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 ... ... middle of paper ... ...the connotation of the word poor is extremely different here in the United States when compared to third world countries. I will then say it is possible for many of the poor to still embrace parts of the simplicity lifestyle. In fact some people who embrace voluntary simplicity will choose to work a part time job and thus make less money. If two people are working the same low income job but one left a high income job because they wanted more time where the other was unqualified for a higher job, who is to say they cannot both embrace the voluntary simplicity lifestyle. Even though the person did not have a choice to move up to a higher level job there are many other aspects of the voluntary simplicity lifestyle they still can make choices about. There are three general levels how far people embrace voluntary simplicity. The first are the downshifters….
In his work, “Overselling capitalism,” Benjamin Barber speaks on capitalism’s shift from filling the needs of the consumer, to creating needs. He tells how it has become easier for people to borrow money, so that they no longer get as much satisfaction from affording necessities. He says capitalism can be good when both sides benefit, but it has overgrown and must continue creating needs, even though the only people who can afford these needs don’t have any. According to Barber, people are still working hard, but them and their children are becoming seduced by unneeded shopping. He states that people are becoming more needy, and losing discipline in their lifestyle. Additionally capitalism must encourage easy and addicting shopping to
In the novel Poor People, written by William T. Vollmann asks random individuals if they believe they are poor and why some people are poor and others rich. With the help of native guides and translators, and in some cases their family members, they describe what they feel. He depicts people residing in poverty with individual interviews from all over earth. Vollmann’s story narrates their own individual lives, the situations that surround them, and their personal responses to his questions. The responses to his questions range from religious beliefs that the individual who is poor is paying for their past sins from a previous life and to the rational answer that they cannot work. The way these individuals live their life while being in poverty
The philosophy of the American Dream has been with Americans for centurie; James Truslow Adams says that, regardless of social class, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (Adams). Although this vision has never fully encompassed the entirety of America, it has been generally a positive ambition that all Americans should look past their circumstances and rely on only themselves to succeed at life. However, American capitalism and Marxist ideas have contradicted the traditional dream. Materialism is a simple concept, but its definition has been skewed over time. At ...
Living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, our culture has naturally valued prestige and luxuries. We admire fancy items and often judge other individuals by the clothes they wear, the car they drive, and the schools that they attend. The “American Dream” serves as a motivational factor for people; believing that hard work and dedication can bring “success” to ones’ life. Although this is partially true, it is difficult for individuals in the middle class and lower class.
Cal Poly Pomona is a college that many people want to go to, not just because it has a beautiful campus but because there is a high acceptance rate of 39.3%. Cal Poly Pomona’s mascot is a horse and their college is surrounded by greenery where the college is geographically located. I also know that Cal Poly Pomona is a really big college that provides a major in engineering. I also like this college because it is close to home and I won’t have to pay rent at the college or close to the college. Another thing that really interests me is how beautiful and big the campus is. They also have a really good business program, which I want to major in. Due to the beautiful and big campus, the acceptance
Living a life of poverty is seen as shameful in this day and age but
The massive amount of consumerism and materalistic ideology came from the decade of the 1980s and proved to be the time of wanting to have luxrious items throughout the daily routine of being an American citizen. The American culture of massive consumerism of the 1980s was influenced by the elements of the American Dream, the iconic pop stars and events, the deep recession troubling the lives of many, and the nationalistic pride that was shown through the actions of recreations and sports. Not only was the 1980s influenced by the culture of consumerism, but it impacted the future generations to only want to become a bigger and better version of the 1980s.
What is your prototypical poor person? When I think of poverty, a dirty individual on the side of a freeway or someone cramped on the side of a bridge comes to mind. Today, the poverty icon has dramatically changed. This individual is an overworked, single mother. She is someone who works numerous hours to survive and to meet the basic needs for her family; however, her job is not paying enough no matter how many hours she is working. As a young adult, I realize that work ethic is one of the most important characteristics of the United States of America. Studies have shown that our people are working harder and more years than people in any other country. The harder a person works, the more money they expect to obtain, but this is not the outcome for everyone. The economy is booming; however, there are many hardworking individuals who are still struggling to survive from their minimum income. The Living Wage movement was established to combat and help several low-wage workers in the 1990’s. This movement gave them
In the 1950's the "Baby Boomers" perfect American Dream focused primarily on being financially comfortable and stable to support their family. By the 1970's another shift "people without culture or education [having] the money to not only indulge their passions, but flaunt them" (McClelland 550) no longer exists. Currently, in todays society majority of Americans work long hours to have a place to call home regardless if they have a family or not. While, others must depend on support from the state and federal government just to survive and basic needs.
Consumption patterns portray the dynamic effect of the American Dream. The American Dream today is significantly different that it was fifty years ago. Today Americans work longer work hours, spend 40% more time watching T.V and 40% less time with their children (AGO 2001). “The avarice of mankind is insatiable,” claimed Aristotle when describing how the appetite of mankind is never satisfied (Durning). As every desire is satisfied a new one rises up to take its place (Durning). This is true for all people; we want more money, a better job, a new car, better benefits, on and on until suddenly it is clear that we have wasted our lives in search of something that actually never made us happy. A wise woman always told me “never have any expectations and you will always be pleasantly surprised”, the same holds true for consumption.
The American dream has changed between the 1950s and 2015 as the industrial revolution changed everyday life for a the 1950s society as households changed due to dual income families were able to live with the luxurious homes and appliances. These ideal ways of living forced upon men and women with crass consumerism ran rampant like the bubonic plague in the fourteenth century. Having generations for people being socialized to be humanistic and greedy and to throw out the community structure of society the extent of social interactions between others is to gloat or gain joy from having more than others. Now we in present day these humanistic principals are magnified times one thousand millennial are expected by society to hike up a mountain during a avalanche the mountain is just schooling to get a job the pays well we get an education not because we want to be desperately what to be accepted into society
The rational consumer behavior model outlines the ways that consumers weigh their consumption choices to maximize utility given the constraints they face. When comparing the prices of multiple goods and the person’s income, there is a bundle where a person’s happiness (utility) can be maximized. Maximizing utility, however, is not always easy. Consumers can be bound by many extraneous factors, or even be complicit in their loss of utility. While the rational consumer behavior model provides a solid framework of buying habits, it does not always reflect reality.
In conclusion, everything that we have learned this quarter has shown the truth about the current state of consumerism. That it is a state that has been created by a lie, and has grown with lies, and it is a state of existance that stomps on the human race each day with a huge iron toe boot. And I believe that this state will be changed into a perfect state of being, a state that will not view humans as expendable resources, but as living and breathing people.
One of the biggest differences in the two groups of people rich and poor is the types of jobs they are working. You do not see too many millionaires getting their hands dirty working in the field, construction, and doing the dirty jobs that no one wants. Reich even says in his essay the rich people are the ones who are the creators and the poor are the ones doing manual labor. “Most of the poverty in the United States is artificially manufactured. It is poverty created in the pursuit of “free market ideals.” (Davidson) In this the people who are working shift work do not have the time to worry about how the stock market is doing, but they think they have to live up to the standard of the people who do have money so they are pretending to be someone who they are not. Another important factor is their attitudes poor is hardworking and never give up kind of sense while rich is not afraid to throw anything away and have people do the dirty work for
Today the consumerism plays an extremely important role in contemporary societies; consumerism has carried a part of the planet to the edge of Ecological, social and economic abyss, and every day becomes more evident. But naturally, it goes against a process that has become common in the daily life of people, The consumers need to advise about nature of the products, the value and the consequences of the consumption of certain products in the environment. One of the most creative ways to solve this problem is to minimize consumption of newly manufactured products, either by buying items with a longer shelf life or buying used items, new resources are not used in the manufacturing and industrial pollution and carbon dioxide will be lower. We can Recycling and reusing, also make reasonable use of natural resources, energy, and water, this contribute to the mitigation of climate impacts, will require manufacturers to use more sustainable technologies.