Capitalism In American Culture

Culture is rooted deep into America. American values and society can all be attributed to capitalism and to culture. Capitalism has, in its short lifetime, captivated and controlled societal interests in America. It is not merely enough to say that capitalism has not only become our only economic system, but it is something that has become so abstract and undefinable. In today’s modern society, people no longer think about capitalism or market interactions. All they think about are the goods and services given to them by capitalism. Capitalism’s very nature is exploitative and it uses this exploitation to further seep into our lives. It is not enough to merely speculate about capitalist thought and theory and cultural theory allows a closer …show more content…
McDonaldization is one example of how American culture through capitalism has become stagnant and complacent. Once capitalism has become universal, human struggle would be a fair competition and the end of history articulates the rationality of capitalism. This is has become the norm for the 21st-century as capitalism just becomes another part of American’s lives and people no longer realize what markets are or what market interactions are. This complacency in capitalism is bittersweet because people have become accustomed to everything being quick and easy and when that expectation is shattered by something that is not quick and easy, people become incredibly frustrated. Capitalism has made a culture out of consumerism and that consumer culture has swept across the US and the world. The culture-ideology of consumerism has seeped across borders and boundaries where normal cultural influence would have faded or faltered and it has engulfed the world in a sea of media advertisements, consumer goods, and cultural expectations. Institutions, social practices, and capitalism have developed and solidified the consumerist culture in America in order to feed the capitalist mode of production. This can be seen throughout American history as laissez-faire capitalism became the dominant system the in the US as the …show more content…
College today has a huge cultural influence over people because it is where people are told to go in order to get a good job so you can afford the resources you want or need later in life. This has skewed what it really means to go to college. College today is more job-training than it is about the research or the pursuit of theory. Like American culture, American academia has become stagnant and stale. The humanities especially are too slow moving and therefore are not seen as important anymore because they will not get you a good job. This is looking at the humanities which explore everything from historical events to literature to existential conflicts of the self. These ideas and subjects have only become stale under capitalism. They are not efficient means of doing things. One does not simply contemplate what it means to be conscious or research the French revolution quickly. Capitalism in its speed and efficiency has dragged the humanities through the mud. I see this happen every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in my microeconomics course. Theories and analysis of economic properties is just assumed to be fact. The negative aspects of these economic policies is not explored or developed at all. Critiques of our current system of economics is not welcome in a 100 level economics class or in the real world. The status quo has caused stagnation in academia. Rik