Consumer Society
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Thanks for the follow up comments gentlemen.
I fear that the internet is just a newer version of the TV. Yes the internet is wholly a different and potentially diametrically apposed to the Television but it can be used as an addictive substance just like Television.
We turned off cable right after our first child was born 7 years ago. To this day our children have never watched a network television show. Our television an analog tv from the 1970's and soon won't even receive analog signals when the new digital only signals are instituted.
Instead our children have read thousands of books. I hope we are making the right decision in this matter.
anyway I feel that consumerism is a drug and once you have it in your system it's nearly impossible to get it out. Who doesn't look at ad's for new cars, new houses, new widgets and not even for a brief second desire those things.
anyway I don't think we are going to get out of this cycle of indebtedness unless we address the core issue "consumerism"
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What a great thread, Phil. Thanks for starting it.
I concur with the majority thoughts on this subject; consumerism is as unhealthy a thing that people can fall to. Like all things; moderation is the key but this generation has become gluttons to this phenomenon....
It was interesting to hear in the media this week that Fathers are spending a total 6 minutes a week with their kids. A little of track you might think but with the pace of life, holding down a job, trying to keep your head above water and all the while be bombarded with 'consumerism' the minute you step out the front door in the morning, it is little wonder..... Unfortunately, this world crisis that we are going to endure in the coming years is a testament to the greed of the planet....
Personally, I would much rather play board games with my family, listen to music [and watch the little buggers dance like cats in a fan belt!!!], read books and go camping and fishing on the weekends...
Couldn't be happier!!!
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Phil,
Although MTV was obviously originally created to shift CDs and sell advertising minutes I think it's current format pretty much sums up a lot of what's wrong with society: commercial formulaic music as a background to formulaic videos which, although they may not be as overtly sexist as those of the hair-rock eighties, continue to reinforce the notion that a woman's worth is inversely proportional to her age, intelligence and proportional to her wantoness. The males stars invariably drive around in ludicrously expensive supercars, $20,000 "timepieces" (who actually uses that word apart from watchmakers?!) on their wrists and even if the female is the "star" of the video she has to writh around him like a brain damaged, but loyal cat. Then later in the evening the "documentaries" come on, low production value hastily edited photos and soundbites focusing on the lifestyles of the super-rich and famous and the bizarre parastitic industries (diamond-studded dog collar anyone?) who serve this minute perverse minority....
... and then the commercials come on, unashamedly aimed at tweens too young to view them objectively, selling mobile phone pranks and ringtones, offering sms competitions to win ipods, Louis Vuitton handbags and D&G sunglasses.
I'm not paranoid enough to suggest that the world's governments and the Bilderberg group conspired to create a commercial music video channel to control the masses (Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me present to you... Operation Beavis & Butthead! LOL), but I bet they're pretty happy with the effect it has had on children, teenagers and young adults for over 25 years, dulling their critical faculty and encouraging the very human trait of wanting stuff. It's a frankly terrifying thought that kids who were 13 years old when MTV hit the screens are now 40 years old- let's hope that the majority have matured enough to distinguish between what music videos and commercials show us we ought to be doing or achieving with our lives and what a healthy happy lifestyle actually is.
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Global economic crisis, people in debt , scared for their jobs , existence on the brink of losing their accustomed way of life (consumerism). Before democracy and market economy came to my country we as individuals didn’t have much, There was no consumerism , there was virtually no advertising, You couldn’t get a loan to even buy a car. We had pleasure in small things , There was great deal of friendship between people. People would, meet, discuss, help each other in every possible way.
There was no rush in making money to buy this or that or to cover this or that loan.
We looked at Western capitalist countries and saw their standard of life and we hoped one day we will live in similar way. And then overnight it all begun, all the doors opened , everything became possible, everybody offering everything , TV commercials, The worst TV garbage- (you name it we got it), Shopping centers , banks came in they offered loans for everything
and everybody . This is what we waited all our life, this is it, life is great.
So before we had that one problem . Now we have many more. And apart from all that people have somehow become different , the relationship between people has never been this bad , people in majority have never been more unhappy than they are now .
So I was thinking the other day maybe were not prepared for this or maybe people (masses) if placed in a position of choice they don’t have the knowledge to make the proper decisions.
A friend of mine always said that the worst thing is to give the masses the vote. He says that they are not competent to decide anything. I always argued with him saying : what is the alternative?
So in the end I am thinking that he is probably right , we need something in between , not really sure what but market economy as it is today is definitely out reminds me of that: You want the truth? You cant handle the truth . -
Yes "Money can't buy you happiness" we All forgot that proverb.
Now how do we get out of this mess our world is in. I feel like I want to sell everything I own and if possible pay off all my debt and live in a tent. I don't think that's possible but I was a lot happier when I moved to New York City I only had $400 and a bag of cloths. Life was simple then.
When I met my wife she came over to cook me diner one night. We went down the street to buy a plate and some silverware for her because I only owned one plate and one set of silverware. Life was simple. A futon bed on the floor and an alarm clock radio and a coffee maker were all you needed in life.
I do miss those days.
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Mr S wrote:
%(#0000FF)[“I think it was the Marxists who declared that all the masses require are "Bread and Circuses".
I believe, on this one issue, they may be right.”…
“Most people will either look at you as if you have just farted in public or stare at you with a blank expression if you try to discuss anything other than TV/Films, Sport, Drink or Sex.
It may seem snobbish or elitist to say this, but most seem to live an "animalistic" existence.
As long they are supplied with food, drink, sex and kept occupied with entertaining trivia they seem content.”]
It was a Roman practice of providing free ‘bread and circus’ (Latin: “panem et circenses”) and other forms of entertainment to the poor and naive guys, to give them the sensation of “dolce far niente” (the ‘sweetness of doing nothing’, especially spiritual…).
Til now, many naives were doing “la dolce vita” (the sweet life), because they applied struthio camelus ‘strategy’…, and today they are seriously affected…
In modern and contemporary times, same politics (as Romans…) were taken by Marx-ists, Lenin-ists, Democrats, Communists, Atheists, etc.Andrew C. wrote:
“I concur with the majority thoughts on this subject; consumerism is as unhealthy a thing that people can fall to. Like all things; moderation is the key but this generation has become gluttons to this phenomenon..”
It can be solved:
“For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world.” (Titus 2:11-12)
Moderate… must be combined w/ “righteously and godly” attitude…!Mateo wrote:
“we need something in between , not really sure what but market economy as it is today is definitely out reminds me of that: You want the truth? You cant handle the truth .”
“…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John1:17)
Not Jesus..., no truth!Phil wrote:
“Now how do we get out of this mess our world is in. I feel like I want to sell everything I own and if possible pay off all my debt and live in a tent. I don't think that's possible but I was a lot happier when I moved to New York City I only had $400 and a bag of cloths. Life was simple then.”
Starting from that…, I remembered this:
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)Cornel
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@unknownuser said:
In modern and contemporary times, same politics (as Romans…) were taken by Marx-ists, Lenin-ists, Democrats, Communists, Atheists, etc.
LOL, rubbing eyes with disbelief!... because capitalists, conservatives and religious organisations have never been guilty of subduing the masses for the purpose of control! Yep, I'm pretty sure the
X-Factor and aggressive consumerism was part of Karl Marx's master plan.
Wow, Cornel you really are delusional. -
Jackson,
… there is an “etc.”…!Besides that, look to their prime scope and hope...!:
Attachment to 'illiberal' materialistic values or possessions...Cornel
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Hi Cornel,
You are correct in stating that the Romans provided "Bread and Circuses" for the masses.
But his was provided alongside their pagan religions.It was the Marxists who sought to replace established religions with their own new religion called communism. "Bread and Circuses" was seen as an essential tool in this process. If that failed, there was always the Gulags.
Liberal democracies have used the same methods but have managed to make many of their elite very rich in the process. Consumerism has a never ending appetite and the capitalist system is happy to feed it.
Consumerism is the life-blood of capitalism.Religion is the opium of the masses. It is, essentially, a Santa Claus for adults.
Religion (mostly) used fear of the unknown to keep its people under control.
Communism (mostly) used the stick to keep its people under control.
Capitalism (mostly) used the carrot to keep its people under control.Whether the religion being promoted is political or supernatural in origin is irrelevant to me. They are both used to keep the, always small, independent "thinking" elements of society quiet. The masses have always had a sheep mentality. They just go along with whatever the "norms" of their time are.
It is that small minority of independent minds that provides hope for the future of mankind.
Regards
Mr S -
Mr S.,
All humans being are religious, inclusiv Atheists, and, pretending excessive or ‘affected piety’, there were executed (rather ‘prosecuted’) a lot of incredible acts…!
…but, voila a partial definition of true religion:
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)…!Regarding “Consumerism” position, there are 3 large categories: Materialists, Utopian idealists and Realistic idealists.
The ‘free category’, practices this prescription:
%(#0000FF)[“...Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God].””Cornel
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Hi,
Sorry Cornel, I have long given up on reading mumbo jumbo from any religious source.
Getting back to consumerism, I came across this recent article which may interest some.
Visit: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/the_standard_of_living_bubble_and_why_its_about_to_go_pop/
Regards
Mr S -
Mr S, thank you for the link!
I know those problems…; no surprise for me.
“Signs of prosperity”?!
-No, clear signs of a ‘face’ of globalism:
“…The price we pay will be oodles of socialistic legislation aimed at containing the fallout in order to further sustain the fictitious prosperity a bit longer. Central planners act on the notion that the unhappy reality of hitting bottom can be delayed indefinitely…”Cornel
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@unknownuser said:
Has anyone here done any research or reading on the creation of a "consumer society" I remember a conversation a few years back with friends at a diner party and one of those conversations was about the creation or adoption of the television as a medium for displaying consumer products to essentially hook society on the purchase of those products and then ensure that we would have a docile and tranquil workforce that would be happy to work in order to get an income to be able to purchase the products they saw on tv.
Anyway if anyone has links or books they would recommend on this subject let me know. With the current economic situation it is a topic I would like to read more about. here is a link I found with Google but there are simply too many and where to start might be facilitated by listening to people on this forum who have also been interested in this subject and have already sifted through the web for links.
http://www.infed.org/biblio/pedagogy_consumer_society.htm
A quote from that link
"Consumption cannot be consummated, but is the “frustrated desire for totality.”[55]
For Baudrillard, not only are we never satiated and always frustrated, but there is little possibility of resistance. For “the collective function of advertising is to convert us all to the code…The code is totalitarian; no one escapes it: our individual flights do not negate the fact that each day we participate in its collective elaboration.”[56] The code comes to dominate us, to enchain us, by “imposing a coherent and collective vision, like an almost inseparable totality. Like a chain that connects not ordinary objects but signifieds, each object can signify the other in a more complex super-object, and lead the consumer to a series of more complex choices.”[57] Consumers essentially ‘buy’ into the code of consumption so completely that they lose the capacity for critical reflection. Furthermore, any form of resistance is readily incorporated and assimilated back into the code.
It sounds ominous to me.
Great thread!!!
I remember reading Baudrillard's Consumer Society some time ago. What really stuck in my mind was this halirioius comparison of Melanesian Cargo Cult(where tribesmen thought planes flying over head where goods from god for everyone and some how 'white man' found away to hijack all of it for themselves, thus proceded to erect massive effegies of aeroplanes on the ground in order to 'attract' the cargo they thought rightly belonged to them) and consumer culture. He elaborated that the basic delusions are the same (i.e. the promise of attaining what you already have innate in yourself or rightfully belong to you and that can be it 'fulfilled' through codified rituals and practices.) That always cracks me up.
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Watch this guys. 'The Century of the Self' produced by Adam Curtis for the BBC.
In this documentary (one of the best ever created) Adam Curtis procedes to layout the narrative and creation of the 'Consumer Society' from Freud to PR (and its relationship to Propaganda) to today's party political systems' complicity involvement in media game. It is a astounding piece of work.http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?q=century+of+the+self&emb=0&aq=f#
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