Consumer's Republic Response

Reading "A Consumer's Republic" was an interesting and extremely relevant read to the state of our economy today. The history of consumerism and its impact on women, African Americans, working-class populations, American businesses, and so on is extremely important to understand so that when we have our own income, insurance, budget, and independent life, we can make smart decisions about our consumption and our savings. Since this book is placed in historical context that discusses government decisions, protests and boycotts, as well as the advertising of the time, it is interesting to see how mass consumption and the U.S. economy's patterns are similarly re-created today. What I found the most interesting were how women and African-Americans utilized their identity as a consumer to make a voice for themselves in the white male patriarchal social and economic climate between 1920 and the 1950s. Although the struggles for civil liberties, consumer protection, product regulation, non-discriminatory work opportunities, and public voice did not necessarily end, it is apparent, especially within the African-American population at the time, that their activism as consumer's allowed the group to propel forward into demanding civil rights. Similar to this, women attained strength as a public voice that possibly helped create better organization and attention for the 2nd wave of feminism that went through the 1970s.  One final point that i wanted to address was how the government policies and organizations that aided in consumption and economic change was vital to Cohen's book, but I also enjoyed how she addressed how the broader national changes affected the individual based on gender, race, and class. Oftentimes this can be overlooked, but being able to understand how the nation as a whole and individuals of the nation were impacted allows for a more holistic understanding of consumerism and the issues that arise from it.