Consumption Function

In class, we discussed the negative and possible positive aspects of consumption in the ways people in our society fulfill or not fulfill their wants through comparing wants and desires to need. Conclusively several of us have suggested that consumption created a superficial need of a sort, creating a blurred line between “want” and “need”. Take fashion and clothing for example. Some people actually spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of jeans--hundreds, not twenty or forty dollars but hundreds. I know for a fact that human beings do not need a hundred dollar pair of pants to survive; in fact, some people would argue that we do not need clothes at all. Why then, do so many people feel the necessity to buy Seven© jeans, or True Religion© jeans if they can do without it? Has the “want” of yesterday become the “need” of today? In many ways I think it has. People from other part of the world may say “Americans, why do they have to have electric cars when feet are the most environmental friendly and economic source of transportation”. However, to just function and be a part of our society, individuals need certain material that may seem as superficial or unnecessary, like cars and even certain type of clothes. These things may not be the basic human needs to survive, but because they are tools that can be used to navigate through the world and because the worth and value of people has become based on possessions of these things, they become indirectly essential for survival. Consumption, the wide availability of commodities, and the changing values of people in society has transformed some “wants” to “needs”.