Most people believe that being wealthy results in being comfortable. But what if becoming materialistic means destroying the person’s character, relationships, and leaving them physically and mentally unhealthy. Is this comfortable? Depending on many perspectives, the purpose of life is happiness, health, and satisfaction. Yet, many believe that with materialism you can achieve a full and purposeful life. In reality, materialism replaces the satisfaction of having life’s necessities with the never-ending desire for things. This can leave people with the feeling of never being fulfilled with their life. In her essay, “Stuff is not Salvation,” author and Pulitzer Prize winner Anna Quindlen states that “there is plenty of need. But it is for …show more content…
They were asked to rank the importance of different goals – jobs, money and status on one side, and self-acceptance, fellow feeling and belonging on the other. They were then given a standard diagnostic test to identify mental health problems. At the ages of both 18 and 30, materialistic people were more susceptible to disorders.” Living a materialistic life is “associated with anxiety, depression, and broken relationships” (Materialism: a system). Seeking to acquire these fantasy based expectation will most likely end in unhappiness. Materialism is not a friend to society. It has the reputation to break a person and their relationships. Can it be just as devastating to the economy? Because Americans are always wanting better and more, it creates a higher demand on products. With this higher demand, comes jobs and economic growth. The supply and demand factor is very important to our economy. However, for individual’s materialism can result in excessive amounts of debt. According to Erin El Issa’s article, “2016 American Household Credit Card Debt Study,” the average U.S. household has a credit card debt of $16,748. The total credit card debt owed by U.S. consumers was $779 billion. This is credit card debt alone. Other types of debt like auto loans, school loans, and mortgages more than double the numbers. In 2016, the average U.S. household carried $134,643 in debt, and the debt owed by U.S. consumers was 12.58
“I rather would be blind than then see this world in yellow, and bought and sold by kings that hammer roses into gold.” (King Midas Pg.462 Para.10) Many think that if they got what they wanted they would be happy, but if the world was all based on malterlistic things and everyone got what they wanted there would be chaos and no feelings just want and people would do crazy things to get what they want. Now a day’s people mistake malterlistic things for happiness. “The necklace”, “Ads may spur unhappy kids to embrace materialism”, And “Thrill of the chase” illustrates examples of materialism and show some base their happiness on it.
1. The main idea is not only that owning stuff is not the key to happiness, it’s also that consumers today own more than they need to thrive which directly impacts the environment. Hill illustrates the environmental impact by showing statistics of global warming today versus the past century, and how consumerism is leading to a hotter climate. Hill debunks claims of buying happiness by discussing a study where stress hormones spike to their highest when people are managing their personal belongings. Hill’s most prominent example that consumerism is not the answer is himself, as he discusses some of the most stressful times of his life being right after coming into a large sum of money and buying whatever he fancied. When Hill concludes his article, he states that “I have less—and enjoy more. My space is small. My life is big” (213).
If I got lost in a desolate desert, I would survive because I value things that are essential and beneficial for survival. King Tut would have died if he got lost because he values items like gold and jewelry, whereas I bring the essentials. This is a good habit because money does not bring happiness into anyone’s life. It is the moments that they spend with their family that bring true happiness into their lives. When people value material possessions greater than their own or their family survival won’t live a happy life.
Being materialistic is a distraction because it gives us a direction in which we focus our attention and our energy that seems to be attainable. When people become focused on materialism, they’re spending a great deal of time and energy on something that is completely apart from their intellectual and spiritual selves. We may rationalize and claim that if we obtain a certain material object then we’ll be more at peace, but that simply cannot be the case. In Lars Eighner’s essay, “On Dumpster Diving,” he criticizes the materialism of those people who are rich because they are more wasteful and tend to throw out items with no real issues. People who are very rich can live in misery, because their love of money can lead them to lose a person they love, their family can treat them very poorly, and it can lead them to a lonely life. To conclude, we may be materialistic to some extent, but there are many material goods that they can be helpful and it can be necessary to
I feel like materialistic best fits me, because I am externally into name brand items. Sometimes I place myself on a pedestal above everyone else, and if I don’t have the best material things or someone has something that I want but don’t have, I will through a huge fit until I get it. Once I get it there will be something else that I have to have to ensure that I’m better than the next person. From my socks to my suits, if it’s
In today’s world, people in general like to keep up with the latest things such as gadgets like the iPhone. They tend to spend an ample amount of time on their gadgets or whatever the latest item is instead of dedicating their time to the more important things. During family dinners, everyone is usually on their phones. People may prefer to spend a day at the mall instead of volunteering. High credit card bills can result from spending so much money on the new things rather than paying bills. The social pressure to keep up with these material items has an effect on quality bonding time which has an effect on money. Consumerism actually sets a person against oneself because of the never-ending mission to acquire material objects therefore people should not concentrate their religious faith in materialism.
A well-known expression is that money can’t buy happiness, yet people fantasize of winning the lottery, living in their dream house, and possessing enough tangible objects to feel satisfied with their lives. Most are under the preconceived notion that the absence of wealth and power translates to hardship and despair. This, however, is not the case, because a self-effacing lifestyle is not an indication of a lower quality of life, and often is better than one of great fortune. People yearn to have the financial independence and capabilities of those in higher ranking positions, and are willing to abandon their morals and own personal well-being if it means being successful. It seems that by reaching a level of wealth in which money is no longer
...hat materialistic attitudes are harmful to one's well-being. “The psychological perspective attributes the development of materialistic values to family circumstances that create stress and self esteem issues that promote materialistic values,” (Hung Vu Nguyen.) Many people in our culture attribute material goods to personal achievement. Truth rings true with Bertrand Russell’s statement “It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” Even at young ages children are competing and bragging to one another of who has more possessions. Past studies by Rindfleisch say that materialism developed over time as a response to stress due to family issues such as divorce, separation, and loss of loved ones. Materialism leads consumers to put a disproportionate amount of their resources into acquiring goods.
Kasser argues, “Indeed, what stands out across the studies is a simple fact: people who strongly value the pursuit of wealth and possession report lower psychological well-being than those who are less concerned with such aims” (494). Consumers let material things control many aspects of their lives without a second thought. Furthermore, they need things to make them feel better, whether it is because of loneliness or some other reason. Some people see having more material things as a way of fitting in with society and thinking that money and things give people status. Materialistic people often do this at the expense of their health and family. Materialistic values can originate from early insecurities or childhood trauma. Accruing more things is only a temporary fix to the root of the
We live in a materialistic culture that thrives on having "things." Yes, we must have things in order to live (shelter, food, water, etc.), but the word is misused. Our culture has become so materialistic that we forget what is really important. The "have" mode has almost become the norm, especially with our generation. Even though we subconsciously practice the mode of “being,” many people do not realize it which makes it difficult to appreciate life and all the aspects of “being.” “Because the society we live in is devoted to acquiring property and making a profit, we rarely see any evidence of the being mode of existence and most people see the having mode as the most natural mode of existence, even the only acceptable way of life” (Fromm 25). Majority of people want to be as successful and rich as possible that this idea takes over their mind and eventually lives. Every young person is obsessed with “fitting in” and having the latest and greatest items. This attitude causes adolescents to lose sight of what is important and lose touch with their emotions. Our culture needs to begin to think less about material items and being rich and more about his/her emotions and what it means to be truly happy. It is important to focus on the “bigger picture” and how one must become the best person he/she can be to benefit
By stressing money and material it is easy for some to forget how it is obtained, both in a methodical, and a humanistic sense. By this I am referring specifically to the people of the three classes in the U.S.. Poor people instead of concentrating on education or buying assets or spiritually connecting and becoming a leader, tend to trade their labor for some money, then use all of it to buy “stuff”. They’ll buy clothes, or DVDs, or trinkets, and they feel good about these purchases because they got a good deal, and it increases their material value. None of them will think about where or how it was assembled, because they are distanced from it, and are content with their new acquisition. The middle class trade stressful working days for a little more money, with which they use to buy liabilities like cars or boats, again not thinking about the how they came to be.
Instead they rely completely on money to be happy. People often do not appreciate what they have, and they feel like they deserve better, and they complain instead of making the best of what they have. It is not necessary to be rich to enjoy life. Often those who have everything tend to live miserably. People can become too attached to money to the point that they forget about enjoying life and caring for their family. The theme of materialism is shown throughout the story of “The Rocking Horse Winner” to explain how being too attached to money can ruin people’s lives.
..., a person who earns $25,000 is happier than a person who makes $125,000 and an employee who makes $500,000 is only slightly happier than someone who makes $55,000. Lastly, there are more important things in life that and make you happy, for example, friends. They don’t come with a price tag, and if they do, you definitely need new friends. Money won’t make you happy since good times can’t be bought. You don’t need a fancy vacation to have a good time; it’s just a matter of who you spend it with. Over the years, humans have blown the value of money way out of proportion. People make it seem like if you’re not filthy rich, then you won’t live a good life but it’s not true. You can lack money and yet still live a perfect, happy life.
This is a thought-provoking book about the pursuit of material goods. Kasser is not a preacher, but a scientist. He presents his evidence carefully, and concludes that materialism is a game not worth playing even on its own terms of promoting human happiness.
Material goods don’t make us happy. Acquiring things like houses and cars only have a transient effect on happiness. People’s desires for material possessions crank up at the same, or greater rate, than their salaries. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious possessions, people end up no happier. There’s even evidence that materialism make us less happy.