American Consumers Find Joy In Spending Less

DolceTracker| At AOC we track three values sets: Traditional, Modern and Cultural Creative. Even before the global recession, Cultural Creative values were in ascendancy, although Modern values remained the majority mindset in America. Highly consumerist, Modern values espressed from Wal-Mart to Bloomingdale’s expressed the very American believe that s(he) who has the most things wins the happiness game.

Not acquiring thing was almost unAmerican. Many Americans were sobering up about the emptiness of purely materialistic acquisition life strategies before the Monopoly game collapsed.

Today’s NYTimes Busineess section discusses changes in America’s consumption appetitite, placing a high priority on experiences and relationships vs things in the pursuit of happiness. Life simplification is becoming a high priority for many people, and not only because of our economic meltdown. We were headed in this direction in our national materialistic void. Read on But Will It Make You Happy?