“The Consumer Society”, this is how the book of French philosopher Jean Baudrillard is entitled, which was published in 1970. It was then that the consumption of various goods and services in the West had completely lost the rational meaning and acquired a characteristic of a life-style. In other words, the presence of a car, home, food, jewellery, and paramours reflected not a natural, physical or spiritual requirement, which was becoming a “sign” independent of any requirement, providing a certain social status.
At that time the Soviet Union was officially propagating some “semi-proletariat” temperance which allegedly rejected the aforementioned “bourgeois pleasures”, although a considerable part of the Soviet elite, including manufacturers, were involved in these pleasures.
Later, market relations were legalized and the “consumption period” “officially” began also in the post-Soviet area. The characteristic feature of that period was that the latter was happening in parallel with impoverishment of the majority of population, but that does not mean that most of the society did not live with “consumer ideals”. But as anywhere, here too a generation change took place. Me and my peers lived in the conditions of false “temperance”, then 1 percent of us became rich, and 99 percent lost their properties, which was stressful for the majority. But today we already have a good or bad, social structure, 30-40-year-olds typically do not set themselves the task to surprise others with their homes, and cars. On the other hand, they no longer perceive the word “businessman” as a blasphemy, it is a profession, like a doctor or a violinist.
The world trend is no longer the consumption, but the establishment of normal relations with other people, first and foremost with relatives, the family, and the faith. Maybe my rating is too optimistic, but let us compare the “industrial rich men”, Ford, Dupont, with IT billionaires, Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg, and we will see that voracity is no longer “fashionable”, on the opposite, modesty is actual nowadays. Perhaps this is due to the IT era when people need more human warmth and love than ever before.
Please note Zuckerberg is spelled with Z and pronounced with Z in all languages. There is a letter Z in Armenian alphabet (please see Armenian version of this article). I am not sure why Armenian publications always misspell his name. Please also do some rsearch. Ford is one of the most modest billioneers you can ever find. He lived modestly given his wealth and his focus was always on innovation. Hope this helps.