Globalization and the Impact of American Consumerism
Globalization and the impact of American Consumerism
Globalization is a complex system of social, economic, and political factors that adhere not only in relation to states or nations, but also to the globe as an interrelated unit. Globalization is run by actors on the international stage, which operates through several categories positioned at different levels, each with a specific function to serve the American capitalist system. The cultural-ideology of consumerism supports the global capitalist system; it promotes a social trend in which the population consumes vast amounts of resources incredibly fast and without concern for the environmental impact.
The American idiom is forged from the fires of a unifying logic, bigger, better, faster, and cheaper. While this concept is the one that makes the American dream a possibility, it is not the most efficient process for sustainable growth, as our recent financial meltdown has evidenced. We have backed ourselves into a proverbial corner, and it looks like we won’t be returning to prosperity any time soon. One of the main sources for concern in the U.S. economy has been that the average American does not know how to pay for their larger purchases with
cash. In most instances, Americans choose to finance their purchases beyond their ability to pay for them and their home mortgages have been no different, as it is explained in research conducted by the Federal Reserve Board, “Since 1975, total household debt in the US has grown by a factor of 41/2 when adjusted for inflation. Household debt from mortgages over that same period has similarly grown by a factor of 51/2. In fact, total household debt in the US increased every single year from 1982 to 2007, even when factoring in inflation, except in the recession year of 1991” (Federal Reserve Board 2008).
The Sub-prime loan process and its resulting Domino effect, has catapulted the U.S. economy into the worst economic forecast since the Great
Globalization is a complex system of social, economic, and political factors that adhere not only in relation to states or nations, but also to the globe as an interrelated unit. Globalization is run by actors on the international stage, which operates through several categories positioned at different levels, each with a specific function to serve the American capitalist system. The cultural-ideology of consumerism supports the global capitalist system; it promotes a social trend in which the population consumes vast amounts of resources incredibly fast and without concern for the environmental impact.
The American idiom is forged from the fires of a unifying logic, bigger, better, faster, and cheaper. While this concept is the one that makes the American dream a possibility, it is not the most efficient process for sustainable growth, as our recent financial meltdown has evidenced. We have backed ourselves into a proverbial corner, and it looks like we won’t be returning to prosperity any time soon. One of the main sources for concern in the U.S. economy has been that the average American does not know how to pay for their larger purchases with
cash. In most instances, Americans choose to finance their purchases beyond their ability to pay for them and their home mortgages have been no different, as it is explained in research conducted by the Federal Reserve Board, “Since 1975, total household debt in the US has grown by a factor of 41/2 when adjusted for inflation. Household debt from mortgages over that same period has similarly grown by a factor of 51/2. In fact, total household debt in the US increased every single year from 1982 to 2007, even when factoring in inflation, except in the recession year of 1991” (Federal Reserve Board 2008).
The Sub-prime loan process and its resulting Domino effect, has catapulted the U.S. economy into the worst economic forecast since the Great
Cited: Press, 1998. Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States: Flows and Outstandings; Federal Reserve Board, D.C.), December 11, 2008 The world’s youth, 2000; Population Reference Bureau; Washington, DC: (2000) The Psychology of Globalization; Jeffery Jensen Arnett, published in, The American Psychologist, October, 2002.