Attitude of the Year

By Janice Castro

ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE, A DEEPLY FELT NOTION SEEMS TO grip almost everyone at the same time. In 1991 Americans said, "Enough," and became sensible again. Out went heedless consumerism, the cult of the new, the expectations of Having It All. As the 1980s began to come into focus as a misguided era of borrowed luxury, Americans got back to basics. They cut down on spending, started to pay off their debts and learned to make do with less. It happened just in time. The recession, which at first seemed quick and painless, took a scary dive for the worse. In the deepening economic chill, the yearning for simpler pleasures and thriftier ways became not only a virtue but a necessity.

The turn toward a prudent frame of mind may have begun with the stock market crash of 1987, which served as an early-warning system for the harsher realities that followed. Tycoons were brought low, and speculative bubbles were burst in everything from real estate to artworks. A junkyard of bad debt and bankruptcies stretched to the horizon. The gulf war heightened the crisis atmosphere and further trivialized the pursuit of the latest fashions in consumer products. There was a faint echo of the '40s: "Don't you know there's a war on, buddy?" While some questioned the battle's goals, for the first time in years many Americans were pulling for a common, higher purpose. They wondered whether the nation could put this kind of effort into a war on homelessness or drugs or AIDS.

The new thinking began at the kitchen table. Because the real weekly wages of average Americans have been falling for nearly two decades, most families have staved off downward mobility through two costly measures: borrowing money and depending on two incomes. In the past year, many people have appraised the results of that strategy and decided they have paid a heavy price in their private life.

With both parents typically holding down jobs, home life had been reduced to a mad scramble at the end of the day to cram in shopping, laundry, cooking, ; mending -- and, oh, yes, communication. Quality time had become a bitter cliche: a concentrated, forced effort to make up for irretrievable moments. Children could not be expected to schedule all their needs in a prime-time slot. Adults found they had to work harder to hire people to do the work they had no time for: raking the leaves, fixing the porch, taking care of the kids and even cooking meals.

In some households one parent bailed out of the rat race. In some cases it was the man of the house, which spawned a new catchphrase: the daddy track. For many families the recession made that decision unilaterally. One family after another fell victim to unemployment, slashed incomes, forfeited benefits and unmanageable bills. After watching their friends, relatives and others by the millions lose their jobs, Americans realized it could just as easily happen to them. During the holiday season, families cut back on shopping for presents. Keeping up with the Joneses was no longer a worry, since the Joneses were staying home and watching movies on video.

But the return to frugality was more than just fashionable penny pinching. In place of spending, people were looking for more enduring gratification. Confronted by failed institutions and mounting social problems, Americans decided to pitch in. More than half of all adults did volunteer work, according to one survey. Churches began filling up again. Students started flocking to careers where they could make a difference: nursing, teaching, public-interest law.

The return to simpler virtues pays no short-term reward to the country as a whole; in fact, the cutback in spending has made things worse for now. But eventually it should lead to healthier family finances, increased peace of mind and renewed confidence. As the U.S. confronts the austere economic future, its citizens will be forced to harbor resources and fix problems one at a time. Stripped of illusions, Americans are focusing on what matters to them. They are demanding realistic solutions and things that work. Most of all, they want a standard of living that can't be measured only in dollars and cents.