Lecture 1 - Consumerism
What is it that I value in my life that is a materialistic thing?
iPhone
Phone charger
Laptop
Headphones
Painting: Charles II Presented with a Pineapple - British School (1677)
Pineapples were considered an exotic fruit, presented to and eaten by only the richest or the most royal. Nowadays, you could buy a pineapple in supermarkets either processed in a can in chunks as well as the entire fruit itself for £1, more or less. The cost of the pineapple devalued when the fruit became more and more readily available for the everyday public to consume.
How is value created?
‘Nothing can have value without being an object of utility.’ ‘Labour is the substance, and the immanent measure of value’
Karl Marx (1867)
Das Kapital, Vol. 1
In essence, human labour = value
Max Borders says:
'Subjective value can be a tough idea for some people to grasp. It can be even harder for people to accept. But here’s the hard truth: Value does not inhere in things … All economics begins and ends with something rather illusive: the private states of people’s minds.’
2012, FEE.com
It is arguable that children have a better sense of value than adults as their innocence and naivety lets them appreciate the smallest things in life more than we ever can as we get older, such as the reflection of oneself in a small puddle.
The virtuous circle of economic growth:
In the early 1700s, wages began to rise - meaning families had more to spend on small luxuries. The more money families spent, the more businesses grew, the more workshops opened to manufacture the goods, the more people were employed, the more wages went up, and so on. This time has been described as ‘the first consumer revolution’.
Benefits of Capitalism:
It drives national prosperity and can make a difference to the lives of the weak and the poor - apprentices can be trained, hospitals can be built etc.
Incentives to get rich can lead to innovation.
Freedom - not only in choice of consumer goods, but also in careers.
[supposed] Equality - everyone has the chance to ‘make it big’.
Consequences of Capitalism:
Consumers can be exploited (or seemingly controlled) by large firms which tend to monopolise.
Industrial impacts can be detrimental to the environment.
It can lead to high levels of inequality between the rich and the poor.
Workers can feel alienated.
Working conditions for manufacturers can be extremely poor.