Oftentimes I will notice something new and unusual but the next time I see it, it has become a trend or has completely disappeared from the market. The fate of a new trend is dependent upon society's view of it. If it (society) approves, then every homemaker in suburban Iowa will have one of the latest widgets (think Beanie Babies) but if it gets the ix-nay from society then the manufacturers are besieged with phone calls from merchants wondering what to do about their inability to move the merchandise. The remarkable aspect of this is that so much power is given to society. It is amazing that our consumer culture can dictate so much of our lives. .
Society has always been able to cause people to conform to some degree, whether due to attitudes of the moment and the desire to be accepted or personal beliefs of the time period. "Mass production, according to this outlook, was investing individuals with tools of identity, marks of their personhood" (Ewen 187). If society is able to cause this conformation, then what of these tools of identity? Are they objects used to cause these likenesses of people or are they merely status symbols that are yearned for by all? After all, most people do want to keep up with the Jones". The problem is in that if you have something that makes you an individual, then others will covet and acquire it to also become individualistic. What no one realizes is that this processes creates conformity. Then there are others who are also searching for individuality but they go about it in a different way. " they define themselves through their commitments to a variety of communities rather than through the pursuit of radical autonomy" (Bellah 86). .
These people value their worth by how much they have accomplished in making their community a better place, through committees or hard work. They are not trying to keep up with the Jones" in the material sense but maybe they are in another sense.
