消费社会中的文化问题

Cultural Issues in a Consumer Society

消费固然是一种个人行为,但倘若一个社会开始以消费作为指标,来判定该社会之繁荣与否;开始以鼓励消费、刺激消费作为社会政策;开始以消费行为作为讨论社会问题的一般架构,探讨有关环境保护、社会安全、生活质量、文化发展之类问题时,"消费"不再只是纯经济层面的事,并据此而发展出消费者意识,开始有了消费者的团体,逐渐把消费视为一切生产、流通、分配的最后目标。那么我们就可以称这个社会是个消费社会了。纵观消费社会之形成以及对此社会性质的批评,我们可以了解到,一项经济制度其实并不仅是关涉着经济问题,不同的经济制度,蕴含了不同的伦理观与价值观。对经济的看法,理当放在文化发展中去学习。

Consumption is originally a personal behavior,but when consumption has been regarded as a social indicator to make judgment of the prosperity of the society,when encouraging consumption and triggering consumption have become a social policy,when consumption has been taken as framework to discuss social problems and to explore such problems as environmental protection,social security,living quality,and cultural development,the "consumption " as such is no longer a pure economic factor. It has developed a kind of consumer consciousness, consumer organization, and gradually becomes the final goal of all production,circulation and distribution. We therefore can call this society a consumer society. In the criticism of the formation and the nature of a consumer society,we may come to know that an economic system is not merely a system of economy. It embodies different views of ethics and values. It is reasonable therefor to learn and understand economy in a context of cultural development.