The Consumer Culture - Essay Example

Bowen Chen Writing 122 Christopher Roethle 29 Consumer Culture America society has been associated with various things. The most significant has been consumer culture. It is believed that majority of the economy entails buying and selling of goods (Masci 1001). As a result, the culture has been said to make Americans too materialistic. Hence, they are seen as working hard just to get money to buy more things (Masci 1001). The consumer culture has been a characteristic of individual and societies in United States. As a result, the culture has been significantly associated with United States. The culture has also been significantly linked with various activities that took place in the 20th century. One of such events is the World War II. At the end of the war, there were various changes that occurred in the country. The changes that took place in the country were fascinating to the soldiers returning from war (PBS 1). As soldiers arrived in the country, they found many changes that were not there in the past. The changes were associated with the manufacture of various goods that were meant for the war. The increased production had helped America get out of the challenges it has experienced during the era of the Great Depression (PBS 1). The obvious phenomenon is that billions of people in the world belong to consumer class. According to a study done, it is estimated that approximately 1.7 billion people in the world belong to the “consumer class” (Mayell 1). The war helped America get out of various challenges that occurred in the past. One of such challenges was The Great Depression that had serious ramification on the economy (PBS 1). For this reason, as the challenge was overcome through wartime production, young people found an opportunity to spend. In addition, improved accessibility of jobs, increased wages, and lack of consumer goods in the event of war increased eagerness for American to spend as the war ended (PBS 1). Other changes were seen as young couples married and begun to get children at a higher rates. There were also changes in federal programs that provided an opportunity for young families to purchase their homes mostly in posh areas. However, there are various questions that arise. The first question is how the society transformed after this period in terms of spending. Secondly, what was the impact of such changes to society? Were the impacts positive or negative? The consumer culture had a negative influence on American society because it firmly brings shortcomings on personal life and social environment. There were significant changes in spending after the war. In this period, the nation glorified consumers and were seen as patriotic to the country. The consumers were seen as valuable to the accomplishment of the ‘American way of life’ (PBS 1). Hence, the purchasers focused on things that were seen as newer and better. One of the significant changes was seen in spending on materials around home and family life. People have strong desires for materials such as televisions, cars, and refrigerators. The materials were seen as a way of modernizing their lives. For example, after the war, the nation wanted to rebuild the country, and willing to set all the things back in time and further reform other social foundation to a newly level. For this reason, those kinds of actions could potentially impel people from consuming more, as it is also a good way to benefit society, and have economics blooming. Also, as a result, in the period from 1945 to 1949, Americans purchased million of items (PBS 1). Hence, most of the homes were most likely to witness increased number of goods as the culture established. There were also significant changes at the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century. One of the significant changes was the increase in television and automobile sales. The growth was linked to massive growth of urban population (PBS 1). As the whole world entered the 20th century, the consuming ability and the consuming concept of people started to change. People are willing to spend more on those kinds of technology, pursuits those and continuously consume to make their life better. In addition, these items were within the means of the majority of first-time buyers. Television was mostly affordable to all income brackets. Moreover, television provided a platform for advertisers to reach inside Americans homes (PBS 1). Hence, television helped increase desire for other new and good products that defined a good life. The effect was seen as the majority of the families sold the goods they perceived not representing the culture (PBS 1). In addition, families wanted to have those goods that were seen as adding more meaning to life. There has been a serious debate on the impacts of consumerism and personal lifestyle. The debates have shown that consumer culture affects society in various ways. The effects are both harmful and beneficial. First, there has been argument that consumer culture has made many Americans spend more money in daily life. Americans have been found to spend money on things they do not need (Masci 1003). The argument is that Americans need to have everything they find on shops. As the article notes, Americans wants to be owners of everything even if it is not of the essence (Masci 1003). The urge to have everything is noted to have led to increasing in malls (Masci 1003). The mall plays a significant role in feeding the nation urge of acquiring things. In fact, the article notes that malls attract many visitors in United States. Additionally, increased consumerism affects population ways of life in a significant way. One of such is seen as the majority of the population incurs huge debts (Mayell 2). People are also forced to work for longer hours as they seek to service these debts as well as paying for high-consumption lifestyle. Therefore, people lead more challenging life instead of having comfort associated with the culture. In addition, the rise of advertisement has been shown to affect children as another social group. Children are frequently exposed to commercial advertisements that show good things that need to be acquired by children. As children are exposed to such adverts, they are forced to nag their parents to get them such things on the ads. This is a challenge to parents especially those that cannot afford things in such adverts. As critic note, it is a challenge to parents who have to keep saying no to children as they cannot afford some of the things based on consumer culture (Masci 1004). The exposure to children on advertisements encouraging materialism has been showing to be a challenge to children future. As the article notes, such children are likely to become hyper-consumers when their parents cannot have said on what they can and cannot have (Masci 1004). In addition, for those children whose parents could afford what their kids wanted, and buy whatever their kids asked, also might build an improper consumption concept for their kid’s age because of their spoiling. The various advertisements make children cannot build healthy consumption concept, for they were facing the excessive and not rational consumption, which caused by outside factors or the kids’ factors. Secondly, consumer culture has been linked to excessive spending in the country. As majority notes, the society has been geared towards consumption by this culture. There are alarming statistics that shows how the culture has become deep-rooted in the American society. As the author notes, more than two-thirds of America’s resource is tied to the selling and buying of goods (Masci 1003). There has also been huge spending by companies in an effort to get more buyers for their goods and services. The excessive spending may be associated with reduced saving for most people in the country. Hence, this poses a huge challenge for the future well-being of the society. The culture of spending has also made the majority of the population too materialistic. The need to buy has been increased due to rise of popular media (Masci 1003). As a result, it has been possible to offer advertisement with the aim of glorifying wealth material. Additionally, there is an argument that culture of consumerism has led to reduced social space. The reduced social spaces include the activities except purchase. Critics acknowledge that the culture of spending developed in society has led to the displacement of other important issues in the family and society. The issues people tend to forego for other things include familys union and community (Masci 1003). People are in constant movement as they go to the malls and shops. Hence, there is less time for other social activities such as meeting with the family members and attending to other needs in the community. It is not a beneficial for people to build good personal relationship. And spending too much time on consumption, not producing leads the economic developed slowly. Further, the culture of consumerism has been shown to have a negative effect on the environment. America and some western European countries have been shown to have a significant role in this effect. The two areas have been shown to engage in unsustainable consumption for a long time. Moreover, developing countries have been noted to begin to participate in the overconsumption. For this reason, as the number of countries continues to join in the culture, more damage is to be expected in the environment (Mayell 1). According to research, it is estimated that 1.7 billion people worldwide belong to the “consumer class” (Mayell 1). Such people have common characteristics. The life of this population is characterized by a “diets of highly processed food, desire for bigger houses, more and bigger cars, higher levels of debts, and lifestyle devoted to the accumulation of non-essential goods” (Mayell 1). The rising appetites for material things have been shown to have a negative effect on the natural systems. The effects arise as the culture leads to an elevated level of disposable goods such as cameras, plastic garbage bags that are disposed of off to the environment (Mayell 1). Hence, the increased population using these materials means the future is bleak as well-being of the environment is concerned. On the other hand, pollution has been heavily associated with the culture of consumerism. As it is today, consumer culture has led to increased reliance on automobiles. As a result, there has been increased pollution, more traffic (Mayell 2). Moreover, automobiles have led to a sedentary lifestyle. The new lifestyle has been associated with poor health. For example, in United States, the lifestyle has shown to increase the rate of obesity (Mayell 2). It is estimated “65 percent of the adults are overweight or obese” (Mayell 2). As a result, there has been increased the rate of health conditions and increased health costs all which lower the quality of life. In addition to the pollution, the excessive consumption leads to resources are quickly decreased. For example, more fossil fuels were used in industry manufacture and automobiles using. These machinery and vehicles both need a mass of material recourses. However, there are those that argue that culture of consumerism has been of immense benefit to the society and country. The argument is that the culture plays a significant role in expressing the values of our society. Those in support of the consumer culture argue that it is an important part of the values and concepts in which individuals gets to know of their place in society. Moreover, the culture has been seen as a way of expressing patriotism to the country (Tufts 27). In fact, after the terrorist attack of 2001, the President Bush administration promoted increased consumption as a way of expressing patriotism (Tufts 29). In addition, consumer culture has been shown to play a significant role in the progress of the economy (Tufts 29). Hence, the government has for a long time encouraged citizens to keep on spending for sustenance of the economy, as well as growth. Hence, it is clear that there are some benefits emanating from consumer culture. On the other hand, there are those that note consumerism has helped overcome some of the challenges found in other countries. Some individuals argue that the culture has led to increased rate of employment in the American society. As Christopher Flavin is quoted, “Rising consumption has helped meet basic needs and create jobs” (Mayell 1). This clearly shows that not all people are likely to have a negative perception concerning consumerism. Hence, such individuals are most likely to encourage the continuation of the culture. In conclusion, it is clear that some understanding is needed in consumer culture that what should be the right standard for one to have a suitable perspective of its value and the consumerism concept. Secondly, society should be educated on the impact and be allowed to make a judgment of right behavior. And also, the society should also focus on ways of addressing some of the challenges that are seen to occur due to this culture. However, there should be a consideration of views of those that see consumerism as helping the society. Finally, more research needs to be done on this topic especially on its impact on the family level rather than considering the whole society. Works Cited Masci, David. “The Consumer Culture.” CQ Researcher 9 (1999): 1001-1016. Print. Mayell, Hillary. “As Consumerism Spreads, Earth Suffers, Study Says.” Nationalgeographic.com. Web. 27 January 2015. PBS. “The Rise of American Consumerism.” Pbs.org. Web. 27 January 2015. Tufts. “The Contradictions of Consumer Culture.” Tufts.edu. Web. 27 January 2015. Read More