Make saving sexy again!
"Americanism is spending money you don't have on things you don't need to impress people you don't like."
The quote in question, slightly adapted though it may be, is best known as a quote from the character Edward Norton in the classic film Fight Club, although it was actually written in 1928 by the American journalist Robert Quillen.
Consumerism, according to which consumption, and especially high consumption, is good for society and good for people. Consumption keeps the wheels of society oiled. As consumers consume, they also shape the market to suit their desires. An essential element of consumerism is the voluntary nature of how and where consumers spend their money. The theory has been criticised for driving consumers to live beyond their means by stuffing their mouths and eyes full of the delights of shopping. Buy at any price! Get a trip abroad with Klarna! Buy anything on credit, pay (with huge interest) later, don't worry about money! Take instant loans so you can lurk on social media for two minutes to show off your upper socio-economic class. Of course, consumption is important from the point of view of entrepreneurs, especially small businesses, but what can be the final price paid by the consumer?
If the words written by an American journalist were already true in the early decades of the 20th century, though perhaps mainly in the United States at the time, the idea is now more relevant and global than ever. The words are a perfect fit for this time in the world, where first the internet and then social media have changed the way people around the world consume and consume. Everything is available 24/7/365, and you have to have everything to experience something, even for a moment.
When you think about the subjects that are most important for pupils' future, which ones make the list? Mother tongue, of course. Foreign languages, definitely. Mathematics, of course. All subjects in basic education are worthy of a place, because without them, it is difficult, to say the least, to make it in society and in life in general. The default value is that Finnish basic education provides a high-quality foundation for young human minds. A foundation that will enable young people in due course to spread their wings and create a life that looks like themselves.
Even though my own school years are a lifetime ago and I may not be able to relate to the level of knowledge and skills of today's students when it comes to economics, I dare say that we as a society have a lot of room for improvement in this area. I remember that in my own school days there was not really any talk of such things.
We live in a consumer society where consumption is not only a virtue, but even a requirement.
Through consumption (or by consumption, however you want to think of it), you become socially accepted, "socially acceptable". This idea is very deeply ingrained in the minds of young people in particular. I remember very clearly how, in my own youth, the coolest guy in town was the one who wore a Leviset or a Torstai jacket. We have come a long way from those days, because today you see young people wearing designer clothes costing hundreds and thousands of euros, trying to impress other people. Gucci this and Louis Vuitton that.
Peer pressure is an incredible thing, as young people - and even a little older - are willing to risk their credit rating to pretend to be something they are not. But whose job is it to raise younger generations to be responsible spenders? Primarily, of course, by parents, as in education in general, but I dare say we may not yet have exhausted the full potential of the school system when it comes to managing our own finances and spending money. The public pension system will inevitably collapse into its own impossibility, so future generations will have to provide for their own future. I understand that the idea of long-term saving, not to mention investing in index funds, is the least sexy idea on earth for young people who live in the moment and are at the mercy of the social media. It would be half the battle if young people could be made to understand the value of money and the fact that living beyond their means on fast loans is a labyrinth in which they will eventually get lost. Let's make saving sexy again!
"Americanism is spending money you don't have on things you don't need to impress people you don't like."
Pastor