![]() Labor unions, too, were vested in increasing wages for their members, so working families could afford houses, cars and household appliances. Mortgage interest deductions and government-financed infrastructure – local utilities and roads, a national highway system – made suburban homeownership a logical financial plan for families, while Social Security provided relief from having to save for old age. The 1944 GI Bill helped returning veterans purchase houses with down payments and government-guaranteed loans. Photo by Science in HD on UnsplashĪt the same time, President Harry Truman was concerned with looming unemployment among returning veterans and saw mass production of consumer goods as the solution. Many manufacturing jobs created by World War II were lost when the war ended. Bernays created the term “engineering of consent” and popularized the term “consumer” when referring to American people. The essence of his approach was to tap into people’s desires to feel good, powerful and sexy instead of emphasizing the usefulness of a product. Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, is generally credited with inventing the field of marketing during the 1920s. Today’s consumer society emerged after the end of World War I, fueled by the emergence of the modern advertising industry and facilitated by widespread adoption of consumer credit. companies spend about US$230 billion on advertising each year, half of all the money spent on advertising globally. gross domestic product, a measurement that describes the size of the economy. Today, the spending habits of American households make up 70% of the U.S. The American Dream has become synonymous with buying material goods such as cars, houses, furniture or electronics, distorting its original meaning. arrive at the point whereby mass consumption – and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with it – is necessary for economic and social well-being? Are greenhouse gas reductions and a thriving economy incompatible?Ī consumer society is a 20th-century construct. economy depends heavily on consumer spending, the country is experiencing the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression, the threat of homelessness for tens of thousands of people and a failure of businesses large and small. ![]() While this may be a positive for the environment, the social price is high: Since the U.S. As a result, greenhouse gas emissions have temporarily fallen dramatically. The COVID-19 pandemic has radically affected the American economy, reducing spending by American households on materials goods, air travel, leisure activities as well as the use of automobiles.
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