Lesson48 Credit and Modern Consumers
Credit is now being promoted and advertised as never before. People arebeing persuaded to buy money and then being told by other advertisementswhat to spend it on. Banks and Building Societies are at the forefront ofthis onslaught, heedless of the effect of personal debt on the social fabricand the balance of payments and a laissez-faire government refuses to takeany responsibility. Artificial needs and desires are being foisted upon usand, because of the employment of evermore sophisticated techniques, we arebeginning to believe that they are natural and immutable.
We now have to contend with junk mail, telephone selling and even coldvisits by sales representatives to our homes in the evening. There is a newand thriving market for "luxury" goods, often bought on credit, naturally,with the manufacturers of glassware, china, jewellery and leather-boundbooks promoting their products and the associated "lifestyle" all over theplace.
Designer labels have acquired special status and emanated a kind ofreligious aura. Any pair of jeans will not do; it has to be a pair with thecorrect label. Not only have we been transmogrified into habitual consumers,but we are increasingly defining ourselves and each other in terms ofobjects. We have become commodity fetishists. Images of consumers in advertsare largely stereotypes; they have to stand for categories of people inorder to strike a bond of identification with as many of us as possible.
forefront 最前部；最前线
onslaught 冲击
heedless 不注意的；不顾
laissez faire 放任；自由主义
foist 硬卖给；把...强加
evermore 始终
emanate 散发；发出,
transmogrify 使变形；使改变
fetishist 物神崇拜者
信用与现代消费者
过去从未像现在这样大力提倡和宣传信用。人们被说服去购买金钱，然后又被其他广告告知用钱买什么。银行和建房互助会站在这场冲击波的最前沿，无视个人欠债对社会结构和支付平衡的影响，而一个采取放任主义的政府不愿对此承担任何责任。人造的需求和欲望正强加给我们。因为使用的技术始终很深奥，我们开始相信这些需求是自然的和不可改变的。
我们现在不得不应付垃圾邮件、电话销售，甚至是销售代表们的强行登门夜访。新生而繁荣的“奢侈品”市场，通常以信用支付，自然到处都是玻璃器具、瓷器、珠宝和皮边儿书籍的制造商们在推销他们的产品以及与其紧密联系的“生活方式”。
设计师标牌已经获得了特殊地位，并发出一种带宗教色彩的光环。不是随意一条牛仔裤都行，必须是一条有正确标牌的牛仔裤。我们不但已经被改变为习惯性消费者，而且我们越来越根据物品来定义自己和别人。我们已经开始盲目迷恋商品。广告里的消费者形象大多是模式化的，他们必须代表各个类型的人，以便让尽可能多的人形成认同。 |