“I think there’s a very real sense in which [women] are supposed to say ‘chocolate’ whenever someone asks them what they want” – Nina Power, One Dimensional Woman (reviewed in the Guardian.) “Power’s analysis is brilliantly acute on all this, with a critique of capitalism running as a clear thread throughout her interrogation of muddled contemporary feminisms. Pro-war “feminists”, for example, are taken to task over the veil. Drawing on Alain Badiou, Power writes: ‘On the one hand, any woman who wears the hijab must, by the logic of secular reason, be oppressed. On the other, if she makes too much of the rhetoric of choice to justify her wearing it, she misunderstands precisely what that rhetoric is for. The logic of choice, of the market, of the right to pick between competing products cannot be used to justify the decision to wear what one likes, if one chooses something that indicates a desire not to play the game.’”
Americans Doing More, Buying Less, a Poll Finds: “The Department of Labor’s time-use surveys show… compared with 2005, Americans spent less time in 2008 buying goods and services and more time cooking or taking part in ‘organizational, civic and religious activities.’ Just as tellingly, evidence can also be found in culture. While one new study shows that attendance at museums and cultural events dropped from 2002 to 2008, it has climbed in 2009 at many major institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago. Movie attendance was also up 5 percent in 2009, and in the world of the Walt Disney Company, product sales have declined as the company’s theme parks enjoyed a 3 percent increase in visitors last quarter.”
No longer too early to call it, I think Significant Objects is the best new blog this year. So I was thrilled when Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker asked me to contribute. Here’s my essay about an object. From the most recent project update: “Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $50.25 Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $1,092.16″
Creating A Culture of Thrift
There is a very interesting discussion on several conservative websites about creating a culture of thrift. From Rod Dreher:
The cultural pressure against thrift and sensible spending, and self-control, is overwhelming. I literally cannot imagine how we reverse this. I know how we in our family reverse it, or at least combat it: we teach ourselves to say no, and we practice the habit of saying no. We’re not nearly as good at it as we need to be, but we’re a lot better at it than we were. We don’t let TV run our family’s life, either, which helps.
But we still get caught up in it. And I wonder: where does the countercultural message come from? Where do people hear any message, ever, to counter the constant drumbeat from TV and media, which is: “You won’t be happy until you buy this thing or have that experience”? Who is telling people it’s a lie? The churches? Please. If the churches did tell them, would they hang around to listen?
I’ve got an idea: start by focusing on the most pernicious kind of luxury — the status symbol.
After all, some unnecessary consumer goods at least add to our enjoyment of life. My iPod is a daily pleasure as I ride the metro. Desert at a restaurant is a tasty treat. The enjoyment I derive from these items — while it can never be compared to the pleasure derived from friends, family, faith, professional achievement or other more important goods — at least don’t come at anyone’s expense. We’ve all got different tastes in life. If you’re favorite thing is fashion — if you love its aesthetics — I don’t begrudge you that new pair of high heels. But I find that same pricey pair of shoes objectionable if the primary motive for the purchase is signalling to others that you can afford them.
Friedersdorf and Dreher continue with some discussion of wedding rings, to which I can only add, I adore everything Rebecca Mead has to say in “One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding,” (my review for the Washington Times is here.)
As for diminishing the power of status symbols, I think trends are already pointing that way. A lasting success of the green movement is a conception of plastic bags as disgusting. Even if you privately don’t care about the environment, you’ll feel ashamed seen in public carrying them. The inevitable looks of scorn from bystanders prevent one from acting on any impulse to litter.
One benefit to extract from the current worldwide calamity is that this generation will learn to live within their means. The dirtiest word this year is “junket.” Whether or not you can comfortably afford luxury, it is now regarded with cynicism. Celebrities are wearing the same dress twice. Canceling holiday celebrations is simply good PR strategy. The mood is status goods and status events are tacky.
This might mean a divorce from brand-as-identity as described by Rob Walker in the wonderful book Buying In. If there is no incremental gain in quality with regards to price, the product is going to fail. That’s why Apple is doing ok, but high-end hotels are slashing their prices. What is the different between a $300 hotel and a $200 hotel?
What remains to be seen is whether we can ever return to the days when we bought for quality rather than quantity. Still in Europe, you’ll see middle-income families buy Mercedes rather than say, KIA, because they’ll drive the car to the ground. The status of the brands has to do with the quality not how much your neighbors envy you. They are also more likely to buy tailor finer quality clothes or take their shoes to the cobbler when the heel wears down.
But America buys the disposable. From Ikea to Forever 21. Buying for trends rather than durability. Items are sold with implicit expiration dates. You see it at its most obscene in technology, the term is “planned obsolescence” — gadgets built to break eventually.
The trend before recession — as the recession is perversely a “trend” as much as it is a reality — was green-anything. A newly cost-conscious society, which is also an environmentally-concerned society might be the right formula for a revival in “forever” products.
Back to wedding rings — an example of the best copywriting in the history of advertising is “A diamond is forever.” Might we soon see a spin on Frances Gerety’s famous phrase in everyday goods? Attempts to heirloom-ify everything from coffee makers to swivel chairs? This is the only pen I need. I wear these shoes every day to work. I’m passing this stemware down to my grandchilden. That sort of thing.
It might be the spin a flailing luxury brand like Burberry needs to stay competitive. Louis Vuitton might start emphasizing their history of service. How if you buy anything of theirs and it breaks they will fix it — for free — in the store. That’s a service lower-cost goods can’t afford to do. Buying only one expensive bag that lasts a lifetime is a much cheaper than constantly buying, rotating, and throwing purses away.
Photography by Jean Luc Mylayne
Previously:
Rules for an American Fantasy Road Trip
Social Consequences of a Poor Economy
Suburban Ruins and The Ethics of House Flipping
Rip Mix Stitch: Free Fashion Culture
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