...Consumerism Term 3, Lecture 1 Now, consumerism is more widespread than before. Before- What you produce determines who you are and how people look at you Now- Consumption= what is consumed, when it is consumed and how much, determines who you are and how people look at you 2. The roots of consumerism Began towards the end of the 18th century Sugar, tea, coffee- consumerist products With these consumerist products, came the associated pieces (cups, coffee cups, saucers, coffee shops) Consumerism= caused by increased prosperity. As people earn more, they consume more. Social, political and economic revolutions changed people- from this comes consumerism Consumerism becomes feminized- focuses on what goes on in the homes. Which is a woman’s job After consumerism (18th century), women are seen as more beautiful. Before, men were seen more beautiful. Thus women buy more to make themselves more beautiful. Men started to go shopping, as a fun activity. This was not the case before consumerism came along. 3. The growth on consumerism Uneven geographically- consumerism more in urban areas than rural areas a) changes in retailing(shops) changes in retailing boosts consumerism = department stores advertisement boosts consumerism = first in America Peasant societies don’t produce consumerism Changes in media boosts consumerism= radio Kleptomania= compulsion to steal...
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...discussing the ethics of consumerism, it is important to develop an- in depth understanding of the history of the subject before having the discussion of the moralistic opinions about. The video The Story of Stuff provided the background necessary to understand the reasons why there are so many issues with consumerism. The argument in the video is that the United States has become a consumerist society since the early 1900’s. A consumerist society is defined as one directed largely by the accumulation and consumption of material goods (O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy, 2002). This consumerism was said to have peaked during the 1950’s when it is said that happiness and contentment with life was at its greatest. Today, things have changed significantly. The adoption of modern marketing practices has led to the emergence of consumerist societies in the swelling middle classes (Chan and Cui, 2004). On one hand, this means that more people are earning enough money to spend. However, the increase in the spending power of the middle class had led to greater demand for consumer goods and thus the resources that are used to make them. The video discussed how much marketing has played a role in the way that people advocate for consumerism. Those who advocate against consumerism stated that social progress and economic development have caused contemporary marketing practice to contribute to a consumerist or materialistic society. The main issue with consumerism seems to be the fact...
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...November 18, 2014 Consumerism: Gotta Buy ‘Em All It is the day after Thanksgiving, known colloquially to Americans as “Black Friday”. Hundreds of thousands of shoppers line up outside of department stores, anxiously waiting to get their hands on the latest of gadgets and gizmos to purchase for families, friends, and loved ones for the holiday season. Many of the retailers in America have offered attractive promotional sales on this day to attract high traffic and volume in their stores. Realizing this, consumers in America who take a part in Black Friday see this as a fight to the death. This “fight to the death” literally came true in the year 2013, as one death and fifteen injuries resulted from the madness of the shopping event, according to BlackFridayDeathCount.com. On the flip side for businesses, Americans spent an average of $407.02 from the Thursday through Sunday that bookends Black Friday, as stated by the National Retail Federation. This topsy-turvy day recognized by a vast majority of American culture has been seen by many as the yearly peak of the country’s ever-increasing trend towards consumerism. Consumerism, the belief that goods give meaning to individuals and their roles in society, has presented itself to Americans in both a positive and negative spirit. On the one hand, consumer spending drives the economy, gives consumers a vast myriad of retailers to choose from, and renders shopping as a social experience. On the other hand, consumerism can render...
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...Over the course of history, a recurring theme of American literature authors utilizing their stories as “moral purifiers” has manifested. These authors use their works of literature to attempt to draw attention to and reform ideals and occurrences that they deem wrong or immoral within their time period. Three stories that efficiently display this concept are “A New England Nun” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, “A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin, and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce. One prevalent example of an attempt at moral purification by an American literature author is “A New England Nun” written by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. In this short story, Freeman denounces the societal ideal of the 1900’s that a woman is...
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...How Has American Business Changed In the Last 50 Years? In the last fifty years America has encountered more changes than ever before. The prosperity of our county driven by American consumerism has enabled businesses and individuals to branch out beyond the corporate, business as usual, models. Consequently, individual creativity sparked the entrepreneurial drive that facilitated the technical revolution of the 1970’s and beyond. Sure some could argue that the industrial revolution of the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s brought about dramatic changes, but in comparison to two decades of economic growth, digital advances and the globalization of economies; America not only grew up, but it boomed. Power which was once in the hands of large...
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...I believe that the main ideas of Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 presidential campaign mark the beginning of the transformation of the United States into a welfare state. After the Civil War, industry within the United States saw an enormous growth; however, along with this growth came labor unions and socialism. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, socialism began to become increasingly prevalent in American politics. Socialism at this time focused mostly on banking as well as the rights of workers in factories. After World War I, the United States experienced its first wave of consumerism then immediately followed by the Great Depression. One of the main reasons the Great Depression occurred in the first place was because of how saturated...
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...Said, E 1982, ‘from “Opponents, Audiences, Constituencies, and Community”’ rpt. in Harrison C & Wood, P (eds) 1992, Art in Theory. 1900- 1990: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, UK, pp.1086-1088. Classen, C 1996, ‘Sugar Cane, Coca-Cola and Hypermarkets: Consumption and Surrealism in the Argentine Northwest’ in Howes D (ed), Cross Cultural Consumption: Global Markets, Local Realities, Routledge, London, pp.39-54 plus notes pp.195-208. Edward Said (November 1935 – September 2003) is a Palestinian born in Jerusalm. He is university professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University and an influential cultural author (Said 1982, p1086). His book Orientalism (1978) addresses his ideas on Orientalism in his own words, a Western style of Eastern cultures (Said 1982, p1086). His work generally ties to the imperialist societies and represents the issue of politics. In 1983, he published ‘from “Opponents, Audiences, Constituencies, and Community”’. Constance Classen (1957 –) is an award-winning writer and researcher based in Montreal, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from McGill University and is the author of various essays and books on the cultural life of the senses such as ‘Worlds of Sense: Exploring the Senses in History and Across Cultures (Routledge, 1993)’. In 1996, she published ‘Sugar Cane, Coca-Cola and Hypermarkets: Consumption and Surrealism in the Argentine Northwest’ (Canadianicon 2012). Those two readings provide...
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...poor and women of the United States and the creation of monopolies as well as reformation of government and accomplishments in the United States. The name “The Gilded Age” comes from Mark Twain when he referenced the fact that the period was polished and golden on the surface, yet unethical and foul underneath. Despite the appearance of prosperity, the era was marked by income inequalities and political corruption. Despite the corruption, consumerism, and capitalism that characterized the Gilded Age, it was also a formative period for new America, one in which an agriculture-based...
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...creation of the Magna Carta and the practices of political philosophers such as Machiavelli. The 1400’s saw the new world discovered, mercantile trade expand even further, and Gutenberg invent the movable type printing press. These factors stimulated new ways of thinking of oneself in relationship to others and increased the uses and means by which one could capitalize on persuasion. The usage and study of public relations has generally been led by the United States and can be seen through five stages: The Beginning of PR (1600-1799), Communicating/Initiating (1800-1899), Reacting/Responding (1900-1939), Planning/Preventing (1940-1979), and Professionalism (1980-Present). (1600-1799, The Beginning of PR) As the colonies of the New World expanded and grew, so did the usage of early forms of public relations. Public relations were used to publicize and sell real estate in the new land. The American Revolution saw press agentry events that were media successes (Boston Tea Party),...
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...what could be accomplished with his invention helped to sell it in mass quantity. The phonograph not only revolutionized the way sound could be recorded and reproduced, but also sparked a wave of new consumerism in technology that made everyday activities more useful and efficient. Edison lays out the scope of what the phonograph will bring to the table and how it will change society with its various uses. He goes on to say, “The writer has no fault to find with this condition of the discussion of the merits and possibilities of his invention; for indeed, the possibilities are so illimitable and the probabilities so numerous.” (Edison 527) This illuminates the pride he has for this invention and the limitless possibilities he believes it could bring to society through recording of sound. He believed that the phonograph would...
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...History…The American Experience The field of public relations sure has evolved! Review the public relations timeline below, then seek more information from the text and the web to fill in the blanks and explanations. Early American Period -Founding of the Republic -Use of public opinion, managed communications and persuasion Early American Experience -Sam Adams – Committees of Correspondence to distribute the news -Staged Events – Boston Tea Party -Thomas Paine – wrote persuasive pamphlets The Federalists Papers -Letters to newspapers 1787-88 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay -Pressure group PR campaign to gain acceptance for the Constitution -Used accurate facts and sound ideas -“History’s finest public relations job.” –Allen Nevins Antifederalists -Letters in newspapers criticizing new constitution, urging against ratification -Concession for Bill of Rights -Negative name -Antifederalists went away -Federalists became a party. Early PR Men in America – 1800s -John Beckley for Thomas Jefferson -Amos Kendall for Andrew Jackson. Kendall was first press secretary -Mathew St. Clair for Davy Crockett Robber Barons and the Muckrakers -Adversarial PR & Press Relations -Press Agentry: Provocative act to get publicity and draw attention toward an idea or grievance (P.R. Barnum, 1830s) -First corporate PR department established by George Westinghouse -First publicity agency: The Publicity Bureau, Boston, 1900 The Father...
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...The Roaring Twenties The 1920s was a watershed decade in American history. The era is largely defined by a culture war between traditional fundamentalists and liberal-minded urbanites, as defined within this courses content. The 1920s is also often seen as a decade of prosperity for the U.S. economy and a large part of that supposed success came from the use of mass production and mass consumption. There were many things that defined this era in American History. A few of these things were, Prohibition, The rise of the Ku Klux Klan, Evolution and the scopes “Monkey” trial, Mass Consumerism and Changing attitudes about gender roles, sex, and Women’s rights just to name a few. These things have affected American history as we know it today, some...
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...El Morro In order to understand the meaning behind the photograph you must have some knowledge of Puerto Rican history. The four islands were conquered by the Spanish in 1493 and became not only a major military base but also a slave port. The Spanish, African and native Taino’s created a hybrid race which became Puerto Ricans. By the late 1800s Puerto Rico, along with Cuba, was on its way to becoming an independent country, but was side-tract by the Spanish-American War. Through the Treaty of Paris, the islands were given to the U.S. which invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, and enforced a military rule until 1900. The government was then ruled by American civilians until the islands officially became a colony in 1917. With the new colony rule, American citizenship was imposed on the islanders along with the draft. The creation of the American colony allowed the U.S. to legally break apart the islands’ economy which it did successfully. By the 1940s the U.S. government implemented Operation Bootstrap, which promoted the illegal sterilization and guinea pig like usage of the Puerto Rican women and the attempt to Americanize the colony. “La Operacion” or the operation also included planned migrations from island to the continental U.S., especially into areas that required factory laborers, restaurant, hotel and other service jobs. In 1952 in order to keep peace within the U.N., the international community and Puerto Rico, the U.S. renamed the relationship from colony to...
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...Prevalent Feminist Media Fallacies of Female Empowerment While many efforts have proven successful to halt them, the danger of pervasive toxic ideas still poses a large threat to the building of female character. Ideas and thoughts shape the way humans perceive and therefore experience life. Moreover, women have learned, and continue to learn how to hate their inherent qualities and some modern feminist ideals have not helped to resolve this. Surprisingly, an essay by Herbert Kohl titled Should We Burn Babar has brought this to my attention. To summarize his main idea, the Babar children’s book series, by Jean de Brunhoff, according to Kohl has powerful and potentially harmful negative influence on American children’s perspective of life,...
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...History project Topic: Popular Cultural in HongKong(Film) Un Cheuk Lam 4C35 The Cinema of Hong Kong has consider as the pioneer of Chinese language movie. Hong Kong was the third largest motion picture industry in the world (after Hollywood and India cinema) and the second largest exporter. Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage. In the West, Hong Kong's vigorous pop cinema (especially Hong Kong action cinema) has long had a strong cult following, which is now arguably a part of the cultural mainstream, widely available and imitated. Especially between the 1970's - 1990's, most of movie fans will be familiar with names like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan from Hong Kong cinema. The reason why these movie star become so popular because they produce a lot of martial art film during that time. And then these martial art film brought to the western audiences. In fact, A lot of english speaking country or european start to aware of Asian movie in that time. Back to Hong Kong cinema, The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the major movie industry in the Chinese language speaking cinema. Before 1997, Hong Kong was a colony of Britain and therefore Hong Kong had a greater freedom on economic and political than mainland China. Even in film industry, The censorship system in Mainland China have a very strict rule. " Hong Kong filmmakers either steered away from criticzing China or did so in oblique ways "...
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