Enough is enough! Or is it?

Megatrends | Part 3 | Gluttony

Even if “enough” retains its place in dictionaries, it has little authority over humanity’s insatiable appetite for more.  Satisfaction is but a theoretical concept, and moderation is the luxury of the privileged. 

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On the Megatrends series

I have earned an international reputation for leveraging global trends to create positive transformation.  Having (1) introduced this concept and (2) set the stage through earlier posts, I now invite you on a 360-degree tour of today’s change landscape!

I encourage you to read/listen actively.  Consider these questions:

1. How does this trend manifest in your world?  Society at large?  Your family, community, or team(s)?  Your investors or donors?  The people your purpose calls you to serve?  

2. Importantly, how does it play out in you? In your own motivations or struggles?

3. What shifts in what is possible, acceptable, or both underpin this trend?

4. Who — brands, politicians, non-profits — ride this trend? Do they succeed or fail? Why?

5. What does this trend make possible that was impossible before?

Our tour of megatrends starts with Gluttony.

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Gordon Gecko famously told us that greed was good.  Evolutionarily, his point may be more profound than he might have intended:  historically, moderation compromised survival. In simplistic terms, it was those who had more than they needed who could trade or bribe their way out of trouble.  We may be genetically predisposed to obesity because those who did not overeat in times of plenty (stashing surplus away as fat) were less likely to survive inevitable famines. 

In homage to the literal sense of Gluttony, for today’s 871.9 million undernourished, there are twice as many — 1.75  billion — overweight people, of which 841.6 million are obese.^[1]  Could you guess which of these numbers have gone down and which, up in the last decade?^[2]