'Third Eye Blind'

The United States is a consumer powerhouse, responsible for about one-third of all global consumption of goods and services. This dynamic once worked in favor of American workers, particularly when the U.S. was also a leading manufacturing nation, producing much of what it consumed. However, the landscape began to shift when corporations started leveraging free trade and cheap labor overseas to manufacture products at lower costs and boost their profits. This shift contributed to the decline of the American middle class and income inequality, as corporate earnings soared while wages stagnated. As America's middle class shrank, the middle classes of countries like China began to grow—driven by their role in producing what we consumed. How did these corporations turn Americans into consumers, and today, how are materialism and consumption impacting the American people? Join the conversation and get answers to these questions and more on According2Sam episode #305.