The Mystery Package

Most of the stuff we buy today comes ready wrapped in a convenient package. Cars, holidays, media packages, insurance. Careers.

When they first came out they were an innovation, cutting complexity for things we did not understand, and reducing price in the process. They came in a variety, from two weeks in the Costs del Wherever for a week's wages, or an adventure holiday up the Amazon for a couple of months wages. Careers were the same, with the price being the level of qualifications your effort, investment, privilege, and the willingness to meet the requirements of others. The prize was security, a regular income and a pension at the end of it.

The package today seems to have got lost in the post. We no longer buy cars, we effectively rent them, converting finite debt to perpetually renewing rent. Package holidays are fragile with what we find in the package at best variable and marketed as commodities using the cheapest ingedients available. Media packages are more like fast food, s…