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Materialism and consumerism in america
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Consumerism for Americans has eaten up the life of people in our world today. The movement of the modern society seems to call for greater accessories to life rather than more beneficial things. The intake for anyone has become much easier due to the ways the word can be spread such as television, music ads, videos and so much more. However, not all of these accessories are handy to one's life in the aspects of happiness, attitude towards others and the will to accomplish in the present and future. Consumption around the world has grown into habits, problems and just a getaway for some people.Despite the continuing flow of it all, some would have to ask whether it’s better to be caught up in it all or simply do what would help in real life …show more content…
In the article “Consume Less and Be Happy”, it mentioned on page 7 that “these studies show for example that money can buy happiness only up to a certain point”. Happiness in a life comes from within and the surroundings of an area one sets themselves in. For example, being at the beach or around a lake can fill a person with happiness that money can't necessarily buy. In the article “Stuff Is Not Salvation”, Anna Quindlen comes across a family that mentions having less means more happiness and more meaning behind it all. Sure, happiness could be filled with buying an expensive bag or name brand shoes, but the happiness won't linger long because eventually what's new becomes old. The meaning behind having less is greater than having it all and still feeling empty. Therefore all the consumption of the people around the world is just a great disadvantage to a growing life. All the money in the world wouldn't make the richest man pure and happy. With this as well, problems such as the attitude towards consumption gets caught up in this urge …show more content…
Those who could have it all seem to focus more on materialistic things that only fill a space of happiness and urge for a second while those who were less advantaged really go out for something that will benefit their goals and what they'd like to do. In the article “Anti-Consumption, Materialism, and Consumer Well-Being”, the authors mention that “Studies also find that materialism inherently shifts a person’s focus onto extrinsic rather than intrinsic goals…”(pg. 22), which goes to show that the higher productivity of intake can come between goals while trying to achieve in life. Consumerism has a way to show the difference between those who would rather have it all just to show and those who would rather work for something real and for things that would benefit them more. Some people would rather have a super awesome car with a nice house and the whole nine yards while others would rather have something more realistic and ethical in life. In some way it’s like who would rather focus on realistic things rather than just be full of materialistic things that just make you known for what you have.There's no right or wrong, but there's different levels to this ring of
The chosen article is Two Cheers for Consumerism by James Twitchell. In this article he talks about consumerism, commercialism, and materialism. He argues the stand point of consumers and the role they live by every day. In other hands the critics, Academy, gives the consumers and overview description to their consumers.
Even though hedonic satisfaction is necessary for living a happy life, focusing only on hedonic pleasure will have the opposite effect. If you focus on money and the things it can buy as the source for your well-being, you are excluding a series of factors that are necessary to achieve a true state of well-being. The following passage from the article “On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being” clearly details that:
The cosmetic industry was highly influenced by the changes in the way persons consumed. From the development of new perfumes, make-up tools and colors, to the everyday lotions and cream men and women use today, the industry looks much different than it did in the late 19th century.
People negatively associate their wellbeing in life with material goods. In the video The High “Price of Materialism”, Tim Kasser states: “the good life is obtainable through the goods life, by making lots of money and spending it on products that claim to make us happy, loved
The first and most key point in The Overspent American, by Professor Juliet Schor is in the title. Why we want what we don’t need? Schor’s narrative discusses the reasons that contributed to the desires of society versus the needs of a comfortable lifestyle. Schor also discusses the drivers that guided this change in society and the effects of those changes on the economy.
In Don Delilo’s, White Noise different themes are displayed throughout the novel. Some themes are the fear of death, loss of identity, technology as the enemy, and American consumerism. The society represented in the novel views people as objects and emotionally detached from many things. Death is always in the air and trapped in peoples mind. The culture that’s represented in the novel adds to the loss of individualism, but also adds to the figurative death of the characters introduced in the novel.
How many of us really think about “Why we consume the way we do?” and “How do we constantly support the economic process of consumerism?” Some people might say that they need the all of the flashy electronic gadgets like phones, tablets, and hover boards or they must have those 3,000 designer jeans because they’re trending right now on social media. I asked myself these questions and I realized that I’d never really consciously thought about how Americans consume until now.
There is enough food for every person on earth to consume 2500 calories a day, not including fruit or roots. It is odd that despite this fact there is still an overwhelming level of poverty in the world. The wealthiest 20% of the world receive most of the food in the world and spend huge amounts of money to purchase all this food. In order for the elite to live at the standard it does, the majority of the world must go without. Millions starve because the elite prefer death of the hungry to their own inconvenience. This situation is not easily remedied. First, people must begin to understand that they must eat only as much food as they need. Many would argue that they never have any leftovers and that all the food in their house gets eaten with little thrown away. This is good in the sense that food itself is not being wasted, but every American doesn’t need to eat as much food as they do. When a high percentage of people in this country are overweight and most people in third world countries are ghastly underweight and undernourished, then it is apparent that the citizens of this country must consume much less food. After understanding the issue at hand, Americans must then stop eating three to four meals a day and stop stuffing themselves at every meal. This would be hard to accomplish because this would mean making a sacrifice, which the rich already have big problems with, but also because the food-producing corporations would do everything in their power to stop this from happening. There is no market for these corporations in small third-world countries where they may have to sell their products at lower prices and no longer make astronomical profits.
In chapter seven of The Way We Never Were, Stephanie Coontz focuses on consumerism and materialism. In this chapter, Coontz claims that the root causes of consumerism is affecting Americans in a contemporary society is the mindset of people having an addiction to having the latest and greatest in terms of any goods. Coontz argues that “consumerism and materialism affect working adults and non working ones, both sexes and all ages, people who endorse new roles for women and people who oppose them” (page 223). In our society people buy what they want rather than what they need.
Also, paying for things like family vacations leads to happiness as one is able to bond with their family and for some people, obtaining more financially is something that genuinely makes them happy (Nicolao, Irwin, and Goodman, 2009). This seemingly proves that the act of pursuing more materially breeds happiness. However, studies indicate that when they spend money, most people receive happiness from ‘experiential purchases’, that is purchases like vacations where one doesn't receive anything materially from the event other than photographs and memories, rather than from material possessions. This clearly shows that the acquisition of material things doesn't bring happiness, which clearly shows that modern life’s descent into becoming a hamster wheel of attaining more financially doesn't bring
With the dawn of the industrial era, railroads arrived in the United States. This invention completely revolutionized American consumer culture, allowing manufacturers to ship goods to their buyers at much quicker rates. As a result, consumers could buy items from the other side of the country, and no longer had to make their own goods. As the US shifted to shipping things through railroads, advertising arrived to the scene. Radios and newspapers were dense with advertisements whose sole goal was to convince the reader/listener that their his or her’s life is incomplete without the proposed product. All of a sudden, the US became a society unsatisfied with “just getting by”. Consumers “needed” items with the latest technology. Fulfilling basic needs was no longer enough because consumerism had completely transformed American society. By painting money as a symbol of status and happiness, consumerism has trapped the public in an endless cycle of going to great lengths to attain wealth, finding the wealth as unsatisfactory, convincing themselves that more wealth would make them happier, and repeat.
With a population expanding at a constant rate, consumerism is bound to increase. This being in the forefront of people’s minds has deflated the magnitude of the harmful side effects of consumerism. It has been lurking and waiting to slowly sink its teeth into the human race. Society has itself convinced that all of its self worth is in products that remain “empty solutions” (Scelfo 700). The importance of the environment is often ignored as long as there is an upgraded, newer product that is wrapped in sleek and elegant packaging. Greediness is brought forth by consumerism due to the constant need for copious amounts of money in order to buy something brand new that is irrelevant. Consumerism is weighing on the infrastructure of society and causing it to slowly crumble in on
Americans have had in the last fifty years decades of unprecedented economic growth which 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).
Within the last one-hundred years consumerism has changed drastically. Attributed to the advent of advertising and product branding, modern day consumerism has shifted from being primarily “need” based, to being “want-to-need” based throughout the western world. Luxuries like shoes, clothes and home electronics aren’t even thought of as luxuries anymore, but they have made their way over to the list of thing we “need” or “must have”. Reflecting back on the various essays we have read for class, has really made me evaluate what type of consumer I am and has definitely made me more aware of the trends that I follow.
Consumption and possession are qualities that are almost inherent of western civilization. Since the introduction of public entertainment such as the radio and the television companies have found space in between the entertainment to try and sell their wares and services. While these commercials vary in sincerity and factual information one thing is very clear. Consumer culture, Advertisements and media are all intertwined in an effort to convince a would be customer to acquire trivial or otherwise useful products. These elements of consumerism have been carefully and unexpectedly crafted over years of being peddled various brands.