Trading Down is Trading Up

During the last two weeks, I've listened to two distinctly different articles on NPR. One that I believe reflects the behaviors of the past and one that gives me the audacity to hope for a better future.

The first piece was authored by the Cato Institute, and was heard on Marketplace Morning Report. In Don't Be Frugal To Follow Recession Chic; Commentator Will Wilkinson says that if you can, you should keep spending. Essentially, the folks at the Cato Institute want us to believe that by not consuming all we can, we are actually hurting others. So the best thing to do is live it up to help get the economy going. Help your neighbor by purchasing all the stuff you can afford — just like you've were doing before the economic crisis. No need to worry, just take care of your wants and the free market will take care of the rest.

The second piece aired on the Christmas Morning Edition Show. For Junky Car Club, Charity Begins In The Garage; Mike Foster — a former sports car owner who now sponsors four children through Compassion International, speaks about car owners who have traded down from pricey cars to junkers and use the extra cash for charity. Mike didn't suggest that we give up driving, he simply strives to live a life based more on the common good and less on conspicuous consumption.

Clearly we need more of the type of actions modeled by Mr. Foster and less of the ideas espoused by the Cato Institute. On Christmas, it was good to hear a hoped filled example of how making little changes to our lifestyle can help bring grace and justice to our hurting world.