IN a world of growing affluence and choice, making the perfect shopping decision or backing the right political cause are increasingly seen as futile acts. If things do not work out, we can always pick something else, so why put in much effort? Welcome to the world of complacency, as defined by Michael Willmot, co-founder of the Future Foundation, a market-research think-tank, and one of Britain’s leading futurologists.

In a stunningly gloomy speech that is likely to be hotly disputed by those with a more cheery view of life, Mr Willmot will try next week to shake the nation out of the crushing complacency that he believes is threatening our civilisation.

“We’ve heard a lot about apathy recently in relation to voter turn-out, but I believe the real threat is not coming from apathy, but from our complacency, our self-centred, selfsatisfied view of the world,” he told The Times.

“With so many choices and options open to so many individuals, certainly compared with earlier times, we have become complacent — about our responsibilities, about our ambitions and about our consumer choices.

“This might explain the increasingly unpredictable nature of consumer behaviour and the seeming rise of irrationality across many areas of life.”

As evidence of the rise of complacency, Mr Willmot points to the results of a survey that he will present on Wednesday to the annual State of the Nation conference of the Future Foundation, at the British Museum.

“Our research shows that shoppers taking a ‘good-enough’ approach (not worrying excessively about getting the absolutely best result) now represent 50 per cent of the population.

“It is not surprising, therefore, that 45 per cent of consumers agree that ‘I easily give in to temptation and buy things because I like them and not because I need them’ — up from 30 per cent 20 years ago.”

Mr Willmot also points to survey results showing that almost nine out of ten adults believe that young people are more interested in celebrities than politics, a figure that rises to 19 out of 20 among those aged 18-24.

Another pointer is the survey finding that almost half of adults (48 per cent) agree with the statement “I don’t mind if anti-terror legislation erodes civil liberties”.

Left unchecked, complacency will be our downfall, Mr Willmot fears.

“In my darker moments, I think to myself, ‘Is this the beginning of the end? Is this like Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, where everybody became so self-obsessed and self-indulged that civilisation collapses?’ ” Complacency is not only intrinsically bad, but it is also bad for the marketplace, creating increased volatility and unpredictability, Mr Willmot believes.

The solution, he says, is simple: “We need to encourage a resurgence of research and we need to encourage the belief that we are all capable of analysis, so that people will come up with their own solutions to the problems they see around them.”

If we can be bothered, that is.

Definitions according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary:

Apathy: n. (often foll. by towards) lack of interest or feeling; indifference (French apathie via Latin apathia from Greek apatheia, from apathes ‘without feeling’)

Complacency: n. (also complacence) self-satisfaction or tranquil pleasure, esp. when uncritical or unwarranted. (medieval Latin complacentia from Latin complacere)

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