Consumerism, the belief that it’s good for people to spend a lot of money on goods and services, is the basis for the economy of the United States of America. The practice of consumerism in the U.S. largely started in the 1950s. After World War II, people focused on buying goods to make their lives easier, such as vacuums, refrigerators, cars, and televisions. (“American Experience”). In a consumerist culture people are taught to buy, even if they don’t have the money to spend. Yet, teaching our children to overspend isn’t exactly practical. Towards the end of her article, Schor writes, “The industry lacks sufficient moral accountability… the pressure to make money is overwhelming the need to do well by kids.” In other words, consumerism and marketing to youths is harmful to the children. If the industry’s claims that their work empowers children, is vital to the economy, and that the consequences of their work are due to the irresponsibility of the parents are true, then why did the FCC find it necessary to regulate the ads that children were exposed to in 1974? (Schor). In reality consumerism encourages materialism, gender specific roles, and inflicts social and emotional damage upon the youth of the nation.
Materialism is a way of thinking that places too much importance on material possessions as opposed to spiritual or intellectual pursuits. The issue of materialism goes hand in hand with the practice of consumerism. The problem with materialism is that it, in conjunction with consumerism, can lead to a child who attaches himself to his possessions, and always expects more. (Julianelle). One instance involving the holiday season can be seen here: “This time of year such unintended consequences are on full display. The Faceboo...
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Julianelle, Mike. "Spoiler Alert." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Dec. 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. .
Moeschen, Sheila. "This Is NOT the Candy Land of Your Childhood." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. .
Monbiot, George. "Materialism: a system that eats us from the inside out." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. .
Schor, Juliet. "Born to Buy." Born to Buy. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. .
In the article, Every Nook and Cranny: The Dangerous Spread of Commercialized Culture by Gary Ruskin and Juliet Schor (Ackley 361). Since the early 90s is when Commercialism has bombarded the society. Ruskin and Schor provide examples why advertising has an effect on people’s health. Marketing related diseases afflicting people in the United States, and especially children, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and smoking-related illnesses. “Each day, about 2,000 U.S. children begin to smoke, and about one-third of them will die from tobacco-related illnesses” (Ackley 366). Children are inundated with advertising for high calorie junk food and fast food, and, predictably, 15 percent of U.S. children aged 6 to 19 are now overweight (Ackley 366). Commercialism promotes future negative effects and consumers don’t realize 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).
The land of the free, brave and consumerism is what the United States has become today. The marketing industry is exploiting children through advertisement, which is ridiculously unfair to children. We are around advertisement and marketing where ever we go; at times, we don't even notice that we are being targeted to spend our money. As a matter of fact, we live to buy; we need and want things constantly, and it will never stop. The film, Consuming Kids , written by Adriana Barbaro and directed by Jeremy Earp, highlights children as this powerful demographic, with billions of dollars in buying power, but the lack of understanding of marketers’ aggressive strategies. Children are easily influenced and taken advantage of, which is why commercialization of children needs to stop. Commercialization to children leads to problems that parents do not even know are happening such as social, future, and rewired childhood problems. Government regulations need to put a stop to corporations that live, breathe and sell the idea of consumerism to children and instead show that genuine relationships and values are what are important.
Materialism is defined by Webster's Dictionary as "a preference for material objects as opposed to spiritual or intellectual pursuits" (172). Life in 2002 is very materialistic. I am a part of a generation that has been focused on "what we have." Materialism is something that I have just realized is an issue for me. Into the Wild and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass opened my eyes to how complicated materialism makes life. After completing the novels, I visited with my mother as she has had a different experience in her lifetime. I also interviewed my wife as she has a different upbringing from myself. All of this information has provided for a new perspective for me on materialism.
Chapter 11 in Anthropology For Christian Witness starts by Kraft explaining what materialism and what it looks like in today's culture. “Materialism is a very obvious feature of the world today. There are so many “things” so many gadgets, so many “labor saving devices,” so many prestige to be gained by accumulating houses and lands and vehicles and gadgets” (4259 Kraft). To serve money and other material things such as technology is a very hard life, a life of dissatisfaction, of always searching for the next thing. Even Jesus warns us to not to become obsessed with the material things of this world. Matthew 6:24 NIV says ““No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Bible Gateway). Kraft stresses the importance of having our priorities straight. “The Provider is infinitely
Of all the strange beasts that have come slouching into the 20th century, none has been more misunderstood, more criticized, and more important than materialism. Who but fools, toadies, hacks, and occasional loopy libertarians have ever risen to its defense? Yet the fact remains that while materialism may be the most shallow of the 20th century's various -isms, it has been the one that has ultimately triumphed. The world of commodities appears so antithetical to the world of ideas that it seems almost heresy to point out the obvious: most of the world most of the time spends most of its energy producing and consuming more and more stuff. The really interesting question may be not why we are so materialistic, but why we are so unwilling to acknowledge
Materialism sets the stage for society by comparing society with the highest values in life. With materialism, newer objects tend to represent success and levels of achievement in a person’s life. Just like human nature, humans are attracted to better things in life, which gives materialism such a strong grip on us. People become young and restless in these quests for better objects. Just like clothing, people tend to care more about what others think about them than how they think about themselves.
Monbiot, George. "Materialism: A System That Eats Us from the inside out | George Monbiot." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 09 Dec. 2013. Web.
Consumerism is the idea that influences people to purchase items in great amounts. Consumerism makes trying to live the life of a “perfect American” rather difficult. It interferes with society by replacing the normal necessities for life with the desire for things with not much concern for the true value of the desired object. Children are always easily influenced by what they watch on television. Swimme suggests in his work “How Do Kids Get So Caught Up in Consumerism” that although an advertiser’s objective is to make money, the younger generation is being manipulated when seeing these advertisements. Before getting a good understanding of a religion, a child will have seen and absorbed at least 30,000 advertisements. The amount of time teenagers spend in high school is lesser than the amount of advertisement that they have seen (155). The huge amount of advertisements exposed to the younger generation is becomi...
Have you ever wanted something, an item or material so badly that you would do anything or give up anything for it? Well, guess what? Materials are not a necessary thing in your life. Materialism is ruining people's lives to the point where it is their occupation. In today’s society materialism take part in every person’s life, no matter where they are from or what social class they are.
...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.
Materialism leads people to be financially irresponsible. People are more likely to buy certain products because
Materialism is a plague sweeping the nation. People seem to value things more than they value people. They judge how successful they are by the type of house they have, the car they drive, the amount of money in their bank account, the clothes they are wearing, or the size of television they are watching the big game on. Simply put, many Americans base their happiness on material goods. Americans are given the idea that it is acceptable to buy, buy, and buy our way to happiness. As Matthew Carver of Horton Chapel Church of Chri...
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.
Across America in homes, schools, and businesses, sits advertisers' mass marketing tool, the television, usurping freedoms from children and their parents and changing American culture. Virtually an entire nation has surrendered itself wholesale to a medium for selling. Advertisers, within the constraints of the law, use their thirty-second commercials to target America's youth to be the decision-makers, convincing their parents to buy the advertised toys, foods, drinks, clothes, and other products. Inherent in this targeting, especially of the very young, are the advertisers; fostering the youth's loyalty to brands, creating among the children a loss of individuality and self-sufficiency, denying them the ability to explore and create but instead often encouraging poor health habits. The children demanding advertiser's products are influencing economic hardships in many families today. These children, targeted by advertisers, are so vulnerable to trickery, are so mentally and emotionally unable to understand reality because they lack the cognitive reasoning skills needed to be skeptical of advertisements. Children spend thousands of hours captivated by various advertising tactics and do not understand their subtleties.