Theory Of Leisure Class

To outline the main point of this essay, which is about consumerism, the reader has to know roughly the structure of it. It begins with Veblens book about conspicuous consumption, what this is, and how the modern reader can relate to it. Second part will talk about a different theory of Heath and Potter’s book about the anti-consumerism, how is it that people come to be anti-consumerist, and the reasons it has not been as successful as it is often think it would be. Leading us to the third part, which answers the question of what is the relation between this two, and why is the ‘system’ something we cannot escape from.
In the book, The Theory of Leisure Class, Veblen talks about “conspicuous consumption”. This means to buy objects or services,
Nowadays, the world is what we call ‘brain-washed’ by the market, using advertisement, “…Society’s become so thoroughly permeated with propaganda and lies…” (1ST PARAGRAPH REBELL SELL). If we go back to the sixties, the idea of counter-culture was starting to emerge. This came from people wanting to become individuals, not being part of a system. Music was at the time one of the most influential factors. Best example to use would be, The Rolling Stones. This band at the time was doing the totally contrary of what was expected, totally rebelling to the authorities. The masses of people, starting following this in no time. People were actually going crazy, doing anything to become different, and show it to the world. From that point on, years passed by, and new types of what we call ‘sub-cultures’ started to appear. Hippies, Rockers, Punks, Goths, and many others including one of the latest addition to the list, the Hipsters. All of them showing they are anti-consumerist, finding ways to differentiate from the crowd. At the same time, going back to The Rolling Stones, in the present time, they are more a brand than a band. Their famous ‘tongue’ icon has became so famous, one can find it in any part of the world. The interesting thing is that when a person is seen wearing a T-shirt with the logo, and asked what is it, this person would probably not know.
Well, the answer is simple, at the moment when a person realizes that he is one of the conspicuous consumers, what will come to his mind is probably asking himself why is that and how can it be changed. This all comes to this individual wanting to be different, to become anti-consumerist. Using Hipsters as an example, we can see how it is all a never-ending cycle. The hipster in this case will be called Fred. He wants to be different, by not going to Starbucks, and not listening to the latest radio hit. Fred buys himself a great coffee machine, an eco-friendly thermos (because obviously he cares so much about environment, as no one else does), which he will use to take his coffee to work, and listening to this new, barely known band to the public. Now Fred feels different, and good about himself. What happens later, he meets with his friends, in a non-mainstream café, and talks about this band discovery and how different they are from all the others. A part of his friends, who want to be unconsciously anti-consumerists, starts listening to this band. After some time, this band becomes mainstream, because more people are listening to it, as it is so different. Fred finds himself being a conspicuous consumer again, because not only the band is so popular now, but suddenly everyone around is being eco-friendly as well as other factors. He has to find a new way to be different, so,