“It was not easy for the Americans to convince Western Europe of the alleged merits of consumerism and a mass consumer society. In many Western European countries - but especially in France - people regarded American mass consumer culture with suspicion and as an expression of the vulgar materialist culture that had developed in the US. They could not, however, dispute the fact that the US had experienced such astonishing economic growth since 1870 that its citizens were able to maintain much higher living standards than those of Europe.” Political EconomySouth African AuthorSampie TerreblancheLost In Transformation Book:Lost in Transformation: South Africa's Search for a New Future Since 1986 Source: Lost in Transformation: South Africa's Search for a New Future Since 1986
“When the institution of transnational corporations and the phenomenon of consumerism emerged in the early twentieth century, nobody could have predicted the dominant role that corporatism and consumerism were destined to play in American capitalism and in American empire-building.” Political EconomySampie TerreblancheLost In Transformation Book:Lost in Transformation: South Africa's Search for a New Future Since 1986 Source: Lost in Transformation: South Africa's Search for a New Future Since 1986