Consumerism as a social and economic order and
ideology encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. Early criticisms of consumerism occur in 1899 in the works of
Thorstein Veblen. Veblen's subject of examination, the newly emergent
middle class arising at the turn of the 20th century, came to fruition by the end of the 20th century through the process of
globalization.