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How the world embraced consumerism - BBC Future

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Over the course of the 20th Century, capitalism moulded the ordinary person into a consumer. Kerryn Higgs traces the historical roots of the world's unquenchable thirst for more stuff.

How the world embraced consumerism 21 January 2021 Share Save Add as preferred on Google Kerryn Higgs Features correspondent Getty Images Consumerism was essentially an invention of capitalism (Credit: Getty Images) Over the course of the 20th Century, capitalism moulded the ordinary person into a consumer. Kerryn Higgs traces the historical roots of the world's unquenchable thirst for more stuff. The notion of human beings as consumers first took shape before World War One, but became commonplace in America in the 1920s. Consumption is now frequently seen as our principal role in the world. P

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