Scarcity Mentality and Commodification
My dad and I are very close. Over the years, however, there is a topic that has become more difficult for us to engage in – that of American politics and economics. This is probably because I have less certainty and more questions these days and it can get awkward fast.
I grew up believing that if our economy is less restricted, government programs are smaller, and taxes are lower, then everyone benefits and wins. The last few years I have begun questioning this assumption and Polanyi’s The Great Transformation only adds to the questions.
Is everyone benefiting? Does everyone win in this system? Is there a better way? And if I am honest, then there is the question of who am I to even ask these since I know so little of such complex subjects?
One thing I know. We are embedded. Our embeddedness makes it difficult to see. It makes it difficult to sit with questions that could challenge all we have ever known and seem threatening to our lifestyle. Perhaps this is why Polanyi’s work is still being discussed decades later? Because while we are entrenched and unsure of solutions, our awareness that not everyone is benefiting (and many suffer) keeps us searching.
The county I live in is a dichotomy of resources. It holds one of the wealthiest areas in the country, which includes Mara-Lago, Donald Trump’s Palm Beach residence. But if you take this same road at Mara-Lago due west you will end up in Belle Glade, one of the poorest towns in Florida. Within the same county, we have one of the richest zip codes in the country and also the city that ranks 213 of 215 of best places to live in Florida[1]. It’s hard to reconcile.
I wonder if on a macro level these inequalities continue to exist, at least in part, because of a scarcity mentality. Stephen Covey believes there are two mindsets in life, that of scarcity or abundance.[2]He asserts that these are the two basic ways people see the world and that each has great consequences. Scarcity is a zero-sum view of life which means that there is only so much pie to go around and if you get some, I will have less. But abundance believes that there is more than enough to go around. Scarcity mentality is much more natural according to research and my personal experience but breeds all kinds of evil.
People become objects and obstacles to ‘getting ours’. If there is only so much to go around, you become my competition. Or I need to use you in order to get a bigger piece of the pie. It is difficult to serve someone when they are same person you need to beat or best. When scarcity is the filter, it is easier to understand the commodification of laborers. As Asad Zaman gives insight in his summary of The Great Transformation–
“Certain ideologies, which relate to land, labour and money, and the profit motive are required for efficient functioning of markets. In particular, both poverty, and a certain amount of callousness and indifference to poverty are required for efficient functioning of markets. Capitalist economics require sales, purchase, and exploitation of labor, which cannot be done without creating poverty, and using it to motivate workers…Thus, the existence of a market economy necessitates the emergence of certain ideologies and mindsets which are harmful to, and in contradiction with, natural human tendencies.”[3]
I am not suggesting that we just all think ourselves abundantly into a transcendent global economic reality. But as Christians, it is important to wrestle with the issues of poverty and the discrepancies of Palm Beach and Belle Glade and how our systems undergird the considerable gap. And we need to wrestle with what happens when we see people as labor instead of humans. Exploitation and injustice are surely the result.
I continue to wrestle with the truth of my own story and personal research – that God is not a ‘user’ and is not interested in us solely for what we can produce or what can be squeezed from us. We are not just laborers. We are not on this planet to simply add to someone’s bottom line. And I keep coming to this – so if God is not an exploiter of people then the people of God should not be as well.
I appreciate Polanyi’s caution against elevating profits over humans. This fight protects humans from functioning as machines. Dr. Len Sweet told me a couple of years ago that it was not our responsibility to help people become more spiritual but to help become more human. Humans are already spiritual beings but we lose our humanity when we are scrapping and fighting over limited resources or pieces of pie.
The overwhelm one can sense when dealing with such a broad, nuanced, complex topic such as market societies must not lead us to apathy but should inspire us to do our part while on the planet to protect and serve humanity. I read an epiphany Frederick Buechner had a long time ago that ‘in the long run, there can be no real joy for anybody until there is joy finally for us all’[4]. So the work continues…
[1]https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/local/where-does-palm-beach-rank-among-the-nation-wealthiest-zip-codes/Ldggp6huwrGjbVBCHv5VqL/
[2]Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Provo, UT: Franklin Covey, 1998, 218-9.
[3]Zaman, Asad. “Summary of the Great Transformation.” WEA Pedagogy Blog.
https://weapedagogy.wordpress.com/2013/08/28/summary-of-the-great-transformation-by-polanyi/(January 23, 2019).
[4]Buechner, Frederick, and George Connor. Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2007, .21
About the Author
Andrea Lathrop
I am a grateful believer in Jesus Christ, a wife, mom and student. I live in West Palm Beach, Florida and I have been an executive pastor for the last 8+ years. I drink more coffee than I probably should every day.8 responses to “Scarcity Mentality and Commodification”
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Andrea,
I appreciate your wrestling with the vagaries of these complex theories while trying to reconcile inequities with fellow humans. Your example of a stark economic disparity in your county of residence serve as a living reminder how differently humans have access to resources. I appreciate your introduction of Covey’s scarcity and abundance perspectives. Is it not interesting that human fallenness always leads to scarcity (regardless of one’s economic state) while faith in Jesus always leads to faith in God’s abundance for all now (again regardless of one’s economic state?) What are some of the best ways you have found to do your part?
Harry – you are so right about the difference between God’s economy and ours. I believe it and have experienced it firsthand and yet struggle to make it practical and tangible at time. How people provide for their families and their posterity seems to be one of the most difficult places to apply it to and yet…
I feel like when we are privileged enough to travel we become like a horse with our blinders removed. Not only are we viewing a new culture with our eyes wide open – we can view our own with new lenses. I think your commentary here on embeddedness is spot on. I think as Christians, we are even given a different set of lenses because we can see how embedded in the culture we are, but we are also aware that we belong to another culture as well – one that is sustaining and will be made perfect one day.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Karen, I know we are both incredibly grateful for our travel and exposure to other cultures. It’s difficult to reconcile the gaps, isn’t it? But the work of reconciling what we have experienced and what our reality is must be wrestled through – so that it can be internalized and result in our service for Jesus and the world.
I really appreciate your thoughts Andrea. In the last decade I have encountered and used teaching from the perspectives of scarcity vs abundance. I think it has incredible value in releasing people into generosity who reside in a western context. It’s useful for speaking into a capatilist economy. But I wonder what it would look like to forge a new way with a sufficiency perspective. Polanyi’s work highlights historical moments and other models where people stopped working when they had enough. Jesus himself taught us to pray ‘give us this day our daily bread’. I’ve been thinking about how for the affluent in the west, this would come as a prayer of repentance more than request. Do you think embracing sufficiency could lead to equitable redistribution? Or do we need to believe we walk in abundance in order to be generous? Also, I’m interested in your research and may have some good people for you to interview if it would be useful. Bless you my friend!
Jenn! This is such good stuff – thank you for sharing it. I love what you are saying about sufficiency. This is a bit cheesy but my heart says absolutely yes, this is a better goal (sufficiency) that could have major implications for world poverty, etc and my mind says how in the world could that be implemented? This would surely be more acceptable in more familial/communal-based cultures and less so in individual-based cultures, such as the West. I so wish this was the reality and my mind is reaching for this vision. Thank you!
The scarcity mentality can be so difficult to overcome. My grandmother lived through the Great Depression. During that time it was hard for her family to get shoes. Once depression was over she horded shoes, because the experience of not having shoes was so embedded in her that she didn’t want to feel it again. She’s 94 now and still has more shoes than she’ll ever wear. She’ll never get over it, but I often wonder what it would have taken to help her feel a sense of contentment and/or abundance. It’s a lot of work, but as you point it out, it is worth it. Thanks.
Andrea, just as in Palm Beach, Washington DC also has areas of great wealth near pockets of poverty. I agree that the challenge is to keep our humanity in this age of excess. Thank you for challenging ideas you grew up with as I believe we have all had to do as students not just in seminary but of life.