Anti-consumerism theme has become quite a mass marketing strategy .Anti-consumerism reinforces consumerism.

I think anyone who dislikes consumerism should just stop shopping.

As far as American v Canadian consumerism I'd say it depends where you are . I imagine the folks in Vancover and Toronto are more consumer obsessed than in many parts of rural US .

Listen carefully to politicians today, Democrats talk about “Social Justice and “Fairness.” While Republicans talk about “Lower Taxes and “Getting Government off our Backs.” But who is talking about freedom, individual freedom; when was the last time you heard either talk about preserving individual freedom. Whatever else it is, Welfare is taking money from one person and giving it to another, the least that can be done is a “Work” for welfare program. But Aid for mothers with dependent children is just the tail of the Welfare State. What about the Homeless, corporate welfare, farm welfare….. and on and on.

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Other countries have welfare programs and have not fallen into the gutter - why has the US done so?

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Who said America has "fallen into the gutter?" And we do have welfare programs, and "poverty" in America can be quite misleading.

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* Forty-three percent of all poor households actu­ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.

* Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

* Only 6 percent of poor households are over­crowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.

* The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)

* Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.

* Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.

* Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

* Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consump­tion of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernour­ished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.

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And what does our welfare system do for the "poor" in America?

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While work and marriage are steady ladders out of poverty, the welfare system perversely remains hostile to both. Major programs such as food stamps, public housing, and Medicaid continue to reward idleness and penalize marriage. If welfare could be turned around to require work and encourage marriage, poverty among children would drop substantially.

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That's what we get from the left's idea of solving the problem.

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Originally Posted by speechlesstx

That's what we get from the left's idea of solving the problem.

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Was the problem ever solved by anyone?

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Was the problem ever solved by anyone?

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NO, it should have read that's what we get from the left's idea of 'solving' the problem. Keeping the 'poor' idle, unmarried and dependent isn't going to solve anything.