Culture
are inculcated into the newly decanted cannot sell the items they have. it are equal opportunity opportunists, the
children in their sleep. Perhaps the ultimate sign of end-stage aftermath of hurricane Katrina made it
“Ending is better than mending…” consumerism is the fact that the phenom- quite clear that poverty, racism, and class

Since modern manufacturing methods de- enon is not limited to material goods. boundaries are firmly in place. In “Brave
Fluxion
construct the process of creating anything People are not simply dependent on mass New World” the pervasive economic
from cars and clothing to food, it takes manufacturing for the physical necessi- system did not exclude anyone—even the

the value out of understanding how to ties of life. In order to exercise we need epsilon semi-morons were included in the
issue
make something from start to finish. This personal trainers. Instead of learning to machinery and supported by the system. 4
means fewer people have the kinds of how to organize, let go of, and throw out The sacrifice that that society had to make
knowledge and skills necessary to function the junk that accumulates in our lives, pro- in order to achieve that egalitarian balance
outside of the mainstream. Consumers fessional organizational consultants must was individualism, and in the land of the
have no idea how to mend most of the be hired. Specially trained nutritionists free and the home of the brave this notion
items they use every day, let alone make tell us what to eat, stylists teach us what is heresy. Which is not to say that the
them, so people become dependent on we should like, pharmaceutical companies erstwhile nemesis of capitalism/consumer-
the mass manufacturing system for the sell us drugs that fix conditions we never ism, communism, has proven to be a more
most basic necessities. knew we had. Nannies and aupairs take effective economic system. It simply relies
But it’s not enough to convince people care of the families we no longer have on different social inequities to include or
to simply throw away anything that might time to care for ourselves because we are exclude people from the system.
be broken or worn. The consumption all too busy earning money to buy more The world Huxley created was a dysu-
of new products can be stimulated by things. Web sites and dating services topia—a realm as perfectly constructed as
cultivating in consumers a fetish for nov- serve as proxy social lives. Attorneys find a utopian vision. The real world is awash in
Though we might like to believe that we are all united
in our quest to buy the American dream, and that those
who are marketing it are equal opportunity opportunists,
the aftermath of hurricane Katrina made it quite clear that
poverty, racism, and class boundaries are firmly in place.
elty. It’s not enough to use an item until reasons for us to sue one another in the gray areas and vagaries. Which is perhaps
it is beyond repair; better to encourage hopes of generating easy money to buy why consumerism is more appealing than
boredom with perfectly serviceable items more stuff. Doctors convince us that there ever. It enables us to believe in the illusion
so that they need to be replaced with are simple procedures for eradicating the that if we just had the right car or the
greater frequency. inevitable process of aging and the inevi- right outfit we’d be happy. If we could just
Ironically, America’s thrift shops are tability of death so that there will be more lose ten more pounds or have the perfect
burgeoning with consumer goods while time to accumulate stuff. Compared with nuclear family we’d feel fulfilled. Oddly,
still more are pouring out of the Wal- the kind of deceptive gratification that after all these millennia it seems that the
Marts, Targets, and Mervyns. Yet the US today’s marketeers peddle, prostitution people who have managed to retain a
military actually put a halt to care package seems a noble profession. sense of the value of the world around
collection drives because patriotic citizens Again, the cruel irony of this scenario them may be the ones who survive the
were deluging the troops in Iraq with is that despite the pervasiveness of age of consumption. The individuals who
more goods than they could consume. consumerism and the power wielded understand the value of an item in terms
Although families in the poorest com- by the cult of bling-bling, there are still of work and skill, the people who can see
munities in America often own no books shocking inequities in this society. Though the inherent value in a tract of swamp or a
for children to read, let alone electronic we might like to believe that we are all rare songbird are throwbacks to the days
gadgets, many charity thrift stores will no united in our quest to buy the American when the value of a drink of water was
longer accept electronics because they dream, and that those who are marketing measured in thirst.
49
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