It seems that production relies on consumption whereas consumption can occur somewhat independently of production. The layabout glutton comes to mind. Thermodynamics, however, would beg to differ, and on a fundamental scientific level, production equals consumption, necessarily. Science (which grasps at "what is") informs pseudoscience, but I prefer to spin a web of normative philosophy here, leaving science somewhat on the back-burner. Clearly there is a missing link between consumption and production: processing. I take that to be a minor function in the series whose role is to facilitate consumption and production. Herein are some thoughts from an idealist perspective (groping towards "what should be"), about consumption and production.
The Marxist maxim: "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need." No, I am not an explicit Marxist red Commie fellow traveler (not that that's a bad thing), nor do I think that this aphorism has much value as a determinant of public policy or as a regulation of an economic system. It does, nonetheless, illuminate the question at hand. The first part has to do with productivity and human capital endowment - everything intrinsic to us that makes us more productive (intelligence, social skills, mental stability, aesthetic beauty, etc.). The second part has to do with humanistic psychology's hierarchy of needs and personal fulfillment. The notion of "wasted talent" is a colloquial version of the principle. When the gifted, superlative, or genius person fails to surpass mediocrity, the world's population emits a collective sigh of disappointment. Underperformance is cause for lament.
Naturally, there are positive and negative forms or deployments of production. The "good" and the "bad," as determined by our reason and perceptive senses. Hence, the poetic turn of phrase and the banal imprecation, the lovely song and the out-of-tune piano, Nabakov's Lolita and the propaganda warfare manual, the mythical cure for cancer and the wonder-weapon of biological warfare, and so on. It follows that classifications of good and bad depend on the perspective (Lolita as poetry or morally deprived rot (to, say, the cultural reactionary), the biological weapon as good for inventor bad for foe, etc.). And questions of scientific advancement depend on an idea of advancement. Progress is highly contested. Even art, whose pulchritude is the most clear-cut example of innocent production I can think of, is contested and controversial. It is a grab-bag, widely encompassing, and incapable of escaping its social and human influence. Therefore, Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" can be seen as a symbolic masterwork or pornographic, anti-Christian mythology. The above examples serve to illustrate the inherent duality of things, which qualifies only as a digression in this tract. I press on.
Taking as given that production should be "good," without tackling the question of what is good and what is bad, I suggest that production should be. I mean, people should produce, and those with more brainpower, artistic talent, energy, or any other productive force (which can all be, to some extent, developed and honed during life), should produce more. This makes for a more beautiful, richer, more interesting and inspirational world and society to inhabit. Channeling potential energy into the kinetic energy of construction, formation, manipulation provides the stuff which enkindles the spirit. Art and functionality coupled engender enrichment and amelioration.
The second part of the puzzle has to do with need. Human beings have material needs for the avoidance of death. We also appear to have social needs, such as acceptance, flourishing interpersonal relationships - in short, to love and be loved - ego-based needs, such as self-esteem, and cognitive and creative needs - we need to stimulate that gray and white matter. We need to exercise these functions in order to be "complete" human beings - to sate physical requirements and retain self-awareness, ego, cognitive function, and aesthetic sensibility.
Needs imply consumption, but I argue that they are not fully comprehensible except in conjunction with production. Consumption occurs for the sake of production. Production is naught without the fuel of consumption. However, consumption for the sake of consumption is also gratifying. Food and drink are the most immediate and accessible example - they cause pleasure. Their gobbling and glugging represent a cornerstone of the Epicurean philosophy. In addition to being desirable and pleasurable in their own right, consumption of food and drink can be purposive - directed at production. They are literally fuel and produce the energy from which all action is dependent. They can be shared, they lead to merrymaking, they are necessary. As in all things, moderation is counseled, and minimizing consumption while optimizing energy and happiness outcomes is ideal. The hedonic treadmill illustrates the point. The principle of the hedonic treadmill is that, despite increased consumption, greater happiness is not usually achieved, because, among other things, rising and mutating expectations and desires raise the stakes ever higher. Happiness has surprisingly little to do with the amount of consumption, though there is obviously a lower bound below which squalor implies such deficiency that needs are not met and happiness is elusive. I propose the principle that minimizing consumption of all things while maximizing production is the optimal model for human life.
Minimizing consumption while maximizing production is a lot like "producing more with less." Productivity is key, but so is a sense of justice, need (as opposed to want), and a recognition of the value of production. Justice implies sharing the communal endowment, giving recognition where it is due, repaying debts and dues, while valuing production means recognizing that it constructs and determines our world. A person whose consumption outweigh's their production is a leech on the productive capacity of the planet and the output of others. He or she or it whose production supersedes their consumption has a net positive effect on the world - makes it more gorgeous, more interesting, more pleasing. It seems unlikely that the exchange of consumption and production is one to one. Which makes the enterprise of comparing production and consumption vectors dubious. It is obvious, however, that more production of "good" or positive ideas, artwork, constructions, and actions, results in a more variegated planet, and that we are the communal benefactors of that production. Many productions are, in economic terms, non-rival and non-excludable, meaning it is difficult to obviate the addition of consumers, and the cost of adding an additional consumer is close to zero. Goods which are like this include murals, bridges and dams and other infrastructure, public benefits of education, music and architecture and artistic flourishes to functional constructions, books and libraries, parks, etc. In this way, a person or a small group can produce something whose benefits permeate, unbounded. The rule of thumb: Produce more, consume less.
To put it into perspective, I subject myself to the magnifying glass: What do I produce and consume? For one, I have been undeniably and continuously dependent on my parents my entire life. They satisfy my material needs, whose satisfaction has allowed me to pursue creative, intellectual, and leisurely pursuits of all stripes. They foot the bill, they nurture, they voluntarily enslave themselves to my whims. What do I give back? My progenitors certainly reap some amount of satisfaction from having produced and raised me (Indeed, I am quite stupendous). That was their goal; that it is and has come to fruition in multifarious ways must be a source of great joy and wonder for them. Not only that, but I remain close to them. I am their friend. I love them. The bond between us is mutually or communally produced. The social unit made up of people is one of self-evident interdependence, whose purpose is to satisfy all members and contributers. This unit is part of a self-sustaining and repeating system. I produce the extant unit through belonging and playing my part, and further down the line I am expected to perpetuate the social construct with my own family and offspring, and so on and so on. I consume food, drink, shelter, security of mind and body. I produce thoughts, my brain builds synapse bridges, I develop skills and objective-driven capabilities. I make art sometimes, or all the time, I influence those around me with my words and actions (as they, in turn, influence me). I prepare for the future. I am an investment; my parents and I, my friends, my teachers, and the society are investors in my human capital. I work and produce to pay dividends and repay them their dedication and contribution to my personal development. Work is production, and work has as many guises and purposes as can be formulated by the fecund imagination.
It would appear to be a shame if, with all of the tangible and intangible investments in me, I turned out to be a wastrel, a rogue, or a self-absorbed, thankless jerk, refusing to take responsibility for all that has been given (produced for) me. I am modest about what a good life is, but there are many iterations of a bad life, many of which can be characterized by an improper or unhealthy consumption to production ratio. Consider the layabout, the highly capable welfare recipient, the larcenist, the Paris Hilton, the destructor. A life leaning immoderately towards consumption might appear to be desirable, but it is lacks fulfillment. It does not stimulate the social, creative, and cognitive - the productive - areas of our being.
Happy New Years!
Resolution 1: Produce more, consume less
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