Government Underpinning: Failure to Abolish Consumer Slavery

Abstract

This paper will assess the way in which consumerism is used to manipulate individuals within marginalized groups, specifically those based on race and gender. Following a Marxist framework, this paper will illustrate a symbiotic relationship between the laborer and the capitalist, a hierarchal relationship where mutual dependence encourages unrelenting exploitation. Further focus will center on how these social hierarchies perpetuate a continuous enslavement of individuals politically defined as black and politically defined as woman. These identities are outlined within the framework of two active dichotomies: black/white and man/woman. Both gender and race are key factors in determining an individual’s identity. Because the hegemonic gender is man, while the hegemonic race is white, any person who does not fit into those two categories simultaneously is underprivileged. Hence the reason why black and woman, both of which have been historically deemed subordinate to white and man, is automatically a part of the underprivileged working class. Since the hierarchal laborer-capitalist relationship is greatly validated by socializations, it cannot be voided by taking legal action alone. However, policy changes addressing education gaps, gender wage gaps, and hiring discrepancies, can assist in decoupling the social constructs of race and gender from class therefore minimizing racial and gender privileges.