Consumerism in America

After we discussed the rise of consumerism this past week in class I had to ask myself the question: is consumerism the end, or simply the means to an end? There was no debate in my mind whether the rise of consumerism was valid- one merely needs to walk down the street and observe their own behavior to be sure of that. As a society, we make snap judgments based on a person's clothes, car, home, community, etc. I won't speak on this kind of "social profiling" in this post, and I do not want to convey any negative connotations; just to say that consumerism is evident, that we as Americans divide ourselves by income bracket, and spend our money correspondingly. But is the goal of the average citizen to advance through those income brackets, to make enough money to move up the social ladder? I think in today's society, the answer is yes and no. Every person has the natural inclination to advance themselves in their lifetime, which I would say illustrates at least an unconscious desire of most people to work into a higher position in society. Furthermore, I have yet to meet the person who would turn down a promotion to maintain their position. These natural inclinations might persuade one to conclude that consumerism is an end, but I think that misrepresents the truth. While people may have these inclinations, I do not think that for most people attaining wealth for the purpose of demonstrating one's position in society is at the forefront of their thoughts. I do not think that it is a goal that is concentrated, focused on. Perhaps, as I stated before, there is an unconscious drive, but the fact that it is not a cognizant goal would suggest to me that it is not an end. I believe that our society is turning away from this sort of "social profiling" that fuels consumerism. No doubt, it exists stronger than ever in some circles, but for the majority of people this is a declining phenomenon. I believe in this day and age, people seek wealth for comfort and the ability to achieve other goals, whatever they may be, but that wealth is usually not a goal in and of itself. Granted, we also live in an extremely diverse society so this cannot possibly be true of all; but for most Americans, I believe this to hold truth.