The Revolution's Legacy: Consumerism?

Hooray! I was excited to read this week! Richard D. Brown offers an excellent article and really got me thinking. Although the beginning of the article felt like the Wikipedia version of what we've been talking about all semester, there were some interesting (new) points. I loved his inclusion of the John Adams, "the people...have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefensible divine right to that most dreaded, and envied kind of knowledge, I mean of the characters and conduct of their rulers" (59). I could not agree more with Johnny boy. It's so difficult to separate fact from fiction these days, but over the last couple of weeks--with all of the Occupy movement talk--I really feel like this quote resonated with me, mainly because of his Adams' choice to use the word rulers. I asked myself, "Who is ruling us today?" Government? Media? Corporations? All of the above?

Last class, I think it was Tom who asked, "Was there ever a time in America when things weren't commodified?" My immediate answer (in my head) was "Not in America." And, I was right! Well...maybe not right, but I loved Brown's discussion of consumer culture on page 65:

Beginning in the late colonial period, a broad movement for social advancement was manifest in the goods Americans bought for their persons and homes. Men whose social aspirations had been blocked in the colonial era now sought to earn prestige and power by acquiring the accoutrements of gentility in their dwellings, furnishings, and dress and by displaying the proper appearance, manners, and reading tastes" (65). 

And today, I feel like knowledge has also become a commodity. The sociological study of 'cultural capital' relates to Brown's earlier assertion on pages 64-5 "In the new republic, good Christians were also called on to be active citizens. To perform their social duties properly, they needed to be informed about politics and history." If you didn't possess the correct knowledge, you would find yourself seen as less-than. On page 73, he also discusses how the Republican vision promoted cultural hierarchy that was based on "the refined cultural values of the well born endured in the matters of architecture and furnishings, in modes of dress and manners, and in reading." Has much changed? Also, did much really change from being born into aristocracy in England? If you didn't have the $$$ in America, you wouldn't be able to afford fancy living room chairs and beautifully crafted books! I couldn't help but think of the first few minutes of Fight Club when reading about this (why is it IMPOSSIBLE to find the original scene on the internet? All I can find is fanboy recreations, meh.). For me, the mimetic nature of wanting to appear cultured/wealthy is so much more prominent in Fort Worth than it was in San Marcos. Cookie cutter homes with Thomas Kinkade's in the living room and matching BMWs in the driveway is a bit too much for me sometimes when I drive around TCU. Maybe I'm just being a cynical **** (yes, that was going to be an alliterative phrase), but it's quite the change from my small town with a river running through it.

I would love to write a paper on Consumer Culture & Commodification from Colonial to Contemporary (how's that for C-word alliteration? Ha!). Perhaps, I'll do so for my end of the course paper?

I'm going to rip off Klay and end on a comic (sorry dude, mimesis is ingrained in me). Thought all of my fellow Theory classmates would appreciate seeing this little blip before our Publish And Flourish workshop in Neil's class tomorrow: