Those Darn Other People

“Whenever you look at the list of consumer goods that (according to the critic) people don’t really need, what you invariably see is a list of consumer goods that middle-aged intellectuals don’t need . . . consumerism, in other words, always seems to be a critique of what other people buy.”

Nation of Rebels, p. 105

Including the Distinction of Not Caring About Distinction

“In other words, it’s the nonconformists, not the conformists, who are driving consumer spending. This observation is one that anyone working in advertising will find crushingly obvious. Brand identity is all about product differentiation; it’s about setting the product apart from others. People identify with brands because of the distinction that they confer”

Nation of Rebels, pp. 103-104

The Slaves of Jonathan Edwards

Introduction: Some people might want to raise the question why I have chosen to write on slavery as much as I have. The reason is actually a pretty simple one: I wrote the other day about the functional authority of Scripture, and the issue of slavery gives us a wonderful opportunity to see just how …

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Shrink Wrapped Rebellion

‘They identify consumerism with conformity. As a result, they fail to notice that it is rebellion, not conformity, that has for decades been the driving force of the marketplace . . . what if countercultural rebellion, rather than being a consequence of intensified consumerism, were actually a contributing factor?”

Nation of Rebels, p. 99