If you have a keen ear, in between all the devastating national and international news, you may have heard the rumblings of what promises to be, a revolution in how Americans think.
In short, extravagance is out — thrift is in. We have quickly changed from a culture which binged on excess; stuffing ourselves with ever more possessions we couldn’t afford, applauding acquisitiveness and over-spending and we have, belatedly but collectively, come to our senses.
Although as Americans, we have always believed in working hard with a goal of enjoying "the good life," there is now a recognition that there is something immoral in aspiring to handbags and shoes costing many hundreds of dollars, when others have no place to live and little to eat.
Anger has replaced admiration toward corporate executives with their outsize bonuses and company jets. We have long been interested voyeurs into the lives of the rich and famous, but now there seems to be a new emphasis on how people live their lives; what contributions they make, rather than what possessions they have accumulated.
Signs of this revolution in thinking abound. A new comedian, known as Rev. Billy of the Church of Life After Shopping, pokes fun at our over-spending habits. Web sites encourage former "fashionistas" to become instead, "recessionistas" by going from new shoes to new soles, from redecorating to reorganizing and from retirement to reincarnation.
Department stores no longer use terminology like "must haves," "prestigious" or "ultimate luxury." They, instead, emphasize "incredible value" and "amazing savings." Even the well-off are shopping their closet instead of buying new spring fashions; something we seniors, for whom the new styles have never been designed, learned to do, long ago.
In fact, we are not only expert at shopping our closets, we shop our attics and basements, as well. As part of the emphasis on what kind of person you are rather than what you own, there are a rash of new books about changing your life by performing one unselfish act, every day.
People are also hungry for some good news amid all the gloom and doom. Brian Williams, who felt he was anchoring depressing news for a depressed audience, recently asked listeners to send examples of "good news stories" to his television station. He was amazed when they received thousands of responses within two days.
To give credit where credit is due, a lot of this "revolutionary thinking" is nothing different from what, those of us born in the ’20s and ’30s heard from our parents’ lips. "Buy only what you can afford." "Neither a borrower or a lender be." "A penny saved is a penny earned," and "use it up, wear it out, make it do."
The good coming out of our economic crisis is that hopefully we will return to some worthwhile fundamental principles for living. Meanwhile, I like this quote from an unknown author, "Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It is about learning to dance in the rain."
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