Corportations and Consumers

It is obvious that most people understand that companies are out to make a profit and their primary goal is thus to maximize profits.


I was studying abroad in Italy last semester and experienced a totally different world view from what I am used to here in America. It is very obvious to me that America and our capitalistic economy has changed the way people see each other. In Italy, a persons status is defined primarily on birthright and secondarily on social status. Contrast this with the "melting pot" of America 'the land of equal opportunity', where social status alone defines who we are. Our social status comes from our economic status, so more money means more importance and power.

As was said by another student here, companies make money off "making consumers happy", so the companies define what it means to be happy. Of course this is only possible in this modern day and age when we know longer have a general census about what it means to be a person and what our purpose in life is. Only in this modern era have corporations had the power to define dignity and happiness. and as long as they keep people confused and guessing, they will jump from fad to fad always grasping to finally be happy.

What we need is an objective standard by which to define dignity and happiness. But of course the corporate machine will fight this with all its power and resources, because defining these things objectively will mean the end to their large profit margins. The rich and powerful will try legally (and every other way possible) to make it impossible to define anything objectively thus ensuring their wealth for the foreseeable future.

But we must ask ourselves, if we want to be rich and powerful (and thus happy) would it not be better to just leave the machine alone? If we understood the machine would it not be possible to 'work it' in order to get to the top? As the old saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them. Should we just give up and join them?

My answer to all of these questions is no. I believe in a high objective standard, and I believe that no one should be used as a tool for someone else's profit. But to go against the corporate machine these days means to go against what it means to "be American." It means to buck the whole system and not just part of it. It requires a new world view.