A few months back, hanging out at a friend’s house with some beers, we engaged in one of those BS sessions that were so common in college but so rare these days.\u00a0 We wandered all over the proverbial map, but a particular interesting and engaging topic was the relationship between capitalism and consumerism.<\/p>\n
Those who know me likely realize that I’m pretty liberal and believe we should have more social programs to benefit society as a whole.\u00a0 I basically feel that if my neighbor is better off, so will I be.\u00a0 However, I also think that capitalism is overall a good system that encourages innovation and progress and allows people the best chance to better themselves.\u00a0 Where I have real issues is with consumerism.<\/p>\n
I basically think that consumerism — consuming for consuming sake — is bad.\u00a0 And it seems that our economy is so dependent on this.\u00a0 Consumer confidence is a key indicator of the state of the economy and our political leaders are always cajoling us to spend more.\u00a0 The economy will pick up when people buy more, as that will spur manufacturing, and thus hiring.\u00a0 It seems a vicious circle, with us buying stuff just so we can have jobs.\u00a0 If we stop buying, the jobs disappear.<\/p>\n
This consumerism also leads to companies producing products solely so we have something to buy.\u00a0 They aren’t always good products and, even when they are, they are developed not because of any need, but just to have some new iteration for us to buy.\u00a0 If Apple didn’t have a new gee-whiz gadget every few months, what would we buy?\u00a0 Would they still be profitable?\u00a0 Would their business model collapse?\u00a0 What does the new iPhone do that the old one didn’t?\u00a0 Do I really need it?<\/p>\n
It seems no.\u00a0 It seems like these products are produced almost exclusively so that they have something to sell and we have something to buy.\u00a0 And that leads to more stuff that just gets obsolete and tossed into the land fill.\u00a0 It all seems an engine to generate waste.<\/p>\n
And this begs the question, are consumerism and capitalism fundamentally connected?\u00a0 Can capitalism exist without consumers consuming?\u00a0 If not, what is the basis of the capitalist market?<\/p>\n
As might be expected, we didn’t answer this question.\u00a0 We did think that maybe the paradigm could be shifted slightly if the full cost of a product, including its disposal, were included in its price.\u00a0 If the cost of disposing of some object were included in the purchase price, rather than in either utility bills from the city or just ignored completely, maybe products would have to be designed that were meant to be durable, to have some lasting power, and thus the market would have to rely on other components rather than just consuming.\u00a0 But, what those would be, I don’t know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few months back, hanging out at a friend’s house with some beers, we engaged in one of those BS sessions that were so common in college but so rare these days.\u00a0 We wandered all over the proverbial map, but a particular interesting and engaging topic was the relationship between capitalism and consumerism. Those who … Continue reading Consumerism and Capitalism<\/span>