“We live in an era of consumerism and it’s all about desire-based consumerism and it has nothing to do with things we need” (Aloe Blacc). Sadly but that’s true, nowadays people spend their money on things that they don’t need. Consumerism is not a problem when people consume what they need based on their budget, consumerism becomes a problem when people consume more than what they need. Positive consumerism is when people buy food or basic needs in contrast negative consumerism is when people spend their money because of trends, or because people want to fit into certain social circles.
Good consumerism is when people buy the daily basic needs. It’s normal to consume, food products, cleaning products, health care products, and education. It is necessary to buy food to be alive and healthy. Buying basic needs is more like an obligation and a responsibility. Consumerism should not be a problem if people spend less than their income.
On the other hand, bad consumerism is when people spend their money on trends such as sneakers, and clothing. People think that they have to wear certain brands to fit into society, but I think that by doing that people are losing their real personality. For example, Douglas Rushkoff wrote that a boy couldn’t figure up what shoe to buy just because he was worried about what people would label him (Which One of These Sneakers Is Me?). That’s bad because people don’t have to be labeled for what they wear but for how they are. It’s sad how people spend a lot of money on famous brands just because they think that wearing famous brands makes them look better.
Consuming more than what you need can be dangerous consumerism because it can lead people to credit card debt. When people are persuaded to buy certain things for example, if a young man or woman is obsessed with Jordan sneakers or Michael Kors clothing or with Gucci they can keep buying and buying things even if they don’t have money for it so they decide to use their credit cards. It is just like people are addicted to buying things just because they like it or because other people have that article. American consumers are carrying a whopping $1.003 trillion in credit card debt. Broken down by the number of households in the country, the average amount for each household is $5,700, which includes households that aren’t carrying credit cards (Irby). Consumerism can be dissatisfying when people can’t pay for what they want.
In conclusion, consumerism can be positive and negative it depends on what and how people consume. Positive consumerism is when people consume what they need. Negative consumerism is when people are in credit card debt when consumerism becomes addictive, and when people think that they have to wear certain brands to fit in society. Hopefully, people can consume positively and stay away from negative consumerism by buying what they need and what they want.
Works Cited
Irby, Latoya. The Balance. 4 March 2019. 3 April 2019.
Neva Goodwin, Julie A. Nelson, Frank Ackerman, and Thomas Weisskopf. ‘Consumption and the Consumer Society.’ Social and Environmental Issues in Economics (2008): 1-26. document.
Rushkoff, Douglas. ‘Which One of These Sneakers Is Me?’ Goshgarian, Gary. The Contemporary Reader. Pearson Education, 2013. 91-95.
Despite consumerism having a large effect on society, the majority of people do not truly understand the impact it has on our lives. The book Affluenza, written by John de Graff, David Wann, and Thomas Nayor, focuses on the shift in American society caused by an increase in consumerism. Similarly, the article “The Consumer Culture” written by David Masei, points out how a vast amount of purchases is not essential, but are based on wants rather than needs. To avoid overconsumption, customers need to be more aware of their purchases as it can be harmful to several factors. Although there may be benefits to consumerism with more goods and services and creating more employment opportunities, it can also be harmful as it targets adolescents through advertising, affects the environment and resources, and can be toxic to physical and emotional health.
Consumerism is a phenomenon that rapidly increasing and is now part of every aspect of our lives today. According to Affluenza, “We now spend 71 percent of our $15 trillion economy on consumer goods”(de Graff et al. 15). Our society is constantly geared toward consumption making most Americans today materialistic. Oftentimes, shoppers go to the mall with a specific product to buy, yet they end up impulse buying products they do not need. “For a lot of people an SUV is a status symbol,” says car salesman Mike Sullivan. “So they’re willing to pay the thirty-to forty-odd thousand dollars to drive one of these vehicles”(de Graff et al. 20). With an increase in consumption, 70 percent of people use malls weekly than houses of worship. More Americans today have invested in security gates rising to 10 percent. As a result, the growth of consumption has changed our society dramatically.
If it weren’t for consumerism, our economy would fall as consumer spending drives the economy. In the article, “Is Greed Good?” Stephen Schiff says, If money is over, what would be the thing that will save you in the bad times as well as good” (Kirby p. 14)? This allows for many people to have employment and the option to have a variety of goods. “The people who make all of these goods use the money they’re paid to do things like buy a house, send their kids to school, and build their churches,” states Martian Regalia (Masei 13). It is a standard way of living as it promotes competition between companies which gives customers the choice to buy specific products, therefore having businesses lead to success. Having competition between companies can also lead to innovations which can help develop a variety of services. Similarly, the average worker’s wages have grown by around 3 percent.in recent years.
Consumerism is dominating our world as it increases rapidly, ultimately controlling our lives into thinking it is necessary to buy more products. Society is now a growing consumption market. “In 1986, America still had more high schools than shopping centers. Less than twenty years later, in 2005, we had more than twice as many shopping centers (46,438) as high schools (22,180)” (de Graff et al. 15). The idea of seeing products leads to the desire to buy products. Nowadays, Americans are becoming obsessed with materialistic items which results in neglecting little things in life, including spending quality time with their families and in their communities. In the article “The Consumer Culture,” Diana Furchtgott-Roth states, “If someone buys something, they must think that it is necessary or they would not do it.”(Masei p. 37). Americans have the mindset that having material possessions can improve social well-being. Many believe that are not as well-off as those around them, which encourages them to feel the need to make purchases to live up to that standard. America today is obsessed with buying unnecessary products which can be influenced by advertising.
Advertisers can persuade customers to buy products that are not relative to their needs. It can be harmful to children as they are incapable of understanding the difference between commercials from programming. Kathryn C. Montgomery, president of the Center for Media Education, states “Kids are very susceptible to advertising, and advertisers know it.”(Masei p.16). This causes children to ask their parents for items that families simply cannot afford. Advertisements influence our lives daily. With that in mind, it puts a strain on parents who constantly say ‘no’ to their children from wanting a product. Kids need to be educated about the impact of commercialism as they could grow up to become hyper-consumers. In the US, average 12-year-olds spend about 48 hours a week exposed to commercial messages. A total of 70% of parents claimed that advertising to kids is bad for their “values and world view,” according to a recent poll commissioned by the Center for the New American Dream. (Masei p. 46). Adolescents are susceptible to messages in television advertisements. Limiting or banning commercials aimed at children can make sure they are not exposed to consumerism at such a young age. Advertisers spend more than $200 billion per year to get consumers to buy their products (Masei p. 3).
Having an increase in consumption can be hazardous to our environment. Resource stocks fall as waste and pollution accumulate. Flood control, fisheries, and water purification have become less effective and require artificial substitutes. “In 2012, the hottest year on record, damages in the United States from natural disasters like floods on the East Coast, forest fires in the Rockies, and deep drought in Texas came to about $139 billion” (de Graff et al. 77). Oil production is now declining in 54 of the world’s 65 oil producing countries as fertilizer is now on a steadily upward trend. Since 1990, China’s consumption of fertilizer increased 800 percent which can soon be chaotic for farmers. Since the drought, world grain production has fallen behind demand in 2007. This caused exporters to keep prices of domestic food down. Continuing to consume at an increasing rate causes over-extraction of resources. Increased consumption can also create waste and pollution for our planet. Lack of resources can be destructive and lead to further health issues.
Overconsumption is a contributing factor to stress. To afford consumer goods, Americans worked longer hours to receive higher incomes. Parents have found it difficult to manage family responsibilities. According to a PEW survey, mothers who worked the fewest hours felt the happiest. (de Graff et al. 37). Jobs today pay less than they used to, making Americans work more than they did a generation ago. Since the pace of work has increased, this puts stress on individuals making them feel overworked and burned out by their jobs. A 2013 Harris Interactive Poll found that 83 percent of American workers say they are stressed out on the job (de Graff et al. 38). Having more pressure of being overworked can lead to depression. Instead of taking care of mental health, Americans tend to focus more on what they can bring home giving individuals less time to recuperate.
In conclusion, consumerism impacts individuals in both positive and negative ways. Although there may be benefits to consumerism with more goods and services and creating more employment opportunities, it can also be harmful as it targets adolescents through advertising, affects the environment and resources, and can be toxic to physical and emotional health. We are constantly exposed as Americans can either be influenced by consumer culture or be against being materialistic. Society needs to focus more on enjoying what you already have and to enjoy less.
Mcgregor (2006a) argues that the patterns of consumers are immoral and consumer behavior is unethical due to the negative impact on the next generations and the environment. The very definition of consumption means to consume, waste, squander, or destroy, and is synonymous with environmental destruction, the squandering of natural resources, and human exploitation. However, since the start of the 21st century, individuals have become gradually more interested in ethical, ecological, and social issues. From the consumer point of view, these preoccupations are embedded in the notion of “responsible consumption”. Over-consumption as a result of the media influence is continuously increasing, hurting the environment and society. Simultaneously, individuals become more aware of their purchasing decisions and the impact of their consumption patterns. Ethical consumerism is a practice through ‘positive buying’ where ethical products are favored. Ethical consumerism is growing (Berry and McEachern 2011), however, the complexity of ethical consumerism and gaps in prior studies result in consumers’ actual purchase behaviors regarding ethical products being limited.
The decision to consume or decline a certain good or service expresses the agent’s concern to abide by a certain moral standard (Cho & Krasser, 2011). consumer ethics seeks to describe, understand, and praise or criticize consumers for their behavior as ethical or non-ethical. Consumer ethical behavior can be expressed in one of the following forms:
Positive buying: favoring ethical products and businesses that operate on beliefs based primarily on benefits for the greater good rather than self-interest.
There are 2 dimensions of positive buying :
Some forms of ethical buying benefit the natural environment, examples being environmentally friendly products, animal well being
While others benefit people, examples being products free from child labor and fairly traded goods
Moral Boycotts buying: boycotting unethical organizations that have negative
Describing an eEthicalConsumer
Webster’s Online Dictionary Describes an “ethical” consumer as an individual who is likely to “conform to acceptable standards of social or professional behavior”. Ethical consumers traditionally are concerned with “the people” element of consumerism (Strong, 1996), following Harrison et al. (2005) note that such types of consumers 2care whether a corporation promotes employees from minority ethnicities, plan their consumption to avoid harm to other animals, worry about product transportation distances and probably a plethora of other concerns”. According to Harper and Makatouni (2002, p289) being an ethical consumer means “buying products which are not harmful to the environment and society. This can be as simple as buying free range eggs or as complex as boycotting goods produced by child labor”
Sociodemographics of ethical consumer
There are a lot of studies researching the effects of socio-demographic factors, however, studies are not conclusive (e.g. Swaidan et al., 2006). For example, Muncy and Vitell (1992) have found that the individuals with the strongest ethical concerns appear to be older individuals with lower levels of both education and income. Several studies have argued that females are more concerned with ethical issues than males. Rawwas (1996) has also argued that females tend to be more ethical than males when evaluating questionable consumer practices. For example, most females have previously bought Fair Trade products (see e.g. BLEND and VAN RAVENSMAAY 1999; LOUREIRO and LOTADE 2005; TALLONTIRE et al. 2001). In a similar vein, Lu and Lu (2010) revealed that females tend to be somewhat more ethical than males. In contrast, Swaidan et al (2006) argued that gender is not a significant determinant of any questionable consumer behavior. ROBERTS (1996), CARRIGAN and ATTALA (2001), and TALLONTIRE et al. (2001, p. 5ff.) describe the ethical consumer as a person of 30 years and older, educated above average, and well-informed with relatively high income. Whereas more recently, De Pelsmacker (2005)] and Langen (2013) found demographic factors to be unrelated to consumers’ ethical purchasing behavior. This is one of the reasons why several authors stress that rather than socio-demographic variables, psychological variables such as values, attitudes, beliefs, and norms as well as altruistic behavior influence consumers’ choice in the direction of ethical concerns (see e.g. CHATZIDAKIS et al. 2007; FRAJ and MARTINEZ 2007; GRANKVIST et al. 2007; LUSK et al.
History of Ethical Consumerism ( shift from business to consumer )
The focus on the social responsibility of corporations has a relatively long history. Purposeful research on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept originated more than 60 years ago in the United States. The social responsibility of (private) consumers has, by contrast, received less attention from business ethicists and other scholars, even though arguments in favor of that subject have a similarly long history: Hartley Withers, the editor of The Economist at the beginning of the twentieth century, already spoke out in favor of ‘‘the consumer’s responsibility’’ almost a century ago (Withers 1920). As Steve Tammelleo and Louis Lombardi have recently observed: Unfortunately, discussions of ethics in economic activities have focused almost entirely on the responsibilities of businesses … Those on the other side of the transaction are often viewed primarily as beings acted on (Tammelleo and Lombardi 2014) However, there slowly seems to be an increasing awareness of consumer ethics in general and consumer social responsibility (ConSR) in particular.2 It is important to note that early work on ConSR has focused almost exclusively on aspects of environmental or ecological sustainability and policy implications (e.g., Antil 1984; Fisk 1973). These are unquestionably important perspectives, but we can also observe that the power of consumers to sanction, positively influence, and eventually change morally questionable practices seems to be larger than ever before (see also Schmidt 2016, p. 19). This concerns more of the social and economic aspects rather than just the environmental dimension of sustainability.
Defining the ethical consumer: green consumer and ethical consumer
Multiple authors (Smith, 190; Strong, 1996, Shaw & Shiu, 2002; Uusitalo & okssannen, 2004) considered the ethical consumer as an evolution of the green consumer. The green consumer has been researched mainly from 1the 970’s. The green (Balderjahn, 1988, Peattie 1998), environmentally conscious (Kinnear et al. 1974), or ecologically concerned ( Neilssen & Scheepers, 1992) consumers are defined as individuals that demonstrate an interest in the environment both by their general attitude to environmental protection and conservation as well as their pre disposing ofpurchasing bbehavior Kinnear et al., 1974; Kardash (1974 and Rolston and Di Bernetto (1994) describe the latter (predisposing purchasing bbehavior in a simpler way as the discrimination in ffavorof an environmentally superior product Hendarwan (2002, p16) defines green consumerism as that which involves “beliefs and values aimed at supporting greater good that motivates consumers’ purchases’. Elkington and Hailes (1989) eelaboratethat a green consumer avoids products that might “endanger the health of the consumers or others; cause significant damage to the environment during manufacture, use or disposal; consume a disproportionate amount of energy; cause unnecessary waste; use materials derived from threatening species or environments; involve unnecessary use or cruelty to animals or adversely effect other countries”.
Cherrier (2007) questions the concept of ethicalconsumerss as “rational choosers”, emphasizing that they perceive ethical consumers as people “who coalesce their multiple identities into the united and desired ethical identity by choosing when and how to participate in ethical practices” (2007:323). She claims that ethical consumption experience goes far beyond the marketplace and this experience is more social than individual. Therefore, she argues that the consumer‟’s degree of ethical involvement depends not only on self-identity but also on their relations with others and overall social context. In this research, I partly agree with Cherrier‟ ‘s perspective and will consider her point on ethical consumption as being more of a social practice, than individual practice and its impact on one‟s identity. At the dawn of the 21st century, citizens have become increasingly interested in ethical, social, and ecological issues. From the consumer standpoint, these preoccupations are reflected in the notion of “responsible consumption . From the consumer standpoint, these preoccupations are reflected in the notion of “responsible consumption.
The distinction between green consumer and ethical consumer is important because ethical concern encompasses a broader range of issues and therefore a more complex decision-making process for consumers (Shaw and Shiu,2002)
The role of information in ethical consumerism
It is rather easy to assert that to be capable of engaging in ethical consumerism, consumers need to be well-informed, meaning they need to possess all the information that is relevant to their consumption decisions. According to Hannah Berry and Morven McEachern (2005), such information involves ‘background data’ (i.e., for example, information about the general problems of climate change) as well as specific ‘product data’ (e.g., details about the country of origin, the supply chain, the materials processed, labels, and certifications) (Berry and McEachern 2005, p. 70). First, due to information asymmetries in markets, consumers do not possess complete information regarding a product or service and the consequences of using this particular product or service concerning others or the environment. Evolution of information and communication technology, and especially the Internet as a platform for stakeholders to exchange information, information is available much quicker, more transparent, and in a much wider spectrum, thus, indirectly contributing to the reduction of information asymmetry. The difficulty with information overload is to find relevant information. Consequently, and concerning Berry and McEachern (2005), it can be stated that ‘‘there is not a lack of information on ethical issues, but that its quality and complexity may be of concern in some areas’’ (Berry and McEachern In this respect, several authors, including Kristina Nolte (2005) and Lilian Weng (2014), argue concerning Simon’s (1971) seminal paper that the attention of individuals could be regarded as a scarce resource (see also Weng et al. 2012, on a related note). In Simon’s (1971) words “In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity deceptions and greenwashing consumers might develop a fundamental distrust concerning the credibility of corporate information and their CSR efforts in general Bernett et al (2005)assumes that if the consumers have the requisite knowledge the product that is produced to the detriment of distant others ( whether humans or non-humans) would be replaced by a product which is produced more ethically. The consumer’s failure to choose what is ethical is presumably stymied by a knowledge gap.
Consumer culture can be defined as where social status, values, and activities are centered on the consumption of goods and services, basically in a consumer culture a large part of what you do, what you value, and how you are defined revolves around your consumption of stuff. The need to consume is implemented into our brains from a very young age, therefore this becomes socially acceptable to consume because it is seen to be social to follow the rules of society, e.g we buy our water from the supermarket instead of drinking water from the tap (Grimsley,1970). This essay will specifically argue that society is highly driven by consumerism because in everyday life people are bombarded with advertisements that encourage people to consume the latest object and people do this to be able to gain a certain status, there is a variety of issues as why society is driven by consumerism but that is the main reason people want to have the newest objects to be able to show off and say they have them when in reality they don’t need to have the object. This essay is split into four parts. The first part will examine how consumption is displayed in everyday life and where it stemmed from, it will also look into Veblen’s theory of wealth, status, display, and emulation and the fact that within society it is seen to be crucial to be doing better than someone else the need to own something better than someone else. The second part will focus on the work of Max Weber how he argued that it was religion that powered social change, and how Karl Marx explains commodity fetishism. The third part is Marx’s theory of class conflict, Marx argues that the bourgeoisie oppresses the proletariat in every way possible. It then goes on to talk about the London riots in 2011 how the need to consume created these riots and what extent people would go to. The final part of the essay will look at globalization and how the process of cultural globalization happens through the distribution of media coverage. Zygmunt Bauman’s view on postmodernism and liquid modernity is also explained in the final paragraph he argues that we are stuck in a work where the poor experience instability in life while the rich experience it in a better way.
The consumption of goods and services is so greatly embedded into our everyday lifestyle, that it is rarely questioned as it is seen to be so normal so why would anyone question it, not only have the environmental consequences and social consequences gotten lost along the way, but also the very notion that consumption is a choice and that our basic needs are met. Consumption in a symbolic meaning is not necessary and is a choice itself (Thomson, 2016). The sociology of consumption is about a lot more than the actual purchase or act it includes a variety of emotions, behaviors, identities, values, and thoughts. This is seen to be portrayed throughout how we use goods and services. When attempting to define the relationship of ‘consumption’ and ‘consumerism’ it is deemed to be done with great difficulty. Consumerism is not coterminous with consumption. Campbell (1995) argues that consumption is defined as ‘the selection, purchase, use, maintenance, repair, and disposal of any product or service. Within sociology historically the theory of consumption has incorporated what is described as ‘macro-structural’ issues, in recent times it has been more concerned with ‘macro-cultural’ issues. The significance of consumption stems from a structural point of view in terms of the experience of whole classes or even societies. More recently sociologists have moved away from perceiving that consumption as little more than a by-product of production as part of a move towards understanding the various cultural aspects of consumption Steven Miles, (1998).
Thorstein Veblen, (1899) theory of leisure class is one of the most significant classical contributions to a sociological understanding of consumption. Veblen (1899) Veblen examines the demand and consumption of the upper classes of society in terms that are not the traditional economic terms, and he does this without the use of data. He begins by looking at how the leisure class came into existence. Veblen begins with a primitive society in which there are no class distinctions or forms of ownership. When the institution of ownership begins, with women seized by victors, then class distinction begins. This barbarian society has different characteristics than the primitive society does, and this is where the basis of the leisure class is found. To examine consumption Veblen looks at the leisure habits of the leisure class within their lifestyle, he examines not only their characteristics but also their activities, manner of dress, religions, and pursuit of activities of higher learning. He views the activities and spending habits of this leisure class in terms of conspicuous and vicarious consumption and waste. Both were related to the display and not to functionality or usefulness. They avoid employment that may be productive since this is not seen as an honorable activity within society. (Steven Miles, 1998). Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption argues that individuals within society emulate the patterns of consumption of individuals of a higher hierarchy than them. Veblen used four words to describe consumption which are, wealth, status, display, and emulation. For example, wealth is excessive consumption, status is purchasing the finest things in life, the display is then showing it off and emulation is copying something for example a person throws a birthday party and then another person in the society wants to do it bigger and better than the last one to show they have a bigger status than the other person. There are a variety of contemporary examples of Veblen’s theory such as how easy it is to attain items within society no matter your status or class, for example being able to use credit cards nowadays and how easy they are to get which shows a false portrayal of a wealthy status and also finance on expensive cars to try and give off the impression as though the individual has a lot of money when in fact they are in a lot of debt just to say they own the car (Chen, 2018).
Max Weber published his highly influential work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in 1904. The focus of Weber’s study was that religion was the engine of social change. Weber argued that the values of the Protestant religion led to the emergence of capitalism in Western Europe around the 17th century. Weber theorized that the different value systems had very different effects, the values of Protestantism encouraged the ways of acting which then resulted in capitalism emerging over decades (Karl Thompson,2017). Weber didn’t believe that people within society are what shape our society, Weber argued that societies enforce certain different types of motive action for example the religion of Calvinism encouraged people to save money, which eventually led to capitalism. Weber believes that there are four types of social actions, ideal types are used as a tool to look at real cases and compare them to the ideal types to see where they fall.
The first social action is traditional social action which is actions controlled by traditions, which means “the way something has always been done”. The second social action is affective social action which are actions deemed by someone’s affections and emotional state and someone who does not think about the consequences of their actions. The third social action is value rational social action which are actions that are determined by a conscious belief within a type of behavior, for example, religion. The fourth social action is instrumental rational social action which are actions that are used to create a certain goal by doing something to create a result. A critique of Weber would be that he focused too much on society shaping the individual, symbolic interactionism argues that individuals have more freedom to shape their identities. Karl Thompson,(2017).
According Karl Marx (1867), Marx borrows this concept to make sense of what he terms ‘commodity fetishism.’ As Marx explains, the commodity remains simple as long as it is tied to its use-value. People within a capitalist society treat commodities as though they just appear in an object, not the effort a laborer may have put into the object to produce the result. Marx saw the worker’s relationship to the means of production and the commodity as a key influence on that person’s life, the actual reception and consumption of that commodity has become substantially a lot more influential. Marx argues that all aspects of social life become subject to the laws of the marketplace. An example of commodity fetishism could be the brand Nike, the company is very big on advertising and promoting the company by using celebrities to promote the brand. An example of a celebrity promoting Nike would be the 2014 advertisement starring famous football player Cristiano Renaldo showing off Nike clothing. These adverts draw in consumers as well as increase commodity fetishism. (Jackie Wilkcom,2014).
Marx’s theory of class conflict is included within the capitalist society, the division of the two classes, each class has a bond of mutual interests and a degree of property ownership, often supported by the state. The bourgeoisie represents the members of society who hold the majority of the wealth and means. The proletariat includes those considered working class or poor. Due to the rise of capitalism, Marx argued that the Bourgeoisie was a minority within the population and they would use their influence to oppress the proletariat which was the majority class. Marx argued that laborers have very little control over the economic system because they don’t own factories or materials, their work becomes devalued over time. This then creates an imbalance between business owners and workers, which then leads to social conflicts. Marx argued that these problems would eventually be fixed through a social economic revolution (Fulcher & Scott, 2011).
In Bauman’s theory of the failed consumer, if the definition of normality in a producer society was to be the worker then the definition of abnormality was to be the unemployed, then you become the none person, the outsider. To be a failed worker didn’t mean it was the end of the road for the individual, the economic cycle and periodic wars meant that society had some reason to invest in you. The need to keep you fit and healthy to then be ready for work or war if it occurred. Furthermore, the failed workers were a class, they lived in the same communities and had a sense of shared class solidarity. In today’s modern-day life, the failed consumer faces a much more hostile, humiliating life. Society does not need the failed consumers they can’t spend so they have no value now or in the future (Kalleberg & Biggs, 2015). A failed consumer nowadays is known as having a miserable existence because their daily life experience is subjected to being trapped, to be told that designer goods are the hallmarks of success, but then to be told you can’t have them. The failed consumer then has to realize not being able to escape the fact of never being allowed into that cycle. They are permanent window shoppers who can look but can never touch or own. The London riots in 2011 gave the failed consumers a chance to escape the trappings of being stuck and not being able to consume, it gave them the chance to take stuff that defined them. It was the chance to have the items for free and just for a moment be like everyone else. Bauman wrote on the pages of the Social Europe Journal after the looting and burning “ These are not hunger or bread riots. These are riots of defective and disqualified consumers”. In a consumer society, the site of the process was the shops, which symbolize where economic and cultural power lies and will be the target of the failed consumers. The sciences of the riots resembled the well-known game Grand Theft Auto. The aftermath of the London riots created a brief fundamental debate about politics and exposed the differences between the left and right-wing. The right-wing argues that “the British welfare state has created an underclass. The looting is not an indication of economic despair”. They went on “Their problem is not that they have been given too little, but they have deserved nothing”. The issue, the problem was purely that of personal moral responsibility. The left-wing argued that it was fundamentally about poverty and equality (Lawson,2016).
Globalization has created the ability to purchase life-changing goods for consumers, it has provided many different consumption alternatives at reasonable prices. Globalization has created many changes within societies and cultures across the whole world (Kumar & Kalai Raji, n.d.). The process of cultural globalization happens through the distribution and consumption of the media, consumer goods, and the Western consumer lifestyle. It is also fuelled by social media and media coverage of the world elite and their lifestyles, the movement of people from the global north around the world via business and leisure travel, and the expectations of these travelers that host societies will provide amenities and experiences that reflect their cultural norms. (Nicki Lisa Cole, 2017). It is very easy in this day and age to go to any major city in the world and share in a similar ‘consumption experience’. People from countries such as Asia and South America are reaching the point of enjoying high-consumption lifestyles within the West, an example of this could be car ownership and tourism which are both on the rise globally. In the same aspect is the growth of similar styles of shopping malls, and leisure parks which provide homogeneous cultural experiences within different regions across the world. Ulrich Beck (1992) argued that there is a distinct feature of globalization which is the development of a global risk consciousness, which stems from the shared global problems that threaten people in multiple countries, an example that could be used is the threat of terrorism and the rise of organized crime which is predominantly through international drug trafficking. (Karl Thompson, 2017)
Postmodernism is a broad movement that occurred in the 20th century, the ideas associated with it can be seen in response to the various social changes occurring with the shift from modernity to postmodernity. Zygmunt Bauman accepts that the modern project that came from the European enlightenment of rationally shaping society no longer makes sense. Bauman has increasingly moved away from the term ‘postmodernism’ which he argued that had become corrupt by too much diverse usage and now describes this day and age as ‘liquid modernity’, reflecting the fact no matter how many times stability and order have been tried to be put into the world and has created uncertainty while doing so. Bauman argues that it is capitalism that has produced the postmodernist world we live in and that predominantly it is the poor that experience instability in life while the rich experience it in a better way, Bauman argued that if we want a better world to live in it is up to us as individuals to figure out a way of being more in control of what kind of world we live in rather than just accepting our fate as consumers. (Zygmunt Bauman,2013).
In conclusion, it is fair to say that consumerism and happiness show a clear link, it is clear to say that happiness is a relative term for different people. Nowadays it is seen to be that owning nice new shiny objects has become part of such everyday life. Throughout this essay, the extent of consumerism has been discussed through different theories such as Veblen’s theory of leisure class in 1899, Max Weber’s work of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in 1904, Karl Marx theory of class conflict, Bauman’s theory of the failed consumer, Beck’s theory of globalization 1992, and Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity. The need to consume in everyday life has grown massively due to how the media or social media portray the need to consume and how important it is to own a variety of luxuries to gain a certain status.
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Lawson, N. (2011, September 16). The London Riots And The Rise Of Consumerism: What Are The Implications For Social Democracy? – Kalevi Sorsa -säätiö. Kalevi Sorsa -säätiö. Retrieved May 6, 2019, from https://sorsafoundation.fi/fi/the-london-riots-and-the-rise-of-consumerism-what-are-the-implications-for-social-democracy/
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Bibliography
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We live in a ‘throwaway society,’ which is a term used to characterize a society driven by materialism. What strategies can be used to address the problem of our ‘throwaway society’?
The throw-away society is a generalized description of a human social concept strongly influenced by consumerism, whereby the society tends to use items once only, from disposable packaging, and consumer products are not designed for reuse or lifetime use.
Politicians in less economically developed countries are under pressure to establish and maintain a stable and expanding economy for the country to increase its wealth sustainably, according to the political elements and issues of throwaway society. To do this, citizens and tourists must purchase goods for money to flow into the system; consequently, these politicians must support consumerism to complete their work successfully. Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley, co-leaders of the Green Party, signed the Manchester Declaration, which calls for customers to have the ‘right to repair.’ Other politicians who have signed the declaration include Labour MP Fleur Anderson, Conservative MP Robert Goodwill, and former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable. As customers, we should have the right to goods that are built to last and designed to be repairable if something breaks. There is no technical reason why this should not be the case; it is businesses aiming to maximize profits to increase sales that are exploiting people and destroying the environment. Political leaders such as Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley are utilizing their political influence at the municipal, national, and European levels to push for a circular economy and the right to repair. The development of products that will fail or become less desirable over time is known as planned obsolescence, and it encourages consumers to throw away their old products and replace them with new ones. It encourages consumers to buy more and saves businesses money by reducing the need to invest in higher-quality products. Technology or car firms producing new products each year with only minimal changes are examples of planned obsolescence. Consumers or the environment do not profit from planned obsolescence. It simply improves the profitability of corporations and businesses.
Consumerism is the idea that increasing the consumption of goods and services purchased in the market is always a desirable goal and that a person’s well-being and happiness depend fundamentally on obtaining consumer goods and material possessions. Consumerism helps economic growth by persuading people to buy more products they think they want through various forms of advertising, which affects the majority of people, resulting in more money being spent, which means more money is put back into circulation, resulting in economic growth for both the country and the business. However, the way our economy consumes resources is not sustainable. A ‘linear’ approach – where materials are extracted, made into a product, used, and discarded – wastes valuable resources and damages the environment. Furthermore, increasing levels of consumption in developing countries will put further pressure on the prices of materials and, as a result, company and consumer costs. It makes environmental and economic sense to take a ‘circular’ approach to reusing resources and maximizing their value over time, and there are potentially billions of pounds in benefits for businesses across the economy by becoming more efficient.
Consumerism has the greatest impact on society because it is to people within it that products are advertised; in fact, people are the real product being persuaded for their money. Due to various reasons such as fast food, clothing, holidays, vehicles, and technology, the money output of society has increased since the implementation of consumerism. However, with more money being put back into the country, the more money there is for technological research resulting in a higher demand for new technology being implemented into everyday life.
The environmental factor of consumerism is that as technology advances, the physical environment will change. For example, new construction methods will be developed, resulting in new building structures. Then there’s the social environment, which will alter as people become more habituated to consumerism in the future years and will continue to do so until a social intervention.
Fitzgerald explicitly explores the desolation and despair of the hedonistic Jazz Age in the tragedy The Great Gatsby through society’s plunge into moral decay. The widespread corruption of the essential foundations of the American Dream, usurped by excessive materialism and consumerism, is at the heart of the novel as success becomes synonymous with immorality. The Great Gatsby details the catastrophic downfall of the once social and generous gentleman – Jay Gatsby, due to his inability to control his monstrous excess to attain his perverted version of the American Dream. Through exploring how the American dream is unachievable by some people like Nick Carraway, the separation of the people in the valley of ashes from the American dream, and Gatsby’s relentless pursuit to reinvent the past, Fitzgerald explicitly accentuates those who are obsessed with hedonism are destined to die alone and unfulfilled, desolate and despondent.
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The Valley of Ashes symbolizes a demoralized hopelessness and the death of dreams covered in the waste of capitalism. It is a poverty-stricken area where people like George Wilson work hard but never get ahead enough to pursue their dreams. Their dreams have been quashed by the bleak reality of their situation and lay dormant under the ash and grime that covers everything in their midst. This is revealed through the use of a metaphor where Nick Carraway claims: “Move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air”. Their situation is made worse by the wealthy people who pass through ignore them and treat them with disrespect. The demoralized society is further portrayed through the surrounding setting of the Valley where Nick Carraway claims the valley as a: ‘farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke.’ The use of a polysyndeton symbolizes that the American Dream is shattered in the Valley of Ashes. It also reveals that such a desolate place does not exist by mistake. Rather, it was created by the wealthy populations surrounding it and those who pursue materialistic goals. Furthermore, the aspiration of the American Dream is furthered exemplified in chapter 2 when Myrtle decides to choose the most expensive taxi. Through the use of visual imagery, Nick claims: ‘Upstairs, in the solemn echoing drive she let four taxicabs drive away before she selected a new one.’ Myrtle’s desire to flee her ‘stultified and anemic’ husband exemplifies the seduction of the American Dream. However, Nick mocks her failure as a society hostess with the adverb of her moving “haughtily” inside the apartment. There is a tragic consequence to her murder by Daisy, and her destroyed body is described in the graphic, visceral image of “her life violently extinguished…her left breast swinging loose like a flap” highlighting that she could not escape the wretchedness of The Valley of Ashes despite her energetic determination and inherent vivacity. Through examining the desolation of the Valley of Ashes, it is clear Fitzgerald is implying the inaccessibility of the corrupted American Dream to individuals like George Wilson.
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The American dream which is obtainable by some but not all, is a fallacy in terms of leading a morally upright existence where there is a sense of opportunity for prosperity and success. This is perceived through the unscrupulous and decadent behavior of those attending Gatsby’s extravagant parties, which became a weekend playhouse for the lost generation. The desolation and disparity can be foreshadowed in chapter 1 through the usage of a motif where Nick Carraway claims: ‘There was music from my neighbor’s house…The Party had begun.’ The party symbolizes the conspicuous consumerism and the decadence of the affluent people in the 1920s. The extravagant parties in The Great Gatsby represent superficiality, due to Gatsby’s extensive efforts to impress his guests. However, Gatsby’s ostentatious display has not bought him the status he desires but has instead made him an outsider. Hundreds come to his lavishly catered parties to enjoy manifesting in ‘no thin five-piece (orchestra) but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums’, Fitzgerald’s polysyndeton reinforcing the sheer excess of the 1920s. These same hoards, which include opportunistic European aristocrats and corrupt politicians, also see Gatsby’s guests conduct ‘themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks’ connotating Gatsby’s lack of social elevation through the desolation and disparity that he experiences. However, the fallacious nature of Gatsby’s party is further revealed through the arrival of the party’s food catering where ‘every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves.’ The oranges act as a metaphor for moral emptiness and spiritual destitution, implying that they are all carefree and careless. It temporarily covers the void with their hedonistic pursuits, but it eventually becomes empty and hollow. The futility of the American Dream is further analyzed through the use of a tragic simile of Gatsby “running down like an overwound clock”. The interplay of the motif of confusion and destruction represented by clocks and cars emphasizes that Gatsby’s despair is borne from his subversion of the intrinsic ideals of the American Dream, ultimately negating any potential he may have had for greatness. Thus, the empty promises of prosperity are foreshadowed by America’s spiritual impoverishment, reducing the society to the graveyard of desolation and disparity.
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Fitzgerald effectively utilizes the tragedy of Jay Gatsby and the emptiness of Daisy Buchanan to illustrate the idea that the pursuit of the American Dream is a Sisyphean task where individuals are tethered to their past and history. Narrator Nick portrays Gatsby as a deeply flawed, dishonest, and vulgar individual, whose extraordinary optimism and power are unable to transform his dreams into reality. Drawing from the rampant influence of materialism and economic prosperity of the Jazz Era, Fitzgerald embeds the recurring motif of a “green light”, with its green color symbolizing money, wealth, and the ultimate American Dream. The high modality in “anything can happen now… even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder” initiates an optimistic perspective of the American Dream where individuals from any background can build a fortune for themselves, including Gatsby who climbed the socioeconomic hierarchy. However, Nick Carraway praises Gatsby as “a son of God,” using the biblical allusion to celebrate Gatsby’s power to recreate his own identity from poverty to fortune through his relentless pursuit of wealth. Furthermore, Fitzgerald dispels the promise of the American Dream by posing its “green light” as “minute and far away,” metaphorically positioning it beyond Gatsby’s reach to highlight the futility of his moral sacrifices and the unattainable reality of the American ideal. The Novel further disillusions the audience from the opulent vision of the American Dream by exposing the amorality of the wealthy. Through casting Tom and Daisy, the synecdoche of “old money”, as “careless people ” who “smash up things… and let other people clean up the mess they had made”, reveals that a materialistic lifestyle can render one as cynical, sardonic and morally empty. Gatsby’s failure to breach this divide is fully realized in the novel’s climax when Tom sardonically denies that: ‘I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife.’ The extended metaphor reveals Tom’s affirmation that Gatsby will never be able to be a part of their old moneyed world and that Gatsby will never be able to reach the ‘cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay.’ Through exploring Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy, Fitzgerald asserts that the illusion of the American Dream cannot be achieved by all due to the insurmountable divide between classes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby explicitly reveals the desolate and despondent American Dream through the society’s plunge into moral decay. By exploring Gatsby’s tragic ending, the most significant statement Fitzgerald addresses is the devastation caused by pursuing what cannot be a reality. However, The Great Gatsby reminds the readers that rather than reaching for materialism, an individual should focus on more important things such as relationships, that will bring true happiness.
This paper analyzes impacts of consumer-driven society in the modern culture. Actually, Weeks Linton wrote an article entitled “Burden of the Modern Beast” to explain effects of consumers-driven custom in human community. Weeks Linton made an exciting study when he observed that people normally carry many belongings during commitments. Indeed, the article asserted that many persons carry bags when moving from one place to another or when doing different activities.
In the modern life, people are burdened with much stuff they carry out in their daily events. Actually, modern human being carries much stuff than inhabitants who lived in earlier generation. For example, in 1900s, people who engaged in painting profession never carried complicated stuff. Nevertheless, in the modern time, painting task has become so much sophisticated due to technological advancement. For instance, modern Laptop holders have pouches meant to carry whole lot of stuff.
Weeks Linton viewed that human being carry many belongings because he/she do not want to depend on a fellow being. In fact, such things people carry do not promote community life in human society. Indeed, such people usually become self dependent and isolated from others. For instance, this is evident when modern people engage in portable games, purchase complex Laptop cases, Cell Phones, and IPods (Rosa & Eschhol, 2009).
Moreover, modern human beings carry much stuff due to the fact that they feel insecure. Actually, people perceive that adversary is always out to attack them. In fact, people carry preferred devices for survival means. In addition, Himes asserts that human life, in the modern era, is much liquefied. Thus, they carry belongings in order to be equipped to engage in various activities such as family commitments, school activities, work occupation, and leisure time (2007).
According to Rosa & Eschhol, modern people have become concerned whether human gains of material richness have prepared them to acquire happiness in life or not (2009). In fact, modern people are not happy and contented in life. Actually, modern people have incurred too much cost of acquiring materialism at expense of losing integration of community life in society.
Modern human being has attained impressive progression in terms of global invention over the last three decades. Indeed, people have access to many material choices. For example, human being has acquired efficient products such as Whistle, Bells, and Gadgets (Fine, 2005). Actually, people have acquired sophisticated devices that efficiently and progressively make human life better. However, modern human being is not faring well simply because he/she sets aside minimal time to share human values with acquaintances.
Indeed, promotion of environmental and social conscientiousness is a failed approach. Besides, Fine opines that it is important to note that modern people cannot segregate democracy from capitalism (2005). Actually, capitalism flourishes well where democracy deteriorates. However, capitalism has over powered democracy. At present, people refer to modern world as democratic capitalism.
According to Rosa & Eschhol, it is inevitable that consumerism is growing because of increase in rationalization (2009). On the other hand, rationalization is growing because of need for consumerism. Actually, consumption is a real mass phenomenon due to the fact that people have to use goods and services in order to exist in life. Indeed, consumerism is an essential means of survival. In fact, people usually use material possession in order to live.
However, rationalization is a blame for modern consumption in human society. Indeed, rationality has promoted people’s search for desired aims. People normally focus on satisfying their wants through consumerism. In addition, Rosa & Eschhol opine that materialism is not just objects, but a device in which human being expects to attain visions in social status, reputation, esteem and aspiration (2009).
Moreover, consumerism has offered a prospect for people to display and convey their identity (Himes, 2007). In fact, this justifies why people hold material things. Human superficial preoccupation to exterior manifestation of materialism is part of blame and problem.
Modern people have been influenced into harmful livelihood due to wickedness of rationality (Rosa & Eschhol, 2009). Moreover, consistent involvement in media images and human willingness to be ahead of other people has caused selfish attitude in people who always aspire to acquire massive wealth more than others.
Conclusion
People need to embrace shared human values by abandoning cycles of purchasing and requiring more materialism through establishing consciously essential and legitimate natural life in their human activities. Such attitude is acquired through adopting Godly life.
Indeed, people need to be involved in creative social events and resting involvement while minimizing exposure of non-intercreative activity and noise experience. Moreover, power of endurance and patience is helpful to reduce psychological depression and establish God’s inspiration into people’s lives. In fact, people need to explore kindness in many natural ways rather than engaging in quest for individual prosperity accretion.
Furthermore, consumers’ culture needs to put their interest on mission of God rather than material possession. Generally, the culture of value attainment is influenced by personal attitude and norms. These norms control property acquisition and belief in inter and intra personal commitment and interaction.
References
Fine, B. (2005). Consumerism in 20th Century Britain: the Search for a Historical Movement. Review of Social Economy, 63, 10-26.
Himes, K. (2007). Consumerism and Christine Ethics. Theological Studies, 68, 54-80.
Rosa, A., & Eschhol, P. (2009). Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition. 10th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Corporate politics have influenced traditional American beliefs, American culture, and American social systems. This way, the commercialization of culture has degenerated traditional cultural values. Through a fascination with American television, mass media has stripped us of tradition and replaced it with a fascination for the pursuit of products and other material possessions. This change has happened within a wider context of the consumerism culture.
This culture is part of a popular myth in American contemporary society that advances the belief that gratification and social integration occurs through product ownership and the accumulation of material possessions.
Here, stronger needs for fetishistic consumer ideals have replaced traditional values that focus on art, religion, and family. In a false representation of gratification, egocentric ideals have forced many Americans to sublimate the desire for cultural fulfillment through an endless pursuit for material possessions.1 In this regard, there is no rebirth or renewal through property ownership because transcend truths are lacking. This paper delves deeper into this topic by evaluating the ideology surrounding consumerism and finding out its interaction with traditional American cultural values.
Ideological Critique
Consumerism thrives on media-manipulated undulations. In this regard, it fails to meet its goals because it lacks the fulfillment of other cultural mythologies (consumerism offers short-term gratification for people who can afford luxury goods and services at the expense of those who cannot afford them). This way, consumerism is a myth that thrives on an inadequately engineered value system. The consumerism culture has thrived in America because the society is largely egocentric.
This egocentric culture has made it easy for many Americans to overlook the ontological value of an important cultural experience and replaced it for the ideals and values propagated by deceptive advertising. The lack of morality and humanitarianism are products of this system because people measure their cultural values to economic worth. This system has thrived on the backdrop of a politically oppressive culture that depends on product availability, as opposed to survival needs. These factors have justified the politically oppressive moral construction of the American society. Barthes affirms this view through his representation of myths as “signifiers.” 2
As opposed to the common belief that most myths hide the truth, myths distort our perception of reality. This is what Barthes believes to be the true alienation of our history. He uses this philosophy to oppose the premise through which most myths use to advance their distorted truths – the alienation of history through language. This happens through an oversimplification of truths to a few definitive traits. In the distorted moral and societal system, the dollar has become a cheap substitute for American cultural values. Here, the society gauges people’s self-worth with their ability to purchase luxury goods and services. This problem has also brought a major identity crisis for America because people’s purchasing decisions are not only informed by purpose, but, rather, by the need to please others, or to gain social acceptance.
The consumer is a target within the wider consumerism myth that characterizes American contemporary society (the myth often influences consumer decisions). False media campaigns that strive to sell an “impractical” view of life that promotes the idea that people’s life problems could end by working hard and purchasing luxury goods influence consumers. Consumer targeting does not work by identifying what customers need or want, but, rather, by what big businesses could sell to consumers (at the highest profit). This selection criterion works by identifying what customers could accept through false media advertising. This way, consumers are not decision-makers because their life choices are predetermined.
Conclusion
Based on the highlights of this paper, big business in America does not hold people’s best interests. Greed and the allure of huge profits motivate big business. Its proponents know that consumerism means more profits for the bourgeoisie. This way, a culture of consumerism promotes a new version of “rogue capitalism.” This new paradigm is detrimental to positive and productive societal growth because it makes people feel inadequate, as self-worth is measurable only by the quantity of luxury items one can buy.
Since a minority of Americans could afford these products, the rest feel inadequate. The dynamics of consumerism, as highlighted in this paper, show that the concept is a myth driven by different constructs of our social and value systems.3 Therefore, through the reconstruction of our social value system lays an insecure American who is more preoccupied with meeting societal expectations, as projected in mainstream media advertising, as opposed to becoming more self-aware and more appreciate of their self-worth. Simply put, many people believe that their identity depends on mainstream media perceptions of men and women.
For example, the common phrase, “we are what we wear” emerges from this philosophy. Nonetheless, although this paper presents consumerism as a myth in contemporary American society, people are beginning to realize the power they wield through popular grass root support. Indeed, as a collective buying force, people are beginning to realize that when they work as union pickets, they can have power over big business in America. Through these tactics, it is possible to manage the abusive policies of American corporate bodies.
Footnotes
According to Barthes, someone who consumes a myth – such as most tabloid readers – does not see its construction as a myth. They see the image simply as the presence of the essence it signifies.
Myths are never arbitrary. They always contain some kind of analogy, which motivates them. In contrast to ideas of false consciousness, myths do not hide anything. Instead, myths inflect or distort particular images or signs to carry a particular meaning.
Barthes says that myth is a metalanguage, which provokes thought and meaning by allowing language to speak for itself. Consumerism is one such myth because it builds on the tenets of false advertising and reduces the raw material of signifying objects into similarities. It is like representing a photograph and a book in the same way.
A poor man lived near a river that stayed frozen over most of the year because he lived very far north. He went there to fish because he was hungry. So he cut a hole in the ice and dropped his baited hook in. It was not long before he pulled in a nice fish. He cooked it and ate it and then built a little shack on the spot so he would have a place to sleep, sit, fish, and eat protected from the elements. The shack had a nice window he had found in an abandoned cabin and he took up residence. Every day he pulled in one fish, so he stayed alive. He was hungry still, but he knew he would not starve.
After a while, he saw another fellow on the other side of the river do the same thing. However, there was a difference: the stranger was catching 6 fish every day. Now the poor man watched this for weeks, but he was catching his one fish every day, so he refused to take a chance and cross the river because he was catching one fish every day. He was not happy, but he would not risk his one fish a day to go after more by moving across the river. What made him really angry was that the guy across the river did not need six fish a day, but he would not throw one of them over to the poor man.
That is why eighty percent of the public allows itself to be led by government, religion, and corporations owned or operated by the other twenty percent. Adam and Eve, or their interdenominational equivalents, had to leave the garden to become human. As long as they stayed in the garden and everything was provided, they needed nothing and would never grow. Even if the garden had only provided enough to barely keep them alive, they, like the poor fisherman, would never have left on their own. Most people will accept having just enough to get by rather than take a chance or make a change.
Corporate America knows this, and they have the secret to survival in a free market: words. “Religion is the opiate of the people” is one of the most frequently quoted statements of Karl Marx. It was translated from the German original, “Die Religion… ist das Opium des Volkes” and is often referred to as “religion is the opiate of the masses”. The quote originates from the introduction of his 1843 work Contribution to Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right which was subsequently released one year later in Marx’s own journal Deutsch-Französischen Jahrbücher, a collaboration with Arnold Ruge. The phrase “Tis opium you feed your people” appears in 1797 in Marquis de Sade’s text L’Histoire de Juliette. (Wikipedia 2007)
Marx and all the others may have been right. However, religion has changed. It is the dollar and the respect gained by its acquisition is that is sought. We worship with our credits cards and cash. Financial success is a development of the industrial age, but the rush to consume has overtaken us only during the last century, and the development of modern mass media has accelerated progress. When people get paid they rush to spend. In fact, they usually spend the money before it is earned, based upon their credit rating. Who did this happen and how does it work? That is the subject of this paper.
Hegemony and American Consumerism
Hegemony is defined in most dictionaries as control or dominating influence by one person or group, especially by one political group over a society or one nation over others. The methods of control differ, but the controlled group is dominated by persuasion. Mass media has made advertising the engine of control over a consumeristic society in a constant round of growth economics. The method of control, in this case, is a whole network of functions that create a need in the consumer designed to fill the needs of the supplier.
In its simplistic form hegemony concerns the construction of consent and the exercise of leadership by the dominant group over subordinate groups; in its more complex form, this deals with issues such as the elaboration of political projects, the articulation of interests, the construction of social alliances, the development of historical blocs, the deployment of state strategies and the initiating of passive revolutions. (Joseph 1)
A definition of Hegemonic is the processes by which dominant culture maintains its dominant position: for example, the use of institutions to formalize power; the employment of a bureaucracy to make power seem abstract (and, therefore, not attached to any one individual); the inculcation of the populace in the ideals of the hegemonic group through education, advertising, publication, etc.; the mobilization of a police force as well as military personnel to subdue opposition. In this case, the control is exercised through education, advertising, and government regulations. (Introduction to Marxism 2007)
The education system of any society is based upon the needs of those who rule the society. At the beginning of this country, children were needed to work the fields, and school schedules still reflect that need. Subjects taught in school included reading, writing, arithmetic, and the philosophy or religion of the group that was paying for the education. Children learned to be honest, hard-working, respectful of authority, and mindful of their neighbors. Today they learn useful subjects, the acculturation is now making them into good little consumers. The books assigned, the materials used, the research: all are contributing to that idea.
Even though some schools and some teachers try to teach them media literacy, children are even more influenced by the absolute deluge of media information. Everywhere we look we see sales pitches. Most of them are not recognized as such, because we are acculturated to believe that text is educational and graphics are entertainment or art. Further than this, advertising has become so subtle that we do not even see it, especially since it is usually placed within or in the proximity of an obvious advertisement. If you hit someone with a big hammer they will not be likely to feel the tiny prick of a hook inserted into the same spot.
Ewen (1976) traces the roots of consumer culture in American society to the 1920s when advertising first began to infiltrate the popular consciousness of American workers by offering the “good life” to those who invested in an ever-expanding array of consumer goods. According to Ewen, the newly developed media became a tool by which capitalists kept workers passive through both the creation of an enticing and fantastic visual spectacle and, where necessary, the co-optation of voices of resistance.
In his book Language in Thought and Action, S.I. Hayakawa (1945) explored the power of language, how we expand our own consciousness to include all the others in our environment and use their perception to expand our intelligence. If someone shouts lookout, because they see a piano falling, we look up and maybe get away without being squashed. That other person’s eyes saw the piano falling and his brain interpreted it as danger, so he shouted to warn everyone, and saved our lives.
We were the beneficiary of his perception. However, just as language benefits us by expanding our ability to access the information it also can gather information without us really paying attention, but that information is not filtered through conscious examination. “Advertisements ordinarily work their wonders, to the extent that they work at all, on an inattentive public.” (Schudson 3) Therefore, it is never tested for validity. So, “television ads may be powerful precisely because people pay them so little heed that they do not call critical defenses into play” (Schudson 4)
Language has tremendous power, and advertisers have harnessed it. Ads are everywhere. The least noticed are those found within movies and television shows. “When women go to the movies they go to see themselves not in the mirror but in the ideal world of fancy. During that hour or two in the romantic world of make-believe, potent influences are at work. New desires are instilled, new wants implanted, new impulses to spend are aroused.” (Rorty 254) One particular instance of a successful television campaign was when the TV show Friends launched.
Following the first two episodes, patronage at Starbucks increased dramatically. While the very recognizable logo of Starbucks was not seen, the layout and style of the café were very close. In fact, whenever a logo or other clearly identifiable brand is visible on television or in a movie, the company has paid big bucks for that spot, millions in fact. Car companies, computer and electronics companies, and other businesses with easily identifiable logos or products are prime customers for this type of largely subliminal advertising.
In modern developed countries, we are surrounded by media, and all of it is designed to sell us something, a product, an idea, a lifestyle. Even the stories on TV, in the movies, and in video games are selling something. We are being constantly accosted by the media. Everywhere you look there are logos and slogans, headlines and warnings, reviews, and press releases. “Design, typically, touches people without their focusing on it–the design of buildings, of products, of packages.
Television and radio are somewhere in the middle, with soap operas and sports near the fireworks end of the spectrum and most another programming far closer to the unattended end, existing for most people as a kind of background noise.” (Schudson 4) There are dozens of logos that are instantly recognized around the world, like Starbucks, MacDonalds, KFC, and the like. As Goldman (1987) points out, the logos become infused with values that the companies want to transmit to the public. Ads are way past selling products, they now sell sales, consumption, and capitalist ideals. “Advertising serves not so much to advertise products as to promote consumption as a way of life.’” (Schudson 6)
“During the last two hundred years, in the capitalist West and increasingly elsewhere as well, advertisements have acquired a powerful iconic significance. Yet they have been more than static symbols: they have coupled words and pictures in commercial fables–stories that have been both fabulous and didactic, that have evoked fantasies and pointed morals, that have reconfigured ancient dreams of abundance to fit the modern world of goods. By the late twentieth century, these fables of abundance-especially the ones sponsored by major multinational corporations–had become perhaps the most dynamic and sensuous representations of cultural values in the world.” (Lears 2)
The really frightening thing about all of this is that consumers think that spending is good, consumption is good because it keeps the economic engines of a growth economy going. Every year we hear statistics about the GDP and the GNP, sales figures, and stock prices, and we are brainwashed to think that growth is good, flat is bad and reduction is a disaster.
“Though it was articulated in secular idioms, their critique derived from Protestant commitments to plain speech and plain living, as well as from republican fears of conspiracy against the independence of the individual self. Critics in this tradition derided advertising for employing deceptive strategies against a passive, hapless audience, and promoting the cancerous growth of wasteful consumer culture.” (Lears 2)
More and more schools are adding courses in media literacy, but it is, for many students, several years too late. Ads target children on a level that cannot be blocked by legislation, such as that which bans toy, candy, and cereal commercials from children’s programming. There is no law, nor can any be made, to prevent admen from creating ads that appeal to children: animation, animals, music, and primary or bright colors. The agencies could argue correctly that these things also appeal to a great number of adults.
No Logo (Klein, Naomi 2002) criticizes the omnipresence of brands, the images of which are increasingly permeating such settings as schools and other locations that were once free of commercial messages. Klein also takes exception with the version of democracy and diversity promoted by multinational corporations in which consumer choices are likened to free choice and democracy while offering less and less choice due to the merger and acquisition frenzy that began during the 1990s and continues today unabated. In addition to discussing the plight of workers in well-known multinational retailers, Klein discusses recent efforts, such as cultural jamming, human rights “hacktivism,” and ethical shareholding, aimed at countering the harmful consequences of corporate branding.
It has long been known that writers, and poets especially, reflect and drive the ideas of their culture. When any country takes over another they imprison, silence, or even kill the writers and poets first, silencing the voice of the people. Modern business has gone these guys one better, they have hijacked the writers and poets to their cause by controlling the market. The only literary markets not totally owned or controlled by big business are academic, and these are not popular and do not reach the eighty percent of consumers targeted by ads.
It has been argued that the Internet is controlled by nobody, but even if that is true, it does not matter, because the information overload on the Internet makes it nearly impossible for most people to discriminate between good information and trash. Besides, search engine optimization makes the same sites come up in a search over and over again on the first page of results, which is as far as most people will look for answers. Some search engines give results according to what is paid by the advertiser and even those which try to give accurate results also present paid ads on the sidebars or banners.
Words are the major method used to lure an unsuspecting public into the web of continuous spending. “Poetry and advertising both seek to touch us on a deeper level with as few words as possible. To do this they make use of images and point to things that will create a nearly universal response.” (Andrusyshyn 2002) As Hayakawa (1951) pointed out, while we all have different definitions for most words, the media has cultivated responses to key phrases which are used in advertising and stick in our minds: “Read My Lips” (Reagan XXXX). “Where’s the beef?” etc. These phrases become our new clichés. Advertising uses them to brand ideas. Both of these phrases have a deeper meaning that has become accepted all over the country and even in other countries.
The consumer society has grown into a giant until most consumers consume unconsciously, that is, they spend without even thinking about it and do not realize it has become a pattern. Most consumers cannot walk through a mall without spending, and never go outside the home and return without spending. In a time when it is becoming apparent that we are actually beginning to consume the very planet on which we live, this has become a problem. Nick Stevenson writes in his book Consumer Culture, Ecology and the Possibility
of Cosmopolitan Citizenship(2002), “Within cosmopolitan dialogues, the practices of consumption and consumer society need to be understood rather than demonized. A critical cosmopolitan politics would need to bring the “other” into an extended dialogue that held out the prospect of a remoralized dialogue across a number of social and cultural spheres.” (Stevenson, nick 2002) Stevenson is right that we have to find a middle ground.
Western society has become so used to consuming that try to reverse the trend too quickly would have little effect. In addition, we must at the same time, convince those who hold the power, the corporate heads which have turned western society into a snake that eats its own tail by hypnotizing the public through media saturation must also be convinced that it is in their own best interests to do this.
It is doubtful that we can turn things around without the cooperation of big business, as they simply have gained too much control over our society. Therefore, it is imperative that we seek ways to make them understand that their own survival also hangs in the balance. Even so, it may take so long to convince them that we will not be able to reverse the trends in time. Nobody really knows what will happen if we do not, just that it will be devastating.
Al Gore made dire predictions in An Inconvenient Truth (Gore, Al 2006) Will the human race survive, will the planet? That is anyone’s guess. It is possible that widespread disasters and famines will bankrupt big business before the entire planet dies, and nature has certainly been shown to be quite resilient, so the planet may eventually recover from the damage brought by human expansion and consumption. However, there are alternatives, and we need to start applying them now.
References
Desai, Radhika. “Second-Hand Dealers in Ideas: Think- Tanks and Thatcherite Hegemony.” New Left Review a.203 (1994): 27-64.
Ewen, Stuart. 1976. Captains of consciousness: Advertising and the social roots of consumer culture. New York: McGrawHill. 261 pages.
Goldman, Robert, 1987, Marketing Fragrances: Advertising and the Production of Commodity Signs, Theory, Culture & Society Ltd. Web.
Gore, Al, An Inconvenient Truth, 2006, Lawrence Bender Productions.
Hayakawa, S.I. , and Son, 1990.Language in Thought and Action, Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, NY.
Introduction to Marxism, 2007, Introduction to Marxism.
Klien, Naomi. 2002. No Logo: taking aim at the brand bullies. New York.: Picadro. 490 pages.
Lears, Jackson. Fables of Abundance A Cultural History of Advertising in America. New York: Basic Books, 1994..
Rorty, James. Our Master’s Voice: Advertising. New York: John Day, 1934.
Schudson, Michael. Advertising, the Uneasy Persuasion: Its Dubious Impact on American Society. New York: Basic Books, 1984.
Stevenson, Nick, 2002, Consumer Culture, Ecology and the Possibility of Cosmopolitan Citizenship, Consumption, Markets and Culture, 2002 Vol. 5 (4), pp. 305–319.
Not everything should be for sale. Corporations may be needed by society to provide some good, but they deserve to exist only as long as they are needed and they cannot make everything for sale. If they have to be controlled, it must be done. The means cannot become the end. This paper seeks to defend this position by responding to the following questions: “Do Corporations need to be controlled for the good of society?” “Should everything be for sale?”, and “Plato said that one does evil knowingly. If this is so, where does moral responsibility fit?”.
Do Corporations need to be controlled for the good of society?
Yes, corporations need to be controlled for the good of society since there are just means to an end (Dewing, Stone, 1919). If they no longer serve the purpose of doing good for the society, then corporations have no reasons to exist. In practice, the definition of what is good to society is the hardest thing to have because what may be termed to be good may indirectly cause the creation of some evil. To illustrate, full employment may be good but the environment may suffer. Therefore an attempt to keep in balance what is good among many goals for society must be made.
Allowing corporations uncontrolled would be causing the minority to dictate their wills on the majority. Such would subvert the essence of democracy which essentially means the rule of majority. Consistency requires that people must give consent to what one does to another (Ciulla, Martin, and Solomon, 2006). If the government will give them much freedom, the government would itself be a victim to what it is trying to assert as matter of principle. This was seen in the film “The Corporations” (YouTube, 2009) where it was asserted that the seeming power of corporation to almost own anything except human being such as the possibility of patenting genetically modified organisms and privatizing water resources management. The corporate power could be inconsistent with democracy. Since the shareholders are minority compared to the public, corporate management and power is direct subversion of democracy or the rule of majority.
The alternative to controlling the corporation is regulation and it would seem to be a milder way to controlling. The same could be deemed as being done by the present government. In the film “The Corporation”, a corporation was created an artificial being or person that is managed by directors and to accomplish a certain purpose. An issue that is raised in the film is the unscrupulous advertising done on children so that if these corporations could influence the nagging of children to their parents, they have essentially effected a purchase of their product or service which are not needed in the first place (YouTube, 2009). Uncontrolled because they happened to be not repugnant of existing laws, these corporations are violating the original economic conception that the earth’s limited resources should be maximized to fill the needs of mankind.
Should everything be for sale?
It is argued by some that the solution to all our environmental problems is to have everything, including water and air, owned by corporations. As to whether they would solve our environmental problems or make them worse is matter of attaining what is the defined objective in solving the environmental problems.
The argument that everything can be privately owned by corporations implies that they could be subject of sale or they could be for sale. The same can be said when everything is patentable since what is patented can bestow private ownership and therefore may be objects of profits by business entities or corporations.
The economy uses money to quantify or measure value so that use of a limited resource is valued by how much it is worth in dollars in relation to another limited resource. The idea of private ownership has something to do with placing in the hands of private corporations the ownership of the production of goods or service. In film “The Corporations”, it was found out that the provision of services by firemen was originally handled privately but it was found out ineffective or inefficient because people who could buy were not avail of the service provided by private entities or corporations. So until this time, fire services are generally provided by agencies of government since they are believed to more justly satisfy the need of those who may not afford to do it. The same may be said with the unsuccessful continuation of the privatization of water in Bolivia. The people saw water as public need and to place them in the hands of corporations would be creating injustice as would cause the gap between those who have more money and those who have little. It was a good thing to see in the film the people of Bolivia realized the wisdom that not everything should be for sale. These people included the police, the military and government officials not resist any further the cause of not privatizing water (YouTube, 2009).
Plato said that one does evil knowingly. If this is so, where does moral responsibility fit?
When Plato said that no one does evil knowingly (Kekes, 2005), he may actually mean that man will not do a thing, when the consequence to himself is thought of as evil. What is evil to that man is therefore relative to him. However, what he considers not evil may be evil to others because others may know the evil consequences of the same act. There appears to be subjectivity of the concept of evil as far as Plato is concerned. This position is underpinned by the statement that injustice in a society exist because that all people are equal which cannot be proved. Plato was in effect saying the people are not inherently equal so that attainment of justice would seem to be insurmountable so long as the belief of equality is not corrected.
I agree with Plato in terms of what corporations are doing in society. Since the corporation is not a human person with a heart and soul but only an artificial being. It is meant only to attain a purpose which is generation of profits as a necessary result. For people in the organization particularly the chief executive, the most important is for the organization to attain its objectives of profit.
If Plato is correct, where then can moral responsibility fit in? Moral responsibility means the obligation of ensuring that something must be done or praising or blaming a person worthy or not worth of having produce something good for the society. Such of praising enhances possible repetition or preservation of what is good while blaming may mean causing the other person to be responsible or liable for the consequences of wrong done or cutting off what is evil. Using this definition, moral responsibility must come with knowledge of the consequences of an act and actually giving the award deserved when it is good or imposing the penalty deserved for such act when the latter is evil or bad. When not everything is made for sale, a moral responsibility is encouraged since this would mean that morals must be above love for money or profit.
Reasons that might disagree with position taken include the fact that man is presumed to be an intelligent and free agent and therefore he could be considered a moral agent at all times except under exceptional circumstances affecting incapacity of the person like when a per is insane. These reasons are however not entirely similar when human persons are placed in corporations where they will become servants of their masters or principals as represented by shareholders. Generally an investor risks invested money to produce return above cost of capital. If profits could not be delivered to investors, it would be hard to see how managers and employees could explain their being part of the corporations. Despite this however, not everything should be for sale. Government could make moral responsibility by linking corporate abuses and violation through legal consequences of immoral acts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is basis to say that not everything should be for sale. Though corporations are needed by society to provide some good, they deserve to exist only as long as they are relevant to providing the need. As corporations are just means to an end (Dewing, Stone, 1919), humans should continue to have power over things and not the other way around. If democracy is to be sustained as a government framework, all other structures including the control of corporations should follow.
References
Ciulla, Martin, and Solomon (2006). Honest Work – A business Ethics. Oxford University Press, USA
Dewing, Stone (1919). The Financial Policy of Corporations. The New York Public Library
Kekes, John (2005). The Roots of Evil. Cornell University Press
YouTube (2009) The Corporation 1/23 to 23/23. Web.