Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary tagged austerity as its Word Of The Year for 2010 in response to the number of web searches it generated.
-> harshness…strictness...severe self-discipline
An austere time is one of reduced goods and services, especially when brought about by government policy; cut-backs on accustomed living standards. It was applied during WWII, limiting non-essentials in a wartime economy. (Is a non-essential a luxury?)
Here we go with definitions, but the media hype about austerity and irrational projections from the 1% about national growth makes me pause to consider what austerity really means.
In 2009, 2010 and 2011 workers and students in Greece and other European countries demonstrated against cuts to pensions, public services and education spending as a result of government austerity measures due to debt liabilities. But does Ireland or Italy or Spain really suffer unduly at these times? How austere is austerity relative to the rest of the world?
In 2009, 2010 and 2011 workers and students in Greece and other European countries demonstrated against cuts to pensions, public services and education spending as a result of government austerity measures due to debt liabilities. But does Ireland or Italy or Spain really suffer unduly at these times? How austere is austerity relative to the rest of the world?
Thousands of places around the globe live in what we consider austere conditions. But today's austere is an outsider term. It doesn't necessarily define other cultural situations. People have lived with less stuff than us for eons. They actually call this "living within their means and that of their environment." So, austerity becomes a relative term of the developed world feeling sorry for itself. (Is this an ethnocentric backlash??)
Regardless, this buzz-word could actually be a helpful precursor for the time when fossil fueled economies finally shrivel. Europe now and the United States soon? Could our coming version of austerity be a dress rehearsal; a practice run for the time of more serious resiliency and transition? With a modicum of justice included, this contemporary austerity gig of the materialistic world could be a positive exercise in scaling back; living with less; making things simpler; preserving resources and, ultimately, attempting to keep society cohesive enough to reorganize itself for a transition. Our children’s transition…
