HW 3

The readings for this week primarily dealt with the topics of consumerism and competitive acquisition, mostly in regards to the middle class (i.e. the middle class “squeeze”). In the article titled The Overspent American Schor discusses Americans’ obsession with spending, or as he calls it upscale spending –the new consumerism. He outlines how advertising and the media have played a pivotal role in “stretching our reference groups vertically (3); the need to compare oneself with people of a higher social class –sometimes of 4 or 5 times greater wealth or income. The author discusses the pitfalls of having these sorts of reference points and the implications on Americans’ savings and standard of living. Aside from the role of the media, product innovation and its accelerating pace also adds to this “arms race” of American upscale spending. Schor also illustrates just how dissatisfied Americans are, and why so many middle-class Americans feel materially dissatisfied. I would have to agree with Schor in this regard, as I believe that everyone I know who is a professional (my father, mother, sister, Vandy alums, etc) aspire to attain more money and monetary reward for their efforts in the workplace. While I do agree with many of the author’s arguments in The Overspent America, I feel that Schor has oversimplified this obsession with consumerism to define the entire middle-class. In the Nation of Rebels, authors Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter offer a somewhat different perspective –that not all middle-class people are status-seekers and social climbers. These authors paint a picture that I believe is much more analogous to my life experience, that which the authors call “defensive consumption”. This idea paints a very different view, and is much more in line Heibroner –the idea that people may not be particularly interested in outdoing their neighbors, but who want to maintain a more “respectable” standard of living. The authors make the analogy of “keeping up with the Jones” –a concept I feel myself and my family can very much relate to. Finally, Nelson’s pages fron Love and Money: The Question of Individual Motivation, suggests that many middle-class Americans are motivated by basic greed. Although he later picks apart his argument by saying that people inevitably need money (and that’s not always selfish), I do not completely agree that most Americans are motivated by greed, but rather that many Americans see money and salary as a measure of their performance, and it always feels good to be successful in what one does.