Cohen stated that, “citizen consumers were regarded as responsible for safe-guarding the general good of the nation” (18). This is the ideal that each individual consumer purchase is in the name of the greater good. That all the purchases and money they spent made a positive difference. These types of consumers “put the market power of the consumer to work politically, not only to save a capitalist America in the midst of the Great Depression, but also to safeguard the rights individual consumers” (Cohen, 8). She uses this classification to break up the twentieth century by focusing on the efforts made by the citizen consumer during the New Deal and getting out of the great depression. This also allowed for minority groups like African Americans
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This shows how Cohen breaks up the twentieth century by talking about minorities gaining power and civil rights through different consumer patterns. In fact, in her first chapter she has a section named “Rise of the Citizen Consumer”. This reflects how she is breaking up the time periods in respect to what consumer classification was most prevalent and beneficial to the time. “Purchaser consumers during the late 1930s and World War II championed pursuit of self-interest in the marketplace out of confidence in the ameliorative effects of aggregate purchasing power” (Cohen, 8). The author points out though that these types of consumers would undermine home-front needs in times of war. “The purchaser consumer, represents the interests of business and the [Laissez-faire] philosophy of deregulated mass consumption leading to trickle down benefits for all” …show more content…
Murphy states, “On the citizen consumer side, war-time programs such as the Office of Price Administration (OPA) encouraged Americans to consume wisely for the general good. On the other hand, the purchaser consumer ideal - consumerism as self-interest - went underground as consumers hoarded rationed goods or bought them on the black market.” This seems to reflect a changing time where it almost was more desirable to be a purchaser consumer and use your money for you, and save it-to heck with the government! Murphy also goes into the time where purchaser consumer starts gaining popularity by talking about how at the end of World War II and the beginnings of postwar conversion, the ideals of the citizen consumer and how that conflicted with the purchaser consumer. The idea that with buying “came the patriotic obligation to consume with the general good at heart, to observe price controls and other market regulations aimed at protecting consumers and preserving equity"(Cohen, 108), suffered some notable defeats at the hands of purchaser consumers, those "who consumed in pursuit of private gain." (108) One example of this is that the OPA was dismantled at the end of 1946. This was a part of the solid framework and something citizen consumers had held dear and fought
This shows how Cohen breaks up the twentieth century by talking about minorities gaining power and civil rights through different consumer patterns. In fact, in her first chapter she has a section named “Rise of the Citizen Consumer”. This reflects how she is breaking up the time periods in respect to what consumer classification was most prevalent and beneficial to the time. “Purchaser consumers during the late 1930s and World War II championed pursuit of self-interest in the marketplace out of confidence in the ameliorative effects of aggregate purchasing power” (Cohen, 8). The author points out though that these types of consumers would undermine home-front needs in times of war. “The purchaser consumer, represents the interests of business and the [Laissez-faire] philosophy of deregulated mass consumption leading to trickle down benefits for all” …show more content…
Murphy states, “On the citizen consumer side, war-time programs such as the Office of Price Administration (OPA) encouraged Americans to consume wisely for the general good. On the other hand, the purchaser consumer ideal - consumerism as self-interest - went underground as consumers hoarded rationed goods or bought them on the black market.” This seems to reflect a changing time where it almost was more desirable to be a purchaser consumer and use your money for you, and save it-to heck with the government! Murphy also goes into the time where purchaser consumer starts gaining popularity by talking about how at the end of World War II and the beginnings of postwar conversion, the ideals of the citizen consumer and how that conflicted with the purchaser consumer. The idea that with buying “came the patriotic obligation to consume with the general good at heart, to observe price controls and other market regulations aimed at protecting consumers and preserving equity"(Cohen, 108), suffered some notable defeats at the hands of purchaser consumers, those "who consumed in pursuit of private gain." (108) One example of this is that the OPA was dismantled at the end of 1946. This was a part of the solid framework and something citizen consumers had held dear and fought