Invented Wants and Needs

I’m listening to one of my favorite programs, even if I don’t agree with everything that the speakers say (it's very "liberal" or "progressive"). Today is a bit different. Benjamin Barber, author of Jihad vs McWorld, is an author who is deeply thoughtful and analytically astute. As a matter of fact, we are going to read one of his essays within a few days once we begin our seminar. WUWM broadcasts an episode of Alternative Radio each Sunday at 8:00 pm. Barber’s lecture, entitled “Runaway Capitalism”, addresses what he sees as a transformation of capitalism in which it is “abandoning democratic institutions” and has come to rely on the “manufacture” of “needs and wants” in order to grow.

An example of this is seen with the modern pharmaceutical industry and the way that it sells us youth. Botox is poison, but it’s sold to us constantly. In contrast, the third world desperately needs anti-diarrhea medicine, but the market isn’t as lucrative and subsequently these markets don’t really benefit from capitalism.

So it’s interesting when he asserts that capitalism is no longer doing what Adam Smith intended it should do—provide for genuine needs and create new wealth that can help societies increase the overall "Wealth of Nations". It sounds like Daniel Bell's Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, another fascinating read from one of America's first neo-conservatives.

Instead, all marketing is targeted to children and adolescents--groups of people who can't control their impulses and make great consumers.