In the modern consumer society, there is a depressing situation with the expression of protest. We can observe a considerable number of young people who talk about a rebellion against the "system", at the same time, there have been no real revolutions (and not coups like the Maidan) for a very long time. There are many reasons for this situation: from the crisis of the labor movement to the absence of a revolutionary theory adequate to our time. Because of this, the class nature of the protest we have now, in the overwhelming majority of cases, has a petty-bourgeois character. The absence of adequate protest is influenced by the very structure of society, in which the working class finds itself in a crisis situation, remaining on the periphery of the ongoing processes. Let's take a closer look at the economic characteristics of modern society and the psychological properties of the people that make up its foundation. And in the next part we will consider the specific manifestations of protest in such a society and their consequences.
Economy of a consumer society
Any bourgeois society, including a consumer society, is based on the bourgeois class. The main force of such a society is the capitalists (the big and middle bourgeoisie), who should try to reduce the cost of production of the goods as much as possible, while extracting the maximum profit. This can be achieved by different methods, one of the main methods of classical capitalism is to increase the mass production. This process came to the fore when industrialization took place. On this wave, the working class also gained revolutionary strength. But now capitalism has entered a new phase. After society has reached a certain level of satisfaction of basic needs, a special factor in increasing demand and competition between goods began to come to the fore - the image factor. Any product has objectively measurable characteristics (weight, volume, processor clock speed, etc.). But besides this, it also has an image (symbolic), subjective component (fashionableness, stylishness, coolness, uniqueness, etc.). For example, a car has objective characteristics (speed, engine power, etc.). The car also has a brand. Imagine 2 cars: BMW and Lada. Everything that arose in your mind when you presented these cars related to their subjective, image characteristics.engine power, etc.) Also the car has a brand. Imagine 2 cars: BMW and Lada. Everything that arose in your mind when you presented these cars related to their subjective, image characteristics.engine power, etc.) Also the car has a brand. Imagine 2 cars: BMW and Lada. Everything that arose in your mind when you presented these cars related to their subjective, image characteristics.
In a sufficiently developed consumer society, it becomes difficult for the capitalist to increase profits only due to the objective characteristics of the product and the objective needs of a person, since they are not unlimited. A person's ability to consume has a limit, for example, he cannot immediately eat more food than his stomach can hold. Therefore, there are mechanisms for artificial stimulation of demand, which are based on the image component of the product. The social stratum of people that creates this component is often called the "creative class". From the point of view of Marxism, the so-called "creative class" is one of the varieties of the petty bourgeoisie - a class that occupies an intermediate position between the capitalists (the big and middle bourgeoisie) and the proletariat. The petty bourgeois has the means of production, but most often he works himself,only with sufficient development by hiring performers. It is the close interaction of the capitalists and the stratum of the petty bourgeoisie called the "creative class" that is the basis of a developed consumer society.
For making a profit, modern society uses a consumer who must have certain properties for the economic mechanism to work. The consumer should want to buy as many goods as possible at the maximum cost, and regardless of their real needs and financial capabilities. In this case, the economic effect from one person will be maximum. But how do you get a person to buy something that he doesn't really need? Using the very image component of the product, which psychologically affects the consumer.
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Consumer psychology
The image (symbolic) component of the product is subjective, so it is necessary to use psychological mechanisms for the consumer to buy the product. That is, in essence, direct or even shape the desires of a person. For this, certain suggestions are used to stimulate consumer behavior. But that is not all. A developed consumer society inevitably begins to form in the consumer certain psychological properties that better contribute to the functioning of the society itself. The most prominent are clip thinking and narcissism.
Let's consider the interaction of each of these properties with the consumer society.
Clip thinking leads to a weakening of the consumer's ability for logical analysis and increases suggestibility, that is, the perception of statements on faith. The formation of clip thinking is also facilitated by the modern education system and the consumption of fragmented, fragmentary information gleaned from the media and the Internet. The picture of the world in a person with this type of thinking is a mosaic of disparate, unrelated facts. This type of thinking contributes to the fact that the consumer analyzes the objective properties of the product less, using the apparatus of logical thinking and begins to focus more on the image component of the product, perceiving the information of this component on faith. In fact, the modern consumer becomes a fetishist who believes in the irrational properties of the purchased goods: coolness, creativity,environmental friendliness and so on. These image properties of goods do not directly follow from their objective properties, they are simply inspired by the consumer through advertising or fashion.
Another psychological property, more precisely a disorder, is narcissism. It greatly facilitates the formation of new, previously non-existent needs and desires in the consumer, and also contributes to the fact that a person does not limit spending on himself by objective needs. Narcissism has become, perhaps, a disease of entire generations of consumers. This psychological disorder lies in the fact that a person begins to sincerely love himself first of all. Moreover, now it is so widespread that it is considered normal human behavior. The belief that the world around them was created specifically to satisfy their insatiable need for pleasure, new impressions and positive emotions is deeply rooted in the picture of the world of people suffering from narcissism. A person afflicted with this disorder often begins to spend money uncontrollably,creating your image with the help of the image component of things. A person with predominantly clip thinking is most often unstable in his addictions, they change in accordance with what is suggested to him this time. However, if the consumer "found his style", he becomes conditioned, trying to choose those products that suit him. Because of this, certain “subcultural niches” of lovers of goods with certain image properties are being formed in the consumer society. For example, fans of “creative” style prefer Apple products, fans of “ecological” style prefer ethnic and “environmentally friendly” products, etc. This behavior allows for more complex manipulations with consumers.they change according to what is suggested to him this time. However, if the consumer "found his style", he becomes conditioned, trying to choose those products that suit him. Because of this, certain “subcultural niches” of lovers of goods with certain image properties are being formed in the consumer society. For example, fans of “creative” style prefer Apple products, fans of “ecological” style prefer ethnic and “environmentally friendly” products, etc. This behavior allows for more complex manipulations with consumers.they change according to what is suggested to him this time. However, if the consumer "found his style", he becomes conditioned, trying to choose those products that suit him. Because of this, certain “subcultural niches” of lovers of goods with certain image properties are being formed in the consumer society. For example, fans of “creative” style prefer Apple products, fans of “ecological” style prefer ethnic and “environmentally friendly” products, etc. This behavior allows for more complex manipulations with consumers. Because of this, certain “subcultural niches” of lovers of goods with certain image properties are being formed in the consumer society. For example, fans of “creative” style prefer Apple products, fans of “ecological” style prefer ethnic and “environmentally friendly” products, etc. This behavior allows for more complex manipulations with consumers. Because of this, certain “subcultural niches” of lovers of goods with certain image properties are being formed in the consumer society. For example, fans of “creative” style prefer Apple products, fans of “ecological” style prefer ethnic and “environmentally friendly” products, etc. This behavior allows for more complex manipulations with consumers.
The proliferation of these psychological properties is a direct consequence of the very mechanism of functioning of the consumer society, which begins to form a person who is best adapted to such a society. That is, a person who normally adapts to the existing society gets a load of psychological disorders that affect all of his behavior. Now imagine that in such a society there is a separate person who is dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs. What will he do, how will he behave? Continue reading: The Working Class and the Culture of a Consumer Society. Part 2.
