FROM THE EDITORS
THE CONSUMPTION ISSUE

We all consume. Consumption has always been part of the human condition, but it has not always looked like this. More than anywhere else, consumption in America is linked with choice—what to eat, what to wear, where to live. In America, the choice extends to cars, computers, movies, and insurance plans. Our choices are supposed to say something, not only about what we like, but about who we are. As this American cult of consumption reaches its ecstatic December peak, it is worth reflecting on what it means to consume, to ourselves and to the world around us.

When we consume, we take part, for better or for worse, in a system that we do not control. Even as we choose what we buy, we become objects. For the people selling us what we buy, we are members of homogenous demographic groups (West), easily fooled by cheap viral marketing ploys (Acierno), conscious yet lazy would-be activists looking to buy social justice in beverage form (Hylden). The way we consume does say something about who we are—though perhaps not what we think.

More importantly, what we consume has consequences—for the environment (Roher), for local workers (Small), even for American racial politics (Evans). How we consume has real consequences for real people. As we blithely wander the consumer pleasure island called Manhattan, it is our responsibility to keep those people in mind.

The Editors