Consumerism

After the post-war, the government set out to create jobs and rid communism. America was heading towards a capitalist society. At the time, the economy was booming and consumerism gave Americans a life of prosperity and leisure. Americans were able to purchase products only the wealthy could afford. Consumerism de-emphasized class difference and this created the middle class and the beginning of consumerism. The middle class is an important factor to the growth of the economy after the post war. However, the middle class is now fading away and the economy is starting to fall with it.

Advancing technology compelled consumerism. People focused on buying products outside the boundaries of their salary. The introduction of credit allowed any person to buy an automobile. Living in the countryside did not appear to be comfortable compared to living in the city. Credit allowed farm families to purchase clothing. This tempted the American people to purchase more. Coco Chanel brought standardization to the clothing industry by bridging urban and rural. Credit also gave the American people a sense of wealth and independence. Women wanted to “assert their right to make a personal choice.” Personal choices include the right to purchase clothing or jewelry. Having a job or moving to the city is also a personal choice. The job does not define the person but the particular item or activities are the determinants. Advertising influences the population to buy more products.

1.Whats consumerism ? Consumerism is defined by the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods . Good morning/afternoon fellow classmates , today I’ll be discussing how the powerful images conveyed in Bruce Dawe’s texts Americanized and Abandonment of Autos, and a cartoon by Clay Butler, raise issues and concerns about consumerism.

Good afternoon/morning ladies and gentlemen. Consumerism is defined by the English oxford dictionary as continual expansion of one's wants and needs for goods and services. Bruce Dawes’ poems “Televistas” and “Enter Without So Much As Knocking” critique the powerful and persuasive influence that companies have on our society.

The late nineteenth century was an era of growth in the USA. It introduced railroads, telephone lines, opportunities for entrepreneurs, and cheap goods for consumers. Mark Twain dubbed this time period the Gilded Age; the period was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. Between 1870 and 1900, corporations grew significantly across the board in number, size, and influence. The newfound efficiency of resources and mass production resulted in an increase in the production of American goods and the amount of unskilled laborers but also created a wide divide between classes and a maldistribution of power. The American people responded to these impacts through both an increased participation in consumerism and the formation of both

Through the Cold War, America was transitioning in various ways such as the way messages were shared, consumerism, and the constant race against the Soviet Union. During the years 1959-1964, Rod Serling, a New York writer and playwright began using one of the newest inventions, the television, as a way to share his opinion about controversial topics. The rise of the television allowed Serling to access to a larger audience whom he could share his opinion in the form of science fictional episodes in the show The Twilight Zone. Although the show seems ominous and a horror related TV show, it allows us to understand the effects and feeling towards topics such as a possible nuclear war, consumerism, space exploration.

Television was one of the biggest attractions when it came to this idea of consumerism. (I Love Lucy was the #1 show)

The rise in advertisement played a key role in the rise of consumption. Thanks to well-developed advertisement campaigns, America redefined what a necessity is. Advertisers encouraged Americans to actively work towards maintaining a high social standing. “Advertisers made no secret of their intention to promote novelty for its own sake, in the hope that consumers would exchange perfectly serviceable goods for goods that conformed to the latest fashions” (Lasch, 2000). Consumers devoured this advertisement scheme and began to rapidly increase their spending. Many advertisements for common, household products made claim that they could make the normal appear comparable to the high end. For example, Lux, a soap company, ran an ad in 1920 that depicted two women talking - one of the women complemented on the other on the quantity of sweaters she owned, only to find out that it is not a new sweater, but rather her old sweater that Lux soap made it look brand new (Lux)! Men and women alike began to believe

Despite the continuation of capitalism, the middle class successfully emerged as the dominating class in our society. As Lewis Corey states, “Workers were becoming capitalists, the capitalists becoming workers.” Industrial capitalism spawned a middle class, molded the exact same way that Marx predicted in his major work.

Capitalism is a very messy process, the United States attempted to sort itself out through a variety of movements according to the text, “in the 1920s, the progressive movement attempted to provide citizens with a “living wage,” defined as income sufficient for education, recreation, health, and retirement. Businesses were asked to check unwarranted price increases and any other practices that would hurt a family's living wage. In the 1930s came the New Deal that specifically blamed business for the country's economic woes. Business was asked to work more closely with the government to raise family income. By the 1950s, the New Deal evolved into President Harry S. Truman's Fair Deal, a program that defined such matters as civil rights and environmental

As we are constantly exposed to mass media and popular culture in our modern society, the insidious nature of consumerism has allowed it to penetrate into every aspect of our lives, dictating our very beliefs, values and wants. Nearly every individual in our society subconsciously conforms to the shallow and superficial mindset that characterises our consumerist culture. This idea is highlighted by the following texts; the poem “Enter without so much as knocking” by Bruce Dawe, an extract from the sermon “The Religion of Consumerism” delivered by Peter House, the poem “Breakthrough” by Bruce Dawe, and the

The dominance of capitalist countries has facilitated the conformity of global civilization and cultural environments resulting in an increase of consumer cultures (Sarmela, 1977; Chaney, 2004). As capitalism experiences a natural and unavoidable expansion, consumers engage with consumer culture creating invisible products such as social status, identity, cultures, and ethical relationships (Sternberg, 2017). There are two sides to consumer culture that are the values held by society; those who conform and those who rebel (Turow & McAllister, 2014). All participants of society align with either submission or resistance to dominant ideas, values, and social structures. However, as a result of continued progressive diversity and fragmentation, the distinction between submissive and resistance are blurred. Nevertheless, those who resist and rebel are still participants of consumer culture. Instead they instead form sub cultures in society with alternative beliefs, values and ideas that challenge the mainstream (Chaney, 2004). In order to better understand the relationship between consumption practice and the resistance of consumer culture, theories of reflexive project of self, prosumers, lifestyle commodification, and incorporation will be analyzed in relation to the vegan movement.

There are many different types of worldviews that that are held among the countless people of this world. Consumerism is one that is very prominent in this day in time. “Consumerism absolutizes consumption by believing that we can find fulfillment by accumulating wealth and everything that comes with it.” (Wilkins &Sanford, 2009). There are many different elements of consumerism I will discuss, along with how this worldview of consumerism compares with the Christian worldview, and lastly, I will express how knowing what the Bible says about consumerism affects my life personally.

Since the beginning of time, people have always been trading their goods with other people. This is somewhat similar to buying products at the stores when “we” the consumers go shopping, we are trading in our money for their merchandise. Then the 1950’s came along with the first credit card and people have been buying products worldwide and have been demanding more and more ever since, developing the method buy now, pay later”. Having this in mind, you can see that American consumerism has been growing throughout the years. It might be that consumption has helped create a variety of jobs in the world. What people aren't considering is the state they leave their environment in. The more consumerism grows the more the earth suffers. The man has always wanted to “fix” the world to make it a better place, yet man is what is destroying this environment in many different types of ways.

Consumerism is the center of American culture. Americans tend to confuse their wants with their needs. With new advances in technology, as well as the help of advertisers, people are provided with easy access to new products that seem essential to their everyday life, even though they have survived this long without them. People cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. But realistically, according to people's different lifestyles, more than food, clothing, and shelter are needed. Most people need to work to survive. Unless a job is either in their own home, or within walking distance, a means of transportation is needed. Whether it be a vehicle, money for a taxi-cab, or a token for a ride on the subway, money must be spent