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For Dichter, the ability to express oneself through shopping was a matter of great importance. After a childhood that had been defined by serious poverty, near-starvation and prejudice, he saw America as a beacon of democratic capitalism, with limitless opportunities to grow and express individuality. (Soon after immigrating he took lessons to drop his Viennese accent so he would sound “all-American”.) But he also viewed Americans as a puritanical bunch, incapable of embracing change without anxiety, or spending money without remorse. He worried that this inability to enjoy progress would cripple the country’s economy, which served as a crucial bulwark against the Soviet Union. If consumer culture was America’s best defence against communism, then motivating materialistic desires was an investment in the country’s future.
Dichter’s colourful take on the sexual relevance of ordinary objects got attention. To ensure national security, Americans needed to learn how to please themselves in realistic but ephemeral ways. “To some extent the needs and wants of people have to be continuously stirred up,” he argued, so that everyone will work hard to buy what they desire. In the early 1950s he discerned that, when Americans borrowed money, they preferred to do so from loan sharks at high interest rather than from a bank, because they saw bankers as judgmental father figures, whereas loan sharks lacked the authority to moralise. He advised one bank to advertise checking accounts with overdraft facilities, recognising that people wanted more money than they had but didn’t want to take out loans.

A. 어휘
define 정의를 내리다. starvation 餓死(아사). prejudice 편견.
beacon 봉화, 등대, 標識(표지). immigrate 이민하다.
puritanical bunch 청교도적인 집단. embracing change 변화를 포용하다.
incapable=unable. remorse 후회. cripple 무력하게 만들다, 병신으로 만들다.
crucial 중대한, 결정적인. bulwark 城砦(성채), 방파제.
ephemeral 하루살이 목숨의, 순식간의, 덧없는. wants 需要(수요), 결핍.
stirred up 奮起(분기)시키다, 선동하다. discern 看破(간파)하다.
loan sharks 고리대금업자. judgmental 도덕적 판단의. figures 인물.
checking accounts 당좌예금. overdraft 당좌대월. facilities 편의, 시설.