Are US Americans (me included) consumed with materialism and consumption?

Question

If so, when did this capitalistic frenzy begin? Where will it end?

Answer 1

EDIT: I just read "don't panic"'s summirization - I could have skipped my post, but I put enough time into it that I'l let it stand.


I say that largely we ARE obsessed with it, because our obsession benefits some very powerful people..

After WWII there were a lot of men returning to jobs that had been handled quite well by women while the men were overseas.

A lot of those women didn't like being bounced out of jobs and back into the home; they had experienced a whole new kind of self-respect and pride in working outside the home.

Two things came out of that discontent; the selling of anti-community competitive ownership among women, and an emphasis on child rearing. How, after all, were the industry giants going to keep their factories producing goods to be bought, and convince women that they were *happy* staying home (since they did NOT support the idea of women in non-traditional jobs...they wanted to keep the workforce male) without redirecting women's priorities?

Advertising began to change shortly after WWII. That is when the kind of advertisement in which one woman wins some sort of "victory" over her neighbors because she has a new appliance began. This served well to break up the kind of mutually-supportive community that had been growing among women during the war, it encouraged women to compete with other women *through the buying power of their husbands*, and it also sent a very clear message about a woman's proper place: in the home with the kiddies and all her shiny new gadgets.

Also, child-rearing started being portrayed as an idealistic, glowy kind of thing with the more kids the merrier, and great emphasis was placed, in marketing, on mothers doing more for their kids. It wasn't enough to have healthy children any more than it was enough to have a tidy home; child and baby beauty contests really got their start at this time, too, encouraging women to sublimate their self-esteem through their children. And naturally, the competitiveness that had taken root so well in women over shiny new stuff for the home did well in this arena. It was pretty overt, actually...for around 15 years after WWII in movies, for example, strong women roles were usually associated with ulterior motives. Interestingly enough, if you do research into the way that women have been portrayed in American society through time, you'll find that in turn-of-the-century newspapers successful women in unusual roles were treated admiringly rather than condescendingly. In post-WWII movies, women wanted babies, and career women were "unnatural" women..

Of course, post-WWII there was a natural reaction to a loosening of the austerity that had been necessary during the war, and there was an economic boom, too, which combined with women moving back into the home as the "norm", meant that a lot of folks had a lot more kids.

With women hooked into buying (and bearing children, leading to MORE buying) as a path to self-esteem, this fed into the natural competitiveness of men in the workforce... no longer was it enough to provide adequate food and shelter for the family, but now the hubby had to provide his wife with better, newer, shinier *stuff* so that she could feel good about herself by having something "better" than her neighbors and friends.

While there have been periodic rebellions against this kind of consumerism, it hasn't taken hold in a significant way. it won't, either, because in order for a few to become obscenely wealthy, the rest of us have to stay hooked on the drug of "more, newer, better". There has to be an artificial hunger for things that corporations produce.

Our artificial hunger for more, newer, better stuff has terrible consequences, ranging from the personal to the political. Most of us don't care under what conditions the people who produce our gadgets work. Most of us don't care that trade agreements that bring us cheap toys destroy other countries' economies.

It's a complex subject, and I've only covered one aspect of it.

Answer 2

Not completely an American factor, extra an industrialized country factor. In the 1950's giant constituents of Europe and Asia had been getting restablished after a horrible struggle (established specifically at the unhealthy conduct of Europeans) at the same time the U.S., which had an untouched wartime enterprise, was once now churning out models for the dwelling and different products for humans. Any different country that had the identical factor going for it within the '50's like what was once within the U.S. normally might have performed the identical factor. There is extravagance within the U.S. however you'll discover that far and wide while humans have the cash, the marketplace, and the time to benefit from the conveniences at their disposal. Deny all of it you desire however your publish is dripping with envy.

Answer 3

The soundbyte version: Production capacity sky-rocketed during WWII. Post-war, they 'had' to put it to use, so they invented the myth of the happy housewife with her shopping cart full of cleaning chemicals and multitudinous 'time-saving' appliances and gadgets for making the perfect home. (This also conveniently reduced the work force and opening up jobs for returning GIs.) This is apparently documented in the files of advertising agencies during the 1950s. (That's when they invented the 'teen-ager' as well.)

Cut to the 1990s, women are working and there's a lot of money going around. Every manufacturer and store is trying to get as much of it as they can, so they put huge amounts of effort, creativity, research and money into convincing us that we absolutely have to have their latest toxic air freshener or a new cell phone with even more bells and whistles.

Where will it end? Who knows, either we wake up and take control back or we enter even further into a gentler sort of economic servitude where our lives our dominated by our desire for more.

For the longer version, start with Betty Freidan's _The Feminine Mystique_ (1963, but still incredibly pertinent, especially if you use her framework to look at today's marketing towards men). Carry on with nearly anything from Sut Jhally. Fastfood Nation, No Logo. Plenty more that I'm not thinking of just now.

Answer 4

Of course we are...it's sad but it's a reality we cannot deny, it's known worldwide, even the immigrants that come even now would be impressed by the wide range of offers and get caught by them too. I would say it began with all the production resources available after World War II.

Well... my stuff end up in Goodwill! (just kidding).

The americans must learn to appreciate what they have when compared to the rest of the world. Many americans do not realize just how good life is here in this country. They are ignorant of the quality of life in the rest of the world. Each person must in his/her own way try to change and conserve.

Answer 5

SOME are not in balance.
it's not as bad as you believe, however

try to be a better example

Answer 6

We are the biggest consumers of the world...in this we dominate!

Won't end anytime soon.....MUNCH

Answer 7

No-I am the opposite

Answer 8

No, we're not ALL idiots, you know.