Out of the presentations in class the one that stuck out to me the most was David's about the endangered animals. The reason this one stuck out was because it was a very different interpretation of the prompt and he decided to take another route than others while still addressing the issue. Also the prevention of the PowerPoint was done well with the background music and slides. I showed mostly the impact of consumerism on the environment instead of the personal aspect of consumerism. It was a very nice presentation.

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David Trend speaks about three viewpoints in consumer ideology. The view i believe Dittmar would endorse would be his view of condemnation. Trend says that the condemnation view "sees consumer culture as an expression of false consciousness." He later goes on to say that consumers don't act in their best interest and make choices based off of their poor judgement and lack of information. He then says, "These poor decisions result from a system of marketing and advertising that promotes false consciousness by distorting needs and instilling irrational desires." Dittmar has the same view of consumption. She believes that people today view material objects as the extension of the self. People buy things in order to create an identity for themselves. This also speaks upon the point made by Trend about consumption being politically biased, driven by competition, self-interest, and values or inequality. If everyone was equal, there wouldnt be over consumption because there would be no competition to be better or have the best. Both authors realize that consumption in some way is always an extension of our own personal beliefs in who we are and how we want to represent ourselves and the world as. If you feel as though life is a competition, youre going to compete.