America is in desperate need of an ego deflation. With the cockiness of how people throw their money around and the arrogance in their divine belief that they deserve all of their luxuries - it will surely be the eloquent downfall of any dignity we think we possess. If that statement unnerved you, perhaps you might be willing to consider the prospect of change. This is where I propose endorsing a Buy Nothing Day. Quite literally what it sounds like, this day would be a 24 hour period where people are encouraged to ignore their impulses and not buy anything. This would show people what they are truly taking for granted, and serve as a feasible solution.
Buy Nothing Day isn’t a foreign concept, although it has been treated as such. Actually, we do it every year unwittingly. Disguised by names such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, the concept of Buy Nothing Day makes its appearance. On these holidays, businesses close and would-be frantic shoppers are prompted to put up their wallets and walk away from the stores. Instead, they are encouraged to indulge in personal endeavors, illuminating the benefits of quality family time and relaxing in the pleasantries of one’s home. The impulse for wanton buying is curbed, and people enjoy the lack of materialistic agendas. Now it is being proposed that an entire day can be dedicated to this engaging aspect of no purchasing. By bestowing it with a title, Buy Nothing Day, people can acknowledge the willpower it takes to not fall victim to the enticing pull of extravagancy. Should a Buy Nothing Day prove efficacious, many will be rewarded with a greater appreciation for how easy it is to attain the things we want. People don’t appreciate what they have until it’s gone, and this certainly prove...
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...does not result in good, especially when considering Paul Ryan’s Republican Response to Obama’s State of the Union Address. Ryan brought to light Obama’s use of budget for endorsing a new health care law. This “open-ended health care entitlement” has caused raised prices and premiums, lost coverage, and increased taxes and mandates. Unfortunate citizens suffered from Obama’s decision to spend money on this law, rather than benefit from the improvements of the law itself. Thinking twice about what you buy is an aptitude that benefits yourself and others.
By implementing Buy Nothing Day, people will reconsider before rushing off to purchase new clothes or the latest movie or whatever frivolous item they think they need. By prompting people to use the belongings they already own and appreciate life’s necessities, a leisurely and humble lifestyle can be achieved.
The industry rapidly establishes consumerism in Americans. For instance, Disney since the age of three drives children to own collections of films and merchandise in order to fulfill satisfaction in the idealistic fairytale living. Americans do not realize these material goods are not necessarily important, instead, it becomes a routine of material objects to have a sense of completeness; these buying habits are perpetual. America is now defined as materialistic rather than over-consumption. People deliberately purchase material goods constantly and frequently without needing it. Shopping has become a lifestyle, there is no appreciation or sense of value to what we own, and instead it is depicted and seen as a “retail therapy.” The consumption of materialistic goods is what makes America feel happy and complete.
America is built on materialism and it created the idea that happiness is formed from consumption. Advertisements have successfully turned every major holiday into an opportunity for people to empty their pockets. For example,
On a sunny Saturday morning with beautiful blue skies, and birds chirping, James Hamblin was in his balcony with a cup of coffee on his desk eager to write his short argumentative essay titled “Buy Experiences, Not Things”. In this short essay, Hamblin wanted to depict the fact that happiness in individuals, is mainly due to experiential purchases than to material purchases. One of the things he said to prove that point was “waiting for an experience elicits more happiness and excitement than waiting for a material good’ (Hamblin, 2014). He also stated that “a mind should remain in one place, and a mind that wanders too much is a sign of lack of happiness” (Hamblin, 2014). Instead of buying the latest iPhone, or Samsung galaxy, we should spend
With congress passing ObamaCare last year we are taking baby steps towards a health system overhaul we so desperately need. The skeptics, though, still argue against it, citing the costs as too much or that it’s un-american. Health care is a basic need for everyone, and as such should be right protected and provided for by the government. There are great, economic, moral, and social benefits to be reaped, and so it is important for our government to continue down this path its started and also important for Americans to provide our full support. There is much to overcome to completely reverse the direction of the health system, and I’m sure it will take many years for the results to pay off, but I’m glad we’ve at least provided the groundwork for future generations to build
Humanity is an intriguing race indeed in the world. We can be careless when we purchase things. We tend to buy things with no awareness of the insane, expensive prices and end up purchasing things to fulfill our desires in fancy malls and stores. Anyways, there are many situations that of course happen within society today with unnecessary purchases.
As demonstrated in Henry David Thoreau’s passage from Economy, Wendell Berry’s from Waste, and John Kenneth Galbraith’s passage from The Dependence Effect, America’s overly advancing society thrusts ideas like materialism and the “love of buying” into the interior of every American’s mind. Even the American Dream, a fundamental notion to our nation, now unites all people of all cultures under materialism and greed. The highly capitalist American society distorts values such as the “quest for freedom” into a search for cash and the frontiers no longer exist. America’s increased production yields the increased wants of consumers and as Galbraith states, “One man’s consumption becomes his neighbor’s wish (479).” With this reckoning, the more wants satisfied, the more new ones born. Berry, on the other hand, more out rightly attacks America’s capitalist economy and the wastes it has produced when saying “The truth is that we Americans, all of us, have become a kind of human trash, living our lives in the midst of ubiquitous damned mess of which we are at once the victims and the perpetrators (485).” America’s corporate capitalism and consumerism culture undermines our well-being in that we deplete Earth's limited resources, produce excess waste, and indulge excessively in unnecessary luxuries that ultimately result in our unhappiness and financial downfall, while trapping us in an endless cycle of dependency.
Within the few weeks that composed the busiest shopping time of the year, customers were able to diminish my joy for the holiday season. My first anti-holiday experience occurred when I was learning how to run the registers. At this time, I was also learning that parents tend to feel a great need to please their children by purchasing the trendiest toys and by spending hundreds of dollars on Christmas presents. One such “guest,” as we are encouraged to refer to customers, a thin woman with fluffed brown hair, came through my lane with a cart full of toys.
Economy and materialism are concepts that come up every day in the life of Americans. Those who are not from America may think the way Americans live is strange and wasteful and they’d be right in their thinking that. Americans are consumed by consumerism and the need to buy things because there is always some new and improved version of what was purchased two weeks ago. Although it is said that Americans are too materialistic, the truth is that materialistic does not quite cover the near obsession with the latest and greatest that Americans have.
It is seen in everything from the hoarding of material objects to the destruction of friendships, both of which are popular themes when regarding the topic of Black Friday shopping. Black Friday has become Black Thursday, a trend which has only shown up within the last decade. The great American holiday that is Thanksgiving is celebrated because of our gratefulness toward all that we have, a holiday that is meant to be spent gathered around a table of our loved ones. However, the retail holiday that consumes the day afterward has begun to overflow into our gatherings, and it is due to the greed of the American people. Were it not for the market’s demand for earlier sales, stores would not open their sales on Thursday nights. Everyone would simply wait until early the next morning to start off on their shopping extravaganzas, and the sales themselves would likely be far less violent as
With the rise of the economy, more people are spending their time buying merchandise from consumer markets even though it’s a proven fact that people today have less time on their hands than people in the past. In the 21st century time is spent at school and/or work. In the past, there was a lot more time in the hands of individuals. Women spent their time at home taking care of the children, cleaning, and cooking. Men spent majority of their time at work and doing the brunt work. Children spent their days at school and/ or helping their parent depending on the gender of the child. Their free time was spent with family and friends. Not much time was spent shopping unlike today. Whenever society today has leisure time we spend that time making sure we look decent and spending the money to do so. In the case of the leisure time spent on South Street families often spend their free time adventuring over at Magic
Throughout the semester we have covered many different topics during our study of contemporary American culture. We studied topics relating to our everyday lives such as, relationships, life habits, work, and school. The various readings, films, and discussions during class have helped me reflect upon my life. I would like to elaborate and focus on the aspects of this class that directly influence the way I see the world today. Before I took this course my mental image of materialism, happiness, and love were entirely different. I have been exposed to a different perception of our world today that I would have never experienced if I had not taken this course. Our course material helped me analyze how materialism affects me, and it helped me develop a more clear understanding of the meaning of love and happiness.
The rational consumer behavior model is founded on four assumptions: diminishing marginal utility, non-satiation, free disposal, and whole-income usage. Diminishing marginal utility suggests that added happiness, given by each additional unit, decreases. Added utility can never reach zero based on the assumption that our desires for a good are non-satiable, or that more is better. Free disposal states that no amount of a good can be considered too much logistically. Lastly, it is assumed that
Rockwell evaluates how doctors’ offices are open during all hours of the day (Rockwell 639). He argues, “But it can only stay open late because its offices are nestled in a strip mall where the rents are low and the access is high” (Rockwell 639). Ultimately, the purchase of goods by the people pays for the availability and connivance of medical assistance. Without access to urgent and everyday care, the mortality and illness rate would increase and cost more money overall. Rockwell states, “If you think through any service or good that is widely considered to be a need, you will find that it employs products, technologies, and services that were first created to meet superficial demands” (Rockwell 640). When society demands a product or service, the market has to find a way to financially afford the necessity. The consumption of goods helps provide opportunities and availability for the products consumers demand. While there are several benefits of consumerism, the effects of spending money only gives temporary fulfillment. Schor declares, “The increasing consumption of the last forty years has not made us happier. The percentage of the population who reported being “very happy” peaked in 1957” (Schor 635). However, it is important to balance the amount of spending versus saving. Consumers should not spend their money to gain happiness; instead, they should spend their money to support their needs and
Consumerism has always been a big part of society back in the golden days. In today’s society, the ongoing debate of wants and needs are not justified by an individual’s wealth, but it is rather opinionated by the generalized public. Not only are the consumers getting caught in this mess, but many retailers are being sucked in as well. Retailers, have to stay up to date with the latest trends, to make sure they get their products across. Human identity is no longer determined by how much a person makes an hour, but by the commodities they possess. Consumers are so centralized on the materialistic items, that they forget what is more valuable and important. Unfortunately, the frivolous consumption has taken over the
The second text is an interview with Judith Levine about her newly published book. A book in which she describes a full year she lived through, without shopping. In other words, Living Simple. She got the idea to write the book while she was reflection upon her Christmas shopping, and how much money was spent on gifts. She only bought the necessary stuff for her to survive. Unlike the other text this interview, obviously, becomes a lot more subjective. Judith Levine believes that over consumption is a huge problem. She acknowledges that consuming is one of the factors that keep a good economy flowing however. Judith Levine believes that Living Simple is entirely up to one self but she believes that it can improve USA. However you got to do something yourself.