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Human Values in the Age of Consumerism

Contemporary society is often described as a consumerist one. Scholars are trying to analyze its main features and impacts on economy, social life, culture, and of course they are trying to answer the question: what kind of influence does consumerism exercise on human values, on our notion of what is moral and what is not, on our philosophy of an action? The following essay is an attempt to answer this widely discussed question.

I think it is clear that the discussed problem cannot be solved in terms of good and bad; we must take into consideration many different aspects of the latter in order to answer the question mentioned above.

To start with, I am going to emphasize the history of the formation of what we call Уconsumerist societyФ nowadays and its most important features for I believe that our behaviour greatly depends on the conditions of the society we live in. Then I will try to shed lights on the way a consumerist society as an economic and socio-cultural phenomenon exercises influence on human values.

The origins and essence of contemporary consumerism.

According to wikipedia.org Уconsumerist society is a society in which many people formulate their goals in life partly through acquiring goods that they clearly do not need for subsistence or for traditional displayФ (usually described as conspicuous consumption). I suppose it goes without saying that this phenomenon is as old as civilization. People have always tried to construct and manifest a sense of identity through purchasing goods that they do not need for their existence (e.g. since the early ages clothing and appearance have always been used as a way to show social distinction and identity). However, I believe that conspicuous consumption used to be limited for several reasons. First of all, the material conditions of the lower classes leave much to be desired. Secondly, since PlatoТs times all transcendental nonmaterial systems of belief (i.e. religions and ideologies) cannot but disapprove of all forms of conspicuous consumption. Yet the meaning and influence of consumption changed drastically after WW2.

Several factors contributed to this change. The first thing to mention is the formation of postindustrial informational economy, which is characterized by the production of services, information and knowledge rather than manufacturing. Then there is the culture of post modernism, i.e. principle that everything goes with everything, the constituting role of mass-media, the rejection of metanarratives, worldviews and ideologies, secularization, blip consciousness, relative and shifting notions of reality and truth. Thirdly, the IT revolution transformed the way we perceive the world. Annihilation of space and time makes us live within Уthe space of flowsФ and Уtimeless timeФ. Combined, they have created a society where consumption appears as a fundamental rather than an epiphenomenal characteristic. Everybody becomes what he/she buys. People do not consume goods anymore: it is the signs and symbolic exchanges that are consumed.

Many years ago corporations became fully aware of this phenomenon. They do not sell goods and services anymore, they sell a lifestyle, a set of ideas and images, a system of values, and personal experiences people are likely to associate themselves with, i.e. a brand. Instead of consuming goods, people consume the meaning of goods constructed through advertising and display. Children desire to be one of the УNew GenerationФ not just slake thirst; people do not pay $200,000 for a vehicle to move around, they pay for manifesting their confidence and social status; people not only want to acquire a definite type of perfume while visiting УThe Body ShopФ, they want to be associated with this the polygon of progressive ideas from political philosophy of feminism to ethical attitude towards business. We can see the interconnected processes of commodification of spiritual and spiritualization of commodities take place and this is the main distinguishing point of contemporary consumption.

The best way to make people consume is to kindle a desire. Desires do not belong to people anymore: they are artificially imposed on them by mass media. The advertising techniques amount to creating a feeling of deprivation and dissatisfaction with their own existence that can be overcome only by consumption (i.e. to make people feel unhappy). But the most interesting thing here is that as soon as one gets a symbol of well-being/sexuality /creativity/fashion/etc. that obtains temporary fulfillment a more sophisticated and elaborated symbol is thrown to the market making the previous one out-of-date. A consumer is forced to keep on this ceaseless race knowing he/she has no chance to succeed. This and many other aspects of consumerist society are open to criticism.

Pros and Cons.

It is believed that a specific system of values has been formed: the religion of consumerism or spiritual materialism. PeopleТs minds bombarded with fleeting flows of magnetic images are unable to perceive anything universal, unambivalent and normative (i.e. any moral regulations), people become disappointed with their ordinary lives, with ordinary people; advertising often plays upon our worst instincts and sentiments. The spiritialization of commodities leads to the inflation of moral values that are sacrificed at the altar of comfort, convenience, and the feeling of temporal fulfillment, and it obscures and distorts the notion of the best and deepest feelings such as love, fellowship and patriotism. One more important thing to mention, is that this state of affairs is often claimed to be unnatural for a contemporary society which is created and sustained via extensive internal influence, rather than arising from people's personal ideas regarding the kinds of things they need. However, their opponents claim that this is not so.

Firstly, they believe that it is up to people to decide what is necessary and what is not; no one has the right to decide for others. Consumerist society is a natural sequence of development of Western civilization; it is the most human and free society ever known. All alternative ways of development turned out to be utopias that practiacally led to totalitarism, either political or religious, and they failed partly due to the lack of the fundamental features of a consumerist society.

In conclusion I would like to mention that both positions are correct to some extent. The conditions of consumerist society may contribute to the moral degradation of people but it is up to them whether to become a homo consummatus or to remain a Man; it is our common sense that should let us trace the line between reality and image. Yet I cannot fully accept the laissez-faire policy that is supported by many critics of anti-consumerism. How can a child become a moral being, a patriot and a responsible citizen in the environment of fleeting images and depreciated values? It is combined efforts of governmental, social and educational institutions, and family that should introduce a set of moral regulations into fragile childrenТs minds.