> we can also say consumers need to be much smarter and more modest if they want to build wealth and improve their station.
Ture. But this is an interesting point. It becomes a "fool's game" like a casino, where everyone knows that the odds are stacked against them. So when they loose, they can internalize their fault. Yet there's an abundance of "shiny" going around so that people's choice becomes emotional and hope-based, instead of rational.
Therefore there's no incentive to change the system because it's so easy to blame those who lose out: "see they made poor choices"—nevermind how we bombard those people with a ton of fine-tuned marketing. Taking the massively spec'd truck as an example, consider what the car manufacturer is selling: the feeling of power. Now watch a popular game on TV and get that message drilled into you about 30 times each week, while living a life that is otherwise very constrained in terms of finances and opportunities... many give in.
Ture. But this is an interesting point. It becomes a "fool's game" like a casino, where everyone knows that the odds are stacked against them. So when they loose, they can internalize their fault. Yet there's an abundance of "shiny" going around so that people's choice becomes emotional and hope-based, instead of rational.
Therefore there's no incentive to change the system because it's so easy to blame those who lose out: "see they made poor choices"—nevermind how we bombard those people with a ton of fine-tuned marketing. Taking the massively spec'd truck as an example, consider what the car manufacturer is selling: the feeling of power. Now watch a popular game on TV and get that message drilled into you about 30 times each week, while living a life that is otherwise very constrained in terms of finances and opportunities... many give in.