Why Do We Have A Freedom Of Choice In Consumer Society

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.

Freedom of choice is one the most valued things in America, but should you be able to choose to be unhealthy? I think that this question cannot be answered by a simple yes or no. Your health is your choice, but it is much more complicated than that, because we have that political freedom to make good or bad choices, we are financially able to be unhealthy or healthy if we wanted to be, and we are educated on the consequences of being unhealthy.

The UK supermarket industry resembles an oligopolistic industry, with several characteristics. Oligopolistic markets tend to be characterised by high concentration ratios, barriers to entry and…Since the turn of the century, the industry has been scrutinised by both the Office of Fair Trading and has been referred to the Competition Commission on two occasions. (Seely, 2012)

Brave New World covers a range of themes and issues that have been pertinent to moral society since it was first published in 1932. From genetic engineering to class struggles, Brave New World examines a future where embryos are chemically treated to ensure they fit a certain class, and then babies and children are hypnotized into believing governmental doctrines as pure truth. The use of Soma, a narcotic used as an instant anti-depressant, casts a worrying shadow on the chemical treatment of clinical depression to an extent, and ethical grey areas such as IVF are easily comparable to the key themes of the book. The enforced consumer society in Brave New World is strikingly familiar. Huxley may have written it in as a satire of the society

Larger stores also offer people the convenience of additional services along with their shopping, for example post office, pharmacy and opticians. By addressing consumer’s expectations and using their buyer power they can offer a choice of products to reflect consumer’s diverse budgetary, dietary, ethical and environmental requirements. Furthermore their global buyer power enables consumers to benefit from choosing exotic produce all year round. With 30,000,000 customers (Bevan cited in Allen, 2009) choosing to use the big four supermarkets on a weekly basis it would suggest that they provide a format that consumers want.

As a country, Americans love to shop. Whether in malls, grocery stores, on the Internet, or elsewhere, the culture of buying is deeply ingrained in American culture. Fueled largely by advertising and the current credit system, America’s consumer culture is depleting our planet’s finite natural resources and polluting our environment. Consumerism has instilled in Americans an artificial, ongoing, and insatiable desire for mass-produced and marketed products, and the money with which to buy them, with little regard to their actual usefulness or necessity. This constant desire to acquire more possessions is poisoning the planet, as it can never be sated and thus results in the never-ending exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources, and

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

This text clearly shows that consumerism is responsible for many of the decisions we make regarding our life.

Although it sounds appealing to make one's own decision freely, it is actually an impractable goal as the society has exerted significant influence and restrictions on individuals and has shaped one's value of what they should do and what they should not do. In today's society, people are more free to make our own choices than we were before, but it is true that we canno indulge our interests at the cost of transgressing the basic rules of the society.

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.

The assigned readings offered us the opportunity to study capitalism, its theoretical basis, and its effect of modern societies, while taking into account its domination techniques and worldwide influence. Because cultural studies concern themselves with structures of power it is only logical for theorists like Hall, Boudrillard, Debord, Schor, Pieterse, and Gramsci, to immerse themselves in the dissection of this particular ideology and the way it affects and shapes humanity.

Some would say that the advertisers are responsible for building the hype and the consumer is just responding to a once in a lifetime deal (that happens every year). Some have even gone as far as blaming capitalism and the manner in which it functions within our society. If you recall though, James Twitchell blames the consumer and not these other outlets. “Some might blame this on capitalism, but one can love the freedom and innovation of capitalism and hate the materialism of consumerism… However this isn’t because capitalism promotes consumerism. Capitalism is just an economic system - an imperfect one - that that reflects the values we put into it, so if we feed it consumerism, that’s what we’ll get. We, the consumers, are guilty of turning Thanksgiving into a consumerist holiday” (Daniel). This isn’t to say that everyone that participates in Black Thursday or Friday is guilty of consumerism, maybe they don’t have a family to spend the holiday with or maybe shopping with family is there means of spending quality time together. The important thing is that we are all consumers in this society and we must be aware of the production companies ability to trigger that within our brains the need to buy more and more things we don’t necessarily need and sometimes even want. Playing the victim in all of this proves that you are aware of the tactics used to get you to use your purchasing power and inturn you are aware of your own ability to change the way consumerism is currently

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.

Consumer ethnocentrism is in the last two decades become one of the research trends, and the results show that high level of ethnocentrism reduces willingness to buy imports. The main concept of consumer ethnocentrism was developed by Shimp 1984. He established that the ethnocentrism is belief that it is moral/immoral to buy foreign products. Sharma, Shimp and Shin in 1994 confirmed consumer tendencies in overvaluation of domestic products. This was start and the begining of accepting a consumer ethnocentrism which is based on the idea that the buying domestic products is not just economic but also moral obligation. Ethnocentric consumer thinks that buyers of foreign products are responsible for economic problems, such as unemployment. On the other hand buyers who are not ethnocentric are buying products with the best price and quality. Domestic firms used this concept in their favour to atract more customers. Consumer ethnocentrism is strongly linked to the appeal of domestic companies and governments to

In the last several decades, consumerists have raised several issues regarding the safety of GMOs and have challenged the practice as unpredictable. Biotechnological engineers use selective strategies to select the desired gene. This process is conducted by well educated scientists who spend many years in the field of research. There are a series of protocols that a genetically modified organism must undergo to be permitted for human consumption. Bernadette Dunham, director of the agency’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said that "The F.D.A. has thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty regarding the AquAdvantage salmon and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat” (Commissioner, 2015). The process of selecting individual genes is a lengthy process and because of this many argue as to its unpredictability. It is something that people do not understand and, like in times past, fear and persecute the practice.