Consumerism is a social and economic theory that promotes the acquisition of material goods at ever accelerating rates. If you recall from our Marx as Santa Claus/Captain Capitalism video, you’ll remember that CC wants people to spend spend spend. Indeed, the line of thought is that money should always be working: Consumerism promotes this.
In the videolinked below, you hear President George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 discussing the implications of extremism on his consumerist nation.
Now that’s not to say this view of consumerism is universally accepted: Environmentalists are one group staunchly opposed (just as extremist religious fundamentalists are).
Watch the following video and create graphic notes–depicting, in the end, your response to the video–with the accompanying note taker. Please note: This video is very biased.
story_of_stuff_-_student_notes
