"People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like." - Abraham Lincoln in a book review

OK, I've changed my view on owning little dogs.

This week's TIME has a one-page article about how grocery stores encourage shoppers to buy more than they otherwise would. The author went to a huge warehouse with no signage on the outside but row after row of people watching monitors. At the other end of those monitors were hidden cameras positioned in grocery stores around the country. The employees were recording who bought what, and how much.

One tracker explained that in the store aisle she monitored they had set up a display of soup cans with a sign that read, "Campbell's Soup $1.95." Overnight they installed parquet flooring with ridges that gave the impression of luxury and also slowed down the people pushing carts. Then they put up a sign that read, "1.99, 3 can maximum." That is, two things on the sign changed. They got rid of the dollar sign (it emphasizes cost) and they artificially imposed a maximum. On the prior day 1 in 103 purchased soup. After the changes 1 in 14 bought soup.

I'm not sure which bothers me more - that we're so easily manipulated or that they have cameras spying on us as we shop.
Except for me, because I don't go into grocery stores except to visit the bank over in the corner.
And I'm guessing the auto parts store isn't trying that hard.

I heard it again today, this time from Tom Brokaw. He was asked an open-ended question about the state of things in America, whether he feels optimistic or pessimistic about the future. In the process of answering he said the great question is whether or not today's young people will be better off than their parents. Because, he said, that's the essence of the American dream.

Every time I hear that I want to reach into the TV (it's a flat screen so it wouldn't be much of a reach) and smack the person upside the head. And I'd do that, even to Tom Brokaw.

As long as we define quality of life in terms of the quantity in life we're doomed as individuals and a nation. If "better off" means bigger, fancier and more of ____, the real things in life like relationships, character and compassion will suffer. Or, to paraphrase Solomon, "Better a meal of mac & cheese in an apartment where there is love than pork loin and chardonnay in a McMansion filled with estrangement and hostility."

A look at contemporary culture suggests there's little correlation between quantity and quality, and when there is they often move in opposite directions. Yes, I want my adult children to do well financially, but if I had to choose between the two I'd much rather have them be poor and do well in the non-material matters of life. Maybe it's because we can measure GDP and consumer spending while character and compassion defy quantifying, but it seems like we hear a lot more about the former than the latter.

Never mind the obvious question - isn't there a ceiling somewhere beyond which material prosperity cannot realistically rise from one generation to the next? - how did we get so wrapped up in always being better off materially than we were? Are other countries and cultures similarly obsessed? Is there any way to reign it in, even partially? Can we find a way to focus attention on character and values? Probably not, but I wish we could.