HIST 289R Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Vance Packard, The Affluent Society, Consumerism
14 Mar 2018
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The affluent society (1958) - written by galbraith who was the deputy head of the opa from 1941-1943. Encouraged americans to consider the imbalance between abundant spending on private goods and limited resources on public goods. Thought there wasn"t enough funding going to schools or public transportation along with other public goods and thought funds weren"t being allocated correctly. Advocated putting more federal money into public works rather than defense and proposed a national tax on consumption. During cold war so defense idea was shut down quickly. He insisted there were environmental costs to consumerism. Began the conversation between the imbalance between private affluence and public poverty. Thought advertisers were tricking the american consumer and were reshaping everyday life and threatening to undermine individualism. Visual ads on tv were even more manipulative. Advertisers who manipulated the public left their agencies and then entered government and used those same manipulative tactics to convince you to vote for candidates.
