Consumerism and America

Juliet Schor's article about consumption was really eye opening. One quote that stuck out for me regarding consumption was "Luxury, rather than mere comfort, is a widespread aspiration (185)." This angers me because there are many people living in less than ideal conditions and they aspire just to have the basic needs to survive: food, shelter, and clothing. Americans seem to be striving for much more than that. Unnecessarily huge houses, cars, televisions and expensive clothing permeates throughout American culture, and it is almost a standard to have all of these items now- it is almost not luxury anymore because of how popular these once luxury things were.

All of these consumerism themes reminds me of the Pixar movie "Wall-E". Obviously, a major theme in "Wall-E" was that consumerism and lack of care for the environment lead to the abaondonment of the earth because too much consumerism lead to trash overtaking Earth. When Wall-E arrives in the space ship where humans live, they are all living a consumerism lifestyle to the maximum, eating profusely, using power chairs to get around, and buying stuff they do not need at the touch of a button.

Here is the opening scene from the film. The music juxtaposes well with the current setting of the earth overrun by consumerism. The music sounds like something you would hear "in the good old days" before the days of mass consumption.





The film "Wall-E" gives a fair look at the consumerism capital of the world that America has become. It still entertains kids with its humor but appeals to teens and adults with the messages about consumerism and how bad we have become with it.

This article and its discussion of consumerism, and the politics behind it, needs to be adressed by all Americans. I mean it is okay to buy something you need that will entertian you or provide some use. But buying products you will never use just for the sake of having them is a vicious cycle that America is currently in and needs to find some sort of escape from.