“Why in the world did we buy all this junk in the first place?” (159). In Anna Quidlen’s essay: Stuff is Not Salvation, she criticizes American consumer culture, diagnosing consumers generally as having “an addiction to consumption so out of control that it qualifies as a sickness” (159). To make her case Quindlen compares her view of a morally deficient materialistic present to her version of a more morally wholesome idealized past. Throughout the essay Quindlen chooses to use emotionally charged events and language, like her reference to the trampling to death of a Walmart employee by holiday shoppers, or when she writes ``these are dark days in the United States: the cataclysmic stock-market declines``. What Quindlen does not provide are any logical lines of reasoning or support. To better understand and analyze Quidlen`s essay we will refer to an essay on a related topic by David Guterson: Enclosed. Encyclopedic. Endured., published in 1993. This essay relates Mr. Guterson`s experience of a one week tour of the Mall of America, in Minneapolis, at the time the largest mall in the world. Mr. Guterson is much less ambitious in his claims but actually provides support by tracing the history of consumerism in America as expressed in malls. Mr. Guterson also draws heavily on his analysis of interviews and comments made by shoppers at the world`s largest mall.
Sometimes considering when an essay was written is important to help us understand the approach the author took. It is noteworthy that Quidlen`s essay was published in December of 2008, right at the bottom of what is now known as the Great Financial Crisis and one year into an American recession. Admittedly with the benefit of hindsight it seems clear to me that Ms. Quindlen was reflecting the tenor of times in producing a piece that was long on emotion and very short on analysis. In contrast Mr. Guterson`s essay was published two years into a business expansion, the prior recession having ended in March of 1991, is more balanced and well supported.
Quidlen`s essay is weakened by qualifiers to her most important statements. On page 159 she says ``the prospect on an end to plenty has uncovered what may ultimately be a more pernicious problem, an addiction to consumption so out of control it qualifies as a sickness.`` emphasis added. This use of qualifiers appears to be the natural complement to making claims that are far more ambitious than the essay supports. In fact the claims themselves are so poorly constructed as to be difficult to support in any event. Suggesting an addiction to consumption qualifies as a sickness is a huge leap and certainly not one properly addressed in Quidlen`s short essay. Another irksome example of qualifiers is when Ms. Quindlen writes ``If the mall is our temple, then Marc Jacobs is God. There`s a scary thought``, emphasis added. This statement even in the context she uses it is part insulting and part laughable.
Perhaps my biggest disagreement with Quidlen is in the condescending way that she chooses to cast moral judgement on the American consumer based on her opinion of their spending choices. After all, these are people spending their own money as they see fit, just what is Ms. Quindlen suggesting, that she or someone else can make better more moral decisions for consumers. Or perhaps she feels it is her duty to shame and embarrass American`s into her version of a more morally responsible consumer.
Ms. Quindlen does raise one very important topic, the increased use of credit in American society noting that this changes behavior. Then she fails utterly to follow up on this promising line of enquiry. Had she looked further she might have been able to refer readers to important works on the rise of debt in America and its effect on the American consumer.