Summary
Since he came to live with his [father and stepmother], they've had a succession of incidents, most of which resulted in Greg's losing privileges to one or another of these things. In a famous but too often neglected essay called "Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren," Keynes looked to a time when at last it would be possible for humanity (at least in the affluent nations) to turn its attention away from acquisition and toward broader moral concerns - such as "how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares, how to occupy the leisure, which science and compound interest will have won for him, to live wisely and agreeably and well."
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Extract
America Beyond Consumerism
One of the great benefits of studying the history of economic ideas is coming to the recognition that the founding figures of capitalist economics, and in particular Adam Smith, author of the pivotal Wealth of Nations, were often deeply ambivalent about the acquisitive way of life. Consider the famous parable of the poor man's son, presented by Smith in his Theory of Moral Sentiments:
The poor man's son, whom heaven in its anger has visited with ambition, when he begins to look around him, admires the condition of the rich. He finds the cottage of his father too small for his accommodation, and fancies he should be lodged more at his ease in a palace. He is displeased with being obliged to walk afoot, or to endure the fatigue of riding on horseback. He sees his superiors carried about in machines, and imagines that in one of these he could travel with less inconveniency. ... He thinks if he had attained all these, he would sit still contentedly, and be quiet, enjoying himself in the thought of the happiness and tranquility of his situation. He is enchanted with the dista...See the full content of this document
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