US Consumer Culture

Companies are using environmentalism as a straw man for overconsumption. Coming straight out of writer Amy Westervelt’s article, “Can Recycling Be Bad for the Environment?”, Westervelt clearly sees through this ploy of emotional appeal, stating “American consumers

1. How can an understanding of the complexities of culture help us make sense of the day-to-day world which we live? Give an example from your life to illustrate your answer.

There are many programs but too little enthusiasm. ”Recycling programs abound, but people are often lackadaisical about putting plastic,paper, glass and metal into those bins”(“How Do You Encourage Recycling”). The world has enough programs but it need more people. People need to think about how recycling helps everything and everyone around them. ”They asked people to think more abstractly about why recycling contributed to the community, air, land, and water resources “(“How Do You Encourage Recycling”). When people recycle they need to remember why they are doing this and what it helps. The world needs to look at what it can gain or lose when recycling and not recycling. ”Marketing professor Kate White of University of British Columbia shared studies that looked at two kinds of messages:those that highlight the negative consequences of not recycling,loss framed message, versus those that emphasize the positive consequences of recycling,gain framed message.”(“How Do You Encourage Recycling”). These messages will address what people can gain and lose. Motivating people to recycle could make a huge change in land pollution even solve the problem with

In the introduction of Chapter 1 “Consuming Passions” “The Culture of American Consumption,” it talks about how American popular culture is grounded in consumption. With the media in our hand, it is a huge influence towards the advertising world. With how styles of clothing have been changing over time, this talks about how from the earlier times wearing a simple type of blue jeans can change between who wears them over the years. As stated, “ By the 1950s, however, blue jeans began to bear an additional class significance as “casual wear” for middle-class Americans.” (72). In 1970 these pants have then become a simple fashion wear. They have also been introduced as a hipster type wear. Then in 1980 through the early 2000s, baggy jeans were

American culture has been referred to as a “melting pot.” Different cultures have added their own distinct aspects to society, making America a diverse country. Despite the plethora of cultures, certain norms, mores, and folkways are evident in American society. These ideas are vital to the function and stability of America. They provide guidelines for what is acceptable and not. In virtually every society, there are people who engage in deviant behavior and do not abide by the values that the rest of society follows. Theorists have debated if people are socialized into acting this way and if it is a social or personal problem. The sociological study of culture focuses on norms, mores, and folkways.

The 1950s is described as the “‘golden age’ of capitalism,” where a comfortable standard of living became accessible to many new, middle-class Americans (991). According to Foner, “the official poverty rate, 30 percent of all families in 1950, had declined to 22 percent a decade later”(991). The poverty rate declined as more Americans entered white-collared jobs with increased wages. Essentially, the “American standard of living” during the 1950s was characterized by the ability of citizens to participate in the mass consumerist society; this was only possible through an increase in income. Jack Straus, the chairman of the board of Macy’s stated “‘The consumer is the key to our economy...The luxuries of today are the necessities of tomorrow’”(Foner 994). The American economy was based off of consumers; “In a consumer culture, the measure of freedom

I think Clapp’s assessment of American consumer culture are accurate and insightful. An examination of history and our modern cultural trends reveals the validity of Clapp’s assessment. For example, in the nineteenth century pictographic and flashy advertising taught the consumerism lifestyle to Americans and transformed America into a society of consumerism. “Consumers, in short, were made, not born” (Clapp, 1996, p. 366). From the 1800s to the present day advertisers continue to actively and aggressively sell a lifestyle with their product. [Modern consumerism is] a fun-house world of ever-proliferating wants and exquisitely unsatisfied desire, consumption entails most profoundly the cultivation of pleasure, the pursuit of novelty, and the

1. When selecting a UPL the Commander must take into consideration which of the following qualifications? The commander appoints an officer or non-commisned officer ( e-5 r above) on orders as the UPL

Every human being impacts the world they live in, especially Americans. Americans live for what’s new and what’s in; in The Wastemkers, Vance Packer identifies this wastefulness as a part of the American culture. Vance Packer may have written this book over 50 years ago, but the issue still applies to now. Not only do Americans participate in this wasteful culture, but they also take pride in it: boasting about every penny they spend and how ‘new is always better’, but what they fail to realize is this wasteful culture is exceptionally harmful in various ways.

We can’t only blame the consumers for the things occurring in our world. If less plastic packaging were used and more paper or glass packaging were used it would really benefit the world. Looking at plastic water bottles many say that they are recycled or reusable but they aren’t always

I don’t think a real authentic community could ever be found on a virtual church site. According to Chapter 6: The Internet and Christian and Muslim Communities, “The internet has become one of the most important resources for information as well as misinformation, playing important roles as both shaper and reflection of the world’s culture.”(Peterson, 124). A distraught person seeking spiritual assistance online could receive false information about a religion and join a cult. The chapter also stated that “…such websites are plentiful, but they tend to be static and infrequently updated.”(Peterson, 130) From my own experiences a church community is rarely static unlike virtual churches.

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

Since 1955, after Life magazine named it so, the United States of America has been called “The Throwaway Society.” In the United States, society is based on the principal of convenience. In every aspect of life, Americans seek to maximize their output while minimizing their input. Americans buy fast food so that they can eat without the burden of grocery shopping, cooking, or cleaning up. Americans get their clothes dry cleaned so that they do not have to worry about the burden of washing, drying, and hanging up their own clothes. And Americans want everything in a neat, ready-to-use package to avoid the burden of preparing it themselves. But these millions of disposable bags, disposable bottles, and disposable cups add up to be a whole

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

Understanding consumer buying behavior entails marketing, relationships, and consumer behavior. Consumer behavior comprises all the consumer decisions and activities connected with the choosing, buying, using and disposing of goods and services. Marketers must pay very close attention to consumer behavior that occurs before the purchase and after the particular product has been used. Studying consumer habits is one of the steps in marketing search and analysis. In addition to other basic principles of consumer buying habits, marketers also need to study the decision and actions of real people. Until recent history the study of consumer behavior was focused on generalized consumer decisions. With