It is Friday morning (9AM) and I thought I would weigh in on the responses you've submitted to the blog, even though one of your classmates has yet to respond. I was struck by a couple things. First, several of you commented on Wofford as a place which seems to intensify the social pressure to consume the popular and often expensive brands of clothes and other items. I guess we could say by coming to Wofford your reference group has been stretched. And note that this kind of social pressure appears to be more powerful than any advertisements for such products, a point Dr. Schor also made. Secondly, many of you also expressed a distaste for this competitive consumption game and an unwillingness to participate. However, at the same time, you also seemed to recognize that resisting these pressures was not easy.
LOOKING AHEAD: As I have been mentioning in class, we will wrap up "The Overspent American" on Tuesday (April 7th). The following week, we will get into "Consuming Kids". On Thursday (April 9th) we will see another video entitled, "Advertising and the End of the World," which is a nice overview of many of the criticisms of advertising that we've discussed so far. I most likely will have a family exercise in connection with that which I will probably post on this blog sometime over the break. Finally, you can expect another short essay assignment shortly after we come back.
Have a restful and revitalizing break.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Individual Exercise & Midterm Exam Answers
INDIVIDUAL EXERCISE: We will be seeing the video, "The Overspent American," next Tuesday, 3/24, and in connection with that I want each of you to write up a ONE-PAGE reflection on the concept of "stretching reference groups." Specifically, I want you to reflect on your own buying habits and people that you know and consider who you or they seem to be emulating. Based on your experience, do you believe this idea of stretching reference groups is as widespread as Dr. Schor seems to suggest? To save paper, please submit your reflections as a comment on this blog post NO LATER THAN NEXT FRIDAY 3/27. This exercise is worth 3 points.
MIDTERM EXAM ANSWERS: As most of you know, I handed back the midterm exams yesterday and started going over the answers in class, but only got to page #6. It was poor timing on my part. I should have started going over the exam earlier. So, rather than take up class time next Tuesday, and for the benefit of those who were not in class yesterday, I am going to post the answers on the blog. As I noted, you'll need to have these answers, especially for questions you missed or got points off, because I'll be re-asking many of these questions on the final exam. So here they are:
1. public opinion
2. (a) wholistic, (b) institutions, and how these institutions should be harmoniously interrelated, (c) good world -- reflected in Jordan and William Morris statements, (d) among some other possibilities...
3. doctor/medical analogy -- like the doctor diagnoses sickness on the basis of knowledge of what a healthy body is like. As the authors of "Affluenza" do in treating affluenza as a social disease with many symptoms.
4. that mainstream sociology focuses only on individuals and how they relate to each other psychologically. It is subjective; it ignores important relations to objects.
5. EXTERNALLY -- to objects in nature or the world, which are as vital as any internal relations of different organs. Suggests that resource issues, environmental pollution, etc. should be considered social problems.
6. how objects and our relation to objects are vital to who we are. Or, simply, the importance of objects in culture.
7. Institutions are organized systems of objects directed toward human ends, and as individuals we participate in and achieve our purposes through them. Work, likewise, is an organizing principle of life, providing routine and meaning to our lives as individuals.
8. because "normal" functioning of institutions such as "business as usual" may be part of the problem, or refer to the "pathology of normalcy."
9. that the average American family spends 6 hours a week shopping, yet parents only spend 40 minutes playing with their children.
10. "displaying anti-social behavior in the pursuit of a product is a good thing."
11. that they were very critical of how the marketplace undermines families, yet they also strongly believe in free-market capitalism.
12. that he urged Americans to go out and shop to show their patriotism.
13. Clear disconnect between our awareness of the problem and our willingness to do something about it. Most importantly, suggests that the problem is much deeper -- institutional -- and will need to be addressed at that level, not just preaching to individuals.
14. that they are dealing with real money.
15. size of homes has tripled since WWII (750 sq. ft. - 2,300 sq. ft.), and along with that, of course, more bathrooms, bedrooms, garages, despite smaller families.
16. That happiness is not necessarily tied to having more stuff. The average American has twice as much today as in 1957 but is not as happy.
17. "...every 10 percent increase in highway network results in a 5.3 percent increase in the amount of congestion." (or, simply: more highways more congestion, instead of less congestion.)
18. Linder realized that predictions about all sorts of free time were a myth -- economic growth entails a general increase in scarcity of time. All the stuff we buy needs upkeep, not to mention time spent shopping for it. Whereas the Senate predicted a 14-22 hour workweek by 2000.
19. cut back work hours by half.
20. There are some conservatives (such as Glen Stanton of Focus on the Family or Robert Lutwalk) who are strong supporters of free market capitalism, yet they also recognize how it undermines families and communities in its drive for profits. Chapter 7 opens by focusing on marketing to kids which encourages instant gratification, nagging parents for stuff, all of which creates tension in the family.
21. 20% (or many) American school districts have banned recess for elementary school children to supposedly "maximize instruction time to prepare children to compete in the global economy." -- that is, prepare to take standardized tests.
22. "Consumers have no duties or responsibilities or obligations to their fellow consumers. Citizens do." Citizens are about community, while consumers care primarily about themselves.
23. land devoted to public uses -- parks civic buildings, schools, churches, etc. had decreased by 20%, and we've increasingly privatized our lifestyles.
24. she was talking about spiritual poverty, or poverty of the soul.
25. "Their conclusions were unequivocal: These individuals for whom accumulating wealth was a primary aspiration were associated with less self-actualization, less vitality, more depression and more anxiety."
26. growing economic inequality -- a "titanic gulf" separating rich and poor.
27. By creating a sense of deprivation among them because they can't obtain the products advertisers tell us we have to have to fit in, get ahead, be somebody.
28. Both graphs exaggerate the upward curve of the line because of the bottom scale of years which covers 1000s and 100s of years.
29. dead zones (no fish) due to all sorts of hazardous substances we put on agricultural fields which are then carried down the Mississippi river to the Gulf, not to mention cruise ships dumping their wastes.
30. getting people to admit they have a problem.
31. any two of the following: (a) self-actualization - becoming all you can be; (b) aesthetic - beauty, balance, form; (c) cognition -- knowledge, meaning, order; (d) esteem - self-esteem; respect for others; (e) love & belongingness...
32. I suggested their "original sin" was NOT greed but disobedience.
33. amount of liberty -- "...liberty to seek recreation, liberty to enjoy life, liberty to improve the mind,..." etc.
34. any two of the following: (a) suburbanization (McMansions); (b) automobile/interstate highway system; (c) malls; (d) expansion of credit; (e) planned obsolescence/design changes; (f) TV.
35. "regions which should remain beyond supply and demand" -- such as Mother's Day, the most tender and sacred human relationship which has become commercialized.
36. a "spin doctor" -- "experts" who really represent the interests of business -- often employed by "front" groups such as the American Council on Health and Science.
37. Broader institutional changes -- eg., reorienting our transportation system, or univeral health care. etc.
38. Leopold provides a statement of a standard by which we can determine what is RIGHT and WRONG with nature: "a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." -- but most of our activities ignore this law. Commoner's Four Laws of ECology represent a standard of a healthy ecosystem, and those activities which violate these laws represent a problem.
39. Adbusters magazine / anti-ads or un-commercials, which use some of the virus of advertising to innoculate people against advertising and the products it promotes.
40. he says he hopes shortened hours will stick -- "It may not ultimately be a sacrifice...It may be exactly what they need to be happier and healthier.
But why don't Ameican companies embrace shorter hours?
(1) cost of health care OR (2) cultural -- leisure today is suspect; shorter workweeks viewed as feminine.
That's it. Note that I certainly do not expect your answers to be word-for-word what I have here, but they should be close. Look over your exams, and don't hesitate to bring it back to me if you want me to look over any question(s).
MIDTERM EXAM ANSWERS: As most of you know, I handed back the midterm exams yesterday and started going over the answers in class, but only got to page #6. It was poor timing on my part. I should have started going over the exam earlier. So, rather than take up class time next Tuesday, and for the benefit of those who were not in class yesterday, I am going to post the answers on the blog. As I noted, you'll need to have these answers, especially for questions you missed or got points off, because I'll be re-asking many of these questions on the final exam. So here they are:
1. public opinion
2. (a) wholistic, (b) institutions, and how these institutions should be harmoniously interrelated, (c) good world -- reflected in Jordan and William Morris statements, (d) among some other possibilities...
3. doctor/medical analogy -- like the doctor diagnoses sickness on the basis of knowledge of what a healthy body is like. As the authors of "Affluenza" do in treating affluenza as a social disease with many symptoms.
4. that mainstream sociology focuses only on individuals and how they relate to each other psychologically. It is subjective; it ignores important relations to objects.
5. EXTERNALLY -- to objects in nature or the world, which are as vital as any internal relations of different organs. Suggests that resource issues, environmental pollution, etc. should be considered social problems.
6. how objects and our relation to objects are vital to who we are. Or, simply, the importance of objects in culture.
7. Institutions are organized systems of objects directed toward human ends, and as individuals we participate in and achieve our purposes through them. Work, likewise, is an organizing principle of life, providing routine and meaning to our lives as individuals.
8. because "normal" functioning of institutions such as "business as usual" may be part of the problem, or refer to the "pathology of normalcy."
9. that the average American family spends 6 hours a week shopping, yet parents only spend 40 minutes playing with their children.
10. "displaying anti-social behavior in the pursuit of a product is a good thing."
11. that they were very critical of how the marketplace undermines families, yet they also strongly believe in free-market capitalism.
12. that he urged Americans to go out and shop to show their patriotism.
13. Clear disconnect between our awareness of the problem and our willingness to do something about it. Most importantly, suggests that the problem is much deeper -- institutional -- and will need to be addressed at that level, not just preaching to individuals.
14. that they are dealing with real money.
15. size of homes has tripled since WWII (750 sq. ft. - 2,300 sq. ft.), and along with that, of course, more bathrooms, bedrooms, garages, despite smaller families.
16. That happiness is not necessarily tied to having more stuff. The average American has twice as much today as in 1957 but is not as happy.
17. "...every 10 percent increase in highway network results in a 5.3 percent increase in the amount of congestion." (or, simply: more highways more congestion, instead of less congestion.)
18. Linder realized that predictions about all sorts of free time were a myth -- economic growth entails a general increase in scarcity of time. All the stuff we buy needs upkeep, not to mention time spent shopping for it. Whereas the Senate predicted a 14-22 hour workweek by 2000.
19. cut back work hours by half.
20. There are some conservatives (such as Glen Stanton of Focus on the Family or Robert Lutwalk) who are strong supporters of free market capitalism, yet they also recognize how it undermines families and communities in its drive for profits. Chapter 7 opens by focusing on marketing to kids which encourages instant gratification, nagging parents for stuff, all of which creates tension in the family.
21. 20% (or many) American school districts have banned recess for elementary school children to supposedly "maximize instruction time to prepare children to compete in the global economy." -- that is, prepare to take standardized tests.
22. "Consumers have no duties or responsibilities or obligations to their fellow consumers. Citizens do." Citizens are about community, while consumers care primarily about themselves.
23. land devoted to public uses -- parks civic buildings, schools, churches, etc. had decreased by 20%, and we've increasingly privatized our lifestyles.
24. she was talking about spiritual poverty, or poverty of the soul.
25. "Their conclusions were unequivocal: These individuals for whom accumulating wealth was a primary aspiration were associated with less self-actualization, less vitality, more depression and more anxiety."
26. growing economic inequality -- a "titanic gulf" separating rich and poor.
27. By creating a sense of deprivation among them because they can't obtain the products advertisers tell us we have to have to fit in, get ahead, be somebody.
28. Both graphs exaggerate the upward curve of the line because of the bottom scale of years which covers 1000s and 100s of years.
29. dead zones (no fish) due to all sorts of hazardous substances we put on agricultural fields which are then carried down the Mississippi river to the Gulf, not to mention cruise ships dumping their wastes.
30. getting people to admit they have a problem.
31. any two of the following: (a) self-actualization - becoming all you can be; (b) aesthetic - beauty, balance, form; (c) cognition -- knowledge, meaning, order; (d) esteem - self-esteem; respect for others; (e) love & belongingness...
32. I suggested their "original sin" was NOT greed but disobedience.
33. amount of liberty -- "...liberty to seek recreation, liberty to enjoy life, liberty to improve the mind,..." etc.
34. any two of the following: (a) suburbanization (McMansions); (b) automobile/interstate highway system; (c) malls; (d) expansion of credit; (e) planned obsolescence/design changes; (f) TV.
35. "regions which should remain beyond supply and demand" -- such as Mother's Day, the most tender and sacred human relationship which has become commercialized.
36. a "spin doctor" -- "experts" who really represent the interests of business -- often employed by "front" groups such as the American Council on Health and Science.
37. Broader institutional changes -- eg., reorienting our transportation system, or univeral health care. etc.
38. Leopold provides a statement of a standard by which we can determine what is RIGHT and WRONG with nature: "a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." -- but most of our activities ignore this law. Commoner's Four Laws of ECology represent a standard of a healthy ecosystem, and those activities which violate these laws represent a problem.
39. Adbusters magazine / anti-ads or un-commercials, which use some of the virus of advertising to innoculate people against advertising and the products it promotes.
40. he says he hopes shortened hours will stick -- "It may not ultimately be a sacrifice...It may be exactly what they need to be happier and healthier.
But why don't Ameican companies embrace shorter hours?
(1) cost of health care OR (2) cultural -- leisure today is suspect; shorter workweeks viewed as feminine.
That's it. Note that I certainly do not expect your answers to be word-for-word what I have here, but they should be close. Look over your exams, and don't hesitate to bring it back to me if you want me to look over any question(s).
Friday, March 13, 2009
Family Questions for the Midterm
Below are the questions I accepted from the ones the families submitted. THEY WILL BE ON THE EXAM ON TUESDAY. In general, I thought the Yellow family's questions could have been more creative. I was able to accept two of the Yellow family's questions, but I modified them somewhat. The Blue family offered some better questions overall, and I accepted three of their questions, so the Blue family will get a bonus point for their efforts. Here they are:
YELLOW FAMILY: (Adam, Melanie, Chris, Sarah)
1. What is the significance of the fact that 1957 was the year the highest percentage of Americans described themselves as "very happy?" (2)
ANSWER: That happiness is not necessarily tied to having more. The average American has twice as much today as in 1957 but is not as happy.
2. Like any addiction, the first step in curing affluenza is what? (1)
ANSWER: getting people to admit that they have a problem.
BLUE FAMILY: (Kristen, Jessica, Mary-Elizabeth, who submitted some separately)
1. James Kuntsler says, "We've mutated from citizens to consumers in the last sixty years." (p. 65) What does Kuntsler believe is "the trouble with being consumers" rather than citizens? (2)
ANSWER: "Consumers have no duties or responsibilities or obligations to their fellow consumers. Citizens do." Citizens are about community while consumers care primarily about themselves.
2. What did Mother Teresa mean by referring to the United States as "...the poorest place I've ever been in my life?" (1)
ANSWER: she was talking about spiritual poverty, or poverty of the soul.
3. What is the importance of institutions, especially work, on the development of individuals? (2)
ANSWER: Institutions are organized systems of objects directed toward human ends, and as individuals we participate in and achieve our purposes through them. Work, likewise, is an organizing principle of life providing routine and meaning to our lives as individuals.
___________________________
That's it. See you Tuesday.
YELLOW FAMILY: (Adam, Melanie, Chris, Sarah)
1. What is the significance of the fact that 1957 was the year the highest percentage of Americans described themselves as "very happy?" (2)
ANSWER: That happiness is not necessarily tied to having more. The average American has twice as much today as in 1957 but is not as happy.
2. Like any addiction, the first step in curing affluenza is what? (1)
ANSWER: getting people to admit that they have a problem.
BLUE FAMILY: (Kristen, Jessica, Mary-Elizabeth, who submitted some separately)
1. James Kuntsler says, "We've mutated from citizens to consumers in the last sixty years." (p. 65) What does Kuntsler believe is "the trouble with being consumers" rather than citizens? (2)
ANSWER: "Consumers have no duties or responsibilities or obligations to their fellow consumers. Citizens do." Citizens are about community while consumers care primarily about themselves.
2. What did Mother Teresa mean by referring to the United States as "...the poorest place I've ever been in my life?" (1)
ANSWER: she was talking about spiritual poverty, or poverty of the soul.
3. What is the importance of institutions, especially work, on the development of individuals? (2)
ANSWER: Institutions are organized systems of objects directed toward human ends, and as individuals we participate in and achieve our purposes through them. Work, likewise, is an organizing principle of life providing routine and meaning to our lives as individuals.
___________________________
That's it. See you Tuesday.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Family Activity & More Lecture Notes on Affluenza
Before I launch into today's blog, let me note that yesterday (3/5) I posted a description of the paper assignment for this course. I do not plan to hand out a hard copy, so just refer to that post to get the details of that assignment.
FAMILY ACTIVITY: As I announced in class yesterday (3/5)in preparation for our upcoming midterm exam, I want each of you to begin formulating some midterm exam questions. At the beginning of our next class (Tues. 3/10), I will give the families time to brainstorm some questions from material we've covered since the beginning of the term and then submit FOUR short-answer questions (AND ANSWERS) to me by Thursday (3/12). I will try to accept at least two questions from each family to include on the midterm exam. For each additional question (beyond the two) that I accept from each family, that family will earn an additional bonus point. So, you may earn up to two bonus points for this exercise. This exercise is worth 4 points and you have to participate to earn those points. Finally, let me stress that I will need those questions NO LATER THAN THURSDAY (3/12)so that I may post them on this blog by Friday and you can study them for the midterm exam on Tuesday, March 17.
__________________________________
ADDITIONAL LECTURE NOTES ON "AFFLUENZA"
Chapter 18: An Emerging Epidemic
A. Opens with a very appropriate comment from none other than Erich Fromm in his book "The Sane Society" (from which the concept of the "pathology of normalcy" comes)about the "vision" of our consumer society -- what I would call "pig heaven." (p. 146)
B. In contrast to such a vision, the authors note how Ameicans willingly sacrificed and accepted rationing to defeat a common enemy during WWII. (curious how Bush never tried to do this with the "war on terror," or Iraq -- no sacrifice, just go shopping.)
C. After WWII, not to mention the deprivation of the Great Depression, there was tremendous pent-up demand which was initially given a boost by the GI Bill and low interest government loans (FHA), and a bit later the Interstate Highway System.
1. All of this was a tremendous boon to the suburbanization of America -- the growth of the auto industry and all sorts of consumer products to fill those increasingly big suburban homes.
D. In short, the good life became the GOODS life (pig heaven). "Waste not, want not," Benjamin Franklin once admonished. But the new slogan might have been Waste More, Want More." (p. 147)
E. "Planned obsolescence" became the order of the day. Products were made to last only a short time, or there were continual upgrades in style. GM had already introduced the idea of annual model changes in the car industry, to encourage people to buy a new car every year.
F. Of course, most Americans did not have the money to keep pace with all this, so consumer credit expanded tremendously. Became a "buy now, pay later" world.
G. The mall was invented and quickly spread mainly in suburban areas where the car was king.
H. The authors summarize many of these developments, and throw in for good measure the rise to television. (See mid p. 150) TV advertising and shows having the effect of "stretching reference groups," as Juliet Schor will stress in our next book, The Overpsent American.
I. Critics such as Vance Packard, John Kenneth Galbraith, and the counterculture movement of the '60s raised a red flag, but really to no avail. Also, an interesting comment from Bobby Kennedy when he was running for President in '68: "we will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods....The gross national product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior." (p. 152) President Carter was the last president to question the spread of affluenza, also to no avail of course.
Chapter 19: The age of affluenza
A. This chapter is mainly about the title of the first section, ADFLUENZA. "That advertising's prime purpose is to promote affluenza is hardly a secret,..." (p. 154) Then, see comment of Pierre Martineau, marketing director for the Chicago Tribune. (mid p. 154)
B. The costs of ads are phenomenal -- a typical 30-second national TV commercial costs nearly $300,000 to produce -- that's $10,000 a second! Advertising is a $217 billion a year industry. And its everywhere, as we know: billboards, school buses, coporate logos on some texts, product placement in films, even outer space was considered.
C. We live in an era of hypercommercialism. Advertising encourages us to meet nonmaterial needs (love, etc.) through material ends. Buy this product and we'll be loved and accepted. It's all about image.
D. The graph on p. 158 exaggerates the upward "consumption spike" (just as the earlier graph on species extinction did). Nonetheless, consumption has unquestionably increased greatly.
E. The authors close this chapter with some critical thoughts from conservative economist, Wilhelm Ropke. (See last 3 paragraphs, p. 159, very perceptive)
Chapter 20: Is there a (real) doctor in the house?
A. That is, a real doctor in contrast to the "spin doctors," which is what this chapter is mainly about.
B. But the authors begin by again making use of the doctor/medical analogy. Though there is all sorts of evidence (or symptoms) of the spread of affluena, as we've seen, we tend to look the other way -- "told over and over again (by the spin doctors)that the market will provide. But will it?"
1. "How many millions of Americans are wheezing with affluenza, yet remain stubbornly in denial?" (p.161)
C. Although we may be aware of how pervasive advertising has become, "few people really understand the other dimension of marketing -- an undercover (PR) industry that creates and perpetuates our commercial culture." (p. 161) They go on to give numerous examples of how powerful this PR campaign is. For example --
1. Actually working behind the scenes to sabotage a book critical of some aspect of business.
2. Funding "front groups" which have the appearance of being reputable, such as the American Council on Health and Science (note the funders, p. 163)
3. Note successful earlier campaigns to defend cigarettes and leaded gas.
4. PR firms which have sought to sow doubt regarding the global warming problem -- suggest it may actually be good for us. Video entitled "Greening of the Earth" emphasizing all the crops we'll be able to grow, ignoring the spread of tropical diseases, droughts, floods, hurricanes, rising sea levels, economic disruption.
5. PR has infiltrated the news media -- significant percentage of news stories generated by "spin doctors" or PR "journalists."
D. The consequences may be dire, given the speed we seem to be travelling at. (See last paragraph, p. 170)
That brings us up to Part Three, where we'll start on Tuesday 3/10.
FAMILY ACTIVITY: As I announced in class yesterday (3/5)in preparation for our upcoming midterm exam, I want each of you to begin formulating some midterm exam questions. At the beginning of our next class (Tues. 3/10), I will give the families time to brainstorm some questions from material we've covered since the beginning of the term and then submit FOUR short-answer questions (AND ANSWERS) to me by Thursday (3/12). I will try to accept at least two questions from each family to include on the midterm exam. For each additional question (beyond the two) that I accept from each family, that family will earn an additional bonus point. So, you may earn up to two bonus points for this exercise. This exercise is worth 4 points and you have to participate to earn those points. Finally, let me stress that I will need those questions NO LATER THAN THURSDAY (3/12)so that I may post them on this blog by Friday and you can study them for the midterm exam on Tuesday, March 17.
__________________________________
ADDITIONAL LECTURE NOTES ON "AFFLUENZA"
Chapter 18: An Emerging Epidemic
A. Opens with a very appropriate comment from none other than Erich Fromm in his book "The Sane Society" (from which the concept of the "pathology of normalcy" comes)about the "vision" of our consumer society -- what I would call "pig heaven." (p. 146)
B. In contrast to such a vision, the authors note how Ameicans willingly sacrificed and accepted rationing to defeat a common enemy during WWII. (curious how Bush never tried to do this with the "war on terror," or Iraq -- no sacrifice, just go shopping.)
C. After WWII, not to mention the deprivation of the Great Depression, there was tremendous pent-up demand which was initially given a boost by the GI Bill and low interest government loans (FHA), and a bit later the Interstate Highway System.
1. All of this was a tremendous boon to the suburbanization of America -- the growth of the auto industry and all sorts of consumer products to fill those increasingly big suburban homes.
D. In short, the good life became the GOODS life (pig heaven). "Waste not, want not," Benjamin Franklin once admonished. But the new slogan might have been Waste More, Want More." (p. 147)
E. "Planned obsolescence" became the order of the day. Products were made to last only a short time, or there were continual upgrades in style. GM had already introduced the idea of annual model changes in the car industry, to encourage people to buy a new car every year.
F. Of course, most Americans did not have the money to keep pace with all this, so consumer credit expanded tremendously. Became a "buy now, pay later" world.
G. The mall was invented and quickly spread mainly in suburban areas where the car was king.
H. The authors summarize many of these developments, and throw in for good measure the rise to television. (See mid p. 150) TV advertising and shows having the effect of "stretching reference groups," as Juliet Schor will stress in our next book, The Overpsent American.
I. Critics such as Vance Packard, John Kenneth Galbraith, and the counterculture movement of the '60s raised a red flag, but really to no avail. Also, an interesting comment from Bobby Kennedy when he was running for President in '68: "we will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods....The gross national product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior." (p. 152) President Carter was the last president to question the spread of affluenza, also to no avail of course.
Chapter 19: The age of affluenza
A. This chapter is mainly about the title of the first section, ADFLUENZA. "That advertising's prime purpose is to promote affluenza is hardly a secret,..." (p. 154) Then, see comment of Pierre Martineau, marketing director for the Chicago Tribune. (mid p. 154)
B. The costs of ads are phenomenal -- a typical 30-second national TV commercial costs nearly $300,000 to produce -- that's $10,000 a second! Advertising is a $217 billion a year industry. And its everywhere, as we know: billboards, school buses, coporate logos on some texts, product placement in films, even outer space was considered.
C. We live in an era of hypercommercialism. Advertising encourages us to meet nonmaterial needs (love, etc.) through material ends. Buy this product and we'll be loved and accepted. It's all about image.
D. The graph on p. 158 exaggerates the upward "consumption spike" (just as the earlier graph on species extinction did). Nonetheless, consumption has unquestionably increased greatly.
E. The authors close this chapter with some critical thoughts from conservative economist, Wilhelm Ropke. (See last 3 paragraphs, p. 159, very perceptive)
Chapter 20: Is there a (real) doctor in the house?
A. That is, a real doctor in contrast to the "spin doctors," which is what this chapter is mainly about.
B. But the authors begin by again making use of the doctor/medical analogy. Though there is all sorts of evidence (or symptoms) of the spread of affluena, as we've seen, we tend to look the other way -- "told over and over again (by the spin doctors)that the market will provide. But will it?"
1. "How many millions of Americans are wheezing with affluenza, yet remain stubbornly in denial?" (p.161)
C. Although we may be aware of how pervasive advertising has become, "few people really understand the other dimension of marketing -- an undercover (PR) industry that creates and perpetuates our commercial culture." (p. 161) They go on to give numerous examples of how powerful this PR campaign is. For example --
1. Actually working behind the scenes to sabotage a book critical of some aspect of business.
2. Funding "front groups" which have the appearance of being reputable, such as the American Council on Health and Science (note the funders, p. 163)
3. Note successful earlier campaigns to defend cigarettes and leaded gas.
4. PR firms which have sought to sow doubt regarding the global warming problem -- suggest it may actually be good for us. Video entitled "Greening of the Earth" emphasizing all the crops we'll be able to grow, ignoring the spread of tropical diseases, droughts, floods, hurricanes, rising sea levels, economic disruption.
5. PR has infiltrated the news media -- significant percentage of news stories generated by "spin doctors" or PR "journalists."
D. The consequences may be dire, given the speed we seem to be travelling at. (See last paragraph, p. 170)
That brings us up to Part Three, where we'll start on Tuesday 3/10.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Paper Topic Description
Sociology 215
Paper Topic
3/5/09
A. For this assignment, each of you will identify and investigate a social problem other than the ones we will be considering in class. Of course, since everything is interrelated, it is quite possible that whatever problem you choose to focus on may be indirectly connected to the social problems we are focusing on in class. Nonetheless, I'd like them to be sufficiently different, and in order to insure that, you will need to get my ok for your topic NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, MARCH 26TH, which is our last class before Spring Break.
In identifying a social problem, you will need to make a case for why it is a social problem and how serious it is based on my class lectures on the ground or basis for defining social problems which I presented during the first couple weeks of the semester (some of which I posted on this blog). You will have to do some research to at least describe the nature of the problem and make the case for why it should be considered a serious social problem. Beyond that, I then want you to discuss HOW you would go about investigating this problem. For example, what sources might you consult? what institutions and individuals are involved? who might you interview and what sort of questions would you ask?, etc. In short, the paper as a whole can be looked upon as a formal proposal you might write to do an independent study or independent Interim. Indeed, doing such an independent study or Interim might be something to consider in the future and this paper (with some minor changes) might serve as your proposal.
B. The paper should be roughly 6-7 pages. Be sure to indicate the page number(s) and source(s) in parentheses following any quotation(s) you incorporate in your paper (eg. p. 97, Schor). Please include a bibliography of sources at the end, including web addresses of any Internet sources consulted.
C. The paper itself is due THURSDAY, APRIL 30TH. On that day, you will all be called upon to give a brief presentation (5-10 minutes) of your paper in class, which will also be evaluated. The paper is worth 40 points and the class presentation 10 points, for a total of 50 for this assignment.
__________________________________
Tomorrow (Fri. 3/6) I will be posting some more lecture notes on "Affluenza," along with a description of the family exercise involving making up midterm exam questions for the midterm exam which will be given on Tuesday, March 17th, as I announced this morning. Finally, all of you individually should be thinking of some questions over the weekend so you'll have something to discuss with your other family members next Tuesday.
Paper Topic
3/5/09
A. For this assignment, each of you will identify and investigate a social problem other than the ones we will be considering in class. Of course, since everything is interrelated, it is quite possible that whatever problem you choose to focus on may be indirectly connected to the social problems we are focusing on in class. Nonetheless, I'd like them to be sufficiently different, and in order to insure that, you will need to get my ok for your topic NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, MARCH 26TH, which is our last class before Spring Break.
In identifying a social problem, you will need to make a case for why it is a social problem and how serious it is based on my class lectures on the ground or basis for defining social problems which I presented during the first couple weeks of the semester (some of which I posted on this blog). You will have to do some research to at least describe the nature of the problem and make the case for why it should be considered a serious social problem. Beyond that, I then want you to discuss HOW you would go about investigating this problem. For example, what sources might you consult? what institutions and individuals are involved? who might you interview and what sort of questions would you ask?, etc. In short, the paper as a whole can be looked upon as a formal proposal you might write to do an independent study or independent Interim. Indeed, doing such an independent study or Interim might be something to consider in the future and this paper (with some minor changes) might serve as your proposal.
B. The paper should be roughly 6-7 pages. Be sure to indicate the page number(s) and source(s) in parentheses following any quotation(s) you incorporate in your paper (eg. p. 97, Schor). Please include a bibliography of sources at the end, including web addresses of any Internet sources consulted.
C. The paper itself is due THURSDAY, APRIL 30TH. On that day, you will all be called upon to give a brief presentation (5-10 minutes) of your paper in class, which will also be evaluated. The paper is worth 40 points and the class presentation 10 points, for a total of 50 for this assignment.
__________________________________
Tomorrow (Fri. 3/6) I will be posting some more lecture notes on "Affluenza," along with a description of the family exercise involving making up midterm exam questions for the midterm exam which will be given on Tuesday, March 17th, as I announced this morning. Finally, all of you individually should be thinking of some questions over the weekend so you'll have something to discuss with your other family members next Tuesday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)