Let’s make this an age of abundance, not austerity

This article was published in Spiked Online 19 February 2010

Prosperity’s critics are demonising material desires and calling for governments to elevate happiness over growth. It’s time to fight back.

If someone was transported from 1900 to the present day, their first reaction would almost certainly be amazement at what humanity has achieved. Then they would probably do a double take. After getting to know our world better they would be bemused by the widespread resentment towards the benefits of prosperity.

The world at the start of the twentieth century was far poorer and less technologically advanced than the present age. Inventions we take for granted today were yet to be devised: the aeroplane, antibiotics, atomic power, computers, insulin, oral contraceptives, space travel, television and the vacuum cleaner, among others. Many other technologies had been invented, but were not yet widely available. The Ford Model T, the first mass-produced car, was not launched until 1908.