Places and forms of power through the consumerisim

Consumerisim

Places and Forms of power

Introduction : 

                I am going to talk about Places and Forms of power through Consumerisim.

A consumerit society is one in which people spend a great deal of time, energy, ressources and thought to « consuming ». The general view of life is consumption is good, and more consumption is even better.

The United States is an example of a hyper-consumerist society. People are constantly bombarded with advertisements urging them to buy things.

To what extent can we challenge or escape the consumer culture by changing our consumption habits ?

1. Shopping habits-consumption society/throw society

1. Where and how do people shop ?

People mostly go to Supermakets or to Malls to shop. In fact, these kinds of shops are very big, and often regroup every kind of shops and articles.  Moreover, there are so many supermarkets or Malls everywhere around a city. There also are online shops which are developping nowadays. On internet, you can find and buy everything you are looking for, without moving. Then, when peope shop, they compare the prices between supermarket prices and internet prices.

1. What is going to change due to the new technologies ? =>Shopping of the future

Many online shops are developping, they are growing over supermarkets or malls. For example, Amazon, which is the biggest online seller of the world, is planning to create a new system of delivery. On an other side, retail shop are devolopping, where you can buy what you need and no more. These two kinds of shop are the perfects opposites : one is forcing you to buy more articles by its ease of use and the other only sells good things in little quantities.

1. The excess of consumerism

1. Shopaholics

Some people are addict to shopping, they always want the last version of any article, they always buy and they don’t use the thing they bought 1 week ago anymore. We call these people « Shopaholics », like alcoholic but with shopping. There even are groupings to fight against shopaholics’s addiction, to help them in their madness.

1. Black Friday

In addition to shop addicts, some global events exist, like the Black Friday. The Black Friday is a big day of discount on many articles, that encourage people to buy things, that they maybe don’t need. The companies which sell these articles are reducing their prices and make a lot of money because people are attrated by the « low prices ».

1. Resistance to the consumer culture

1. Resistance through art

Banksy is a Bristish artist, that made many reworks on famous artworks like Show me the monet, that is a rework of Claude Monet’s water lilies series. On his paintings, he adds some objects that we can find or buy in Malls, he draws the main symbols that are linked to the consumerisim. He tries to denounce consumer societies that are manipulated by supermarkets or Malls.

1. Alternative modes of consumption

Nowadays, after the expolsion of supermarkets and Malls, more and more little specialized stores are opening. Some people want to avoid this american lifestyle that is based on massive consumption, and try to by healthy and usefull things. For example, many health food stores open, and attract people thanks to the quality of their food. Moreover, a new movement appeared, the freegans. A freegan is a person who rejects consumerisim and seeks to help the environment by reducing waste and buying good things in necessary quatities. Then, they are participating to the preservation of the planet, and it is way to fight against consumerisim.

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