Capitalism is an economic practice in which the government has little or nothing to do with the trading and selling of goods when it comes to private businesses. Consumerism is defined as the protection and promotion of consumer’s interests. America is a country built off of capitalism and the idea that if you make a good enough product, you can make it big by advertising and selling the things you have created, but a quality product is not always what makes you the most money. Big businesses in America realized this and started to cut corners in order to make as much money as possible.
Unsafe goods remained unregulated until 1906 when the FDA was created during Theodore Roosevelt’s time as president. He often denounced companies that sold unsafe goods and was known for helping regulate manufacturing in America. There were several other good regulating administrations that were made after that to assure that the people in America would not be taken advantage of or put in harm’s way just because someone wanted to make a quick buck.
I think the last point you made in the first paragraph still exists today. Companies nowadays still want to make money any way they can, even if it is ripping people off. The implementation of food labels was a way to help prevent food companies from making unhealthy food just to sell it and make money. This shows that companies did not care for the well-being of the public, as long as they were making money.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both statements; I believe that some form of capitalism exists because of the way certain businesses try to rip off consumers. For example, we do see false advertising today in some businesses, advertising products whose ingredients or specifications may not be 100% accurate. Also, we see increasingly more ways companies are trying to make consumers pay for things like Premium memberships and adding microtransactions to websites and video games. If America was built off of consumerism instead, how would things today be different?
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