Have you heard of "time affluence?" According to economist/sociologist Juliet Schor, many of us are giving up "the good life" in our quest for material possessions. Symbols of success, instead of enriching our lives, create stress. Americans are working longer hours and taking on debt to keep up with the Joneses and reproduce a lifestyle we've been told "makes life worth living." Schor thinks there's a better way. She calls it "plenitude," and it's a small-scale lifestyle involving greater degrees of both self-sufficiency and community, more control over our time, and more satisfaction. Schor is professor of Sociology at Boston College. Her book, Plenitude, was released in paperback as True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans Are Creating a Time-Rich, Ecologically Light, Small-Scale, High-Satisfaction Economy. This is the first in the Conversation Earth series of podcasts and radio programs. We plan to post a new podcast every Thursday. Be sure to subscribe! If you like what you hear, please support this project with a tax-deductible donation. To donate, learn more about Juliet Schor, or about the series, visit http://www.conversationearth.org Photo Credit: Gary Gilbert
