Consumerism/wants and needs

Think about it-wants and needs have been completely switched. The only things one really needs for survival are clothes, food, and shelter, not electronics, large companies, and fancy restaurants (though the latter is nice). Today’s society, however, is completely programmed to buy things, completely centered on money: new clothes, shoes, and accessories before the previous ones are worn out, Wiis, iPods with more gigabytes, videogames, unhealthy food, popular music, new furniture. These are all based on wants. There is a major difference between “I need that new computer” and “I want that new computer”. In everyday conversation you will hear ‘need’ being used in ‘want’s’ place. Advertisements are directed toward making you want things.See:http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C58AE7D1E8681076&search_query=the+century+of+self&rclk=pti Edward Bernays, the man who “created want”, was the first to break down the minds of the people. The British Broadcasting Corporation’s television series, “The Century of Self”, follows Bernays’s exploits in America, and how he changed the sense of democracy in this country. The series is very good, and has many facts about history in England and Germany, as well as America’s economic progression. I will try to find a link to the full series and post it.