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The american dream and materialism
The american dream and materialism
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When compared to countries with a lower amount of national debt, such as the United Kingdom and Sweden, America seems to be built on a foundation of materialism. American materialism influences its society to believe that the more things someone owns, the happier she will be. Many Americans insist on ownership of goods and services, despite how expensive some may be. Even if an individual lacks the necessary funds to afford said goods, however, she can still purchase them by using credit. Credit is money that a bank or business will allow a person to use, provided she reimburses them in the future. The existence of credit encourages people to spend more than they can afford to, ultimately rendering the borrowers slave to the lenders. Abusing credit results in debt, which is a problem that plagues almost every American through most, if not all, of their life. Bad credit and debt are among the worst of problems in America because it contributes towards a progressively unstable state in the economy and prevents many Americans from fulfilling their financial dreams.
There are different types of debt, although they all contribute towards the country’s status just the same. One of the most common types of debt Americans have is personal debt. This type of debt is the result of purchasing assets with values that diminish over time. Said assets include: new cars, clothes, furniture, and credit card purchases – short-term pleasures. Investment debt, however, is one of the more acceptable types of debt. This kind of debt results from borrowing to fund companies, education, or even homes – assets that will likely increase in value over time. Of course, both types of debts are equally difficult to repay. Debt ranges from mortgage payments, ca...
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...rom falling into debt. People who are entrenched in debt, however, should employ a strategy of cutting down variable spending and putting the extra money towards debt payments. Akin to the proposed balanced budget amendment, this ensures that they lose less and make more money.
Debt is slowly pushing America’s economy into an unstable state. This will eventually result in a dramatic increase of taxes, which will subsequently decrease the overall budget of most Americans. National debt is increased even more when people abuse credit, accepting debt into their lives. Unless America focuses its efforts to discouraging materialism by spending less money than what its overall income is, it will proceed further into debt, risking even higher taxes and bankruptcy. Our nation has to overcome its nurtured materialism before we can truly expect to improve its economic status.
This deficit has to do with having responsible leader who are willing to increase awareness and make beneficial changes in the nation. In my opinion, the federal debt is a serious threat to the US that must be politically address whenever possible. I believe that the candidates of the 2016 presidential election should make this issue one of the top priorities to discuss and to dictate a considerable amount of work to fix it. That is because the worse the federal debt is, the worse the future would be to the nation. Also, voters must be well educated about this issue in order to shape their decision in voting for the candidate that seems most powerful and confident about this problem. Solving this problem may be difficult and would take time and so much effort. Therefore, the changes and solution must be on both a national and individual levels as
What would you do if you had $15,000? Would you give some to charity, or perhaps buy a new car? Maybe you could finally get that watch or purse that you’ve always wanted. The problem is that many people thought they had this much money. Unfortunately, it was all on a credit card and now they are paying 18% extra on their purchases; in some cases, even more than that. That equates to you paying roughly $18,000 dollars for something that only cost $15,000. Many Americans are faced with these bills today, but there is hope. There are people out there who want to get us out of debt, and back on our feet. This essay will look at two of those people; Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman. You will have to decide which will work best for you. Hopefully
When you get to the point where debt becomes too much you begin to search for a way out. There are many different options to get rid of their debt; one option is the debt snowball. This debt relief option sounds more unusual than it really is.
In “The Way to Wealth” Benjamin Franklin writes, “We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly” trying to prove a point that frequently people are being taxed an outrageous amount and are taxing themselves extra by actions like spending excessive amounts of money (Franklin 237). Throughout Franklin’s “The Way to Wealth,” he explains how an American economy should work and maintain a stabilized economy for themselves. In the American realm today, about 5.0% of people find themselves facing unemployment, a time of stress and conflict (“Databases, Calculators & Tables by Subject”). With the unemployment rates rising for the first time since February of 2015, the American economy is also facing an increase in debt levels throughout personal households
Now, we are living beyond our means by borrowing from other countries just as Usonia borrowed from Sinopia. When the Sinopians finally stop lending, our standard of living will be forced downwards. Right now, all forms of debt have become some sort of government debt. Schiff believes that we have created a whole new bubble- one in Treasury bonds. When it bursts, price level and interest rates will soar. The effects would be even worse than those of the housing bubble. “How an Economy Grows and Why it Crashes” paints a picture of an economy mimicking the U.S. that could have avoided its disparaging fate. We, however, still have time to escape this path if we allow free market forces to regulate the economy, spend within our means, and build savings in case of a cloudy future.
However the interest we pay on our nation 's debt is very small compared to the overall budget. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities only 7% of the total budget is spent on interest which is relatively low compared to things like social security which took up 24% of the budget in 2014 (Policy Basics). As long as the United States can continue to keep the interest rates low the debt will continue to be a begin threat. If the creditors of the U.S. were to spike their interest rates, America would be in trouble, however America has fairly good credit, and it should remain that way unless there is another scare like the government shutdown in 2011 (Riley). Overall the threat of the nation debt is a very minute problem in the grand scheme of things. According to The Richest, only five nations in the entire world are completely debt free, which is astounding when you consider that there are about 195 countries in the entire world (Mathers; How Many). These figures show how extremely difficult it is for a country to run without having a certain amount of debt, and America having debt should not be a concern. America is not even in the top ten countries whose debt make up the majority of their GDP (Country List). Which means that at the moment American’s should not be overly
As of today America’s national debt is 18 trillion dollars and approximately 5 trillion of that is held by foreign countries including China and Japan. In the last few years we seem to hear more about balancing the country’s budget and politicians raising the debt ceiling so we can pay on this debt. How have we gotten into such an overwhelming and complicated problem with our nation’s money? Ironically the same can be said for our individual household debt as well as making the same mistakes and trying to find creative ways to be accountable to our financial responsibilities. Teaching the basics of personal finance n our schools can culturally change our financial practices, leading to a more financially literate public and a stronger, more stable, America. If the younger generations can become more financially savvy, then there is an opportunity for our nation as a whole to become less dependent on debt to survive.
The author expresses his founding from a recent poll that says the recent recession has now morphed the infamous “American Dream” from owning a house and starting a family to breaking free of their personal debt (Levin). I am of two minds about Levin’s theory of the “American Dream”. On one hand, I agree that the “American Dream” has changed from years ago. On the other hand, I am not sure if the author is correct in implying the change is as recent as he thinks. More often than not to be debt free has been the “American Dream” for several generations. As soon as credit was first in applied into the American lifestyle, it brought a sense of relief to those that needed now and could pay later. Through this system, debt was created; it made the banking system stable again and let people buy houses and cars. The ability to use credit gave borrowers a trustworthy appearance where they could then provide for themselves and their family. What was then known as the “American Dream” or as some would see know as the ideal
The concept of debt was now in play in America and cause a stress for the next years to come. The introduction of debt was so important to America's history because its was what caused the great depression for Americans. There was no more money in peoples pockets to keep their families on their feet. So in a way the chance that Americans could lose everything they had by overspending, humbled citizens in America now. Its not easy to speak for everyone but it taught people that spending too much when you don't have enough is not the logical thing to do.
The American peoples debt is almost entirely the faults of all those who participate in the active use of the credit cards solicited to them. This is due to several factors, the first of which is the ability of classes below the Upper-Middle and Upper classes being able to acquire credit cards easily and readily. The second reason is that the interest rates of these credit cards, set by the companies that advertise and produce them, has been and, in the foreseeable future, will be extremely high. Finally, the credit card debt is such a problem today because the market for credit card companies is so concentrated that isn't regulated enough to make any difference.
One thing that I have learned about college is that you have to sometimes talk about things that make you uncomfortable or scared in order to learn. I do not think I am alone in saying that the United States’ current debt situation is terrifying. Ten trillion dollars alone is an expansive and unimaginable amount of money, and since PBS produced Ten Trillion and Counting in 2009, the national debt has grown to twenty-one trillion. As stated, the documentary was produced during the first months of former President Barack Obama’s first term and focused on former President George W. Bush’s relationship with national debt during his eight year tenure. Ten Trillion and Counting explains some of the questionable decisions that former President Bush made, especially regarding fiscal policy.
“Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt” (Hoover). This is a quote from Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the United States. What the quote is saying is that the debt the country is building up at that time, will be dragged down to today causing problems. A national debt is when a country is borrowing more money than they are making and this has been the problem in the U.S since the founding of our country. This seems to be a problem for us, it seems that we want to spend, and spend, and spend, more money than we can make to achieve something or to satisfy our own needs. This is screwing us over in the long run, causing us to slowly mess up or country's economy. Over the growth of our country the debt has decreased and
...ment has to invest in the future of the country regardless of the deficit it may cause now, because the reimbursement in the future is priceless. An educated, trained and sustainable nation is something that no one can defeat even in times of crisis.
...s are two of the highest reasons that Americans are in debt. Significant debt prevents Americans from spending money on goods and services, and America’s economy is driven by consumer purchasing. I believe the economy can benefit, in the long run, if there are more Americans that are educated and are healthier.
Credit card debt is a big problem in America. America is becoming a materialistic place.