There’s a Staggering Conspiracy Behind the Rise of Consumer Culture

Interesting article from Free At Last.  We really need to examine every facet of our lives and figure out where we're allowing are freedom to be hijacked.  Are we still persuaded by pretty ads in magazines and colorful commercials on TV to steer us in to thinking we need to purchase a product, a new car or a bigger house?  Why is it that we as a culture have so much stuff?  We don't need "stuff" to have experiences... isn't that why we're here - to experience?  When we're done experiencing and we go back to where we came (some may refer to this as "death"), do we look back on our "life" and say gee, I'm glad I had all that "stuff" to keep me company.  My truth (may not be the same for you) is that "stuff" is what people use to try to fill the hole they perceive exists by ignoring the voice from with in that is asking for attention.  When you start to pay attention to that voice and where it comes from and who its attached to and what it means, the need for "stuff" falls away.  This will be the demise of the banking industries monopolistic ponzi scheme (in my opinion only) - everyone realizing that they don't need stuff to be happy and stop purchasing useless stuff; when we stop buying, the pyramid collapses.  We are the ones that have kept it afloat for so long with our insatiable need to get in touch with our true selves.  Consumerism has probably been one of the biggest psy-ops that has been perpetrated against us as a culture.  If you'd like more info or a different perspective, please see the video titled Propaganda on the Down The Rabbit Hole page.

There’s A Staggering Conspiracy Behind The Rise Of Consumer Culture
Gus Lubin | Feb. 23, 2013, 4:17 PM

Americans weren’t always addicted to buying things.

Long before U.S. consumers racked up $11.3 trillion in aggregate debt, people used to save money for things they actually needed.

But in the age of plenty that followed World War I, corporations countered the threat of overproduction with a manipulative psychological strategy.

Consumer culture is born.

“We must shift America from a needs, to a desires culture,” wrote Paul Mazur of Lehman Brothers. “People must be trained to desire, to want new things even before the old had been entirely consumed. We must shape a new mentality in America. Man’s desires must overshadow his needs.”

This conspiracy, enabled by new sophistication in advertising and supported by the government, was shockingly effective.

For more on the origins of consumer culture, we turn to the BBC‘s excellent documentary, ”Century Of Self.”

American corporations were rich and powerful at the end of WWI, but they were worried about the danger of overproduction. What if there people acquired enough goods and simply stopped buying?

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