what is are the advantages and disadvatages of consumerism?

Answer 1

Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption. It is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Karl Marx and Thorstein Veblen. It can be traced back to the first human civilizations.

In economics, consumerism can also refer to economic policies that place an emphasis on consumption, and, in an abstract sense, the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic structure of a society (cf. Producerism, especially in the British sense of the term).

Criticism
In many critical contexts, consumerism is used to describe the tendency of people to identify strongly with products or services they consume, especially those with commercial brand names and obvious status-enhancing appeal, e.g. an expensive automobile, rich jewelry. A culture that is permeated by consumerism can be referred to as a consumer culture. Impulse buyers who cannot resist spending money are commonly termed shopaholics.

Opponents of consumerism argue that many luxuries and unnecessary consumer products are social signals that allow people to identify like-minded individuals through consumption and display of similar products. Some believe that relationships with a product or brand name are substitutes for the healthy human relationships lacking in dysfunctional modern societies and along with consumerism itself are part of the general process of social control and cultural hegemony in modern society.

The older term "conspicuous consumption" spread to describe consumerism in the United States in the 1960s, but was soon linked to larger debates about media theory, culture jamming, and its corollary productivism.

The term and concept of "conspicuous consumption" originated at the turn of the 20th century in the writings of economist Thorstein Veblen. The term describes an apparently irrational and confounding form of economic behaviour. Veblen's scathing proposal that this unnecessary consumption is a form of status display is made in darkly humorous observations like the following:

"It is true of dress in even a higher degree than of most other items of consumption, that people will undergo a very considerable degree of privation in the comforts or the necessaries of life in order to afford what is considered a decent amount of wasteful consumption; so that it is by no means an uncommon occurrence, in an inclement climate, for people to go ill clad in order to appear well dressed." (The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899).
Viktor Frankl had suggested that in the U.S., the engine behind consumerism is an extension of the "bread-winner" desire, an argument originally made by Veblen in his 1899 book.

"Overcoming Consumerism" is a growing philosophy.[citation needed] It is a term that embodies the active resistance to consumerism. It is being used by many universities as a term for course material and as an introduction to the study of marketing from a non-traditional approach.[citation needed] Comedian Bill Hicks and director Pier Paolo Pasolini were notable opponents of consumerism.

Another critical term is religion of consumerism, which may imply that consumerism is based on an irrational belief rather than reason, or may have been coined to evoke the religious notion of idolatry and anti-materialism.

An important contribution to the critique of consumerism has been made by the French philosopher Bernard Stiegler, but very little of this has been translated into English. Stiegler argues that capitalism today is governed not by production but by consumption, and that the advertising techniques used to create consumer behavior amount to the destruction of psychic and collective individuation. The diversion of libidinal energy toward the consumption of consumer products, he argues, results in an addictive cycle of consumption, leading to hyperconsumption, the exhaustion of desire, and the reign of symbolic misery. At the same time, however, he does not believe that simply opposing capitalism is a viable strategy.


[edit] Counter arguments
While there is not precisely an intellectual movement to promote consumerism, there has been, in recent years, strong criticism of the anti-consumerist movement. Most of this comes from libertarian thought. For example, Reason magazine, in 1999, attacked the anti-consumerism movement, claiming Marxist academics are repackaging themselves as anti-consumerists. James Twitchell, a professor at the University of Florida and popular writer, referred to anti-consumerism arguments as "Marxism Lite."

The libertarian attack on the anti-consumerist movement is largely based on the perception that it leads to elitism. Namely, libertarians believe that no person has the right to decide for others what goods are "necessary" for living and which aren't, or that luxuries are necessarily wasteful, and thus argue that anti-consumerism is a precursor to central planning or a totalitarian society. Twitchell, in his book Living It Up, sarcastically remarked that the logical outcome of the anti-consumerism movement would be a return to the sumptuary laws that existed in ancient Rome and during the Middle Ages.

Conversely, many anti-consumerists believe that a modern consumer society is created through extensive advertising and media influence, rather than arising from people's natural ideas regarding the kinds of things they need. In other words, anti-consumerists tend to believe that consumerism is an artificial creation sustained by artificial social pressures, while libertarians tend to believe that consumerism is natural and the only way to eliminate it is through artificial social pressures.

Answer 2

Overcoming Consumerism

Answer 3

Advantages of fast food : instant delivery, ready to eat or carry away, some are cheap & some are expensive, tickles taste buds & attractive to the eyes. Disadvantages : Food colouring, fat used are unhealthy, high in calories & low in nutritional values, thus people who are addicted to fast food tend to gain weight.

Answer 4

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In US, people eat at least one fast food meal during the day (while driving). It is mainly because fast foods are on-the-go foods, cheap, plus no need to leave tip. Consequently, the obvious effect is people are getting super sized. Yeah McD, BK, & Wendy's are starting to super size me.

Answer 5

Would be interested to find out more on this too

Answer 6

advantage: buying things

disadvantage: buying things

Answer 7

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