Modern economic theories encourage the view that most human activities should be translatable into measurable and quantifiable, preferably monetary, terms.
This has had a profound influence on most aspects of modern life.
Take as an example the modern concern with the right of women to work outside their homes. On the surface that seems a reasonable argument; women need to earn a living and should be given equal opportunities with men to do so.
Fair enough.
However, modern economic theory ignores two things. First, women who work, for the most part, are obliged to work and do not do so out of a desire to leave their homes and children. Second, the raising of the next generation of human beings is a task of critical and even overwhelming importance, and women are the primary influence in this domain.
But economic theory only recognizes those factors that can be quantified and measured, preferably in monetary terms. Mothers raising their children do not show up in GNPs or GDPs. A mother who leaves her children, in a crèche or with a babysitter, to go to work registers ringingly on economic indicators. What she does can be quantified and be given a value in dollars and cents, therefore it is good.
The encouragement given to individualism is another example of how modern economic theory affects our social norms.
The idea of individualism started along with modern economic theory during the industrial revolution. People until that time were living on agrarian activity tied to the land in societies which depended on common ownership of land based on feudal or tribal law. Extended families with strong networks and bonds helped to ensure agricultural efficiency.
Industry, however, needed workers who were interchangeable like cogs or ball bearings. The concept of individualism played an important role in legitimizing the process of destroying family bonds and ties in particular regions, which was needed to make workers mobile and to break their bonds with the land.
The rise of modern industry also led to the idea of consumerism in order to make use of the vastly increased capacity of industry to produce goods. Factories began to churn out more and more goods to satisfy the needs of societies, and it was important to keep expanding the demand of these societies and to encourage ever-increasing consumption.
Individualism promotes a selfish view of life and the catering to one’s whims, which is elevated by psychology, another modern invention, to become the noble cause of self-actualization.
Here individualism and consumerism fit very well together. One glorifies the self and its never-ending needs above all other considerations; the other channels all this selfishness into ways that benefit industry and enable it to reap huge profits.
All this can of course be quantified and measured on economic indicators so everyone is happy.
Or are they?
The problem is that the individual who is stripped of the comfort and safety of a group (family, tribe, union) is at the mercy of the economic forces I mentioned, with no way to protect him or herself.
The obsession with the self also leads to intense narcissism and frustration. But never mind. There is a whole industry of psychologists, drugs and rehab centers that are more than willing to help. For a suitable fee, of course.
Arab News Opinion 11 May 2003
