Neighbour Jones

In 1913 a comic strip named Keeping up with the Joneses made its first appearance in newspapers in the USA. The strip depicted the McGinis family who were constantly trying to keep pace with the wealth, possessions, and status of their neighbours, the Joneses. Significantly, the Joneses were never shown in the strip, remaining inconspicuous.

The phrase – keeping up with the Joneses – became a catchy idiom throughout much of the westernised world. The Joneses became the standard that everyone should aspire to. If the Joneses bought a new television, then the McGinis family bought the same model.

The comic strip ended in 1940, but following the end of WW2 the phrase signified the rampant explosion of consumerism that characterised the 1950s.

This was deliberate. The economist, Victor Lebow, in 1955, wrote:

‘The measure of social status, of social acceptance, of prestige, is now to be found in our consumptive patterns. The very meaning and significance of our lives today expressed in consumptive terms. …We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing pace. We need to have people eat, drink, dress, ride, live, with ever more complicated and, therefore, constantly more expensive consumption.’¹

As the century moved on, consumerism became conspicuous consumption. As consumption rose the probability of increased dissatisfaction also rose if the Joneses were unable to be kept up with.

It wasn’t simply a case of consuming more though. In order to consume more, individuals and families had to gain more purchasing power; they had to work more, invest more, gain more education, and be seen more. For all that to happen they had to move.

They moved to cities. Between 1950 and 2020 the number of people living in urban areas rose from 20% to 55% of the world's population. That is an absolute increase from 500 million people in 1950 to 4.3 billion in 2020. A staggering increase.

The size of cities has grown ominously also. The largest city in the world in 1950 was New York with a population of approximately 12 million. In 2020 the largest city was Tokyo with a population of more than three times that – around 37 million.

The pressure to keep up with the Joneses in conjunction with increased urbanisation has had a devastating effect on the mental health and wellbeing of many people. Stress levels in particular have risen dramatically since WW2. So much so that stress is being labelled as the “health epidemic of the 21^st century.”

Our nervous system is actually composed of two systems that work conversely to each other. What is known as our sympathetic nervous system triggers our “fight or flight” response, and we experience a higher heart rate, dilated pupils, and focussed attention. Fight or flight is a stressful time. All through our evolutionary journey this stress was needed at times, but usually short lived. It could be labelled as acute stress.

Once the fight or flight event had passed and the acute stress was over, our parasympathetic nervous system took over and slowed heart rates, constricted pupils, and allowed our bodies to return to homeostasis (a state of equilibrium throughout the body.) These two systems worked well together for well over 95% of our species time on Earth.

Sadly though, the last few decades have seen stress levels become chronic, meaning that stress remains for a long period of time without abating. Our sympathetic nervous system remains on high alert, we become constantly, and continuously, subject to high levels of stress. Our parasympathetic nervous system has no opportunity to return us to that equilibrium point of rest and recuperation.

The main contributor, worldwide, to chronic stress is work. No longer are we human beings, we have become human doings. We have become constantly busy.

Chronic stress is implicated in a number of diseases and illnesses, amongst them: hypertension, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety, autoimmune diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer’s disease. Makes you wonder why, as a culture, we put up with it, doesn’t it?

Keeping up with the Joneses, urban living and its associated stressors (light, air, water, and noise pollution) have combined to outstrip our capacity to adapt.

There appears to be no lessening of these trends either. If anything, they are worsening. No longer is keeping up with the Joneses sufficient, nowadays the mantra seems to be get ahead of the Joneses. There is no end in sight to urbanisation. Noise and light pollution are becoming unhealthier as each year passes.

To make matters even graver, those factors that are impacting our human stress in harmful ways are also stressing the natural world severely. The oceans, the forests, wild animals and plants, waterways, and the air are all showing signs of being unable to cope with the stress we are placing upon them. The Earth herself is showing signs of chronic stress.

Sadly, the loss of natural ecosystems steadily undermines and deprives us of the very features that we require for our health and function. For the past 200,000 – 300,000 years humans co-emerged and co-existed with all other life forms and non-life forms upon this planet. Our health and our ability to survive are one and the same as the health of the planet as a whole.

The simple message to us from nature would seem to be: slow down, rest, recuperate, get rid of stuff, forget about the Joneses.

In fact, remember that in the original cartoon strip, the McGinis family were shown, but the Jones family were never seen.

The Joneses are a phantom. Stop trying to keep up with a phantom.

Notes:

1. Journal of Retailing, Spring 1955