Hi all:
For this entry, read "The True Cost of Gadgets."
Find
a quotation from the article that interests you, or seems most
important, or you have a question about.
Type it into the comment
box and then add a few lines saying why you picked this quotation.
For
me the Suzuki article is important because it helps me remember how
much things have changed in the last two decade and also points to the
broader ecological and environmental consequences of consumerism.
It's
pretty easy to read.
Hi all:
For this entry, first read "The Emergence of Consumerism," and, as with the previous entry, pick a quotation (it could be a number of lines long), paste it into the comment box and then comment on the quotation: why you picked it, why important, what does it mean.
As this article suggests consumerism has been around for a while; it's basic outlines were present in the 18th century.
It started in Europe, but I think we can argue that it was pretty much perfected here in the USA.
This is not a hard read. But think a bit about the link between consumerism and the felt need for non-essential items. Sugar, for example.
Nick
Hi all:
Please read "Setting the Course," pages 15 to 30 in the
Reader.
This is an historical piece taken from the best history
of the development of consumer society that I have yet to find.
You
will find a lot of historical facts. Don't worry about that. You
don't have to memorize them. Instead let your imagination work on the
examples. See if you can begin to feel what it was like to shop, say,
in the 19th century, and how that differs from shopping today. And pay
attention to the ideas or assertions Cross throws out about the nature
of the consumer society, how for example it functioned in a democracy of
goods against class conflict.
When you are finished reading,
pick a quotation you think important and write a few lines about why you
picked it. Or paraphrase one of Cross's ideas or examples and write
about that and why you find it important.
Thank you.
Nick
Hi all:
"Why the Self is Empty" is an academic article. It's
too long, the print is too small, its full of citations and names you
won't (and don't have to) know.
Forget that stuff and read for
the main idea. Cushman is trying to talk about how consumerism shaped
identity as older and more traditional forms of identity formation
slipped away.
Do as you did with the last blog comment. Either
pick a quotation, type it in, and then write a few lines saying why you
think it important or, more generally, try to paraphrase the main point
of the article in a paragraph or so.
Thank
you.
Nick
Hi all:
This article is by Zygmunt Bauman. I have never had any
heroes (except maybe for Micky Mantle and Bob Dylan). But now Bauman is
my hero, not so much for what he has to say about consumer society, but
because he is still saying lively, interesting stuff at 85 years of
age. I can only hope my brain works as well as his at 85.
He is a
pretty astute observer of consumer society. Formerly an academic
sociologist, he is widely read in sociology and other stuff. In this
article he brings up Nietzsche. Not the usual sociological stuff.
You
have to take time with his writing. It's not fast food; you can't just
swallow it down on the go. You have to sit down and chew a little.
Again,
as with previous posts to the blog, pick an interesting quotation, type
it in, and write a few lines about why you picked it. Or try to
paraphrase his line of thinking. You can of course include a quotation
in this too.
I think this is a pretty interesting article. We all want to be happy, I guess, and Bauman talks about the difficulties of finding happiness in a consumer society.
Nick