Why did the United States become a nation of consumers?

Question

Why did the United States become a nation of consumers?

Answer 1

The inevitable outcome of a free market mixed with hundreds of years of parents telling children that they can be whatever they want to be and have it all if they try hard enough.  It's the American Dream.

Answer 2

The United States has never made a great deal of its money from exports- but always from a strong domestic market.

It has to be appreciated that in the American heyday of the 1950s there was almost literally nobody to sell to, and so the massive 'white goods' and automobile boom was fuelled internally.

In such an overheated economy the inevitable result was that many businesses were positioned or organised in a very inefficient manner which was shrouded by the boom, so when the veil lifted well-organised foreign business which had learned from the war and subsequent central planning was well positioned to sell to them.

Answer 3

When someone did not per mote a product by a name when the store could con troll the use of that being available place. The use and the comment of controlled use and ""Obedience'' to what is use for while having a job to produce to action for the cleanest body among any comment anyone other could give a person.

Answer 4

Arrogance, avarice, ignorance, sloth and hubris all set in to create a consumerism culture which has made us far too comfortable without wanting for anything. Our gluttonous ways will destroy us - sooner, rather than later - just as the great Roman and Greek empires collapsed under the weight of their own debauchery.  -RKO-   06/16/08

Answer 5

Because the Pilgrims almost starved to death (literally) when they tried the Socialist idea of "sharing crops/work along communal lines".

Known as the "Tragedy of the Commons".....  they realized that socialism leads to LAZINESS, and laziness leads to low productivity and death.

Read this link, and you'll understand why CAPITALISM was automatically the "American way" by the time settlers were showing up on the shores.........   also remember they came here EXPECTING to be able to KEEP the fruits of their labor, and not have to surrender it to the King's men!

Answer 6

Because someone had to take one for the team.

Answer 7

Because it's all apart of the master plan. Hardly anything is made here anymore. Now you don't have a "local" salad... you have a 3,000 + mile away salad. If a crisis ever hits the american people will submit to whatever ideas are forced upon them so they can live their pointless consumer lives.

We need to fix the country and get it back the way it should be. We need to be producers and not rely on foreign countries so much. America used to be such a great country. Now we have half brained dummies running around in their SUV's only concerned about the latest britney drama.

Answer 8

Because we live in a time of such exceptional comfort that we can have absolutely anything at any time.  Americans want for very, very little.

This is not such a bad thing.  Enjoy it.