Notre société de consommation

Résumé du document

Since the end of the Second World War, a liberal economy, advocated among other economists by Keynes, has been spread in several countries, especially the ones which chose the United States' side during the Cold War. Therefore, capitalism became at the core of these societies. Since the 1990s, globalization has accentuated the diffusion of the model adopted by the majority of the developed countries of an economy based on capitalism. As a consequence and as a goal, the industries and the states have sought to increase the consumption of goods and services in order to increase their profits.

This essay will analyse our society based on consumption.
We have to admit that our society is growing in a culture of consumption: the Globalization has accelerated the entry of the world in a consumer society. Therefore, as Gardner, Assadourian and Sarin point out, "there are now more than 1.7 billion members of "the consumer class" today". In other words, there are more and more people who consume more and more goods and services, not only in the developed countries (where the level of consumption is already very high) but also in the developing countries.

Extraits

[...] In other words, capitalism leads to unsustainable consumption, which has a bad impact on the environment, especially water supply, air quality, forests, climate, biological diversity and human health”[14]. Matthew Paterson examines the impact of cars on the environment. He stresses the fact that our economy is a car-based economy. More and more cars are sold every day around the world. Even the states promote the car economy, which are source of wealth, by “road building”, the negligence of public transport or alternative transport, “fiscal measures” and the “collusion between states and the car industry to remove its competitors”[15]. [...]

[...] “Despite the hype, bottled is neither cleaner nor greener than tap water” Gardner, G., Assadourian, E. and Sarin, R. State of Consumption Today” Paterson, M. Culture and Global Environmental Politics”. Review of International Studies 266. [...]

[...] London: Earthscan Howard, B. “Despite the hype, bottled is neither cleaner nor greener than tap water”. The Environmental Magazine. Tuesday, December Lodziack, C. Explaining Consumption”. Capital and Class. No.72, Autumn 2000. Paterson, M. Culture and Global Environmental Politics”. Review of International Studies Wolff, R. “Ideological State Apparatuses, Consumerism, and U.S. Capitalism: Lessons for the Left”. Rethinking Marxism. Vol.17, No April 2005. [...]

[...] But in this way, consumption is negatively connoted. Indeed, capitalists exploit workers by raising their “wages more slowly than the workers raised their delivery of surplus to the capitalists”[9]. Consumption is seen as a compensation of this exploitation. Marxists are critical vis-à-vis this exploitation of proletarians by capitalists; capitalist societies are unequal whereas communism is based on equality among people. So according to the left, we need to make a transition from our liberal economy to a socialist one in order to stop the exploitation of the workers by the owners through consumption. [...]

[...] Capitalism: Lessons for the Left”. Rethinking Marxism. Vol.17, No April Howard, B. “Despite the hype, bottled is neither cleaner nor greener than tap water”. The Environmental Magazine. Tuesday, December Howard, B. “Despite the hype, bottled is neither cleaner nor greener than tap water” Wolff, R. “Ideological State Apparatuses, Consumerism, and U.S. Capitalism: Lessons for the Left” Lodziack. Explaining Consumption” Gardner, G., Assadourian, E. and Sarin, R. State of Consumption Today” Gardner, G., Assadourian, E. and Sarin, R. State of Consumption Today” Howard, B. [...]