On the Origins of Consumerism
January 15th, 2010
“‘In my parents’ generation, they ended up buying a house in their forties and a car even later,’ Mr. Kadepurkar said. ‘When we were in college, I don’t think anyone dreamed we would be doing it so early in life.’ His salary rose to a princely $20,000 a year, then $40,000, and he marveled as those who joined (his employer) Infosys just a few years after him exuberantly cashed in their first paychecks to buy the latest cell phones. ‘They are unhesitatingly buying things like cars and motorbikes, and taking out loans to do it,’ he said. ‘They’ve not seen a lean period’ (Meredith 117-8).”
Much like Americans, Indians are choosing to spend their ever-growing paychecks on modern consumer goods. Indians like Mr. Stawan Kadepurkar are experiencing this new consumer culture firsthand.
But how did this desire to purchase the latest cell phones, shiny new cars, and bigger houses come about? People feel a biological need to differentiate themselves from one another, to create a pecking order. Modern people in egalitarian societies choose to differentiate themselves by purchasing luxury items to appear wealthier. This is by no means a modern phenomenon.
Like India, the origins of consumerism in the United States can be seen near its founding. Centuries ago, Europeans, and by extension Americans, distinguished themselves by social class. Those in the lowest classes could not rise up to become aristocracy; one was either born into nobility or not. But by breaking off from Great Britain and the king, the United States became an egalitarian society without social classes.
Consequently, as John Adams a founding father of the United States once described, Americans needed something to fill the void:
‘Hence arose, said Adams, an inevitable social division between the few and the many, between gentlemen and commoners, between ‘the rich and the poor, the laborious and idle, the learned and the ignorant,’ between those who had attained superiority and those who aspired to it. Grounded as it was in the irrational passions of people, this division could be neither stable nor secure. The struggle for superiority existed everywhere, even in egalitarian, republican America. Indeed, argued Adams, almost a half century before (Alexis de) Tocqueville made the same penetrating observation, Americans were more driven by passion for distinction, by the desire to set themselves from one another, than other peoples. In a republican society devoted to equality’there can be no subordination.’ A man would see his neighbor ‘whom he holds his equal’ with a better coach, house, or course. ‘He cannot bear it; he must and will be on a level with him.’ America, Adams concluded, had thus become ‘more Avaricious than any other Nation’ (Wood pg.214).”
The British-American people thus turned to consumerism. Not just the gentry, but the growing “middle-class” as well. They purchased cloth, ceramics, tea, and cutlery on credit provided by Scottish and English merchants. These early Americans were not “the self-sufficient yeomen of Jeffersonian mythology (Breen pg.454).”
They purchased imported goods for social status:
“One English traveler discovered to her surprise that in rural North Carolina, women seldom bothered to produce soap. It was not a question of the availability of raw materials. Good ashes could be had at no expense. But these rural women were consumers, and they prefer to purchase Irish soap ‘at the store at a monstrous price’ (Breen pg.455).”
In India, the same cultural move towards consumerism is beginning to take place. As barriers between the various Indian castes fall, Indians purchase consumer goods to differentiate themselves. Car sales, for example, jumped in India “69 percent over the past four years to reach 1.1 million (Meredith pg.163).”
What do you think? From what you have seen and read, are Indians falling into the same consumerist trap as Americans? Will this process positively or negatively affect the Indian people? If consumerism is bad, can is there a way to stop or reverse it?
- Alex Thornton
Cited Works
1. Breen, T. H. “Consumption, Anglicization, and the Formation of American Identity.” Major Problems in American Colonial History. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
2. Meredith, Robyn. The Elephant and the Dragon. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 2007.
3. Wood, Gordon. Empire of Liberty. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2009
Entry Filed under: 2010 Student Blogs, India, Misc.
5 Comments Add your own
1. Erika Bylund | January 25th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I do think there is some merit in the claim that the growth of Indian consumerism is tied to the growing need of the masses to differentiate themselves. But at the same time, I think a certain level of material comfort is pursued simply for the sake of that comfort and not for the primary purpose of differentiation from the masses. India’s middle class is growing. As incomes grow, people can afford what I would call basic comforts- several outfits, a few more pairs of shoes, a phone to communicate, a car to travel, etc. I think that a purchase needs to be conspicuously ostentatious and luxurious, beyond functionality, to be considered consumption for differentiation.
While such purchases by the up-and-coming Indian middle class might seem ostentatious because the masses suffer such abject poverty, in India, there are some very basic consumer good that just appear flashy because they are new or modern.
2. Jeff Severn | February 8th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I don’t think think consumerism is bad per se. I think it is driven by marketing efforts in many cases, but it’s also a choice someone has. Do they spend their time making dinner or do they go out to eat. Do they spend time hand washing their clothes or take them to the laundromat, do they make their own soap from readily available materials or buy it already made. This is what Dr. York called outsourcing your life. What do you want to spend your life doing? If you have a well paying job I’m sure in many cases, you would take the path of leisure instead of work.
3. Emily Schaapveld | February 11th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Erika raised an interesting comparison between consumption of what she calls basic comforts and consumption of luxurious items simply for differentiation. We all buy things that we do not need and for different reasons. Mostly though, the standards have simply evolved for the middle class. Do we all need cell phones? Well, if nobody had one and it was not the standard, then no, but the fact of the matter is that everyone has one, so you would be differentiating yourself by not having one. Do we consider having one car to be over-consumption in the U.S? No, most might even consider having just one car as limiting consumption. Like Erika said, maybe the reason Indian consumption habits seem ostentatious is because access to those products is relatively new in the India market and they have not become standard…yet.
4. John Barry | February 14th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
I do not foresee India falling into the same problems with consumerism that us in America seem to struggle with. In a nation of over a billion people it’s clear that cases of “living above one’s means” will continue to emerge left and right. India, however, unlike America, is quite familiar with “lean periods,” and is not a nation of people known for splurgling but rather one known for frugality and careful spending practices. As the amount of Indians seen on the streets with luxury automobiles and upscale fashions increases then too will the acceptance of this practice. With so many more Indians finding financial success than in years past, consumerism is clearly going to become a more prevalent trend, but never to the extent that it has become in America. We Americans not only value the sorts of things that lead to consumerism more, but we are also the wealthiest nation in the history of mankind. If I’m wrong though, and consumerism does catch on in India to the extent that it has here, it will be a potentially great thing for their economy.
5. Frederick Peemoeller | March 11th, 2010 at 9:48 am
The consumerism in India is completely normal for a country that is reaping the benefits of a growing economy. The standard of living will get better for many Indians, and it only makes sense that they take advantage of the situation. With that said, I agree with John and do not believe that consumerism will ever be as widespread and out of hand as it is in America. I believe that products will be bought to make their lives easier, but there won’t be a need for 5 dollar throwaway watches, shoe horns, back scratchers, stress balls, or any other worthless product that is produced overseas and consumed in the masses in our beloved country.
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