Baudrillard’s book, The System of Things, as well as his literary heritage in general, is characterized by crystal clear narration, brilliant wit, and a pleasant literary style. The author presents the most important problems of sociology, philosophy, psychology, art history in a simple, understandable, and fascinating context, accessible to the average person. This book does not lose relevance for many years, helps to honestly evaluate human impulses and emotions, to identify possible prospects for the development of society.
What is consumption?
According to the author, which Jean Baudrillard sets forth in the System of Things, consumption is a phenomenon of a modern civilized society, characteristic of economically prosperous countries. In a society of abundance, as he calls people, the purpose of things is not limited to their functionality, as it was in the past. Today, things are also a hallmark, a demonstration of wealth, a visual embodiment of prestige.
In Baudrillard's System of Things, consumption is portrayed by an ongoing process of choice and a constant need to update things. Every member of the human community is unknowingly drawn into this process. Buying more and more new things, a person seeks to achieve a certain ideal, which inevitably eludes him. Fashionable clothes, the latest gadgets make it more successful and competitive, and buying on credit allows you to get ahead of time and your own income. Popular is not only the newest, but, on the contrary, the oldest and most rare: ancient art objects, antique furniture, and collectibles.
Essence of consumption
A summary of the "System of Things" by J. Baudrillard is that a person seeks to overcome his fears and anxieties with the help of the most modern and advanced technical toys, sophisticated machines for everyday needs and robotic household items.
To stimulate the desire to buy, manufacturers use advertising. The purpose of advertising companies is not to strive to sell a larger quantity of a product, but to invest in the human mind an integral image of a successful member of society. In this context, the consumer always remains unsatisfied, his passion does not know saturation, because he interacts not with things, but with cultural signs. Such an exchange lasts forever, and the speed increases every day. These cultural signs increasingly embody intangible goods, such as prestige, and are less and less filled with functional meaning. Baudrillard in the System of Things calls such signs dehumanized, implying that a person in this culture is relegated to the background.
Books
The System of Things was written and published in 1968. Then, in 1970, the Consumer Society appeared. The books of Jean Baudrillard partially repeated the ideas of Marxism, however, in his subsequent works, the author actively criticized them. In The Mirror of Production, published in 1973, the writer rather crudely attacks Marxism, calling his point of view exclusively bourgeois.
In 1976, the work "Symbolic Exchange and Death" appeared. Over the next 10 years, the author traveled extensively throughout Europe, South America and the United States. Subsequently, he wrote the book "America", which became the most popular creation.