Moral Criticism of the Market
I disagree with the author's major premise and conclusion. He contradicts himself by suggesting that the basis of his support for a free market is that it depends on offering something of value to others and that the problem with the dynamics of commercial advertising lies primarily with the individual. The reality of the advertising industry is hardly that it merely increases public "awareness" of available products. In fact, the main effort of commercial advertising is precisely to create the perception of need, even (or specifically) where it is illusory. To use the author's example, by the time someone covets a Mercedes that he sees driving past him on the street, he has already been inundated by years of explicit and implicit messages that the Mercedes symbolizes respect and achievement.
The fashion industry provides an even better example because it no longer exists to fill any actual need (since modern clothes...
Instead, all of its efforts are intended to generate a perceived need by purposely changing "fashion" regularly to create a need that would not exist otherwise. While the author cannot be faulted for failing to know what would happen two decades after his article, the entire economic crisis was substantially the result of materialism, artificial need, and the preoccupation with "acquisitive" success. Specifically, the Wall Street culture produced wealth without creating any products that benefitted society and the housing market collapse was mainly caused by individual greed and the need to compete with the neighbor.
The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty
http://www.thefreemanonline.org
Moral Criticisms of the Market
by Ken S. Ewert • March 1989 • Vol. 39/Issue 3
Mr. Ewert, a graduate of Grove City College, is working on a master's degree in public policy at CBN…
