The Reason Behind the Increase of Consumer Debt and Materialism Everywhere you go today, you see white ear buds sticking on people’s ears. There are millions of people (especially teenagers) that own iPods in America right now. I remember the first time I saw an iPod on TV from 50 Cents’ music video. I thought the gadget was really cool because of how much music it could hold in such a small size. Straight away, one would think that only upper middle class people would be able to own this. Now, everything has changed. Everyone has to have an iPod! My sister used to tell me how, during school, everywhere she would turn, every kid would have an “iPod” to listen to. A couple of weeks later, she got one for herself. Many people will no doubt spend a lot just to go along with the flow of the new trend. Everyone loves shopping. Who doesn’t want new things every week? However, why buy more than what is needed? This can result to a serious problem we call, “overspending”. America has the strongest economy in the world. There are more Americans working today than ever before. As functionalists would say, this benefits other institutions like family (members getting employed), religion (churches, temples, mosques, etc. receive larger contributions), and education (school taxes become higher because property values are higher). The booming economy also makes it possible for people to purchase more goods and services, fueling materialism and overspending. Over the past years, the economy in general has been booming. According to Labor Department data, there are over 139 million Americans who are employed, up by 2.6 million since the rece... ... middle of paper ... ...redit lines. However, the act of overspending all comes down to the consumer’s own will and responsibility, as they are the only ones who know their current real situation. It is helpful to carry only one or two credit cards that are limited to 20% of their annual income, remembering to pay balances in full every month. This way the consumer is not heavily distressed by sudden huge debts. Also, sometimes, it’s not so smart to purchase more goods than you need. “It’s better to figure out whether these expenditures which comprise an increasing amount of most Americans’ budgets are really worth it in terms of value for the dollar” (Schor). Research shows that Americans can reduce their expenditures by 20% without interrupting on their quality of life. As Schor would say, “Spending less can actually make you feel better”.
“Until this century [20th], to consume was considered a bad thing” says Jeremy Rifkin an
Happy birthday, iPod. It was on Oct. 23, 2001, that Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs stood before a relatively modest crowd in an auditorium on the company campus in Cupertino and reached into his jeans pocket to fish out a 6.4-ounce gizmo that he described (with the hyperbole Jobs exhales routinely) as "a major, major breakthrough."
Each year American spending in health care expenditures are rising each year. Our economy’s Gross Domestic Products spends roughly one fourth of the total Gross Domestic Products. U.S. economy is strong and striving compare to other European nations. the 2008 financial crisis caused global recession that most economist confirms that it was worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. American during this rough time went to hard time where millions lost jobs and losing their homes.
Today, Apple keeps coming out on top with their exceptional and award winning items and administrations. Apple is additionally credited with driving the advanced media upheaval with their iPod compact music and feature players and iTunes online media store, making the first supportable music-downloading plan of action ever. (Jakab,
A clean home is something that should come easy for anyone. Most people would consider anyone with a dirty and cluttered home to be lazy or filthy, but many are unaware of the psychological disorder Hoarding, which affects about 5% of the population, both men and women (Neziroglu, n.d.). Hoarding is the act of one having difficulties separating from their belongings. Although many confuse hoarding with collecting, there is a significant difference from the two. Those who collect, gather a specific product as a hobby or a profession, but those with a Hoarding disorder keep items without a notable worth and it accumulates in areas that were previously used for living. It is believed that hoarding is caused by a deficiency with a person’s information processing or led by a cognitive disorder, or a disturbing emotional shock (“The Hoarding Project”, 2016
The Great Gatsby uses the themes of money and love by making Jay get rich to win Daisy’s love. Jay Gatsby makes all of his money because Daisy told him she would not marry him because he was not rich. Jay drastically changed his life just to be with Daisy. He loved her so much that he even let her use him as a scapegoat for killing someone. He was murdered because Daisy let him take the blame. Daisy did not even respect him enough to show up to his funeral.
The rise in consumer society takes place in all phases of capitalism as far back as capitalism began (Paterson, 2005 p.13). There was a massive increase in consumption in post war America which in turn increased consumption in Britain and then Europe where there was both a mass increase in consumption and production, allowing the lower class to also partake in consumption (Paterson 2005 p.31). The effects of an increase in consumption creates an increase in production to meet consumer needs. After the 1950’s (Paterson, 2005) the young were identified as the new target audience which steered the growth of marketing and brands.
...t cell phones. Then, in 2010 Jobs outdid himself by introducing the iPad. It was a perfect gadget for all gamers, geeks, or people who just wanted this amazing technology at their fingertips. The iPad had a significantly larger screen than the iPhone and was capable of holding more data.
Americans today own twice as many cars than they did 55 years ago (Huffington Post). Without a doubt, humans have recently grown accustomed to an over-consuming lifestyle. Are all these materialistic items producing happiness within society? According to Healthline, the number of patients diagnosed with depression increases by 20 percent every year. With help of transcendental ideals, Americans could enhance their lives immensely. The staggering increase of materialism has caused individuals to become selfish, lazy, and unaware of the world around them.
When you think about the worlds greatest recent invention what usually comes to mind? Many people would say that the personal computer and modern computers in general are the greatest recent invention. This is primarily because the world has experienced a boom in technology recently. You might even be one of the many people that consider the personal computer the best invention. While in recent years they have been used for social websites instead of doing actual computing they are still the greatest tool to man. Computers are used almost everywhere, from schools, homes, workplaces, and practically everywhere. Modern computers were created for military use but engineers had a different view on computers. By the 80s computers were a part of many wealthy households (The Personal Computer). Today it is estimated that per house there are five computers! Imagine how dumb some people feel today saying that computers would never be popular.
This implies that the consumer would have to be compensated, or paid, to even consider consuming a certain good.
After one month of tracking my income, I have learned a little more about my spending habits. I am already aware of most of my spending habits, and where I most often slip up. A little on the background of my spending, I rarely use cash. There are two reasons why I do this; the first reason is so that I am not tempted to spend bits of money here and there on snacks and small things. The other reason is that so I can more effectively track my spending with less effort. I have two checking accounts to keep this balanced since on the statements it does not say what the money is specifically spent on. I use one card on essentials and school needs, and the other account is more of a lifestyle account. Although I have done this financial tracking in the past, I was able to reaffirm that I still have some areas of weakness in my spending.
American has had in the last fifty years decades of unprecedented economic growth which has has all but solved the economic problems of how to secure the necessities of life and most people are living lives of luxury and comfort (Alexander 1). This has caused the consumer industry to skyrocket. Everywhere one looks there are advertisements being thrown at them. These items are not advertised as luxury items, but as something someone needs to survive. The consequences of consumerism is people are saving less money and feel they need to keep earning more money to keep up with the demands of society (Etzioni 1). Students today are being told to go to college because it will give them an opportunity to earn more money at a better job. Has anyone stopped to question if they really need to make more money or could they live a satisfying and happy life without having to work sixty or seventy hours a week? Alexander states in his paper The Voluntary Simplicity Movement “The huge increase in wealth has stopped contributing to people individual” and “social well-being and the process of getting richer is now causing the very problem that they seem to think getting richer will solve” (Alexander 1). It would seem many americans do not enjoy this quick paced lifestyle which keeps them always at the edge of truly having it all. According to a study done in 1989 “Three out of four Americans would like to see our country to reform to a simpler lifestyle with less emphasis on material success” (Etzioni 3). At the same time though from 1980-1990 consumer spending rose by 21.4 percent (Etzioni 4). If both these studies are true then Americans are running into this oxymoron where they are living the consumerism lifestyle but wishing their lives ...
The iPod was released in November of the year 2001. It was not the first player to come out by any means, yet it had an interestingly nice looking platform. The previous models of players date back from the 1980’s Sony’s Walkman, to one of the first digital players that Rio and Creative labs put out, were not terribly expensive and at the time, they boasted large enough disk space to play20-40 songs.
Spending money and consuming goods is favorable for the economy when it is done moderately and is focused on ones needs; however, consumers tend to overspend and buy unnecessary goods. We live in an era of consumerism that is all about desire-based consumption and has nothing to do with things we actually need. I believe that consumerism improves the economy, but consuming less helps more.