White noise

The White Noise of Consumption

In The Real Meaning of Consumer Demand ' Don DeLillo points out a number of motivating psychological factors that drive American economic consumerism . His approach is not designed to explore economic theory or to talk about the gross domestic product . Rather , he shows the severe problems associated with excessive consumerism and how it makes pawns out of those people wishing to make purchases

At the core of the article 's assessment is the notion that people are manipulated into making consumer purchases . Such a notion reiterates common

questions of consumerism that ask Do you buy something because you need it or because you are `supposed ' to buy it to keep up with the Joneses ' For DeLillo , the answer is obvious . People purchase items because they believe they are supposed to buy things to stay modern and up to date

Is this a good thing or a bad thing ? Honestly , DeLillo 's statements are sweeping generalizations that lean towards the notion that such a decision is a misguided one . While this may be true for some people , it is not necessarily as negatively impactful on others . But , DeLillo does make a number of wise points

Namely , when a person is constantly purchasing items because societal marketing says he /she should , the person is being perennially reactive No real individual human thought is going into the process . Rather people react in an automaton way because this is how they have been guided . As such , whatever positive benefits that...