America's Religion: Consumerism

[jeffrey]

Yet "consumer" has steadily infiltrated our language and become our self-designation and default definition of what it means to be a person. Group Health Cooperative, of which I am a member, does not speak of us as either patients or members, but as consumers. We are health care consumers. Higher education mutes talk of the educated person in favor of consumers of educational services and getting the best value for your education dollar. Churches gear up for "church shoppers," religious consumers.

Articles of Faith: Consumerism is a greedy society's religion

[PrincessPerky]

House Minority Leader Boehner, a Republican congressman from Ohio, celebrated the recent passage of the economic stimulus package by saying, "The sooner we get this relief in the hands of the American people, the sooner they can begin to do their job of being good consumers." Your title: "consumer;" your mission: "buy stuff." Echoes of the president's call, amid the crisis of 9/11, to get out and "shop."

grumble, this is what our wonderful system of election put into power... a fellow who wants us to be 'good consumers' while articles regarding the terrible state of retirement and saving in the US...not to mention the constant articles regarding how folks making 6 figures are 'barely surviving...generally due to consumerism...how on earth can a rational person encourage something that digs so many into holes?

[Finally Frugal]

I, too, am a bit disgusted by our politicians urging us to 'consume, consume, consume'. Isn't that how we got into this mess in the first place? Didn't we take out too much HELOC and CC debt, while our incomes didn't keep pace?

I, for one, plan to stimulate my debt reduction plan with my "rebate" check, instead of stimulating more trade with China by buying imported "stuff".