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Essay / Analysis of the society of spectacle by Guy Debord
This book-report focuses on the society of spectacle by Guy Debord. It is a theory according to which our society is dominated by images and characterizes and drives our consumer society. The images we see are seen through various methods such as advertising, television and other media as well as banners and billboards. Consumerism people see images of things to buy and they leave, but the things and the reality that the world creates become what they are. It doesn't matter if people have money or not, they can get credit and pay for it with money they don't have. This idea of credit for all helps those in power obtain more money and power. The more technology advances, the easier it becomes to strengthen the consumer society, enter new market sectors, and continue to evolve with the new way of life in the United States and around the world. Debord declares that “the spectacle is capital accumulated to the point where it becomes image. »(34) It is about the links between money and spectacle or images. Advertisements and other methods of distributing images require money to produce and make public. When a product is sought after by the public, it is then consumed and helps the upper classes and more powerful people get richer and continue to flood our minds with consumerism. With this money and social control over the mass population, there is control by institutions. With constant pressure to purchase certain products, Debord states that "the spectacle is a permanent opium war waged to make it impossible to distinguish between goods and commodities." » (44) When people do not know why they buy a certain product because of its social status, they fall under the spell of consumerism and will do what the power of the middle of paper encourages them to do...... we are a consumer society and we are motivated by images. I think the way the upper classes are using this to improve their fortunes and slowly kill our economy is a problem. I agree with Debord on all the points he made. I don't find myself in this consumer society for the most part, but I see the extent to which it haunts certain people and comes to define them. I think Debord doesn't like the new society, so I would have liked him to speak out and say more negative things about consumerism. The way Debord lays out individual points rather than a single theory is interesting because he can move from one point to another without adhering to certain factors. This allows him to see things from different perspectives, which is important when talking about the world, which is very complex and made up of many different variables..