Exploitative Economics, Advertisements, and Consumerist Culture

New technology is created with the intent to bring convenience and ease to peoples’ daily lives. Innovations are the result of problem solving, not merely from businesses attempting to profit. However, in our increasingly fast-paced, work-oriented, consumerist society new technology creates barriers to happiness because people are expected to DO more instead of have more leisure time, consumers are expected to HAVE more updated technology instead of being satisfied with their current lifestyles, and we lack a concrete set of moral guidelines for dealing with new technology.

While the majority of innovations are guilty of this paradox, Apple technology in particular exemplifies this inconsistency. The iPad/iPhone duo (and their ability to sync over the cloud) was created to simplify and combine the functions of communication, education, and entertainment. Phone, email, calendars, and various other apps exist in order to aid consumers’ productivity while most music, videos, and books are available purely for entertainment. However, instead of allowing people to finish their jobs efficiently and spend extra time solely on leisure, this technology has created an expectation for people to constantly work, maintain relationships, and “relax” on-the-go. Meanwhile, consumers lose control over their privacy as companies gain the ability to track the items they buy, games they play, and even the things that they search on the internet.

With this information, companies are enabled to market more directly to individuals. However, businesses continue to sell “pleasure” through advertisements that reinforce our cultural status quo because the imbalance of power within our society is the force driving capitalism. While they are not underprivileged, average individuals experience a perceived need for more when they can compare themselves to those who have excess. Individuals’ freedoms are limited by greed, carelessness, and ignorance within our society.

Historically, our society has treated economics as a zero-sum game; our predecessors took land from the natives, used slaves to cultivate the land, and practiced the Monroe Doctrine to protect their interests in nearby foreign land while avoiding dangerous wars with powerful empires overseas. Currently, American consumers are being manipulated by large corporations. The upper class (which tends to be the same demographic as the original colonists) manages large businesses, and therefore has significant power within the economy. The upper class also tends to be highly visible in the media, enabling this socioeconomic minority to set trends that are unobtainable for the majority. These trends are expanded upon advertisements that target consumers’ insecurities and desires. Internet tracking allows businesses to send specific advertisements that target the most susceptible individuals. Because they are raised within this exploitative culture, people typically do not question the system. Acceptance of the status quo limits consumers’ investigative curiosity. This ignorance allows businesses to further exploit consumers, who do not use their purchasing power to “vote” for more morally sound business practices because they are unaware of corruption or unwilling to sacrifice potential profits from low prices in exchange for protected privacy.