November 27, 2013 — Today U.S. citizens across the country are preparing to observe two uniquely American events: Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. If you are among them, consider including in your holiday plans some food for thought: 19 minutes with British economist Tim Jackson as he explores what compels us to “spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need to create impressions that won’t last on people we don’t care about” — and, more importantly, what we might do about it.

In his classic 2010 TED talk, “An Economic Reality Check,” Jackson, professor of sustainable development at the University of Surrey and author of Prosperity Without Growth, begins with the etymological roots of “prosperity” — the Latin word for “hope.”

Humans’ penchant for novelty and our tendency to use material things as a proxy for our importance, Jackson says, have caused a deep rift between that original meaning of prosperity and the meaning we ascribe to it today. Ironically, he points out, “we have now grown our economy so much that we stand in real danger of undermining hope.”

The solution? Jackson draws what he calls “a map of the human heart” — a four-slice pie depicting two sets of  diametrically opposed desires that compel us: novelty vs. tradition and self vs. other. Rather than corraling ourselves in the novelty-self quadrant, Jackson suggests, why not embrace all four? He points to innovations such as B corporations as ways to bring the other dimensions into economic practice and create meaningful prosperity.

“This is not about standing in the way of development, overthrowing capitalism, changing human nature,” he concludes. “What we’re doing is taking a few steps toward a more credible, robust, realistic vision of what it means to be human.”

Photo by CHARMERS (Creative Commons | Flickr)