Research On Cultivating A New Era’s Concept Of Quality Life Consumption

"Throughout history,generation after generation of the Chinese people have been striving for a better life.With the development of the times,China’s socialist characteristics have entered a new era,leading to a significant shift in the country’s primary contradictions.Looking back at China’s development journey,the pursuit of a better life by its people has evolved with changing times.From addressing basic needs to achieving a moderately prosperous society,the pursuit of a better life has never ceased.In the new era,the call for a better life in China has become increasingly urgent,emphasizing the need for modern and scientific consumption concepts that align with the vision of a better life.Over the past four decades of reform and opening-up,China’s consumer landscape has undergone a comprehensive transformation.Influenced by the spread of consumerism,the Chinese people’s consumption attitudes are also undergoing changes.Objectively,the negative effects of consumerism have permeated various aspects of Chinese society,leading to a trend of consumer alienation in many areas.The new era demands more modern and scientific consumption concepts,ones that align with the vision of a better life.By guiding people with the right consumption mindset,we can mitigate the negative impact of consumerism in China’s consumer landscape,improve people’s material and cultural lives,and lead society as a whole toward a better life.The concept of consuming for a better life not only guides the consumption practices of each citizen but also serves as a theoretical foundation for creating a better life for the people.It is not only about fulfilling the desires of every Chinese person for a better life but also about realizing the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.Baudrillard,as a Western Marxist and a pioneer in the study of Western consumerism,creatively put forward the theory of symbolic consumption.He believed that in consumer society,people’s daily lives are controlled by material desires,and capital transforms commodities into various symbols,clothing them with the symbols of wealth,taste,identity,and status.Baudrillard argued that symbols erase the subject’s role in consumer practices,leading to people being completely enslaved by symbols.Baudrillard’s study of consumer society holds practical significance as it analyzed the underlying logic of consumer society,criticized Western capitalism,and sounded the alarm for individuals in consumer society.Even though Baudrillard’s later solutions leaned towards nihilism and departed from Marxism,his theory of symbolic consumption remains insightful.It offers new theoretical perspectives for addressing China’s current consumption issues and provides valuable insights for constructing a scientifically green consumption environment and nurturing a consumption outlook for a better life.This paper,taking the current state of consumption in Chinese society in the new era as its research background,focuses on the "consumption outlook for a better life." By applying Marxist consumption theory and Baudrillard’s theory of symbolic consumption,it explores the connotations,visions,and cultivation paths of the consumption outlook for a better life in contemporary China.Firstly,it elucidates the core content of Baudrillard’s theory of symbolic consumption.Unlike the production logic established by Marx,the former is premised on consumption practices and deconstructs capitalist consumer society through alienation.Baudrillard recognized that capitalist society had transformed from a productive society to a consumer society,where consumption had influenced people’s production and lifestyle,societal values,and relationships between members of society,even dominating them.In this new form,consumption became a new way for capital to generate surplus value in Western capitalist society.This section aims to clarify the core content of the theory of symbolic consumption,explaining relevant concepts,and laying the foundation for later use of the theory to examine the consumption issues in contemporary Chinese society.Secondly,it examines Baudrillard’s theory of symbolic consumption from a Marxist perspective.While the theory of symbolic consumption has contemporary applicability and relevance,it also has limitations due to the unprecedented changes brought about by technological innovation,the widespread use of mass media,and the emergence of artificial intelligence in our current era.In this new environment,people’s consumption patterns inevitably show signs of symbolization in certain areas.Baudrillard’s theory emerged during the post-industrial revolution era,a period of significant transformation in Western capitalist society,driven by various emerging technologies.There are clear similarities between these two different eras.Consequently,the author believes that Baudrillard’s theory of symbolic consumption is applicable to the study of contemporary Chinese consumption issues.Baudrillard inherited the critique of technical rationality and cultural industry from Western Marxism and shifted the focus of research to the critique of the real-life in capitalist society,which is the rationality of his theory.However,in his later research,Baudrillard deviated from Marxism and criticized Marx’s political economy,claiming that productive labor had come to an end.Baudrillard’s symbolic political economy research was built on his misinterpretation of Marx’s work,leading him towards nihilism.This section aims to analyze the usability and limitations of the theory of symbolic consumption,clarify its theoretical value for reflecting on contemporary Chinese consumption culture issues,and provide theoretical guidance for transcending the consumption outlook for a better life.Finally,it analyzes the problems existing in the consumption field of contemporary China from the perspective of the theory of symbolic consumption.Combining Marxist consumption theory,it points out potential solutions to the problem of consumer alienation in China’s current consumer landscape,proposes the basic connotations,principles,and cultivation paths of the consumption outlook for a better life,and nurtures a consumption outlook that aligns with a better life in the new era.