Essay about Consumerism's Role in America's Economy

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.

Many people do not understand what overselling capitalism with consumerism means. Based on the essay by Benjamin Barber, I have learned that people mistake the difference between what they want and what they actually need. In the essay he makes a contrast between capitalism and consumerism by giving examples throughout the essay. He also outlines the values of capitalism and how it has a positive impact on society and the impact of consumerism on people.

Consumerism leads to self-gratification and the loss of life’s important values such as friendship, love and religion; this is an ever-growing issue that manipulates and deceives society and has done so since the beginning of the technological age.

Consumerism describes the rising want and need for goods and services. People then find the need to consume and buy and keep on buying. This makes stores continue on opening, finding great opportunities to sell and gain money from people who are obsess over consuming. This is only great for marketers, but for other business as well. People usually don’t carry a great deal of money in their pockets every time they purchase. That’s when business decided to make credit cards. Money inside a card that fits in a wallet easily. This made other business like PayPal and Bitcoin continue improving their

Consumer culture today is thriving – but not necessarily in a good way. As consumer culture thrives, we have desires for products and services. Consumer spending is a major part of a country’s/world’s economy and that makes the economy strong but the aftermath is an unsustainable lifestyle. Although, Wall-E didn’t indicate exactly what caused consumers to destroy the planet and then flee for the sake of human survival, there are many guesses that can be made as to how it happened. One of the major points made in class during week eight was the fact that the world is becoming overpopulated. This major issue can possibly be

The Business Dictionary defines consumerism as the “continual expansion of one’s wants and needs for goods services” (2016). Despite consumerisms current negative connotation, according to Dictionary.com the term itself originated with a more positive economic connotation in the early 1940s on the basis that consumerism inspired growth (2016). This concept of continual desire for the “latest and greatest” first became popular in the 1920s. Americans were tired of the strict rationing of World War I and were ready to begin spending money again. As production rose in efficiency and capacity, thanks to improvements made during the war, there was plenty to be sold. “By the 1920s, America was a society in which many men and women could afford

The decade following World War I proved to be the most explosive decade of the century. America emerged as a world power, the 19th amendment was ratified, and the expansion of capitalism welcomed the emergence of consumerism. The consumer era was established, which generated new spending opportunities for most Americans in the 1920’s. From the latest fashions to the world of politics, ideologies collided to construct a society based on contradicting principles. These powerful ideologies infected men and women of all classes with an inescapable desire for material possessions; however this ideological tug-of war affected women the most. Although legally declared citizens, society’s

Hunger for luxury items and people’s strife for the brands and items they associate with being beyond reach is paramount for this system. It is this drive for items one can’t have that the author feels is one of the benefits of consumerism. He declares, “…the aspiration of the poor to

According to Wilkins and Sanford (2009), there are several elements of a consumerism worldview; accumulating and using things brings fulfillment, money is power, we need just a little bit more, people are viewed as objects to consume, and if something ceases to fulfill me or meet my needs it should be discarded. With the idea that by accumulating and using things brings fulfillment, whether it be fulfillment of material things or fulfillment of emotional needs, this worldview neglects to fulfill our deepest emotional needs leaving us always desiring more to fill that void. Money is power leaves people always striving to accumulate wealth so they can have power and control over situations, because you are only important or significant if you have wealth. Also with the consumerism worldview, we always feel that we need a little bit more, because what you already have is never enough, due to material

As proved by the texts above, consumerism has isolated Western society from the significance of even the most basic of products, food, and as we continue to throw out our leftovers, at the same time, over a billion people go hungry every

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

The American Dream itself has come to contain consumerism as one of its most important elements. As a consequence, many Americans believe that communism represents a threat to achieving the American Dream. A society where consumerism would no longer be present is, in the eyes of many,

“The average American owns 3.5 credit cards and $15,799 in credit card debt… totaling consumer debt of $2.43 trillion in the USA alone.” (Beckner). Debt forces many people into depression and worrying lives. People struggle to discover happiness through financing goods, but struggle even more to find a way out of debt. Through consumerism, people lose their finances in department stores, car dealerships, and much more. Most of the possessions people buy with credit cards become impractical within a few months. The void they search for is never really filled. Consumerism is just a way to get the economy going, without thinking of a person’s individual finance

Consumerism is damaging to our society, in our North American society consumerism is often portrayed to be a negative aspect of people’s lives. However, one can also argue positive effects that result from consumerism, or emphasize on the negative effects of consumerism and how it can be a constraining force in one’s own life. Consumerism is an idea of an economic policy that the market is shaped by the choice of the consumer and continues to emerge to shape the world’s mass markets. Some of the negative effects of consumerism that many critics may argue and that will be further emphasized on are the overexploitation of consumerism which has lead to economic poverty, and increase

Consumption, we describe as the act of meeting basic needs with material goods and the practice of consuming as a way of life is ‘consumerism’ ( Kennedy 173). The ideology that the meaning of life is found in buying things has really caused majority to spend almost their monthly salary on goods and services in search of utility. This excessive recreational spending also plays a part in increase of inflation, also has made more money in circulation.