Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole

In "Jihad vs McWorld," an earlier work published in 1995, Benjamin Barber made some prescient observations about the threats that Islamic fundamentalism and consumer capitalism posed for liberal democracy. The warnings went largely unnoticed until 9/11. At which point the book was republished for its insightfulness as to why Islamic fundamentalists were bent on destroying the McWorld created by consumer capitalism. Now Barber has written a follow-up: Not only does Jihad pose a threat to McWorld, McWorld is actually in the process of undermining itself as well as liberal democracy.There is nothing new about fulminating against the excesses of consumer capitalism. Critics from Thorstein Veblen, to John Kenneth Galbraith, to Daniel Bell have done as much. Barber extols the productivist capitalism of an earlier era, characterized by hard work, discipline, and deferred gratification. This type of capitalism met "the real needs of real people." Today in the era of consumer capitalism basic needs are met rather quickly, leaving the consumer with lots of disposable income and many options of spending it foolishly.It has long been known by marketing executives that the purpose of advertising is to make people buy what they don't really need. One wonders about the long term consequences of a lifetime of this kind of brainwashing. Barber breaks the process down into two stages. The first is the "consumerization of the child." This is done by inculcating shopping-centered behavior in children, training them to become habitual shoppers and even developing brand consciousness. The second stage is not to have the child develop into an adult. Marketing executives seek to infantilize adults, so that they have no deeper understanding of themselves than the brand names that define them. Even though this critique of consumer culture sounds harsh, there is some truth in it.There is also some truth to the claim that it is undermining the public sphere. A society of adolescents or infantilized adults focusing primarily on their private needs has, according to Barber, led to a decline in public participation in democracy as well as a decline in public institutions. He fears that the increasing privatization of the the public sphere that has been going on for the past decades will be the undoing of democracy.Although Barber proposes some "remedies" to "redirect capitalism," they're not even worth mentioning because they are futile. When the excesses of consumer capitalism reach a point where they are no longer sustainable, capitlaism will redirect itself. When infantilized adults find that their quality of life is not improving with the consumption of more useless goods they will then decide to grow up.

I see a number of other reviewers belittling the book because of some trivial factual error regarding sports figures or celebrities, but in my eyes those points merely underscores the point that Barber is trying to make. In the end the constant media focus on these types of people is in my eyes a mass distraction. Does it change my life one iota when a drunken celebrity does something stupid? Not at all, but the media covers it for hour on end, and people lap it up.People defend popular culture such as Harry Potter or Shrek, but these are all pure escapism and have very little relevance to our daily lives. Reviewers of those films make tortured comparisons to try and prove relevance to daily life, but the sad fact is that many people have become conditioned to not expect more, and perhaps not even have the patience to view a more substantive work.Other reviewers insist that they aren't manipulated and that they have free choice. To an extent that is true, but one can easily argue that many people are making poor choices because they have been so deeply conditioned by advertisers. How can you justify spending 50K$ on a car, and replacing it when it is 3 years old when an inexpensive well-made car will fulfill the basic needs of transportation and may last 5-8 years instead? How can you justify spending money on bottled water when tap water in most areas is just fine? And how can you justify accumulating tens of thousands in consumer debt just to acquire all of this stuff? There are countless such examples all over the place.And finally, there is the paradigm that runs deeply through our society that having more money and having more material goods will somehow make you happier. The problem is that these desires can never be satisfied - there is always something more, and there is always someone else who has more. In the end all of this materialism leaves people feeling empty, and the only tonic that they know to try and fill the void is to go out and shop some more.On the other hand, if you can reach a point where you are content with what you have, you may find that many of the things that you do have are completely superfluous and can be donated to Goodwill or sold. Get rid of enough stuff, and that McMansion will seem empty, and a more modest and affordable house may meet your needs quite nicely.

While not always a smooth ride, Consumed provides a cogent and compelling case for the dangers of encroachment of the public space by private capital and the free market. The reinvention of citizenship into consumerism is the shift in identities from the civic work of adults in a pluralistic society to the private world of brand identity. Religious and nationalistic identities also seek to fill the void left by our tradition of civic religion that makes room for alternative identities while assuring they do not become isolated and so emboldened they present a real threat of atomizing and tribalizing our cohesive heterogeneity. As market capitalism continues to provide toys and gadgets for its first World clientele it completely disregards the very real needs of 80% of the world who simply can't pay for what they need and find themselves in a "race to the bottom" victims of a system that never provides a level playing field.This book is so much more than a critique of exploitative capitalism and our seduction by marketers and advertisers. It's a warning by the author who joins his voice with many other public intellectuals who, to paraphrase Leonard Cohen, "...see the future and it is murder".

We, especially the peoples of Canada and the U.S.A., have become hopelessly addicted to shopping. It has become a serious psychological disorder for many individuals and it has ruined lives of many families. This wonderful book looks at this important phenomenon closely, analyzes the underlying causes of it, and tells us how it has become such a serious social problem. It is a very objective work; it is timely and highly relevant to many of us.Don't miss it.

I like the subject matter of the book and I like the size, design, hardcover and all...So I can only recommend this book.

Although published in 2007, this critical book is full of deep thought and sharp observations, and it will (unfortunately) remain being highly relevant for the next decades!

This is AWESOME, the research and care that went into this REAL assessment of various situations in the US. Highly recommended.