Sociology 2275A/B Quiz: Reviews-of-readings-from-ch7
30 May 2016
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Document Summary
Consumption is a major source of meaning and happiness today. It is the triumphant ideology that dominates life in the 20th century. The average american consumes twice as many things as in the 50s. Humans show that they love things, often things that have no observable use or utility. The allure of materialism is represented in the fact that things are called goods not. Social problems such as body image issues, depression, corruption, and loss of spirituality, are attributed to consumerism. In claiming this, we portray commercialism as a force that is preying on helpless victims, making it a scapegoat for problems. Anthropologists have theorized that men tend to have an increasing interest in consuming in their later years. Not sure if this is true or not though, because we must be careful about stereotyping. Some describe democracy as the freedom to shop.
