Back in the day, middle and lower class Americans were only able to buy essentials such as food, and clothing. Currently, middle class and lower class Americans are able to splurge on items that people would assume only the upper class could buy. In this essay, I read chapter three “Goods” in the book Made in America written by Claude S. Fischer, “Finding Public Relief” by Claude Fischer, and visited the worldwide known fast food chain McDonalds. To look closer into the world of material goods, I looked at propaganda, import and exportation of goods, splurging, and my personal experience at McDonalds.
Analysis
In the book Made in America made by Fischer, advertisement and propaganda weren’t formed until later on in America. For…show more content… For example, in Fischer’s book Made in America, America started to “In cities, merchants experimented with new ways of presenting their merchandise. They consolidated small specialty shops into mammoth “department stores. The emporia arrayed large and varying stocks of goods at different levels of quality and cost, tagged items with no-haggling prices, and offered customers entertaining diversions” (Fischer, 64). With these massive department stores such as Walmart, Kmart, Target, Winco, and Costco, they contribute to the movement, mass production. With population growth, there is also a need for more and more production of products as people are staying alive longer, and babies are being born at a faster…show more content… When I ordered, the service there was very quick, but it seemed very cold, detached and impersonal. In regular restaurants, the waitresses and waiters have big smiles on their faces and ask about your day and such. In fast food restaurants, such as McDonalds, their only objective is in their name, to be fast; this includes having the food being affordable, and to have reasonable quality food even if it is processed, unhealthy, and contains GMO’s.
Conclusion
America in terms of “goods” has evolved rapidly, and still is evolving to this day. With propaganda, import and exportation of goods, and splurging, prices for quality items have dropped and have become easier to afford for the average American woman and man. With credit, minimum wage being raised, and wasteful spending also adds to goods becoming more and more accessible. In conclusion, all the things listed contribute to how the purchasing of products affects the “American culture and character” (Fischer,
