Consumption and the Looking Glass Self:
The Illusion of Need and Identity
All nations are consumption based societies. Most activities from leisure to labor are formatted around cyclical consumption. In these modern days, citizens acquire material possessions to let others know how they wish to be perceived. Thus, the looking glass self is manipulated in an unnatural or manufactured way. Prior to the eighteenth century, consumption was an indicator of true status and social structure; sumptuary laws where enforced as a way to limit luxury and extravagance as a means to keep classes of people stratified (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1). In modern times, Americans can consume as much as one’s dollar value allows, making the possibilities of alienation from others and separation from the Self essentially endless. Workers around the world now produce commodities in exchange for wages so that they may buy things that they did not make by means of their own effort (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1). Also, workers tend to receive a wage that is unequal in value to what they produce (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1). These facts separate humanity from the natural world. Due to the power of advertising and the relentless pursuit of monetary gain, the consumer is led, unknowingly, from their natural being by engaging in cyclical and conspicuous consumption. The following paragraphs will explain some of the detrimental aspects of consumer culture and its effects on the looking glass self. Though society’s current illusions may seem daunting, it is important to evaluate future considerations, such as the resource based economy proposed by inventor, artist, and social designer Jacque Fresco (
http://www.thevenusproject.com/).
The illusion of need is a major problem facing modern culture. Some products that would have been considered luxuries fifty years ago are now considered needs. For example, modern people generally connect food to social order instead of caloric intake or other requirements (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1). So, if a person wants to impress a potential partner, one no longer wants to provide high end expensive food on a first date; it is socially demanded by our alpha-male centric society.
Our world is dominated with advertisements of vapid, morbidly thin fashion models. From one season to another, fashion trends surge and ebb. What causes these rapid shifts in trends? Certainly, a matter of three months, or a season - is not a substantial amount of time for sustainable improvements in clothing to come from nothing. Yet, over $250 billion is spent on fashion each year in the United States of America (
http://www.grabstats.com/). Clearly, what we have is an industry built upon the insecurities of consumers, women in particular. And like all institutional industry, the fashion industry’s sole purpose is to keep itself alive, thus the insistence upon the cyclical consumption of new fashion is disguised as a need.
Our illusion of the need to stand out in the crowd or to be above others denies us the natural state of human of connectivity. "[O]ur ability to ‘want’, to ‘desire’ and to ‘long for’, and especially our ability to experience such emotions repeatedly, actually underpins the economy of human togetherness" (Zygmunt, Consuming Life page 26). In other words, our manufactured desires that are advertised as needs have become paramount and are blinding us from the reality of human interconnectedness. This natural reality of interconnectedness is an enemy to the advertising industry that spends one-hundred forty billion USD annually (
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2005-06-19-cannes-box_x.htm) to convince Americans that they need to purchase their products in order to achieve a high social standing.
Conspicuous and cyclical consumption mask the true intentions of our looking glass self, where as actual projected value is replaced by vain, materialistic endeavors. Although we as a culture go out of our way to “shop to impress,” studies have shown that those of us that who pursue happiness through the acquisition of products are less liked by our peers than those of us who pursue happiness via social experiences (
http://www.sciencedaily.com/.). So, what is it that drives consumption? Studies have shown that advertising may be more powerful than our culture ever intended. We use to turn to religion and philosophy to answer the big questions like “Who are we?” and “Why are we here?” but now, growing trends indicate that the advertising and capitalist market industries are answering those questions for us. A lifestyle is no longer something that we consciously choose; instead, we “buy” the lifestyle (“Shopology”, 2001). The advertising arm has reached into the churches too; Americans tithe one-hundred three billion dollars a year to places of worship (
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/charity/2008-10-07-charity-faith_N.htm). Here, instead of the consumption of products, we have the consumption of a clear conscious.
When the consumer is unable to purchase into what they are led to believe by the advertising and capitalist market is a needed lifestyle, people tend to resort to a coping mechanism that psychologists call “compensatory consumption.” That is, “A term coined to describe the phenomenon whereby individuals who feel frustrated in achieving personal goals may compensate for this through their consumption BEHAVIOUR. It applies particularly to individuals with low incomes/occupational mobility.” (The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing, 1998) This feeds into the cyclical consumption machine, further manipulating the looking glass self by means of hiding depression caused by consumption, with more consumption. This helps to fuel the medical industry. The public is overmedicated and subdued by antidepressants (associatedcontent.com/article/256677/americans_are_being_overmedicated_the.html). From 1999 to 2000, the total money spent on antidepressants in America rose by twenty-one percent to ten million (healingdaily.com). So, market capitalism and the advertising industry fools consumers into believing in an unattainable standard of living and are there to sell them medications when they become depressed over the illusion. To say that there is money to be made from depression is an understatement.
What we see is a clear practice; to keep cyclical consumption, market capitalism’s fuel, rolling, the advertising industry must push arbitrary products from the want category into the need category. Again, this separates the consumer from reality and makes it impossible for the looking glass aspect of the self to be fully realized.
Another detrimental issue the consumer faces is the illusion of identity. When speaking of the illusion of identity in relationship to consumption, one question is of particular importance: How are consumers expected to reflect their true nature via the looking glass self if the consumer does not realize that their true self is no longer represented in their actions? “Anthropology continually shows that in order to consume, people must make sense of needs, relationships and objects, and establish complex collective meanings and rituals that knit all three together.” (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1) Therefore in order for the market to strive, wants must be disguised as needs, product relationships must be established firmly and early in the consumer’s life, and collective cultural rituals must revolve around consumption.
“It is currently estimated that a child sees more than forty-thousand television commercials a year.” (Report of the APA task force on advertising and children) “The primary purpose of all television advertising is to influence the attitudes and subsequent behavior of viewers” (Report of the APA task force on advertising and children). Children below the ages off seven and eight lack the cognitive ability to apply considerations such as intent and bias to what they view. Advertising specialists, being versed in psychology, take advantage of this fact. The effect of advertising on children usually goes beyond the altering of attitudes and subsequent behavior; it may have a more lasting effect. Advertising can affect the child’s perception of what is nutritious and may cause child/parent conflict should a parent attempt to deny the child of the advertised item. Distorted nutritional information can lead to childhood obesity, diabetes, and a lifetime of health and cognitive problems. Child/parent conflict can lead to lasting miscommunication and even child abuse and neglect.
A sizable part of an individual’s identity is her or his relationship to their cultural traditions. Few cultural American traditions have endured untouched by the long reaching arm of consumerism. All major religious celebrations involve gift giving and receiving. On average, around thirty-seven billion dollars are spent on Christmas gifts per year (US Census). All holidays built around relationships, i.e. Mother’s Day and Valentines Day- have entire industries dedicated to making the consumer feel obligated to purchase goods. Again, in the form of gift giving, we see that the advertising industry and the capitalist market have their hands in three areas of life that give us our identity: religious, philosophical, and familial affairs associated with cultural traditions and rituals. Given this, a second practice is clear: market capitalism, the advertising industry, and materialism join forces, so to speak, to manipulate traditions that give a people identity and definition.
When presented with this discouraging realization one may feel helpless and desperate. One possible solution to these problems of consumption is an economy and philosophy developed and advocated for over the last forty years by a man named Jacque Fresco. Mr. Fresco is a ninety-four futurist, inventor, artist, and social engineer whose lifework has been assimilated into a social design paradigm that he holistically and creatively calls The Venus Project. The Venus Project is headquartered in Venus, Florida. Jacque Fresco and his long time partner, Roxanne Meadows, dedicate every day of their life to researching sustainable and clean technologies. Their only income is the modest income generated by sales of Mr. Fresco’s books and by tours that they give once or twice a month to those that who wish to learn more about his life’s work. They are currently on a world tour lecture circuit speaking to the general public about the benefits and values of a resource based economy.
The goal of the Venus Project is to assist the world in a transition, by means of massive social therapy, from our current monetary based economy to a resource based economy or RBE. Jacque Fresco envisions a world beyond politics, poverty, and war; where the world’s solutions are arrived at using the scientific method. In an RBE the world’s resources would be the understood inheritance of all the world’s inhabitants. Nothing is bought or sold, because there is no gain from such acts. The delusive value of modern society’s fiat money would be replaced with true value; the value of human thought and effort. Mr. Fresco envisions a world where humans are free of borders and wage slavery. In his resource based economy, there would be no reason for any advertising, much less deceptive advertising aimed at children. This would help to free children from the trappings of positive reinforcement through advertising and offer ample room for them to grow into happy, healthy, productive non-consumers. Stripped of the intent of monetary gain, our cultural traditions will become what they were originally intended to be, meaningful and fulfilling without the expectations of gift giving and receiving. Without the market system telling us what is fashionably desirable and what is not, we can concentrate our skills on making cloths that serve a more function based purpose. Consumption has no spirit. Consumption consumes because it is empty. Emptiness keeps the monetary market machine rolling. In a resource based economy, sustainability and the intelligent application of technology via a system, or scientific, method is valued over the acquisition of material possession and monetary gain. For when our purses are full, what is left of our spirit?
A resourced based economy, as expressed within the values and ideals of the Venus Project, allows for all levels of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to be met without a price tag. This frees people to achieve higher states of being and realizations of interconnectedness. Without the illusions of need and identity to manipulate our perception of ourselves, the looking glass self is left naked and pure.
Works Cited
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/256677/americans_are_being_overmedicated_the.htmlhttp://www.census.gov/retail/Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1, page 139, hard copy
Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1, page 140, hard copy
Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1, page 143, hard copy
http://www.grabstats.com/statcategorymain.asp?StatCatID=12http://www.healingdaily.com/conditions/health-spending.htmReport of the APA task force on advertising and children, FEB 20, 2004 page 2
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100414130832.htmhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/charity/2008-10-07-charity-faith_N.htmlhttp://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2005-06-19-cannes-box_x.htmhttp://www.thevenusproject.com/Zygmunt, Consuming Life page 26, hard copy
Written by Eric St. Pierre
Edited by Gina St. Pierre and James Blackburn III
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