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.