The ideology of consumerism for the impulse of trade
Introduction
Consumerism, by traditional definition, is ‘the protection or promotion of customers’ interests’, or rather, a policy that establishes that the market is made up of and designed by consumer choice. However, in today. Today, consumerism aligns with a different definition: an ideology that encourages consumers to acquire and buy products and services in increasing quantities. While some economists say this is necessary to boost trade and maintain the circulation of the economy, it has also been said that it has negative side effects.
Developing
In the market, we have a lot of selection. In any departmental store we enter, there are tens of thousands of products to choose and choose, with prices that vary greatly and are accessible to the middle class and the upper class. There are specialized stores, stands and exhibitions that attract at different ages, races and genres. Don’t you like that white shirt on the shelf? There are probably a thousand different more in kind throughout the floor. The large established companies prosper in brand differentiation, where we have the same product sold under many different names. Therefore, in a society promoted by capitalism, consumerism produces multilateral advantages, since it not only promotes competition in the market, but also generates large business volumes annually.
Extending beyond the last paragraph;If consumers have money to spend, all or most are spent on goods and services offered by companies. This leads to an economy driven by the ‘consumer’ with many companies that obtain good profits. This spreads the increase in minimum wages to a higher level, since it makes perfect sense: put money in the middle class pocket and you have a consumption economy. If you don’t, you don’t have one.
In addition, greater consumption of goods will lead to employment opportunities. All companies depend on consumerism to grow in size. As the company grows, to maintain marginal growth, companies must use more people to maintain a higher level of productivity and efficiency, especially if there is a multinational expansion. Companies like Amazon use a lot of people, and will continue to do so as the expansion continues to other countries. For example, the opening of the new Amazon technology offices in Vancouver will generate use of more than 3.000 new jobs in the computer science sector.
Economic mass production methods that facilitate consumerism seem to provide options to the consumer, but of course they do the opposite: they homogenize production. For example, most of the large fastest pizza food chains in the U.S. They obtain their bark of Pepperoni and Pizza from the same companies, creating the illusion of choosing where there are really no. Excellent for efficient production and greater margins, but not so good for human well -being (in the case of fast food: monoculture and excessive processing undermines dietary diversity, food security, nutritional value, etc.).
‘Cheaper’ always has a cost. The consumer can assume the cost of reducing product quality or health risks;Workers can withstand the cost in lower salaries or exploitation practices;The environment can support the cost of greater pollution or exhaustion of resources. A typical example is Third World countries as Pakistan, where there are a lot of children in the workforce. So, although consumers can enjoy a temporary increase in purchasing power, but eventually all those hidden costs are updated with the economy, which increases the cost of living and reduces real wages. Producers do not support any of these costs for themselves, so, once again, great for them, not so good for everyone else.
This wealth in the selection directs our attention to the peculiar dependence on modern economies of mass consumption of products that, in human terms, are insignificant. This is one of the most important points regarding the disadvantages of communism: modern societies have begun to put more emphasis on wealth than in virtue. Communism attracts us with a series of elections that we do not need, ensuring a great demand for absurd and unnecessary things. As a result, we are made to choose between an intellectually refined, spiritually high but poor state or a slave of luxury and idle consumption, but a rich state. Another psychological impact of consumerism is the internalization of highly destructive values. For example, the belief that almost everything in life is disposable, replaceable, easily accessible for immediate gratification and does not depend on human relationships. This belief undermines social cohesion, creates the illusion of individual autonomy and replaces all types of interpersonal trust with purely contractual or monetary relationships. The result is an acquisivity and consumption agency for society and many of its relationships to function at all. In fact, these values have also infected romantic and family dynamics (consider the expectations of most American children at Christmas or on their birthdays, expectations for exchange of materials and consumption in the center of many appointments and marital relationships,etc.). This trend once again is excellent for producers and shareholders, but not so much for human relationships. Many of us chose the last.
conclusion
As we have seen, consumerism is an idea that is interwoven in the structure of our modern society. While it is a notorious issue, we cannot ignore the considerable good that has brought. I created multinational companies that employ hundreds and thousands of people, changing the lives of many. However, consumerism generates greed. Greed engenders the extortion of innocent lives. It is intimately related to the particular economic philosophy that has dominated the West in recent decades: that of neoliberal capitalism. To get away from a culture of consumerism, therefore, we must challenge the philosophy and values of this current economic system. Essentially, we need a cultural change in our society and its values. While this is a big and insurmountable project, this is what we must do to move towards an extortion -free age.
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