Analysis of Crass’ Article “Economic Piety Is a Crisis for Workers”

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Critical Analysis of Crass’ Article “Economic Piety Is a Crisis for Workers”
Oren Crass, the executive director at American Compass, a conservative group that aims at restoring an economic consensus on the importance of family community and industry to America's liberty and prosperity, asserts that government policy ought to emphasize production rather than consumption because it is a sustainable route to economic success. The main argument of the piece is that prioritizing consumption overproduction has resulted in several welfare policies that foster a culture of dependence rather than nurturing a work culture, which is critical to expanding America’s economy (Cass). Crass criticizes the tendency of various administrations to pour trillions of dollars into low-income households to stimulate consumption, and by extension, production and the nation's GDP (what he refers to as economic piety) as an unproductive way of achieving economic prosperity. He states that from an economic context, prosperity underlines production rather than consumption, while from a social context, economic piety has negative effects on family and community health, which in turn adversely impact the nation’s economy.
Crass argues that not only is consumption a poor definition of economic prosperity, but it also lowers life satisfaction and increases the price of indulgence every time. In place of economic piety, Crass proposes pluralism as an economic policy that will encourage production and improve family and community health, a development that will, in turn, positively influence the economy. Rather than focusing on providing equal opportunity, something the author believes is impossible given the diversity of innate talents and social environments, it is better to prov...