An Economic Definition of Prosperity

Prosperity is rarely a concept that is collectively agreed upon. More specifically, prosperity is continuously redefined from one generation to the next. For instance: while a family without a refrigerator today in America might be thought of as fairly non-prosperous, not a single household had a refrigerator or other efficient food preserver three generations ago. One’s evaluation of personal prosperity might be based on his position relative to his peers. An individual who has sufficient food, water, and shelter in a developing nation might view himself as prosperous if he sees several of his peers struggling with starvation. Because values are subjective, personal prosperity will be subjective to some degree. A common element in every man’s definition of prosperity, however, is satisfaction of physiological needs. One who is prosperous will be required to allocate little of their time to finding ways to satisfy physiological needs and can refocus attention to pleasure achieved non-physiologically. A man who is spending less time looking for food and water is a man spending more time looking for a mate, working toward social advancement, etc. So, to say that society A is more prosperous than society B, society A must have human necessities satisfied to a greater degree than society B. Members in Society B will be forced to spend more time finding ways of satisfying basic needs and less time satisfying human needs beyond the physiological level.