A Fundamental Philosophy of Capitalism Deeply Rooted in the Doctrine of Consumption - Term Paper Example

The nature of the buyer is something which needs to be investigated, rather than presupposed. Introduction It is argued that the last century was thecentury of consumerism as world witnessed a considerable improvement in the process of consumerism. The forces of consumerism not only affected the economic landscape of the countries but their social and political environment also giving rise to the speculation that the different societies are mainly driven by the different forces with dominant impact of consumers. The emergence of new social trends further collaborated the fact that rise in consumerism. The mass availability of goods and services in most of the industrial economies is therefore considered as one of the leading changes that took place over the period of last one century as this phenomenon itself brought about significant other changes within these industrial societies also. (Lee, 2000) What is also significant to note that the increase in the mass consumption is not just the result of the changes in the technological advancements but rather this is also a result of a fundamental change in the way societies tend to work? Thus the buyer or consumer may be identified in greater perspective as it indicates the interaction between the consumers perform various exchanges with the society. (Fine, 2002). This also means that there is a need for further investigating the nature of the buyer rather than assuming. This report will provide arguments regarding the overall nature of the consumers and will argued that the role of buyer should not be pre-supposed but rather investigated and analyzed in greater context. Commodity Fetishism Marx argument was based on the assumption that the consumers only use those goods that they value thus the use of commodities was generally linked with the value that to be driven. However, this concept is based on two different ideas of use value as well as the exchange value underlying the interaction of labor with the consumers. Thus the value creation process therefore is based on the social relations between the products of the labor. What is also however, critical to note that Marx view the value of the commodity as a utility that can only be enjoyed by utilizing the physical characteristics of the commodity. This concept has, over the period of time, changed as modern consumer is also believed to be the one who derives utility out of the signs rather than the physical characteristics of the product. The urge for achieving the prestige through possessing any particular commodity therefore makes physical characteristics a secondary aspect of value. The discussion therefore needs to be viewed within the perspective of the rise of modern consumer society. Emergence of consumer society Before considering the arguments regarding the nature of the buyer and her role, it is critical that the emergence of capitalism as well as the consumer society is discussed. Capitalism started to dominate the everyday life in 18th century when Europe and specially Britain started to industrialized. The process of industrialization gave rise to the rapid exploitation of resources however, it also emphasized on the consumption as its very core. (Benson, 1994). The philosophical foundations of capitalism are deeply rooted into the concept of consumption as consumption is largely seen as the epitome of freedom that is basic promise of capitalism. (Lee, 2000). The capitalism therefore is in favor of the consumption as the main driving force for shaping the capitalist society. Resultantly the society that emerged was a society that was based on strong consumption tendencies of the consumers. The societies that emerged as consumer societies included British as well as American societies along with other European societies where the consumerism proved as the main catalyst for bringing in underlying changes within these societies at more subtle levels. The development of the large retail chains as well as large shopping complexes therefore became part of these societies to indicate also the overall economic power of these nations. The rise of the globalization and specially increase in wage rates is also believed to be one of the most critical reasons for the emergence of modern consumerism which is now have transcended the traditional boundaries of Western Style consumerism. The rise of economic powers such as India and China and subsequent increase in spending from the consumers in these countries is indicating a subtle shift into the Western consumerism. Further the impact of advertising on the consumerism is declining in non-traditional economies as advertising messages mainly fail to entice the consumers to engage themselves into the consumption. The recent financial meltdown provides an ample example of how the consumer can behave under extreme uncertain conditions and what consequences can of such behavior on the socio-political sphere of a country. The gradual decline in the consumption activity forced governments of modern countries to inject money into their system just to ensure that the overall consumerism keeps on going in order to sustain the society itself. Had this step not been taken it would have been a complete disaster for the Western economies and their virtual collapse would have been eminent in the wake of such decline in the consumerism. The role of consumers therefore remains largely fluid in nature during all this time because as the social interaction and nature of exchange changed, it became increasingly more complex to define the exact role of consumer. The rise of globalization and improvement in information technology blurred the traditional boundaries of the markets and the interaction between consumers and producers emerged into an entirely new manner wherein new bread of consumers introduced themselves into the scene reflecting their overall inclination towards the prevailing social and cultural trends of the society. Fordism and Post- Fordism The overall concept of consumerism took a new step when Fordism was prevailing in US wherein the mass production was duly supported by the mass consumption. The mass production of goods and services therefore reduced the price of goods thus making them more affordable for the common men. The achievement of economies of scale therefore brought in within the reach of the common consumers to buy goods that were considered as more luxurious in the past. What is critical is also the fact that Fordism brought in a completely new social change in the society also the mass production resulted into the high wages whereas the mass production further created the room for the mass consumption of the goods. (Gabriel & Lang, 2006) What is also critical to understand that the Fordism gave rise or rather accelerated the pace of consumerism in the Western societies by combining the use of different economic as well as social theories that created the permanent change in the attitudes of the consumers. However, the post Fordism era witnessed a radical rupture into this doctrine as the advancement of technology and information shifted the roles of consumers and producers in an entirely different manner. Most important contribution made by Post Fordism era was the focus on the relative type of consumer rather than the social class of consumer thus changing the role of consumers to an entirely new level. Post Fordism and overall role of consumers can also be seen from the perspective of the regulation school wherein social and economic system reach a point of crisis and emerge into an entirely new set of rules. Post Fordism also defined the role of consumer with that of the modes of production by outlining that rather than serving the consumers through mass production, it will be better if they are served through small batches of goods manufactured according to typical needs of a particular class of the customers. This therefore also requires that the role of consumer also need to change with the passage of time to suit the prevailing socio-economic conditions. This whole discussion therefore leads us to the discussion of role of consumer within the society and how it can be further investigated. The Role of Consumer The emergence of the consumerism gave rise to the greater role of consumer within the society. Consumer now serves as the key point around which every other thing now surrounds. What is also significant to understand that within such context, consumer emerged as a king who was practically dictating the terms not only for the organizations but also for the politicians as well as other stakeholders? Consumers therefore now not only dictate the process of innovation and creativity within the organizations but it also plays critical role in decision making for efficient and effective utilization of the resources of not only the firms but that of the whole economy also. Marxist arguments regarding the role of consumer is related with the fetishism of commodities wherein use value and exchange value of the commodity are related with the money and consumers. (Marx, 1976). It is the exchange value of a commodity that is basically related with the consumer and the social perception of consumers in that society. The higher the social status of an individual higher will be the exchange value of that commodity thus invariably offering profit to the producers rather than labor who is the actual producer of use value of the commodity. Similarly, the increasing role of commodities as the usage of signs i.e. the modern theory view the role of advertising as the creation of sign value for the consumers who increasingly view commodities as a sign for creating social prestige. The consumption of signs is therefore what defines the role of a modern consumer who attempt to consume to achieve or maintain a certain personal image in her immediate environment. Such aspect also outlines the basic and some of the fundamental aspects of the consumerism that involve certain psychological aspects of buying under which consumers tend to buy products under certain psychological influences. Such psychological influences therefore force consumers to make decisions that may not be based on the traditional factors responsible for the purchase decisions. (Sassatelli, 2007). Thus the consumer’s role shall be viewed from a greater perspective entailing some complicated factors that may not be easy to comprehend and pre-suppose. What is however, also important to note down that the over the period of time, the increasing role of consumer has resulted into the deterioration of the environmental as well as ecological resources of the earth. In a bid to serve the king, firms went on to exploit the resources of the earth at extremely rapid pace which has created strong ecological as well as environmental deterioration the impacts of whom are being witnessed by almost everyone on the face of earth. Environmental damage as well as the ecological degradation therefore may re-define the role of consumers. This can also be further corroborated by the fact that there is a greater emphasis on the development of alternative technologies which is a direct result of the changes in the role of consumers who are increasingly becoming more ethical in nature and attempt to influence various outcomes that re-define the relationship between consumers and the society. (Slater, 1997) Conclusion Fundamental philosophy of capitalism is deeply rooted into the doctrine of consumption wherein consumption is viewed largely as the main source of achieving the happiness and freedom. Thus all capitalist societies give due importance to the role of consumption in defining and re-defining the social relations of different actors in a society. The consumption patterns define as to what firms and institutions will be required in the society to support such consumption patterns. The emergence of financial institutions as well as large scale manufacturers duly supported through friendly regulations therefore indicate the complex relationship of different economic actors in any given society to corroborate and support the consumption. The above discussion indicates that there is relative degree of complexity involved in clearly defining the role of consumers under any given circumstances. Historical analysis indicates that the role of consumers and their influence have gradually changed over the period of time due to changes that made drastic rupture into the historical progress of the society. As history progressed over the period of time consumers and their overall influence therefore changed from one phase to another. It is therefore really difficult to presume any given role of consumer at one point in time but rather there is a need to thoroughly investigate the role of consumer before making any assumption about the potential role of consumers under any given settings. Bibliography 1. Benson, J. (1994). THE RISE OF CONSUMER SOCIETY IN BRITAIN, 1880-1980. London: LONGMAN . 2. Fine, B. (2002). The World of Consumption: The Material and Cultural Revisited. London: Routledge. 3. Gabriel, Y., & Lang, T. (2006). The unmanageable consumer. London: Sage. 4. Lee, M. J. (2000). The Consumer Society Reader. Oxford : Blackwell. 5. Marx, K. (1976). Capital, A Critique of Political Economy : trans. Ben Fowkes. London: Penguin . 6. Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics. London: Sage. 7. Slater, D. (1997). Consumer Culture and Modernity. 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