1A Lesson for “Two Cheers for Materialism” (28)

 

Part One. Study Questions

 

1. What is the typical academic critique of consumerism? Shopping is an insatiable mental disease in which consumerism is a substitute for a lack of fulfilling the basic human needs—love, belonging, creativity, personal distinction, and a sense of accomplishment.
2. Why does Twitchell disdain the academic critique of consumerism? He is too out of touch with popular culture, Twitchell contends. See page 30. His negative and narrow view of consumerism blinds him to the vitality, comfort (31 bottom) and creativity of consumerism. Also consumerism is accessible to people of all economic classes, not just the rich. See page 31.
3. For Twitchell, what are the major defenses of consumerism?
4. For Twitchell, what is “spiritualism”? See page 31.
5. What is Twitchell’s thesis? See page 31, second to last paragraph.
6. Read Twitchell’s defense of consumerism on page 32. How is his defense stand up to the current foreclosure, bailout, and Stock Market crises?

 

 

Part Two. The Defenses of Consumerism

 

1. It is a powerful force that has triumphed over other forces and therefore it deserves our attention. See page 28.
2. Consumerism is not a disease, but the natural result of human beings’ innate nature, which is “to love things.” See page 29.
3. Loving, making and acquiring things is part of how we create and transform ourselves. See page 29.
4. Consumerism is an important affirmation of democracy and freedom. See page 31, top.
5. Consumerism is compatible with spiritualism, not at war with it. See page 31.
6. Consumerism has improved the quality of our lives. See page 31, bottom.
7. Consumerism has not been an elitist endeavor, reserved only for the rich, but available to all. See page 32 top.
8. Consumerism has not eroded financial responsibility and in fact 95.5 percent of consumer debt gets paid? See page 32. (still true?)
9. Consumption heightens our engagement with the world. See page 34.
10. Consumption has created “lifestyles” or “secular religions” to nourish the human spirit. See page 35.
11. Consumerism frees us from the restraints of class. We don’t aspire to be middle class anymore, he writes on page 36; we aspire to be hip and cool.

 

Part Three. Weaknesses in Twitchell’s Defense of Consumerism

1. Twitchell makes a good point that consumerism energizes us and stimulates our creativity and improves our lives, but he ignores the Too Much of a Good Thing Rule, which states that good things in the extreme are destructive and that consumerism is in too many cases extreme addiction that consumes us.
2. His definition of democracy and freedom, on page 31, that our unlimited buying choices affirm our democracy and freedom, is a woefully fatuous (stupid), over simplistic, and infantile definition of democracy and freedom.
3. His claim, on page 31, that we are stronger by idolizing mass produced objects as sources of spirituality is either misguided or a stupid joke. Either way, the statement is lame.
4. His claim, on page 32, that Americans can handle debt and credit does not stand up to empirical evidence, especially during our present financial crisis.
5. His claim that kids are “engaged” with television on page 34, a short paragraph, is too over simplistic and to have any credibility or merit.
6. His claim on page 35 that consumerism allows us to plug-in to a prefabricated lifestyle and that this opportunity is a good thing is over simplistic and does not address the inevitable emptiness and shallowness of blindly embracing a “lifestyle.”

 

Part Three. Writing Option for Essay #4.

 

Defend or refute James Twitchell’s rhapsodic celebration of consumerism.

 

A sample thesis in defense of Twitchell might look like this:

 

While McMahon is determined to skewer Twitchell as a lunatic cheerleader for consumerism, Twitchell’s consumer celebration is a much needed antidote to the pessimistic academic critiques of consumerism, which remain woefully inadequate evidenced by _____________________, ______________________, _________________________, and _____________________________.

 

While Twitchell does a good job of pointing out the narrow-minded, sour academic critiques of consumerism, he is so eager to wave his pompoms in order to show consumerism’s sunny side that, as McMahon’s cogent lecture convincingly demonstrates, Twitchell  goes overboard and commits many serious argumentative errors evidenced by _______________________, __________________________, __________________________, and _____________________________.