signup for email updates Directory Our Archive: 2001-2004 Cover Art Archive Search When Does The Merry-go-round Stop? From the editor | by Tim Miejan Capitalism is what has made this country the most powerful nation in the world. But is it the perfect system? Is it the system for the future? I wonder. As immigrants step onto American soil, they are handed a photocopy of the American Dream. It reads, "Welcome! You are hereby granted the opportunity to create the life you desire. We support your efforts to lift your life from one of limited means to one of unlimited resources, and we encourage you to achieve the American Dream!" Unfortunately, achieving the American Dream is not that easy, even for men, women and children who are born American citizens. Millions of people struggle to find work, to feed themselves and to find shelter over their heads at night. And the picture is not getting brighter. Michael D. Yates, associate editor of Monthly Review, last month examined the findings of the biennial State of Working America, written by economists at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. Yates wrote that 35 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003 (12.5 percent of the population) and he noted that current economic patterns portend more of the same. In fact, Yates wrote: "The rich are definitely getting richer, both absolutely and relatively, and the poor are getting poorer in both senses, as well. The economic pie has steadily gotten bigger, but the share going to those at the bottom has actually shrunk, as most of the gains from greater productivity have gone to the owners of capital. Families have been able to bring home higher incomes each year, but this has mainly been due to greater hours of work and more family members working." My concern is that the economic pie always seems to get bigger. Prices continue to rise, and as they do, there is considerable pressure put on us to work harder, to work more hours, to try to climb faster up the corporate ladder, just to maintain the status quo. But who wants status quo? There is increasing pressure on us to spend more of our hard-earned pay. No one is coming to our door and holding us at gunpoint until we call the Home Shopping Network or to sign up for three more credit cards, but all of us are subject to constant advertising. Buy now at low interest until 2007! Order online and receive a free rebate on the purchase of a brand new car. Limit two per family. We face the combined pressure of working harder to maintain the lifestyle we desire for ourselves (as seen on TV!) and trying to withstand impulses to buy, buy, buy -- to not only keep up with the Joneses but to shut up that voice in our heads that tells us how happy we will be if we only buy this or buy that. The end result is increased prescriptions of anti-depressants, higher self-prescribed use of alcohol and other drugs, and feelings of despair. Call me paranoid, but someone is behind the curtain with his hands on the dial, just itching to amp up the pressure to send us rushing like lemmings to the shopping mall, with parking lots becoming bumper cars and check-out lines resembling Depression-era soup lines, all to the delight of shareholders. Which brings me to the question gnawing at me: What if we stopped buying things we don't need? What if we stopped watching and listening to commercials (thank you TIVO and satellite radio)? What if we could restrain ourselves from our next shopping fix? What if we stop cold turkey? What if we stopped playing the game? I invite you to join me in stretching beyond our comfort zones by simplifying our lives. Let us live consciously. Let us do jobs that truly fulfill our spirit, rather than just fill our bank account. Let us spend the time we have with the people we love, rather than with the objects that we think we love. Let us enjoy walking in our bare feet on the warm earth. Let us vow to create a work of art with our own two hands, and give it to a friend. Let's wake up and live -- on purpose. Tim Miejan is editor of Edge Life magazine. Contact him at (651) 578-8969, toll-free 1 (888) 776-5687 or editor@edgelife.net. Copyright © 2005 Tim Miejan. All rights reserved.