Identity Economy

The other night I heard a interesting talk on the CBC by an Italian economist Pier Luigi Sacco. It was thought provoking enough that I will try to reproduce his argument here.

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Global justice, in terms of performing some redistribution from in order to attack the problems of global poverty and inequity, is politically impossible in the west. How can we make it possible?

Normal economics is based upon a survivial economy. Many people lving in the so-called developing countries are just barely getting by. Resources are scarce. However, in the west, resources are not really as scarce. We don't have the same concerns for survival that people used to have. Hence, economics in the west is not really based upon scarcity in the same way. Instead it is based on the scarcity of identity. What is really scarce is the ability to have a unique identity. However we can not all be celebrities - so what do we do? We compensate with material purchases. We keep up with the Jones. We buy the new car, bigger house, cool clothes, etc. We have to satisfy our identity. So there is no way we can redistribute wealth because we need it to be able to keep purchasing stuff for our identities. Commercials of course completely reinforce this.

So. What to do? Well, his argument is that there are two ways one can build their identity; through compensatory material purchases or through experience. You can have very meaningful experiences in this world, which is full of opportunities for it. The only problem is that we are not educated in the correct way to appreciate these experiences. The commercials and flahsy entertainment keep us dumb and buying. So, consequently, what we need if we want global justice, is to educate people. Educate them so that they have the skills to develop their identities without the need for material compensation.
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Food for thought.