Quote from piezoe:
Or, on the other hand, you may be wrong. Capitalism in the most basic sense means that captital and the means of production is largely in private hands. So while consumerism and capitalism may be found together, because, after all, capitalists are strong promoters of consumption, and capitalism may not thrive in an economy with low consumption, I nevertheless don't see these two things, i.e., consumerism and capitalism, as being at all equivalent. Here's why.
These are the features that characterize capitalists. Capitalists like low labor costs and dislike full employment. (In fact America, the undisputed champion of capitalism, was built on cheap labor.) Capitalists like monopolies and cartels. They loathe free competition.
None of these characteristics of capitalists are beneficial to consumers and hence to "consumerism." Consumers benefit most by the existence of competition, something capitalists hate. And there is a trade off with labor costs, because although cheap labor may (in the presence of free competition) result in lower prices for the consumer, it does not necessarily do this in a capitalist economy where the goal is to eliminate competition, mainly by regulating it out of existence, raising the market entry threshold via regulation, or buying up competitors. And, on the other hand, cheap domestic labor costs mean that consumers will have less to spend in the domestic market.
Let us remember that to capitalists the meaning of free enterprise is that they are free to do as they like, unfettered by competition or the government. Whereas to the consumer, the term free enterprise means that all are welcome to enter the market and compete on equal terms. These are astoundingly different meanings for the same terminology!