What are the key issues of commodity fetishism?

One of the key issues of commodity fetishism is that those in capitalist societies are surrounded by an environment that hides the commodity production chain. Those in developed countries rarely see the process and only see the final product on shop shelves. The increase in “long-distance trading relationships”  leave the consumers unaware of the problems with production, as they are not directly affected in their environment. This enables many to not care about where products come from or who they affect (Hudson, 2003). To defetishize commodities, it is vital to ensure consumers care about the effects on others. It can be argued that caring for those at great distances is difficult as care is only initiated through relations of emotion and appreciation of the others. Some argue that care is only given when we can identify or connect with others. However, commodity production is a system of relations that affect people all over the world and work for a common goal. So, this would mean that we should care for those people as we somehow or another connect to them – and it is the responsibility of conscious consumers to discover and make those connections. To tackle this issue, we must begin to understand how to encourage those in society to start caring about sources of commodities and to educate themselves. It is important to spread to the idea of commodity fetishism and ensure that people are aware of it and try to alter it within their own individual lives before a global change can arise.