Adventures in PR: Consumer Relations

As our country's economy continues to weaken, what effect is it having on the American consumer? If money is the tool that allows people to exchange goods and services, what will happen as less and less people are able to acquire money?

According to chapter 8, the middle and upper classes control the majority of consumer spending power in our country. But as we are well aware of today, the middle class is quickly shrinking as jobs are becoming more scarce due to companies hiring less employees.

The section titled "Surging Demand for Luxury Goods" talked about how luxury items have evolved to become necessity. "These lifestyle and expenditure norms have risen pretty dramatically for the middle class and the upper middle class." But can it keep on rising? How much longer until the whole thing just collapses in on itself?

From a PR perspective, sure, consumer relations is crucial to the continuation of the profession and for companies and corporations to remain in existence. But what responsibilities, if any, do these entities have  in ensuring the continuation of an actual physical economic environment to continue this way of life? Banks (who are controlled, of course, by corporations) just keep printing more and more money, sending the value of the dollar directly into the toilet, all while the American "consumer" is worked to the bone so he can afford "necessities" like new cars, cell phones and flat screen TVs. And, while all this is going on, our global environment is being destroyed just so these gadgets can exist. It's an entirely screwed up and unsustainable situation.

I guess this is more of a rant than a journal entry, but it's just what's on my mind at this point.

Also, don't you think it'd be nice if Champlain re-named their "Mass Communications" major to "Integrated Marketing Communications"? It has a more succinct ring to it. "Mass Communications" is too generic and I always have to explain what it means when people ask me what my major is.