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As people, we need a way to quantify things. We need all the things in our life to fit in our basic little boxes and we are constantly simplifying complex things so that we can measure them dice them up and put them where we can understand them.

We take mortgages and narrow them down to the monthly payment when really we should be taking in to account things like, neighborhood trends, unemployment rates, gas prices, the real estate cycle and its timing, not to mention what the federal reserve board might decide to do next month.

We are, in effect, looking for a way to simply understand the complex.

Similarly, we do it with our health. We measure weight or body fat and then base important health decisions on things that more accurately affect our appearance than our health.

We talk constantly about the price of gas going up to its highest price ever, when adjusted for inflation the real peak happened sometime in the summer of 1981. Again, the number itself is more important that what it symbolizes.

We vote for a President based on whether or not we like the guy (or gal) and his ability to present himself, or often what marketing team he hired to make him into what we believe he is, when those might not even be the things that make a good president.

It seems the reason for this is our inability to compute more than a few variables at the same time. The human brain is simply unable handle all the processes, so we create ways of coping. We build for ourselves measurements and ways of counting and then we look to them to give us answers.

All of that is ok until you start oversimplifying and allowing unmeasured impacts to your actions.

Ok, so we all have this bent as people towards finding the simple math, the easy measure of progress, what we do with that is go towards the money. And why not? I know I do it all the time. It’s the easy way to know if what you are doing is successful or a complete failure. But the problem is when you do that, you leave out so many other factors.

Like, what resources am I using that my grandkids will no longer have because we used them all up? What other countries are allowing child labor or unfair pay to get this product into my hands? Further, what garbage am I allowing to be put into the air to get this product built? Or what am I doing to my health be using this product?

We assume that someone is making all these decisions for us and since it’s on the shelf it must be a good product.

The reality, however, is that the only thing the company who offered it to you is looking at is whether or not it made them money. And who can blame them? Its the only thing public companies are allowed to look at.

When Walmart™ decided to go “green” last year, they made all sorts of statements about their plans for energy consumption to be reduced and organic food to be offered in their supermarkets, etc… but before they could go that route, they had to first prove to shareholders that the plan would be economically viable. Or essentially, that the market would support these efforts with increased sales.

Again. Its always about the money. And though I applaud their move, I know that if the market were heading away from green technology, so would they.

The fact of the matter is, the current financial system in America promotes the simple measurement of the dollar alone and encourages the exploitation of people their quality of life. We have built a system that says the market is always right and that if people want it we have to give it to them.

I beg to disagree. I think in the end the reward will always go to the product that takes as many factors into account as possible, the company that tries its wholehearted best to bring a good product to its customers without a bunch of skeletons hiding in the closet.

How many things do you consume that you just don’t want to know how they are produced. How much of your lifestyle is subsidized by third world countries and if you really knew that answer could you continue living this way? I know that for myself I have no idea of the real effects of my lifestyle are.

Globalization has the ability to bring the quality of life up for so many developing countries that are desperate for it, but not before we start caring and taking on more responsibility for our actions. Globalization also has the ability to further widen the gap between the rich and poor by giving the tools to the rich countries to further exploit the developing ones.

I think we need a new currency, one that is based on more than its value in gold. One that has built in the true cost of a product. Every purchase made with the currency would also pay for mitigation of the effects created during production of the item. It could be global and internet based and give real value to everyone involved. I know there are a lot of problems with this idea, but it does get you thinking about a way to measure more than just money and its imperative that we figure out a measurement or we will just keep in the way we already do.

Because as long as we can prove on paper that the system is working we will keep going the same way, and when the only factor is money then the system works great.

I read a great post a few days back about the job of a marketer and how they are responsible for their actions.

So it is with the rest of us: we are responsible for our actions. However, I believe that until we have a way to quantify our impact, we will continue down the same path.

Blind enjoyment can be fun for a while, but eventually the truth catches up with you. It always catches up with you.

Levi