Major Part In America's Consumer Culture example essay topic

In John F. Schumaker's article "Dead Zone: The Monster of American Consumer Culture", he writes, "While most societies throughout history have organized themselves in order to curb natural greed, America's devoted consumers are encouraged to respect, nurture and act on the subtlest stirrings of their avarice. As a result materialism has reached fever pitch and continues to rise sharply". While Schumaker does make a valid point about the rise of materialism in mainstream America today, he fails to look at the historical causes and events that have shaped America into the capitalistic society we now live in. His statement also suggests that he sees America as only a single society and does not differentiate between the drives and goals of individual Americans. In order to understand why America is in the state that it is today, we must first look back at the time before America was seen as greedy. Throughout the middle to late 1800's and into the early 1900's America was seen as the land of opportunity.

During this time millions of immigrants came to this country seeking freedom and an opportunity to succeed in the new world. These people peddled their goods or slaved in factories for almost nothing in return, for the sole reason of giving their children a chance to live a better life than they have. At the time this was not referred to as greedy but as bettering the life of your children. This idea has become almost a tradition in the lives of Americans and with each generation comes a higher standard of living. America has become what it is today due to capitalism and like it or not capitalism promotes growth through competition. This is why we see so many different brands of basically the same product.

If only one company produced all of the products that people use, there would be no reason for any advancement or improvement because those who are using the products would have no other alternative but to do without them. Therefore capitalism promotes competition and it is this competition that we see every day in TV shows, movies, commercials and advertisements. The highest bidding company gets to put their product into the many different medias people come into contact with. This results in people seeing their favorite actors, singers, and role models promoting a certain brand or product which leads to the idea that even common folk can be like the famous people they look up to just by buying their product.

This leads to the question of whether consumers are buying products out of greed or out of envy. The greed or envy question comes into play within the last fifty years. Are consumers buying products because they are inherently greedy? If so, what dictates the brand or product type that is bought? The idea that envy plays a major part in America's consumer culture would explain why some brands of products succeed while other brands of the same product fail miserably. This idea is seen mainly in times of prosperity such as the Reagan era in the 1980's.

At the time the brand of product you bought pretty much dictated your status and popularity. If you wanted to be accepted or viewed as "cool", you had to where the right clothes. It all comes down to fitting in. If your friend's got a new coat and receives complements upon wearing it, more than likely you would like to receive the same attention.

On the other hand, if he were to be ridiculed for wearing his new coat you probably would feel no desire for that kind of attention and therefore feel no envy towards your friend. So, are all Americans naturally greedy? If so, is American consumer culture simply a reflection of our national greed? For the majority of Americans the answer would be no.

There are exceptions, such as the Enron's and WorldCom's, that affect the view of our society as a whole. The average American is just trying to get by in order to provide a comfortable life for themselves or for their family. Most parents want the best for their children and if this requires wearing certain clothes or buying certain products in order to fit in, so be it. Does this mean American consumerism is a bad thing? In some ways it does because it casts ridicule upon people who don't have the right clothes or products but, overall, consumerism is a good thing. Not only does it promote growth through competition, as discussed before, but it also supplies jobs and opportunities for anyone from any class system or from anywhere.

Without that opportunity, America just wouldn't be America.