In ‘The Politics of New Consumption’, Juliet Schor analyzes American consumer culture, outlining the attitudes towards consumerism over time, and discussing the reasons why Americans “want so much more than they need”. The United States, one of the richest countries in the world, is consuming at a dangerously high rate, continuing to desire more and more, despite the fact that the global income gap is so wide. The previously held notion that a comfortable, middle-class existence was adequate and satisfying enough is gone- Americans look up, basing their models of consumption on those wealthier than they are, while the “average American finds it harder to achieve a satisfying standard of living than 25 years ago”. Our consumption habits reproduce social and class inequality, exacerbating the already existing problem of the unequal distribution of income. Schor makes the point that “our sense of social belonging comes from what we consume”, meaning that achieving true social equality can never be possible unless you can “keep up” with the consumption of others. Income has become more unequally distributed over time, with the bulk of wealth shifting towards the top 20% of the population. In this culture of consumerism and “keeping up” where most Americans have a hard time achieving even an “adequate” standard of living, the pressures to consume have detrimental effects at the household level. These problems are due to structural changes, including the decline of community and a heightened presence of mass media, rather than a sudden shift in American attitudes towards intense “greed”. While opinions surrounding consumerism have long been based in the individual, Schor argues that real change in our consumption habits must be addressed as a collective.
The section of the article that discussed the social patterning of consumption, stating that "consumption practices become important in maintaining the basic structures of power and inequality which characterize our world", reminded me of this segment in the 2006 movie by MTV's 'The State', "The Ten", in which a narrator leads viewers through skits representing each of the ten commandments, portrayed in humorous and satirical ways. This excerpt is based on the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbors' Goods", and tells the story of two neighboring families, each headed by an overbearing father figure, each obsessed with "keeping up" with the absurd consumption habits of the other in an effort to compete for "power" or gain the "upper hand". This scenario sounds familiar, but in this skit, the items consumed are not fancy cars, or home improvements like a swimming pool, but CAT scan machines. The obvious ridiculousness of this sketch pokes fun at the consumer culture of "keeping up", showing how consumerism can be based on the desire for objects that are essentially pointless or inessential. While the ending is somewhat absurd, I feel that as a whole, this video is a humorous critique on a prevalent social issue, one that is widespread throughout American culture, and threatens to exacerbate the problem of growing social and economic inequality.
I found Juliet Schors article on The New Politics of Consumption to be very noteworthy. I believe many of the reasons stated in this article can support the causes of the United States current financial situation. Its almost as if the article was predicting the future and foresaw that our society’s spending habits would increase. I consider people who have excessive spending habits with no money to back them up can fall under the category of the recession contributors. Something that I found to be true was the conventional view of the production and consumption having no “external” effects. Which states there are no consequences for the welfare of others that are unreflected in product prices. An example being pollution, which imposes cost on others that are not reflected in the price of the good that produces the pollution. Another point that Schor defended that I also agree with was “it is difficult to make an ethical argument that people in the worlds richest country need more when the global income gap is so wide, the disparity in world resource use is so enormous, and the possibility that we are already consuming beyond the Earth’s ecological carrying capacity so likely. (184) Americans need to realize the repressions of there consuming habits.
Juliet Schor’s The New Politics of Consumption examines various proposals about why Americans want so much and provides theories about consumer culture. Critics who take a liberal approach say that the good life can be achieved by reaching a middle-class standard of living, and that income is crucial to well being. The Economic Policy Institute concentrates on the unequal distribution of income and wealth, and says that redistribution and growth is the answer. Schor, however, feels this is not the solution because “adequate income is an elusive goal.” (184) Schor addresses the social context of consumption (how consumption affects social standing) and emphasizes the importance of quality of life over quantity of possessions. The principles of “new consumerism” address competitive consumption and establish how people now use the very wealthy as the reference group off which to base their aspirations. Statistics support Schor’s argument throughout the reading, and the fact that only 15% of people said that they would be satisfied with “living a comfortable life” particularly amazed me. Because Americans are spending more and saving less, people are increasingly stressed, especially low-income families. New consumerism holds that income is used for private consumption, public consumption, private savings and leisure. Schor calls for a beneficial shift from private to public consumption as well as an increase in savings. The liberal stance to consumerism has faith in individual ability. It optimistically claims that consumers are rational, well-informed people who have consistent and independent preferences. Furthermore, it states that the production and consumption of goods have no external effects, for example on the environment, that aren’t reflected in the price of an item. This concept stuck out to me, which is why I chose Dr. Seuss's The Lorax as my media clip. The Lorax is very relevant to the concepts presented in this reading. It tells a tale about an “Onceler” (business character) who was very greedy and called for mass production to aid his business. People flooded the town in cars and tore down the trees in order to make more goods and earn more money. Interestingly, the face of the onceler is never shown, suggesting that he represents big corporations and enterprises rather than an individual. Because the public demand is so high, the company exhausts the resources and the land turns polluted and deserted, as it is unsuitable for living. This video signifies what could happen in America if this elevated level of consumption continues to hurt the environment. The idea of environmental damage due to consumer behavior is revisited on page 192. There are rebuttals to the economic model in the following pages, and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu states that class status is directly affected by consumer behavior. Finally, the reading ends by describing what Schor thinks the politics of consumption should look like. A few of these features include the right to a decent standard of living, ecologically sustainable consumption, and a consumer movement and governmental policy.
