Conditioned Consumerism

After World War II Americans became bonafide consumers. And yet conditioned consumerism sneakily hijacks our time, money, and mental bandwidth. It also harms the planet.

The system is entrenched, the marketing is omnipresent, and it’s all designed to keep us buying until we die. But there IS a way out. On today’s show author and former marketer Ashlee Piper pulls back the curtain on modern marketing so that we may hop off the addictive consumer hamster wheel for good.

Here’s a preview:

[5:30] There’s a reason why so many of us shop to soothe our discontent (We’re told to!)

[8:00] Advertising + Psychology = A powerful selling combination

[22:00] When people feel lonely, inadequate, or restless they shop

[32:00] When marketing gets predatory: zip code marketing, old guard sexism, and more

[35:00] Why Ashlee has a problem with the ‘underconsumption’ trend, and for good reason

Resources mentioned:

• No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity (via Bookshop.org)
• Book Club (with Ashlee!) is scheduled for Monday, August 25 at 7pm EST. Email to come.
• Join us for the Instagram giveaway, which officially goes live on Wednesday, August 6
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• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.