Poverty and lavish spending
Poverty and lavish spending
By Ignas Kleden
This is the first of two articles linking poverty and the
Indonesian middle class' habit of lavish spending.
JAKARTA (JP): The consumptive lifestyle of the Indonesian
middle class seems no longer to be simply a matter of individual
preference or personal choice. It has become increasingly clear
that what and how someone consumes relates to both what others
consume and what they can consume.
Although consumption patterns should be dependent on national
resources and the nation's productive capacity, there is a trend
toward conspicuous consumption in Indonesia. This not only has
economic roots, but also other sides which might not benefit
social integrity or cultural security.
The cliched metaphor of national income being a national cake
indicates that if some people get a greater part of the cake, the
others have less to share.
The poor salaries of Indonesian laborers and household helpers
makes this metaphor strikingly clear, while the fixed income of
farmers, whose products are usually subject to government price
fixing, makes the metaphor tragic.
The urban middle class are able to employ two or more
household helpers because the salary of these people, mostly
young women from rural areas, is low. The helpers are paid little
although they are responsible to run the household, leaving the
employers free from the burden of running a big house with a
garden, a big garage and even a swimming pool.
The lifestyle of Indonesia's middle class would certainly
change if household helpers united to strive for better working
conditions and pay.
The middle class would have to choose between spending more
money to retain their present lifestyle and living less lavishly
in order to lessen the burden of domestic work.
The conspicuous consumption of the middle class is therefore
financed not only by the group's higher income but also by the
availability of cheap labor.
This pattern of conspicuous consumption is partly bolstered by
the international economic cooperation which brings foreign
consultants from developed countries to the big cities of
Indonesia.
Their earnings, which are in accordance to developed
countries' pay scales, allows them to finance a lifestyle they
could not afford in their home countries. The Indonesian middle
class then strive to mimic this lifestyle.
Expenditure should not be expanded beyond what can be
produced. This applies to individual expenses, the consumption
pattern of a family and, to some extent, the consumption of a
country.
The lifestyle of the Indonesian middle and upper classes, and
the living conditions of those still living below the poverty
line, do not reflect the average Indonesian per capita income of
US$ 780 . The middle and upper classes are far beyond the figure,
while the poor are far behind it.
The social and regional disparity in the distribution of
income contributes to the fact that a small group of people gain
most of the national income while the biggest group earn only a
small portion of it.
This still doesn't answer why those who happen to have
disposable income are inclined to spend extravagantly on their
consumption and lifestyles. To put it in cultural terms: Why does
a large income so easily bring about a tendency towards an
extravagant lifestyle in Indonesia? Why is an increased income
not accompanied by an increase in frugality, once the main
characteristic of the first capitalists and the captains of
industry in Europe? Is this worldly asceticism, as Weber put it,
no longer a distinction of those who control the rise of
capitalism?
Looking at how Indonesian urbanites celebrate weddings and
birthdays, it is soon evident that most of the celebrations are
bigger than necessary. Children's birthday parties are as
lavishly catered as adult parties, reflecting the extravagance in
food, songs and dances.
Intelligent parties, or parties in which the traditional
reason for the party is evident -- which takes some imagination
and might teach guests something -- are rare.