Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
industry is important because through its clever
use of marketing it has been able to shift
consumption practices from the realm of need to
the realm of want (James, 2007).
There are certain things that we need to
consume on a regular basis, such as food to eat and
fuel to heat our homes. Beyond that, there are
also more luxury items that we now perceive as
necessary items: such as computers and televisions.
Wants are different to needs to the extent that they
are things that we could actually survive without.
We do, however, increasingly buy things that we
want because we associate the purchase of such
goods and services with pleasurable feelings.
Advertisements exploit our wants on a series of
levels. First, there is the promotion of luxury goods
and services that are sold to us on the basis that they
will make our lives easier (goods in this group
include leaf-blowing machines, which make
tidying your garden less labour intensive, and
ebook readers that remove the hassle of holding a
book). Second, are goods that are associated with
new experiences of fun and enjoyment (including
PlayStations, mobile phones, iPods and flat screen
TVs with surround-sound systems). Third, are a
series of products that we may already own, but
through upgrades are now presented to us as new
and improved (consider the ever-shrinking size of
iPods, the emergence of smart-phone technologies
and the ever-changing fashions associated with
An admittedly extreme example of the potential socio-environmental problems of Fordism is
provided by Aldous Huxley's famous novel Brave New World. Brave New World was first published
in 1932 following Huxley's travels around America. The dystopic novel is set in
AF
632, that is 632
years after the birth of Henry Ford in 1863 (or on our calendar the year
AD
2495). The purpose of
Huxley's novel was to explore the potential future that lay in wait for a society that was dedicated
to mass production and consumption. This is why the calendar in Huxley's Brave New World is
oriented not towards a conventional god, but to Henry Ford, who was the 'presiding deity' of this
future society (Bradshaw, 1993). Huxley's Fordist future is a place of nightmares where drugs are
actively used to ensure the population remains obedient and dedicated to the task of continued mass
consumption. The reuse and repair of old goods is actively discouraged as a barrier to consumption
(with things such as knitting and sewing becoming akin to crimes). Long-term human attachments
are actively discouraged in this Brave New World with people's primary orientation being geared
towards material objects. People are only valued to the extent to which they can actively contribute
to the processes of mass production and consumption. Government sponsored euthanasia is
commonly practised as a way of dealing with the surplus population. In essence, Huxley's novel
illustrates the way in which the economic pursuit of wealth production and efficiency can alienate
people from the things that we hold most dear (such as marriage, recreation, engaging with the
natural world and love). While we are clearly a long way from
AF
632 in the world in which we live
today, it is clear that human behaviour is becoming more orientated towards the production and
possession of more and more material goods, to the detriment of other human value systems.
Key readings
Huxley, A. (1994) Brave New World, Flamingo, London
Toffler, A. (1971) Future Shock, Pan Books, London
