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Title: Do Americans Shop Too Much? by Juliet Schor, Joshua Cohen, Joel Rogers ISBN: 0-8070-0443-X Publisher: Beacon Press Pub. Date: 24 April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.87 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Book Review on "Do Americans Shop Too Much"
Comment: Juliet Schor brings to light many new questions about how we as a society are conducting are lives. In her book she asks the question why Americans have such a fascination with quanity, or the concept that bigger is better. She believes that the main reason we as a society have drive to consume is the idea of competitive consumption. This where average middle class citizens are no longer trying to keep up with their neighbors down the street, but the rich and famous that are so publicized throughout the media.
She believes the rise in consumption started when married women entered the work force. This caused women to be more exposed to wealth at higher levels. This in turn led to the decline of close nit neighborhoods. People are spending less time with their neighbors and friends and more time watching television. Where consumption is promoted constantly. These messages that are heard and seen on a regular basis instill in us the idea that we should be able to buy whatever we want whenever we want.
Schor's main focus is to reveal to us how we as a society are destroying our planet and our quality of life. Sport utility vechiles, air conditioning, and foreign travel use lots of energy and are contributing to global warming. Larger homes are destroying open spaces and leading to deforestation worldwide. Daily newspaper, monthly magazines, and other paper products are also leading to the loss of forest. She points out that consumers have little or no idea of the environmental impacts of their consumption habits. She feels the solution lies in corporate and government practices. But people who are concerned about making a difference should be getting involved with environmentalist who are trying to educate and change practices at state and local levels.
This book really opened my eyes to the problems we as a society face with consumption. I was caught off guard by some interesting facts that were listed by Betsy Taylor( a colleague of Schor's). For example how the U.S. with only 5% of the worlds population consumes 30% of the worlds resources, or how the typical American disgards nearly a ton of trash a year. I agree with Schor that something needs to be done about these problems. I think the best solution is informing the public of ways to reduce consumption at a local level. This is where people are the most ignorant on these issues, and thus this is where the most progress can be made.
Rating: 3
Summary: "Do Americans Shop Too Much?"
Comment: The book, Do American's Shop Too Much? is a compilation of essays from various economists regarding the consumption of Americans. In the first portion of the book Juliet Schor presents an essay that not only argues Americans spend too much, but that their excessive spending doesn't lead them to happiness. She points out that Americans are no longer comparing themselves with their neighbors, but that their frame of reference has switched to TV stars and co-workers. Americans are now comparing themselves to the Rich and Famous. This leads people to go beyond the basic survival needs of life and consume carat weight diamond rings, sport utility vehicles, and designer apparel. This 'Status Game', as Schor calls it, drives people to purchase the rare and expensive in order to claim superiority, causing a chain reaction and forcing everyone below to follow suit in order to keep up with his or her social class. As a result of all this over consumption, Schor discusses the devastation to the environment, increasing credit card debt, decrease in savings, and fewer funds for public projects.
To follow up on American's consumption habits Schor proposes several solutions to the various problems. This involves a decent standard of living, quality of life verses amount of stuff, staying within the Earth's ecological bounds of consumption, and government policies to deter people from excessive consumption. To coincide with Schor's theories and solutions economists critique Schor's initial essay. Each critic has different agreements and disagreements regarding Schor's theories and solutions. I felt Clair Brown brought up a valid point when she questions, 'What constitutes the quality of life?' A certain lifestyle might be quality to one person, and unlivable to another.
Schor had a number of convincing points to her essay. However, I don't agree that all Americans are constantly competing for positions in society. Feeling compelled to be doing the same as people driving the flashy car, having sex, drinking the martini, or listening to the latest stereo system doesn't necessarily equal a struggle on the social totem pole. Maybe it simply means Americans just want to be having fun. I do agree that Americans consume beyond our Earth's ecological limits and something needs to be quickly re-evaluated.
Aside from the personal disagreements with the novel, I learned a lot and definitely broadened my outlook on various current economic problems that our country faces. The book is relatively brief with a lot of information crammed into it. At times I found it a little difficult to keep up with the pace. However, I would recommend the book to anyone who wanted another perspective on our cultural habits and their ramifications.
Rating: 2
Summary: A Massive Disappointment
Comment: If you're like me, you loved Schor's previous work, The Overworked American and The Overspent American. I found them to be well written as well as thought provoking. This work, however, does follow in this pattern.
First of all, contrary to the clever marketing, the vast majority of it is not written by Schor at all. It's basically a Schor tribune book. A bunch of far lesser known scholars put forth their theories on consumption in a sort of reply to what Schor has said in her previous research.
Further, what these other scholars have to say is just not that interesting. It doesn't fill a void in our collective knowledge the way that Schor's original work did.
Overall, I think this book is a pretty shameless attempt to cash in on Schor's popularity. However, there are a few interesting points and for those most interested in consumption research, it may be worth a read.
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Title: The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need by Juliet B. Schor ISBN: 0060977582 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John De Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor, David Horsey, Scott Simon, John de Graaf ISBN: 1576751996 Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Pub Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure by Juliet B. Schor ISBN: 046505434X Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: February, 1993 List Price(USD): $16.50 |
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Title: Luxury Fever by Robert H. Frank ISBN: 0691070113 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 05 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Confronting Consumption by Thomas Princen, Michael F. Maniates, Ken Conca ISBN: 0262661284 Publisher: MIT Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
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