We’ve “sacralized selfishness.” That’s how NYTimes economic bloviator Paul Krugman sums up Donald Trump’s America First. Not bad Paul, not bad at all. Krugman goes onto argue that the post-pandemic economic recovery Trump and his acolytes keep trying to jump start isn’t happening because they aren’t showing the deference needed to contain a contagion.

NBN thinks  a more elemental shortcoming in our buy-stuff-and-throw-it-out economy is also preventing this country from resuming its asymptotic economic growth. It’s called: how much crap do we really want to own and how much of our lives are we willing to sacrifice to do so. Manufacturing jobs are not coming back to this country because manufacturing jobs suck and robots to them better. Nobody under the age of 50 wants to do a robot’s job simply for the promise of a pension. Why throw away your best years to preserve your worst simply for the cost of healthcare, a roof over your head and bowl of granola on your breakfast table.

Yeah, sitting down to a self-satisfying rib-eye steak aboard your 50-foot yacht all purchased with the fruits of your hard-earned labor as your grandchildren and neighbors look on with pride or envy has a sort of life defining aspect to it. But so does reading a book—or writing a blog—backpacking, working on your house, spending time with your kids or myriad other activities that enrich mind and body at considerably less cost to…everything.