In a democracy like America, we are given certain freedoms. Sometimes I believe that those liberties are the very things that restrain us. Marketing, for example, developed due to our capitalist society. Advertisements are not selling the product, they are selling an intangible idea that we all believe we need and cannot find within ourselves. For instance, Nike sold millions selling the idea of transcendence beyond sport. Saturn sells the belief of community, being a part of a group, being accepted. This freedom to advertise...has it lead to a restraint on the individual? Are we being told what we need? If not, then why are we buying into the useless material items that are far from basic necessity?
In America, we are not only buying product, we are buying governance. We are given a select group of politicians to choose from. Political marketing begins years before election. These ads are nothing more than an artful construction of lies. We are not being told the truth. We are being told what we want to hear, the ideas we want to believe in.
Democracy leads us to believe that the consumer is in control. Are we? We need to believe in ourselves in order to understand that a product is just a product and the true fulfillment of personal yearnings is unattainable within those material goods. Do we have enough identity within ourselves to truly be free from persuasion?
This is very interesting. When I go to the Abercrombie and Fitch store is when I am most fascinated by the concept in this blog post of yours. Companies realize that from an early age we lose our identities that we are born with, whether it be from observing our parents actions and opinions or growing up in a certain social or geographical demographic we lose who we are as individuals and learn to conform to those around us. By applying this knowledge they can subconciously tell us "this person in our advertisement is who you have always wanted to be," or "wouldnt you be happier if you were like this person in our advertisement." The only way a person can find their true identity is to break away from all that they find comfortable in the world.
ReplyDeleteCan we be free from persuasion? Perhaps not. It is the continuing internal struggle of making choices that allow us to discover who we are in the first place so perhaps we need persuasion to find that in which we are in agreement.
Also, as long as people are given financial credit to spend, those people will continue to buy things that they dont need. They will also consider to finance extravagent lives which are beyond their economic means. I like how you incorporated the election of government officials into this post. Thank you for making me think about this topic.