Q SY100- Chapter 8: Paper 7 Conspicuous Consumption – False Consciousness – Exploitation “The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled Was Convincing the World He Did Not Exist” This little quote comes from a movie The Usual Suspects, which came out in 1995. The movie was really good and has nothing to do with this assignment. What does fit is the sentiment behind the quote, and its relationship to the American Class System. Specifically, it gets at how it is possible that we can have this form of Structural Inequality all around us, but rarely do we ever see or think about it. Karl Marx called this lack of awareness False Consciousness. On the whole, all stratification systems (Slavery, Caste, Estate, and Class) are all easier to keep in place through ideas rather than actual strength. It takes a lot of energy to control people through might or force. For the Dominant Group it is always way easier to convince Minority Groups they are inferior and belong in their subordinate place. From your history classes you may remember a thing called the “Divine Right of Kings”. In this case, kings ruled over the land because they claimed to be selected by God to do so. Who would ever question the king and his rule if that means you were also questioning God? The idea of divine right is much more powerful and easier to use to keep control over the people. Karl Marx saw this process taking shape with the formation of Capitalism and the two class system made up of the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Proletariat basically become the slaves of the newly emerging industrial production system. Bourgeoisie Capitalists control the economy and the jobs, and therefore directly control the workers. A whole host of things keep the workers from recognizing this, and keep them in a state of False Consciousness. One, the Bourgeoisie are good at pointing out how smart, successful, and necessary they are for running the capitalist system. Two, the workers are paid for their time, just nowhere near as much as they are making in profit for the capitalists. Three, the working class often turns their attention toward other workers to compete with each other for the existing jobs. We see this today in the current debate over immigrant labor, and the shipping of factory work to foreign countries. The workers rarely step back and realize they are all being played off each other by and for the benefit of the Bourgeoisie. As capitalism has developed, the system of exploitation has gotten harder to see. Class Consciousness is getting harder to achieve. One reason for this is a concept provided by Sociologist Thorstein Veblen called Conspicuous Consumption. No longer do the Bourgeoisie just control us while we are at work. The lifestyles they are able to purchase becomes the standard frame of reference for the entire society. For the working and middle classes, trying to emulate and live up to this expectation becomes a form of False Consciousness. We all end up living beyond our means, over worked, in debt, feeling inadequate, and in the end all we really do is lock ourselves up in a new form of consumer slavery. We exploit ourselves, compete with other middle and working class members of society, and pay the Bourgeoisie for the pleasure of doing it. When we start to look, these conflict perspective messages are all over the place. It is important that we recognize and examine them more objectively. Fortunately for us we have a solution. We have sociology and Dr. Seuss (yes the children's book author). For this assignment I would like for you to watch two things. For your write up you should be providing a two-page report, without counting your title page which has your name on it. The first thing you should watch is the video clip found at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMolzESn4oI The first part of your write up should work to analyze this Dr. Seuss video using two theoretical perspectives. First, I would like for you to use the symbolic interaction perspective to explain how inequality is being symbolically created within the Sneetch community, and why those "with the Stars" are not really the Bourgeoisie. Second, I would like for you to use the Conflict perspective to explain how the concepts of False Consciousness, Conspicuous Consumption, and Bourgeoisie Exploitation are being depicted in the story. Once you have this figured out, I would then like for you to do some research on people and watch 30-60 minutes of television advertising. It really does not matter what channel, what time, or what program you watch, they all do the same thing. Pay particular attention to the images, themes, and messages given in the advertisements. To be very clear here, this assignment is not about the plot of the show you are watching. Watch specifically for the themes related to social class in the commercials. What do the commercials project in terms of the class, and how do you think this varies from the social class of who is actually watching and being targeted by the adds? What items of Conspicuous Consumption, or "Stars" are being sold? After you have finished watching, summarize your findings and explain if Karl Marx and Thorstein Veblen would say people are any different than a Sneetch.