In Barker’s fifth chapter “A New World Disorder” there is a section that discusses the patterns of consumption. I believe this is significant especially in times like today when the economy is poor and disorganized and we must observe the actions that lead us to this consequence. This subdivision also notes “changing class identities” which I believe is something society presses on us from day to day. For example, the Cinderella story is a prominent story that every American child is due to encounter whether in literature or media and if not that particular story then the “American Dream” is engraved into adults. I find it interesting that the word disorder is used as the heading of this chapter because it denotes a sort of lacking or irregularity.
Hence marks the distinction between making and buying or as Barker puts it, “production to consumption” (153). We focus more on what people have rather than what they really make. What we do not see is the massive credit card bill they hone or their house about to foreclose. Although one critic says that we are “moving toward a society without fixed status groups” I feel that not only politically we are changing as a nation but also our ideologies will begin to shift and the division of groups will become more distinct and apparent socially.