Consumerism
Consumerism is a way of life combining high levels of material affluence with an emphasis on symbolic and emotional meanings associated with shopping and possessions. The United States continues to lead the way, but the phenomenon increasingly is of global scope. Consumerism can be interpreted positively as a means of stimulating the economy while facilitating people's liberties to shape their identities and subcultures. In contrast, critics perceive consumerism as a manipulated and environmentally destructive habit leading to too many units of stuff being designed, produced, advertised, sold, and discarded (Rosenblatt 1999, World Watch Institute 2004). All may agree that "The one unambiguous result of modern capitalism, of the industrial revolution, and of marketing ... is: In the way we live now, you are not what you make. You are what you consume" (Twitchell 2002, p. 1).
Infrastructure of Consumption
Consumerism involves not just the conventional shopaholic, but a complicated set of organizations, relationships, and ethically problematic practices involving science and technology. Product designers, manufacturing engineers, solid state physicists, and those trained in just about every other scientific and technical specialty have participated directly or indirectly in the development and spread of consumer society. Chemists created synthetic pesticides, PCBs, and PVC plastics, enabling businesses to produce and consumers to purchase products that inadvertently scattered billions of pounds of toxic compounds across the landscape.
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