Iwanttotalkabouttheeconomy．Not"theeconomy"wehearaboutendlesslyinthenewseachdayandinpoliticians'speeches．Iwanttotalkabouttherealeconomytheoneweliveindaybyday．

Mostpeoplearen'tparticularlyinterestedin"theeconomy"．"Sharepricesareflyinghigh;interestratesaresoaring(令人伤心的）;theDowJonesIndexclosedsixty-threepointsdownon8472．35．"Wehearthisandsubconsciouslyswitchoff．

Noticethat"theeconomy"isnotthesameastheeconomy"Theeconomy"iswhatmeninsuitsplaywithtomakevastpersonalwealth．Theeconomyiswheretherestofusliveonadailybasisearningourlivingpayingourtaxesandpurchasingthenecessitiesoflife．

Wearesupposedtobebenefitingfromalltheadvantagesofawell-offsociety．Sowhydowefeeltiredandstressed?Wehavenotimeforanythingotherthanworkwhichisridiculousgiventhenumberoflabor-savingdevicesinourlives．Ourtownsbecomemoreandmorecrowded．Wepoisonourairandseasandourfoodisfullofchemicals．There'ssomethingwronghere．Iftimesweretrulygoodthenyoumaythinkwe'dallfeeloptimisticaboutthefuture．Yetthemajorityofusaredeeplyworried．Morethan90percentofusthinkwearetooconcernedaboutourselvesandnotconcernedenoughaboutfuturegenerations．

Theterm"economicexpansion"suggestssomethingdesirablebutexpansionsimplymeansspendingmoremoney．Morespendingdoesn'tmeanthatlifeisgettingbetter.Weallknowitoftenmeanstheopposite-greedcrimepovertypollution.Morespendingmerelyfeedsourwholeeconomicsystemwhichisbasedonproductionandconsumption.Unlessmoneykeepscirculatingtheeconomybreaksdown.Ifwedon'tkeepconsumingthewholesystemgoesintostalemate（僵局）．

Howdowebreakthecycleandmakesomechanges?Weneedtobecomefarmoreawareoftheresultsofouractions.Webuyclothesthataremadeinsweatshopsbyvirtualslavesinpoorpartsoftheworld.Wecreatemountainsofwaste.Wedemandcheapfoodmindlessofthefactthatittotallylackstasteandisproducedusingchemicalsthatpoisontheland．

Theconsumption（消费）culturemakesusunawareoftheeffectofourownbehavior.Ourmainproblemisnotthatwedon'tknowwhattodoabo