I Hate Myself and Want to Buy ⢠anti-consumerism is one of the most ...
I Hate Myself and Want to Buy
anti-consumerism is one of the most important cultural forces in millennial North American life, across every class and demographic how can we all denounce consumerism yet still find ourselves living in a consumer society? o we don’t actually critique consumerism; its a restatement of the critique of mass society the critique of mass society has been one of the most powerful forces driving consumerism for the past 40 years anti-consumerism doesn’t undermine consumerism; they reinforce it they’ve failed to understand the true nature of consumer society o identify consumerism with conformity o fail to notice that it is rebellion, not conformity, that has been the driving force of the marketplace counter-culture theorists like to think that their rebellion is a reaction to the evils of consumer society o what if counterculture rebellion was a contributing factor? people in wealthy industrialized society are on average happier than poor ones o greater wealth comes a greater ability to meet needs and desires economic development has been shown to generate a steady increase in average happiness levels, but after a certain level of development has been reached the effects disappear completely the middle class continue to feel squeezed economically o people are working harder, under more stress, less free time some people question the value of economic growth altogether o serious sacrifices in order to keep a high growth rate o but growth isn’t making us happier people spend their money on private consumption goods o something pathological about consumption habits o obsessed with acquiring more even though this leads to unreasonable sacrifices is social criticism really a criticism or rather a piece of modern mythology most adults like spending their money on things that help them stand out o goods that offer distinction competitive consumption that creates the problem, not conformity o the desire to conform fails to explain the compulsive character of consumer behaviour its the non-conformists not the conformists that drive consumer spending why modern consumer society fails to produce any happiness is because the needs that it satisfies are simply a function (induced by the individual) by the internal logic of the system o there are only needs because the system needs them who is to say what is useful and what is not, which needs are genuine and which are false? o simply saying that all needs are ideological doesn’t help intellectuals have a natural bias against consumer goods in general because they are people that are more engaged and stimulated by ideas rather than goods consumerism always seems to be a critique of what other people buy o difficult to avoid impression the critique isn’t just snobbery o traditionally rich are self sufficient in material needs and the material world is regarded as a realm of corruption and sin according to Marx, capitalism suffers from periodic crises of overproduction o the factory owner constantly tries to lower prices by introducing techniques of mass production
o
mass production increases the supply of goods but also decreases the income of workers which decreases demand results in a crisis of over production Marx thought that the tendency toward overproduction was responsible for the business cycle o after the second world war though there was almost two decades of uninterrupted growth one answer is the advertising was introduced to solve the problem of overproduction transform the worker into a consumer get rid of excess goods by tricking workers into wanting more and more the goods produced are all homogeneous, so the desires created must be homogeneous too consumerism must be a system of rigid conformity o cant tolerate deviation from the norm because the homogenized needs are what takes care of the excess product from mass production non standard acts of consumption come to be seen as politically radical o the rebel consumer no such thing as generalized over production o Baudrillard’s and Ewen’s claim based on myth the supply of goods determines the demand for other goods total supply and total demand always add up to the same amount there can be too much of a particular good, but not an excess of goods in general goods are exchanged for other goods want, how much you are willing to give up, determines price there can be local over or under production but not on a global level two methods to find a nation’s GDP o add up total value of goods sold, or total income earned o must be equal immigration can make too much of a particular type of labour, but not too much labour in general total demand for goods remains unaffected by wage reductions, just shifts it to another sector when money is introduced to an economy things become more complicated money is not a transparent medium, it can store value increase in demand for money looks like an excess of supply recessions are caused by not enough money o solution: put more money in circulation when politicians encourage consumers to go shopping their goal is to get money back into circulation one way or another your money gets spent o if you dont spend it you put it in the bank, and someone else spends it the only way to genuinely cut back it to work less and reduce your own income in developing countries, economic growth does increase happiness strong correlation between relative wealth and happiness o more than your neighbours goods produced are valued more for their markers of success than for their usefulness in order for one person to win the other must lose o when everyone does it, everyone ends up right back where they started as society as a whole grows wealthier, consumer behaviour increasingly acquires the structure of a arms race consumers stuck in a collective action problem
even people who want to maintain a respectable living standard end up spending more each year to avoid humiliation one person’s attempt to retain a decent living standard merely forces the others to spend more in order to acquire superior status o consumption habits tend to flow downward through the social hierarchy don’t like ^^ theory because it blames consumers for consumerism, is among all classes social status is subject to diminishing marginal utility o lower status people are willing to spend a greater percentage of their income to competitive consumption the minimum that people should spend has been increasing over time alot of our consumer behaviour is defensive sometimes consumption is determined by willingness or ability to pay o downtown real estate competitive consumption often has nothing to do with people’s motives often imposed by the nature of the goods that are sought material goods are scarce because of the time energy and effort needed to produce them positional goods are scarce even if we wanted to produce more most goods have both material and positional qualities enganged in competive consumption whether you want to be or not economic growth begins to resemble a giant arms race rather than a system of production aimed at satisfying human need popular view of judgement is the difference between pretty and ugly resides in the object o only people with a certain background and education can see it aesthetic judgement is always a matter of distinction o more important what you don’t like aesthetic judgement plays an extraordinary strong role in reproducing status hierarchies in society when superior social classes do consume aesthetically bad good it is important that they do so ironically o the ironic distance allows them to preserve their distinction someone can have good taste only if others do not it is not the desire to conform that is driving consumption it is the quest for distinction the sense of distinction permeates all our aesthetic judgements o the way to opt out is to not allow any judgements to affect our purchasing decisions distinction always involves both inclusion and exclusion rejecting the norms of mainstream society came to serve as a source of considerable distinction as more people become in the know for counter culture , counter culture must reinvent itself counter culture rebellion has become one of the major forces driving competitive consumption
anti-consumerism is one of the most important cultural forces in millennial North American life, across every class and demographic how can we all denounce consumerism yet still find ourselves living in a consumer society? o we don’t actually critique consumerism; its a restatement of the critique of mass society the critique of mass society has been one of the most powerful forces driving consumerism for the past 40 years anti-consumerism doesn’t undermine consumerism; they reinforce it they’ve failed to understand the true nature of consumer society o identify consumerism with conformity o fail to notice that it is rebellion, not conformity, that has been the driving force of the marketplace counter-culture theorists like to think that their rebellion is a reaction to the evils of consumer society o what if counterculture rebellion was a contributing factor? people in wealthy industrialized society are on average happier than poor ones o greater wealth comes a greater ability to meet needs and desires economic development has been shown to generate a steady increase in average happiness levels, but after a certain level of development has been reached the effects disappear completely the middle class continue to feel squeezed economically o people are working harder, under more stress, less free time some people question the value of economic growth altogether o serious sacrifices in order to keep a high growth rate o but growth isn’t making us happier people spend their money on private consumption goods o something pathological about consumption habits o obsessed with acquiring more even though this leads to unreasonable sacrifices is social criticism really a criticism or rather a piece of modern mythology most adults like spending their money on things that help them stand out o goods that offer distinction competitive consumption that creates the problem, not conformity o the desire to conform fails to explain the compulsive character of consumer behaviour its the non-conformists not the conformists that drive consumer spending why modern consumer society fails to produce any happiness is because the needs that it satisfies are simply a function (induced by the individual) by the internal logic of the system o there are only needs because the system needs them who is to say what is useful and what is not, which needs are genuine and which are false? o simply saying that all needs are ideological doesn’t help intellectuals have a natural bias against consumer goods in general because they are people that are more engaged and stimulated by ideas rather than goods consumerism always seems to be a critique of what other people buy o difficult to avoid impression the critique isn’t just snobbery o traditionally rich are self sufficient in material needs and the material world is regarded as a realm of corruption and sin according to Marx, capitalism suffers from periodic crises of overproduction o the factory owner constantly tries to lower prices by introducing techniques of mass production
o
mass production increases the supply of goods but also decreases the income of workers which decreases demand results in a crisis of over production Marx thought that the tendency toward overproduction was responsible for the business cycle o after the second world war though there was almost two decades of uninterrupted growth one answer is the advertising was introduced to solve the problem of overproduction transform the worker into a consumer get rid of excess goods by tricking workers into wanting more and more the goods produced are all homogeneous, so the desires created must be homogeneous too consumerism must be a system of rigid conformity o cant tolerate deviation from the norm because the homogenized needs are what takes care of the excess product from mass production non standard acts of consumption come to be seen as politically radical o the rebel consumer no such thing as generalized over production o Baudrillard’s and Ewen’s claim based on myth the supply of goods determines the demand for other goods total supply and total demand always add up to the same amount there can be too much of a particular good, but not an excess of goods in general goods are exchanged for other goods want, how much you are willing to give up, determines price there can be local over or under production but not on a global level two methods to find a nation’s GDP o add up total value of goods sold, or total income earned o must be equal immigration can make too much of a particular type of labour, but not too much labour in general total demand for goods remains unaffected by wage reductions, just shifts it to another sector when money is introduced to an economy things become more complicated money is not a transparent medium, it can store value increase in demand for money looks like an excess of supply recessions are caused by not enough money o solution: put more money in circulation when politicians encourage consumers to go shopping their goal is to get money back into circulation one way or another your money gets spent o if you dont spend it you put it in the bank, and someone else spends it the only way to genuinely cut back it to work less and reduce your own income in developing countries, economic growth does increase happiness strong correlation between relative wealth and happiness o more than your neighbours goods produced are valued more for their markers of success than for their usefulness in order for one person to win the other must lose o when everyone does it, everyone ends up right back where they started as society as a whole grows wealthier, consumer behaviour increasingly acquires the structure of a arms race consumers stuck in a collective action problem
even people who want to maintain a respectable living standard end up spending more each year to avoid humiliation one person’s attempt to retain a decent living standard merely forces the others to spend more in order to acquire superior status o consumption habits tend to flow downward through the social hierarchy don’t like ^^ theory because it blames consumers for consumerism, is among all classes social status is subject to diminishing marginal utility o lower status people are willing to spend a greater percentage of their income to competitive consumption the minimum that people should spend has been increasing over time alot of our consumer behaviour is defensive sometimes consumption is determined by willingness or ability to pay o downtown real estate competitive consumption often has nothing to do with people’s motives often imposed by the nature of the goods that are sought material goods are scarce because of the time energy and effort needed to produce them positional goods are scarce even if we wanted to produce more most goods have both material and positional qualities enganged in competive consumption whether you want to be or not economic growth begins to resemble a giant arms race rather than a system of production aimed at satisfying human need popular view of judgement is the difference between pretty and ugly resides in the object o only people with a certain background and education can see it aesthetic judgement is always a matter of distinction o more important what you don’t like aesthetic judgement plays an extraordinary strong role in reproducing status hierarchies in society when superior social classes do consume aesthetically bad good it is important that they do so ironically o the ironic distance allows them to preserve their distinction someone can have good taste only if others do not it is not the desire to conform that is driving consumption it is the quest for distinction the sense of distinction permeates all our aesthetic judgements o the way to opt out is to not allow any judgements to affect our purchasing decisions distinction always involves both inclusion and exclusion rejecting the norms of mainstream society came to serve as a source of considerable distinction as more people become in the know for counter culture , counter culture must reinvent itself counter culture rebellion has become one of the major forces driving competitive consumption
