larger groups of people questioning their own lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One way to begin is with a redefinition of thrift, a word that comes from similar root words as thrive. What if we cast it, as the author Ramit Sethi <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/money-dials\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">does<\/a>, as a relentless focus on spending well on a few things that make us happiest and then radically paring back on the things that matter less?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI want people to change the way they live because it might be nicer for them,\u201d Dr. Hulme said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Eventually, we\u2019re going to have to try. And the longer we wait, the harder it will be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Audio produced by <!-- -->Parin Behrooz<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Halfway into his presidency, Jimmy Carter\u2019s back was against the wall. It was July 1979, the height of the energy crisis, and the beleaguered president went on national television to deliver not a speech, but a kind of sermon. The address \u2014 called \u201cCrisis of Confidence\u201d \u2014 challenged Americans to acknowledge personal failings that he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[353,351,350,352,354],"class_list":["post-667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-loan","tag-alas","tag-carter","tag-jimmy","tag-materialism","tag-wrong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}