What seems to be a central aspect of Galbraith’s liberal views?
John Kenneth Galbraith or more popularly known as JK Galbraith was a Canadian-American economist who was a proponent of the American progressivism and liberalism. Galbraith was able to write dozens of books and articles and some of his famous works were American Capitalism, The Affluent Society and The New Industrial State (Samuelson 1). Though he was known for his many contributions in the field of economics, his biggest claim to fame was his book The Affluent Society which is a commentary about the wealth and inequality in America.
In the article, the central aspect of Galbraith’s liberal views is how materialism shaped the people into feeling discontent towards their possessions. Galbraith described the disparity between the public and private sectors and how these sectors played a role in making the people become materialistic (Samuelson 3). The public sector or the government is suffering from lack of public indulgence because more people depend on private sectors for their needs.
The private sectors produced things that the people thought they needed for their daily lives. For an instance, the production of automobiles, as what Galbraith wrote, were given much more importance than the roads built for them to drive on. The advertising of private sectors somehow conditioned the mind of the public to consume things they didn’t want or need. The things offered by the government which will make their lives better are more often than not shrugged off only as necessary evil because of the mind conditioning advertisements.
Indeed materialism breeds discontent among people. The public should open their minds and begin to spend more on things which will really make their lives better. They should be aware that the things they need are offered by the public sector and they should spend more for the government than the private sector. Work Cited Samuelson, Robert S. “The Post Affluent Society”. 10 May 2006. The Washington Post. 13 May 2010 <http://online. wsj. com/article/SB114720838383148125. html>.
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