MikeBishoff

InstructorHarper
101.113
11.10.2013
TheImpactsofaConsumeristSociety

Severalargumentshavebeenmadeonthetopicofwhetherornothavinga

consumeristicsocietyisbeneficialorifithasnegativeimpacts.Oursocietyis

consideredtobeconsumeristicduetothewayoureconomyencouragesthepurchase

ofgoodsandservicesingreatamounts.Somehavearguedthathavingamaterialistic

societybenefitstheeconomyandallowspeopletoliveabalancedlife.Notonlydowe

wantavarietyofitems,wealsowantleisuretime,goodjobs,security,variety,and

convenience.Themarketandeconomyallowustoachievethisbalancedlifestyle.

OthersarguethatAmericansbeingmaterialisticisgoingtoleadustoeconomicruin.

TheyclaimthatduetoAmericansbeingindebtthatbanksarebeingtougheronloaning

outcreditandloans.Ifwecontinuetobematerialistic,wewontbeabletoachieve

highereducationorbuyhousesandmayendupinarecession.Whilebeingoverly

materialisticcanhavenegativeeffects,aconsumeristsocietyisbeneficialtothe

economyandallowsustolivebalancedlives.

Anumberofarticleshaverecentlysuggestedthathavingaconsumeristicsociety

allowsustolivebalancedlives.MichaelCox,aformerseniorvicepresidentandchief

economistattheFederalReserveBankofDallas,providesexamplesinhisarticle

ConsumerismCreatesaHealthyEconomyofhowconsumerismallowsustolivethe

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liveswewant.InCoxsview,notonlydoesourconsumeristicsocietyallowustohavea

varietyofitems,italsoallowsushavelesstangibleitemsthatarenotaccountedinour

grossdomesticproduct.Coxclaims,

We'renotworkingjusttoacquiremoregoodsandservices.Mostofusstrivefor

somethingbroader:abalancedlife.C
onsumptionispartofthat,ofcourse.We

buymyriadthings:Chevroletcars,SonyTVsets,Levi'sjeans,Nikesneakers,

McDonald'shamburgers,Dellcomputers.Butourwishlistdoesn'tstopthere.We

alsowantleisuretime,arespitetoenjoylife.Wewantpleasantworking

conditionsandgoodjobs,soearningalivingisn'ttooarduous.Wewantsafety

andsecurity,sowedon'tliveinfear.Wewantvariety,thespiceoflife.Wewant

convenience,whichmakeseverydaylifealittleeasier.Wewantacleaner

environment,whichenhanceshealthandrecreation.(Cox)

Coxspointisthathavingaconsumeristicsocietyallowsustolivebalancedlives.While

theyrarelyadmitasmuch,peopleagainstconsumerismoftentakeforgrantedhow

muchvarietyourconsumeristicsocietyprovides.Coxsargumentthatifwedidnothave

aconsumeristsociety,wewouldnothavethechoiceswecurrentlyhaveisagoodpoint.

Therewouldnotbenearlyasmanyproductsandservicesonthemarketasthereare

todayifwedidnothaveaconsumeristsociety.Thisalsomeansthatduetohavingsuch

arangeofproductsandservices,thereisawidervarietyofjobs.Havingawiderange

ofjobsavailableallowsforustofindworkdoingsomethingweenjoyandthatcanmeet

specificconditions.Withoutconsumerism,wewouldhavelessvarietyandwouldntbe

abletoachievethebalancedliveswecurrentlyhave.

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Thestandardwayofthinkingaboutconsumerismisthatwebuyalotofstuffthat

arenotneeds.Theproblemis,howdoesonespecifywhataneedis?Isitsomething

thatisessentialforsurvival?Isitsomethingthatallowsonetoliveacomfortableand

happylife?Perhapsaneedissomethingnecessarytobeabletoachieveagoal?There

isnocorrectanswer,everyonehastheirownviewwhethersomethingisaneedorwant.

Thismakesitdifficulttolabelwhatawantisandwhataneedis.Forexample,aperson

mayclaimthattheircomputerisaneedbecauseitallowsthemtoperformworkand

dailytasks.Wouldthisbeaneedsinceitisntessentialtosurvival?Ormaybeitisa

needbecauseitallowsforthepersontobeproductive.Manypeopleassumethatfood

isaneedbecauseitisimpossibletosurvivewithoutit.Whilethatistrue,over2/3of

Americansareobeseoroverweight(Anspaugh).Doesthismakefoodaneedorwant

forthem?Tryingtodefineneedsandwantsisnearlyimpossiblebecauseitdependson

thepersonsperspective.Whatonepersonmaycallaneed,anothermaycallawant.

Also,justbecauseapersonmaynotuseaproductanymoredoesn'tmeanthatitnever

wasaneed.Forinstance,akidmayoutgrowtheirclothesbuttheystillneededthem

whentheywereyounger.Tryingtodefineneedsandwantsiswhyalotofpeopleargue

aboutconsumerism.Theresimplyisnocorrectanswer.(C
ampbell)

Itisoftensaidthatconsumerismhasanegativeimpactontheeconomy.The

mainideabehindtheseargumentsisthatbeingmaterialisticcausesdebt.Anexample

ofanargumentisanarticlecalledConsumerismHasaNegativeImpactonSocietyby

RonSchererwhoisastaffwriterfortheChristianScienceMonitor.Inthisarticle,

ScherertalksabouthowoursocietyisgoingdownApathtoeconomicdestruction.He

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statesthat,Banksandinvestorsarenowbecomingmuchtougherwhenitcomesto

handingoutcreditcards,providinghomeequitylinesofcredit,agreeingtolendmoney

forcorporatetakeovers,andevenprovidingmoneyforstudentloans.Schererargues

thatthiscouldleadusintoarecession.(S
cherer)

IdisagreewithScherersviewthatconsumerismhasanegativeimpactonour

economyandisleadingusdownapathofeconomicruinbecause,asstatisticsshow,

theUnitedStatesisfaringwelleconomicallycomparedtoothercountries.Forexample,

in2012theU.S.wasestimatedtohaveagrossdomesticproductof$15.94trillion.

RussiaontheotherhandwasestimatedtohaveaGDPat$2.555trillion(TheWorld

Factbook).GDPreferstothevalueofallproductsandservicesproducedbyanation

withinagivenyear.ThismeansthattheU.S.produced6timesmorethevalueof

productsandservicesthanRussia.Thisexampleshowsthathavingaconsumersociety

doesnothavenegativeimpactstotheeconomy.

AlthoughIagreewithSchereruptoapoint,Icannotaccepthisoverall

conclusionthatconsumerismhasanegativeimpactonsociety.Whileitmaybetruethat

banksarenothandingoutasmuchcredit,thisdoesnotmeanconsumerismhasa

negativeimpactonsociety.Eventhoughaconsumeristsocietyprovidesawiderangeof

productsandservices,thatdoesn'tmeanthatIndividualshavetobuyallofit.Debtmay

becausedbyAmericansbeingoverlymaterialistic,butthatdoesn'tmeanitisdueto

consumerism.Ofcourse,manymaydisagreewiththeassertionofthatdebtisntcause

byconsumerismitself.Ultimatelythough,itisanindividualschoiceofwhatthey

purchase.Whileanewsmartphonemaycomeouteveryyear,thatdoesn'tmeanthat

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theindividualhastobuythenewestphone.Havingaconsumersocietyallowsfora

widerangeofproductsthatcanmeetmostpeoplesneeds.Ifanindividualhasalotof

moneyandwantstobuyasmartphonewithalotofunnecessaryfeatures,thentheyare

ableto.Otherswhohavelowerincomecanpurchasebasicflipphoneswhichwould

fulfiltheirneedswithouttheextrafeatures.Inconclusion,whileSchererwasrightabout

howAmericansfacedebt,hisassertionthatitiscausedbyconsumerismisnotvalid.It

isultimatelyuptotheindividualstodecidewhattheyneedandiftheycanaffordit.

Havingaconsumersocietyallowsustohaveavarietyofproductsthatmeetmost

peoplesneeds,whetherthatislowcostorextrafeatures.Also,ourcountryisdoingwell

economicallycomparedtoothers.

Contrarytohowothersbelievewearebeingtoomaterialistic,itseems

Americansareactuallystartingtobecarefulwithhowtheyarespendingtheirmoney

andtheproductstheybuy.KimberlyPalmer,asenioreditorforU.S.News&World

Report,argueshowAmericansarebecomingmorefrugal.Inherpaper,AmericansAre

BecomingMoreFrugal,PalmergivesreasonsastowhyAmericansarebecoming

morefrugallikebeingforcedtoscaleback,yearningforasimplerlife,andgoing

green.Sheclaimsthattherecessionof2008iswhatcausedustoscalebackandtobe

carefulwithourincomes.Sheprovidesexamplesonhowwearebeingmorefrugalby

stating,Somepeoplearetradingingasguzzlingcars,lookingforfreeorlowcost

entertainments,andeatingoutlessoften.NotonlyareAmericansstartingtousemore

gasefficientcars,theyarealsolookingforgreenersolutions.(Palmer)

TheessenceofPalmersargumentisthatAmericansaretryingtobemorefrugal

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forvariousreasons.IagreethatAmericansarebecomingmorefrugalbecauserecent

studiesconfirmit.Forexample,in2010therewereonlyamere19electriccarsonthe

roadand326pluginhybrids.In2013thereare55,976electriccarsand43,828plugin

cars("Electriccar).Thatisover2,946timesmoreelectriccarspeoplearedrivingthan

3yearsago,and134timesmorehybridcars.Thisisonlyasingleexampleofhow

Americansareindeedbecomingmorefrugal.

Whilealotofargumentsfocusonthenegativeaspectsofconsumerism,many

peoplefailtoacknowledgethebenefitsofit.Consumerismhasbenefittedoursociety

andeconomyinmultipleways.Havingamaterialisticsocietypromotesavarietyof

goodsandservicesforlowprices.Thisgivesconsumersawiderangeofchoicesand

providesmoreopportunitiesforjobs.Therehavebeenargumentsonhowhavinga

consumerbasedsocietyallowsustolivebalancedlives.Forexample,Coxarguesthat

notonlydoesourconsumeristicsocietyallowustohaveavarietyofitems,italsoallows

ushavelesstangibleitemslikevariety,goodjobs,safety,andconvenience.Without

consumerism,wemaynothavesuchahighqualityoflife.

Otherargumentssuchaswedonotneedthestuffwebuy,ishardtosupport

becauseitisimpossibletodeclarewhataneedactuallyis.Aneedcouldbedefinedas

essentialforsurvival,necessarytohaveacomfortablelife,orneededinordertobe

productive.Thismakesitdifficulttocategorizewhichitemsareneedsandwhichare

wants.Anitemthatisnolongerneededisnotnecessarilyawant.Whileanindividual

maynotwantanitemanymore,theymayhaveneededitinthepast.Thesearguments

onhowourneedsareactuallywantsaremorecomplicatedthanthatanddependson

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theindividualsperspective.

SomestudieshavealsoshownhowAmericansarebecominglessmaterialistic

andmorefrugal.Americansarebeingmorecautiousortheproductstheybuyandhow

theyspendtheirincome.KimberlyPalmerprovidedseveralreasonswhyAmericansare

becomingmorefrugalstatingthatsomewishforasimplerlife,peoplearebecoming

moreenvironmentallyfriendly,orbeingforcedtoscaleback.Statisticsshowthat

Americansarestartingtobuymoreenvironmentallyfriendlyvehiclesratherthangas

guzzlingcars.

Inconclusion,whiletherearemultipleargumentsaboutthenegativeimpactsof

consumerism,theyaren'tthecompletestory.Whilehavingaconsumeristicsocietymay

havesomenegativeimpacts,italsohasmultiplebenefitsoftenunaccountedfor.Our

societyisabletolivebalancedlivesandhaveavarietyofproductsandservicesthat

maynotbeavailableotherwise.

WorksCited

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Anspaugh,DavidJ.,MichaelH.Hamrick,andFrankD.Rosato."Definingthe

Problem."AchievingaHealthyWeightandBodyComposition.Wellness

ConceptsandApplications.8thed.NewYork:McGrawHill,n.d.260.Print.

Campbell,Colin."WhatIsWrongWithConsumerism?AnAssessmentOfSome

CommonCriticisms."AnuarioFilosofico43.2(2010):279296.AcademicSearch

Premier.Web.22Oct.2013.

Cox,W.Michael,andRichardAlm."ConsumerismCreatesaHealthyEconomy."Is

AmericanSocietyTooMaterialistic?Ed.RonnieD.Lankford.Detroit:

GreenhavenPress,2006.AtIssue.Rpt.from"OffTheBooks:TheBenefitsof

FreeEnterpriseThatEconomicStatisticsMiss."Reason(Aug.2002):4654.

OpposingViewpointsInContext.Web.29Sept.2013.

"Electriccarchargingstationdatainfographic,combinedMay2013datafrom

RecargoandXatori."GreenCarReports.HighGearMedia,2013.Web.19Oct.

2013.

Palmer,Kimberly."AmericansAreBecomingMoreFrugal."GaleOpposingViewpointsin

Context.N.p.,8Aug.2008.Web.27Sept.2013.

Scherer,Ron."ConsumerismHasaNegativeImpactonSociety."C
onsumerism.Ed.

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UmaKukathas.Detroit:GreenhavenPress,2008.ContemporaryIssues

Companion.Rpt.from"CreditSqueeze'sPotentialRippleEffects."Christian

ScienceMonitor.2008.OpposingViewpointsInContext.Web.29Sept.2013.

"TheWorldFactbook."CentralIntelligenceAgency.CIA,n.d.Web.10Nov.2013.

<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworldfactbook/>.

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