Consuming Life by Zygmunt Bauman

In his book, Consuming Life, Zygmunt Bauman highlights the unique aspects of contemporary life where consumerism plays a key role in people's mindsets, attitudes, and relationships at individual and societal levels. People have gained access to enormous information due to the advancement in technology. Overwhelming amount of knowledges are available and highly selectable. Technology has not only enhanced the easiness of purchase of commodities but also impacted people's perspectives towards human relationships and their responsibilities in the society. People are inclined to pay more attention to the present as if it is a fragment of time that is irrelevant on the continuum from the past to future. As compared to the past when quality of luxuries has represented durability, and a sense of security and reliability, things are considered to be transformative and replaceable nowadays. Speed, excess, and waste characterize the "consumerist syndrome." People are consuming commodities, but at the same time, they are being the target of commoditization. This book depicts how people exercise the freedom of choice at all levels in life, and how consumerism manifests itself in contemporary society.

The quote from Mary Douglas made me think of the existing contradiction prevailing in the society: "Unless we know why people need luxuries (that is, goods in excess of survival needs) and how they use them we are nowhere near taking the problems of inequality seriously." (p. 28) When we argue about inequality in the society and seek for its elimination, our attention is often directed to the shortage of quality among those in need (i.e., How to provide them with better opportunities? How to help them have access to resources?) However, we easily overlook the flip side of the perspective that approaches are taken from the superior point of view. The reality is that we are the actual driving force that widens the gap between those people who fall short of the excessive quality of life. And yet, we act as if we are concerned about those people in shortage of the assumed quality of life. As the society accelerates its pace of life and overwhelm people with information and commodities, it is all the more important to reflect on our living stance: What is the real quality that is needed in our current life? 

In educational settings, the advanced technology and rich sources of information serve as both advantages and disadvantages. From my professional experience as an international educator, for example, I note that newly-arriving international students to the U.S. often say, "I don't think I will have any serious culture shock because I already know American culture from the media and Internet." They look confident as if they already know many things that are manageable in a different culture. This is true to some extent. Younger generations are indeed taking advantage of the knowledges that are easily accessible, helping them to feel more connected to the world. They assume that they know about other cultures (specially about American culture), and may even see more commonalities than ever. However, the potential pitfall is, information and knowledge from the media and one's first-hand experience and emic perspectives can be significantly different.

Information is often selected by senders and receivers. I think that students' knowledge is more vulnerable to misinterpretation or overestimation with regard to the degree of understanding nowadays. That having said, the important learning for students is to question the prevailing information in comparison to the reality, to apply the knowledge to existing variables, and to examine knowledges from their own perspectives, from their experiences, and through in-depth communication. As an educator, the challenge is as to how we can guide students to balance the overwhelming sources of information/knowledge, and how we can enhance students' capabilities to apply their knowledge to the real world.