The Gospel Of Consumption Analysis

Consumerism began as a purposeful way of producing more and more stuff for America’s biggest businessmen. This concept alongside strategic promotion proved successful in changing American culture from working to live to living to work. Which has caused corporate greed, monopolies, irreversible global warming, family dynamic disruptions and even more issues. It may not appear to be going anywhere, but starvation will make the decision for the world, if no one finds a better way to serve a growing population. (80)
Jeffrey Kaplan’s The Gospel of Consumption briefly sums up the history and agents of modern consumerism and American consumption. Big players in the business and political world predicted that the introduction of new mass producing

Businesses deliberately condition and convince the American people to want to be someone else, to want more, to want different by any means necessary and sell their product. Consumer trends determine entertainment, advertising, fashion and every form of business available today. Today’s consumers are more highly educated than previous generations, if that’s the case then how do companies go about expanding their reach and growing exponentially? Why can’t a good amount of consumers cry out for change in destructive production methods and company responsibility and ethics? In 2007 Annie Leonard explores the material economy in the video, Story of Stuff, requiring more than asking how the world became the pit it is, it focuses on real solutions to the way the material economy operates from extraction to disposal. Which is the antithesis of what long standing big businesses want consumers to do and part of the transition for saving ourselves and the world from the destructive force that consumerism has become. (Leonard)

Consumers now are more informed of the sources of production and habits of the businesses they support. Although some shoppers now think and the shop, this is system has cut into family time so that consumers are overworking to buy and feel special and important. Luckily there are people interrupting this system, passionately fighting for clean production, stopping deforestation, labor rights, fair trade, conscious consuming, blocking landfills and incinerators and most importantly: taking back our government. No industry has been left out of these new standards and expectations but the culture and nature of distribution and promotion must change. (Leonard). Most of the recent environmental catastrophes are linked to big corporations who repeatedly ignore the damage of toxic chemicals, landfills and deforestation. “From climate change to declining unhappiness, it’s just not working.” and now is the time for change. (Leonard)(173)
A Cree prophecy says until “the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money.” Consumption cannot be avoided, but as a society something has to change for the better. The only other option is inevitable chaos and disaster. People need to