Capitalism And Our Society

Joseph Chris Friar

Joseph Chris Friar English W131 Mrs. Borgman Capitalism: The New Global Culture Reading a story book is a different thing, but reading the article from Arlie Russell Hochschild, “From Frying Pan into the Fire” was one of the best analogies I have ever read about anything. The transitions she made between the ad and time management; the sacredness of the family to capitalism as a culture; then the question of what we need time for was a critical assessment of our society today, I think. Furthermore, I found the relationship between the capitalist culture and class definition from Julie Charlip’s “A Real Class Act”. The absurdity of capitalism and it definition of human status was a major concern to Charlip as she tries to discuss how capitalism had influenced our societies today Before capitalism, we were who we are by our culture, Mexicans, Irish, Spanish, Africans, we had folklore, we had heritage, and we knew our place in the world. Maybe it wasn't an elite culture, but it was something we value. We had our lives structure and meaning. Now, capitalism defines our society and who we are in a different way: upper class, middle class, and lower class, and sub divisions in the classes. It has changed the basis upon which we are defined, no more as Charlip put “…a matter of values, lifestyle, taste” but “…the kind of work you do, your relationship to means of production? “….how much money you earn” and others (80). A whole lot of confusion as to which class one belongs. It defines our status base on our involvement with capitalism; what is our investment portfolio, the cars we drive, where we working and our job positions even the neighborhood that we live. Furthermore, capitalism does not look at our moral values but our wealth, therefore who we are defined by what we have.

Joseph Chris Friar

We are all working for capitalism; we are all generic consumers, worshipping at the altar of capitalism- Time. Time is the very god we look up to in everything we do. Thus “…the terrorists struck the twin towers on 9/11, they were perhaps, aiming at what they conceived of as a more powerful rival temple another religion” (218). Time is most essential and for the first time in the history of mankind a place is able to mobilize thousands of people with one accord striving for a common goal. The traditions of our forebears are almost a forgotten memory now. Now, nearly all of the culture that most people experience, from morning until night, is a capitalist society. It has no passion on the people whether we meet the challenge or not. Like that, which Marx’s preached the bourgeoisie has taken the craftsman work and given them to the machines and enslave the craftsman to those machines. The love and passion with which the craftsmen do their work, the bourgeoisie do not care but looks to whatever would sales in the market - money. Relating the Marxian theory to her father, Julie Charlip said her “Dad was an artisan who owned his own tools” (82). Looking back to the definition of class the question I always asked myself when I am standing in a line in the supermarket behind someone is why most people buy generic food? It’s either Pop-Tarts, Sugar Snacks, frozen pizzas, soft drinks or candy—all of it brand name, rarely generic. Poverty in America doesn't necessarily translate into emaciation, unless you're on drugs. Poverty translates into a broken spirit: one does not have enough resources, but still one does everything possible to live up to the impossible standards that the capitalist culture has set. Not long ago, there was a way people eat; maybe in my home culture we had grits for breakfast, soup and a sandwich for lunch, and meat, vegetable and potatoes for dinner. Food was relatively scarce, and nothing was ever super-sized. Now, thanks to the free reign of capitalism,

Joseph Chris Friar

food is plentiful and relatively cheap, available at the snap of the finger and crammed down our throat whether we're hungry or not. Capitalism is the best economic system in the world. It knocks at our doors with a plethora of consumer goods, and redefined the family in a more diverse way bringing the entire world together into one big intercontinental family. Therefore capitalism has become our family, friend and the very community in which we live. I was surprised to note that there is something here in America called "Fourth Meal". I learned about it when I walked into a Taco Bell restaurant one Saturday with my friends in San Francisco and saw the promotion. It is the meal between dinner and breakfast—the one we don't need—and Taco Bell is now open during those hours to stuff it into us. According to Taco Bell, we need to formalize that hunger we supposedly get between dinner and breakfast and call it the Fourth Meal and eat it at Taco Bell, of course. This is because the capitalist culture does not know what sleeping time is, businesses are open 24/7 and people are supposing to work. Therefore those who work at night have a fourth meal during their work schedule at that time. Capitalism in a way has introduced a new time for meals in our societies and a culture of eating at that time. What happens when we get some money? Do we save it for the future? No, we go out to the malls and buy the latest hyper-advertised new things: the flat-screen TV, apple phone. Given some resources at last, we are trying to buy some self-esteem in the way that capitalism has taught us. This often leads to the absurd situation of no diapers for the baby, nothing in the fridge, but the latest home entertainment box in the living room. “Where do I belong”, Julie Charlip used it as a subhead of her article but was kind of confused on the particular class as defined by capitalism and the reconciliation with the Marx’s theory (92). “Even Marx and Engel who defined the dual-class system recognized the complexities” (92) Charlip pointed out.

Joseph Chris Friar

In other words,capitalism is also a leech sucking the life out of our societies, our neighborhoods and our families as Hochschild expressed a similar idea in her article we often see the Home and community as sacred but no more today (216). It has taking away all of our indigenous cultures and replacing them with a shallow worldwide culture of product acquisition. “We are who we are at home and in our community” but capitalism is changing all that by becoming an “end itself” (218). Capitalism is the great enslaver of both rich and poor. Those who are living in better neighborhoods, who are making enough money, in theory, should be happy, but are not happy in reality. They, too, blow their income on the latest new things, as their public religion has taught them. They, too, can never live up to the standards that the capitalist culture has set for them. Therefore among all the classes of human status the challenge is either workplace or the mall (“money world…”) or the “unpaid world of home and community” (222). It is obvious that people would choose to stay long at the paid world of workplace and mall to the unpaid world of home and community. What’s a great disorder in our society today, that capitalism is decimating the innermost part of our lives. As expressed by the article, increasingly, our belief that family come first conflict with the emotional draws of both workplace and mall (217). The later take more priority than the former. This has downtrodden the fundamentals of an ideal family as the writer argues, “…a consolation of pressures is pushing men and women further into the workplace and mall” (217).Therefore, capitalism has already broken people and robbed their lives of all meaning. Our culture which is based on capitalism assures that we will always have need for something new by surrounding us with advertisements that constantly reminds us of all that we are missing. Time is very important in a capitalist society. In every culture there is religion, and time is the idol god we worship. It constantly drills into us what we must acquire to obtain happiness: a new

Joseph Chris Friar

fragrance, a new sports drink, a hair color that makes us feel "worth it," or a breathtaking new technological entertainment. To find the balance is good, but the 21st century has a new culture more diverse than before, defining our status in society by its own standard; it will be a difficult and a lifelong battle to fight. I would rather not fight it. Considering powerful tools like ads as Hochschild used, capitalism is in itself becoming the balance between the Home culture and the culture at workplace and the mall. For a commodity to promise us love between a mother and her child, and at the same time, save time for our deadlines at workplace, tell us how difficult it would be for us to choose otherwise over capitalism. Always there will be another new thing that promises us new satisfaction that seems to bring a balance between the unpaid world, home and community and the paid world, workplaces and mall example “holiday sales at the mall vie with hanging out at home” (219). It's an endless cycle I think: it is the way our society is conducted; we either dance to the tune of it or get out from the dancing floor.

Works Cited Coleman, Brittenham, Campbell, & Girard. (2006). Making Sense: Essay on Art, Science, And Culture (80 - 94) and (215 - 222). Boston, New York: Patricia A. Coryell.

Joseph Chris Friar