What Is The Theme Of Feed By M. T. Anderson Consumerism

Titus and his friends in M.T Anderson’s book titled Feed constantly feel the immense pressure of the monster which is consumerism. In this dystopian society trends fly past people so much faster than in todays world. As Titus himself states, “It was like I kept buying these things to be cool, but cool was always flying just ahead of me, and I could never exactly catch up to it. I felt like I'd been running toward it for a long time (Anderson 279).” In saying this he perfectly explains and represents everything that is completely wrong with consumerism. Not only is this present throughout the novel, but it is very much so present within today’s society. This burden is forced upon people of all ages but more so on the younger audience. In more

As stated by Fulton J. Sheen, an American theologian, “Advertising tries to stimulate our sensuous desires, converting luxuries into necessities, but it only intensifies man's inner misery. The business world is bent on creating hungers which its wares never satisfy, and thus it adds to the frustrations and broken minds of our times” (azquotes.com). Many people crave such absurd objects as necessities, despite them merely being a disgusting attempt of satisfying this monster. There are so many things which people feel that we need to be happy, but it really simply gives us a distraction from what we truly need. An author by the name of Bryant McGill once said, “The folly of endless consumerism sends us on a wild goose-chase for happiness through materialism” (azquotes.com). This materialistic point of view in our society today has lead to so many thinking consumerism is just fine because it satisfies our wants and needs in this

Neither does materialism: Research shows that people who place a high value on wealth, status, and stuff are more depressed and anxious and less sociable than those who do not.” Consumerism has very deep and dark sides to it which most will not recognize. A whole lot of people who constantly withstand the stress applied by companies feel more lonely than the average person. This loneliness could lead to higher suicide rates and also a more disturbed population. However, some people may disagree with this. Quite a lot of people nowadays would simply say consumerism helps the economy more than it hurts the people. This is exemplified in an article by straitstimes.com which states, “When a greater proportion of citizens buy goods and services in excess of their needs, they consume more, they spend more, and that can create a cycle of demand leading to greater production and to greater employment, which leads to even more consumption.” This argument would be valid if consumerism was not simply manipulation. Every company tries to manipulate others into buying their products, but label it consumerism. The true definition of consumerism is, “the promotion of the consumer’s interests” (meriam-webster.com). These companies do not adapt to their customers wants, they just manipulate people into thinking that they need the item which is being