Relationship between Consumerism and Socio-Economy
There have been numerous subjects of living in a contemporary society of consumers. These subjects mostly relevant to accumulation of goods by consumers, and its negative effects against sustainability. Sustainability covers all of the vital subjects of problems of contemporary society. To illustrate, climate change, global warming, dispute among countries, and consumerism. There are many solutions for preventing catastrophes of these issues, but one of them is related to this century, which is relation between consumerism and socio-economy. While it has been argued that consumerism has some advantages, it is harmful because it leads to people living a lonely lifestyle, it results in chronic economic crises, and individuals might be victim of capitalist lifestle that promotes sheer greed.
One of the most significant reasons about consumerism is, it leads to people living a lonely lifestyle. Initially, there is numerous scientific evidence which proves the issue why materialism makes people live lonely. First of all, there was research about that, which has examined connection between dynamics of materialism and loneliness by some scientist. The result is that materialism contributes to lonely lifestyle; furthermore, it differs among particular subtypes of materialism(PIETERS,2013). For example, valuable possessions for humans like ipods, laptops, computer games have leading a loneliness, because they spare their times for them more than social activities like interaction with others or having fun outside. Therefore, people need to improve their communication skills for preventing loneliness. Secondly, in consume...
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...capitalist lifestyle because of their sheer greed. Despite all of these negative issues, people must conserve their hopes.
Works Cited
Raibley J. (2014) Virtue of Selfishness. The Atlas Society http://www.atlassociety.org/virtue-selfishness Thompson J. (2013) Sweatshops violate human rights ; American companies at fault. thecollegian http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2013/04/30/sweatshops-violate-human-rights-american-companies-at-fault/ Piters R. (2013) Bidirectional Dynamics of Materialism and Loneliness ; Not Just a Vicious Cycle. Journal of Consumer Research http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2013/04/30/sweatshops-violate-human-rights-american-companies-at-fault/ Cahill M. (2001) The Implications of Consumerism for the Transition to a Sustainable Society (Part 1)
Cahill M. (2001) The Implications of Consumerism for the Transition to a Sustainable Society (Part 2)
The chosen article is Two Cheers for Consumerism by James Twitchell. In this article he talks about consumerism, commercialism, and materialism. He argues the stand point of consumers and the role they live by every day. In other hands the critics, Academy, gives the consumers and overview description to their consumers.
In historical context the rise of the free market industries is at its peak. In the year 1999 oil industries, electronics, fast food, clothing lines hit the front line. For the first time ever poor people are able to have what rich people have. Keeping up with the Jones, as many people say. There is this mindset of get it now and pay for it later. This leave most of the working class in debt. While consumers get the latest luxuries they are being “Consumed by Consumerism” (Domigpe). We have all become slaves to the brands of everything we buy. For example, when new electronics come out on the market that is mostly a want, but looks awesome, we buy it to keep up with the Jones and also because the advertisements tell us to. We also need the companies to live, because without them there is no employment. “Because of this circle, which is hanging over everybody in a modern society, the capitalists have pushed us into a place, where consumerism and capitalism go hand in hand” (Denzin). With the deb...
America’s current standard of living is going to cause our demise. Consumerism is a problem throughout Americans culture since mass production began in the late nineteenth century. The obsession with consumerism has led to mindless wastes of resources, a diseased society and economic instability. Rick Wolff, a professor of economics at University of Massachusetts, states “economics of capitalism spread consumerism—now uncontrolled, ecologically harmful, and fiscally disastrous—throughout the United States”. Wolff’s viewpoint on consumerism aligns with mine. Believing that an economy based on promoting endless consumption is volatile and unsustainable. Consumerism can be analyzed and seen to be embedded by corporations and politicians.
‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley is a science-fiction book in which people live in a futuristic society and a place called the World State. In ‘Brave New World’, Aldous Huxley used the idea of consumerism to describe the behaviors and lives of the citizens of the World State. The practice of consumerism by the people of the World State fulfilled their satisfactory and happiness. However, it also blinded purity and truth among its people. Different classes and different genders of people practiced different acts of consumerism such as consuming soma, technology and bodies. They sought happiness from them and eventually these acts became a social norm. However, these practices of consumerism also had side effects. It blinded truth such as
As demonstrated in Henry David Thoreau’s passage from Economy, Wendell Berry’s from Waste, and John Kenneth Galbraith’s passage from The Dependence Effect, America’s overly advancing society thrusts ideas like materialism and the “love of buying” into the interior of every American’s mind. Even the American Dream, a fundamental notion to our nation, now unites all people of all cultures under materialism and greed. The highly capitalist American society distorts values such as the “quest for freedom” into a search for cash and the frontiers no longer exist. America’s increased production yields the increased wants of consumers and as Galbraith states, “One man’s consumption becomes his neighbor’s wish (479).” With this reckoning, the more wants satisfied, the more new ones born. Berry, on the other hand, more out rightly attacks America’s capitalist economy and the wastes it has produced when saying “The truth is that we Americans, all of us, have become a kind of human trash, living our lives in the midst of ubiquitous damned mess of which we are at once the victims and the perpetrators (485).” America’s corporate capitalism and consumerism culture undermines our well-being in that we deplete Earth's limited resources, produce excess waste, and indulge excessively in unnecessary luxuries that ultimately result in our unhappiness and financial downfall, while trapping us in an endless cycle of dependency.
If we take time and observe our surroundings, we see people are more concerned about the amount of Louis Vuttons or Michael Kors bags does one purchase than being aware of the person well being because this world today is all about objects than people. The author of the case of consumer society has presented the modern society in such a way that if we stop and think and look around how are generation today has become, making our world a world of materialism. According to karl marx, our world today is a world of objects as mentioned in the case that we have started given priotity more to our purchases than to people around us for example in a gathering of teens, half of them you will notice will be on their gadgets rather than communicating with the people around. This materialism according to marx is due to the rise of capitalism, where people are easily manipulated into making choices which benefit the economy and most of the time we do not even realize it. The whole concept of Shopping malls we see nowdays is a tool of manipulation, have been made the place of goods, acitivies and leisure for the consumers that they become entangled in the shadows of the capitalists.People nowdays go to shopping malls , hangout and do some window shopping and come back stating that it was an outing rather than having any interaction with other people , we chose to interaction with objects to fulfil our desire. Even the way producrts are arranged are not coincidental but a technique of manipulation for example if the product is arranged in a attractive way, consumers automatically get attracted to it rather then the product which is arranged in a disorganize way.This proves what Marx says that consumers in the capitalist society donot have any so...
Most people believe that being wealthy results in being comfortable. But what if becoming materialistic means destroying the person’s character, relationships, and leaving them physically and mentally unhealthy. Is this comfortable? Depending on many perspectives, the purpose of life is happiness, health, and satisfaction. Yet, many believe that with materialism you can achieve a full and purposeful life. In reality, materialism replaces the satisfaction of having life’s necessities with the never-ending desire for things. This can leave people with the feeling of never being fulfilled with their life.
...hat materialistic attitudes are harmful to one's well-being. “The psychological perspective attributes the development of materialistic values to family circumstances that create stress and self esteem issues that promote materialistic values,” (Hung Vu Nguyen.) Many people in our culture attribute material goods to personal achievement. Truth rings true with Bertrand Russell’s statement “It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” Even at young ages children are competing and bragging to one another of who has more possessions. Past studies by Rindfleisch say that materialism developed over time as a response to stress due to family issues such as divorce, separation, and loss of loved ones. Materialism leads consumers to put a disproportionate amount of their resources into acquiring goods.
Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, London: Sage, Page 30, Page 126, Page 132, Page 133
Stearns, Peter N. Consumerism in World History : The Global Transformation of Desire. Themes in World History. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Jeff Butcher and Rachel Hill pointed out the impacts of businesses on environments, by stating “The more of a product that is consumed or produced, the more of an externality that results” (Butcher, Jeff, & Hill, Rachel, 2006). Obviously, we can see that one product produced will bring benefit to consumer, sellers, and manufacturers. Meanwhile, one produced and consumed will cause negative externalities for environment. There is one fact we cannot deny that the more social life develops, the more externalities will be produced to the society. Daily living garbage, industrial wastes, carbon dioxide from factories are most outstanding examples to describe negative externalities to environment (Butcher, Jeff, & Hill, Rachel, 2006). In “The tragedy of the Commons”, Hardin showed us causes of negative externalities. He proved that people assume a...
Over the past few decades there have been discourses both in favor and against Globalization’s capacity to guarantee a sustainable future. Authors attest societies and businesses’ inability to account for ecological and environmental limits when dealing with economic growth, examples of this are some of the traditional business metrics used by most global companies, and nations’ measure of wealth (GDP); both sides heavily resting on economic factors, fail to account for societal and environmental concerns (Byrnea & Gloverb, 2002). Other researchers point at the intensive use of resources, especially by global corporations; such as the increasing and careless consumption of fossil fuels, water, precious metals, etc. leading to a rise in GHG (Starke, 2002) (United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 2000). Most fervent opponents go as far as to call ‘sustainable development’ an oxymoron (Ayres, 1995).
The general idea of materialism is through conspicuous consumption, whereby the satisfaction derived from the product through the reaction of the audience, rather than personal utility use (Flouri, 1999). Materialistic tend to focus on the purchasing of “status goods” that impress other people (Fournier and Richins, 1991).
It’s out with the old and in with the new, isn’t it? Society has become obsessive with the materialistic way of life. The consumption of goods at a higher rate, Consumerism. Consumerism is becoming the hallmark of most world economies. In the West, it is a common phenomenon, but now even developing countries in the world are resorting to it. It has become one of the biggest challenges the world faces. Our greedy appetites have a terrible impact on the world, and not just economically, socially or on our health, but on the environment. The global environment is being destroyed by processes that exist primarily to fuel the world’s desperate need to constantly consume.
James, Fredric. 1988. "Postmodernism and Consumer Society." In Studies in Culture: An Introductory Reader, ed. Ann Gray and Jim McGuigan. London: Arnold, 1997, pp. 192-205.