Which political philosophies would see consumerism as negative? Positive?

Answer 1

Communism would see consumerism as corrupting, as it flows from capitalism, which Marx and Engels said exploited the masses who had to work for a living, namely, the proletariat. Communism accuses capital consumerism as keeping the poor man poor, when actually it creates incentive to achieve any kind of employment and financial success! China's form of communism has come to see the value of some consumerism in that it lines the pockets of the wealthy Chinese army, which owns everything. North Korea still eschews anything but a communist order, with Cuba a bit in-between as a communist nation, providing a tourist industry of sorts, though they still, like all communist countries, imprison any citizen who disagrees with the communist system and government.

Eastern European communism fell by the wayside with the fall of the USSR and the Soviet Bloc, but socialism is finding itself exacting high taxes to provide freebies like universal healthcare. Germany has perhaps the strongest consumer economy since reuniting with the former East Germany, as many global banks invested in its rebuilding, especially in Berlin, which is its new capital city. Spain and France, the United Kingdom and Ireland are facing high unemployment, as corporate high taxes do not leave much room for job creation.

Thus, Europe will soon realize that socialism cannot support itself and its lifestyle of raising taxes to pay for expanded social programs. (Actually history clearly shows that the lower the taxes, the greater the windfall in government coffers, as companies no longer in a stranglehold can and do expand and create a myriad of new jobs!) The upwardly mobile and brighter economy greatly increases consumer spending, in fact! This is why democratic republic and other forms of capitalism enjoy higher standards of living for everyone and so places like the United States have become the envy of the world, and the target of the embittered.

A tragic example of communism destroying a robust economy is Venezuela, which is why so many of its citizens have left behind their homes and gasless vehicles, crossing to freedom often on foot, near the point of starvation, figuring anywhere was better than what they had been through in their home country. Communism, socialism and all political liberalism don't last in the long run, as Russia discovered, calling these things 'social Darwinism.' Because of Darwinism they had seen abject poverty and fear, to the point that it outlawed all of it and so the teaching of evolution as well.

Consumerism and capitalism make for robust economies and always have, giving every class the opportunity to attain their dreams, and they always will, in Africa, Europe, Asia and the whole world.