Adrian Burstein — 30 January 2005
Consumption to the power of tenth
I have seen lately many alarming articles about the falling dollar, its causes, and consequences around the globe. These articles often had a political agenda and focused on macro-economic perspectives, blaming the astronomic national deficit. As important as all this is, I inevitably abstracted myself from the economic speech, and fell in a delicious thinking cycle around the notion of reality dictating our behaviors vs. our behaviors dictating reality. I mean, aren’t we who with our consumption behaviors created that deficit to begin with?
As early as 1902, economist Thorstein Veblen coined the term “conspicuous consumption” as the indiscriminate consumption of artistic handcrafts or decorative goods by the rich. This consumption was aimed first to show off wealth, and only then at a secondary instance to serve functional purposes, if any at all. It helped them to distinguish themselves even further from the masses, fulfilling emotional needs derived from the social contexts.
Today, the craftsmen of the luxury have been replaced by some “designers”, and technologies have made it possible for the habit of conspicuous consumption to spread out to all of us. Everyone today can afford mass produced products (that are first attractive and then functional) to help feeling unique or special as the wealthy described by Veblen felt 100 years ago.
But how can mass produced products, which obviously people know other people own, make individuals unique? During Veblen’s time, uniqueness was a function of “having” as scarcity prevailed. Today, uniqueness is a function of “choosing” being people’s selection of products what makes people feel unique. Product churners (designers, and companies) and the infinite array of mass produced goods available have created the imperative need for choosing and owning, more, and more, and more.
Nothing wrong with this we might think, but the fact is that as we move through the years, this need for “choosing” and the emotional rewards from consuming are often truncated by force. Too many people ignored the future (the golden years, a falling dollar, or whatever crisis), and focused on living today, spending today, and consuming today indiscriminately. What follows is a shift from abundance to deprivation experienced by millions of people who reach retirement age to live their lives without practicing their favorite activity: consuming.
And what happens to us? We get nothing less than the economic hang-over caused by others, and the challenging opportunity to change it for once. An endeavor of ethical dimensions. What can we do as designers to help revert this vicious cycle? How can we design products, services, and experiences that will help our behaviors dictate reality in a positive yet profitable way?
Comments
Interesting post, definately people put their identity into things they own through bricolage, adopting the signifiers of the various subcultures they identify with and make them their own. All these signs and signifiees come together to form who we are, even though we are just a bricolage of our choosen 'individuality'.
Your 'blog' is always a good read, keep it up.
Posted by Elias on January 31, 2005 03:41 PM | Permalink to Comment
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Great work, continu this way
Posted by eric on January 31, 2005 12:21 PM | Permalink to Comment