Because of the public perception of UW-Madison's student body as being dominated by the radical left and the high regard generally given to its academic programs, this school has long held the reputation as the \Berkeley of the Midwest."" But does this view hold true, or has radical idealism been replaced in the majority of the student body by consumerism and armchair liberalism? While the majority of politically motivated students on campus could be described as strongly liberal, if you define political involvement as something more time-intensive than voting in national elections, that group is surprisingly small.
As the gradual chain-store takeover of State Street proceeds apace, the campus voice against companies like McDonald's and Starbucks is still present-but does very little to slow the corporations' expansion. Nor has it done anything to significantly change their business practices. As long as the average student keeps ordering Big Macs and then making the 60-foot trek down the street for a mocha, companies are not going to feel any real pressure, especially if many of those who espouse workers' rights in theory are going to Wal-Mart on the weekend.
College students have traditionally been seen as the radicals who shun the spending practices of mainstream society, but that view needs to be adjusted, at least for the majority of students. Try counting the number of iPods you see while walking between classes or tally up your drinking expenses for a month. When freshmen head out to house parties determined to look their best, how much of their disposable income has been handed over to Abercrombie & Fitch and Urban Outfitters in exchange for a pair of pants that threaten to outvalue the per capita GDP of East Timor? The modern college lifestyle is strongly interwoven with high consumption.
Not that college can even be called the culprit in this situation. The consumer culture bug has already sank its festering proboscis into students by the time they've graduated from high school, and with many even before that. The 15-year old with a cell phone becomes a 19-year old with an iPod, an armada of personal hygiene items and maybe even a moped for good measure. As soon as they make the post-graduation hop into a higher tax bracket, their consumption is likely to ramp up accordingly.
None of this is meant to undercut the thousands of UW students who are working hard for change and real positive goals. In the last weeks we've seen students give up time, money and even food to support causes they believed in. Nor is it meant to condemn the college lifestyle. However, it is important to recognize that just like a smoking addiction, consumerism isn't likely to be a habit formed in adulthood. The marketing empire that dominates the entire modernized world is very good at getting the young hooked. And once hooked, it's very hard to stop.
Consumerism, after all, doesn't have a patch.
