Materialism in America Essay - 1712 Words

Beep. Beep. Beep. Cars, clothes, cell phones. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace. Ring. Ring. Ring. American Eagle, Pink!, Miss Me. Beep. Beep. Beep. Need the new IPhone, need the new IPad, need new clothes. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Need to go shopping, need to check Facebook, need to play video games. Ring. Ring. Ring. Stay up until two in the morning on the computer, shop all day, played on phone for hours. Beep. Beep. Beep. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Ring. Ring. Ring. â€Å"Debit or Credit?† â€Å"Would you like the receipt with you or in the bag?† â€Å"You saved a total of twenty dollars today, please come back again.† Beep. Beep. Beep. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Welcome to the chaotic mind of many Americans in present day America. There is hardly a moment of†¦show more content†¦If that really expensive dress that was just purchased gets a tear when ripping of the tag off, will happiness still be there? The questions can go on and on, but the theme of them all is this: Can people survive, can people be happy if all materialistic and electronic items are out of the picture? Is current happiness in society revolving around items that are inanimate and have short life spans and in the end simply take money out of bank accounts? The first car was made in the early 1900s. The first mass consumed computers appeared in the 1980s along with the first mass consumed cell phones. From those dates America has increased their electronic production significantly. Now it is close to every year that electronic items come out with their new items. Starting in the early 1900s to now there has been an increase in the production and consumption of materialistic items. There is also another increase among American’s that corresponds with this: unhappiness and depression. A study done by Arizona State revealed, â€Å"increased prevalence rates of depression occurred during periods of modernity,† (Garfinkle 16). Not that depression is caused by materialism but there is a strong correlation between the two. The more people buy, the more dependency on materialistic items there is, the more people get upset andShow MoreRelated Consumerism and Materialism in America Essay1467 Words   |  6 Pagesof having money. Some people are never satisfied with what they have; they are always on the lookout for more money and more possessions. Man requires food, shelter, clothing and fuel everything else is superfluous. Luxuries lead to things like materialism and greed. People need to realize that everyone is the same on the inside. Our ancestors didn’t have technology or a ton of money and they somehow survived. â€Å"For the improvement of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of man’sRead MoreMaterialism vs Happiness in America Essay1206 Words   |  5 Pagesintensified overtime. The progression of materialism in the western world has caused a decrease in the happiness and overall well-being of the people that reside in the society. Materialism as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary is â€Å"a doctrine that the only or the highest values or objectives lie in material well-being and in the furtherance of material progress†. Cuing Consumerism, an article by Association for Psychological Science, defines materialism as â€Å"as a value system that is preoccupiedRead MoreAmerica s Expansion Of Individualism And Materialism1469 Words   |  6 Pagesobligation, Americans now perceive a marriage to entail intimate commitments between affectionate partners. America transformed its values from the society and family to the individual level. Of the major values changes, which occurred over the past decades, this article exemplifies an increase in single-parent homes, cohabiting, and divorce. Due to America’s expansion of individualism and materialism, individuals no longer perceive their marriage as life long commitments. This transformation occurredRead MoreThe Mall of America: Destroying Life Long Valu es with Materialism1103 Words   |  5 PagesEncyclopedic. Endured: the Mall of America.† David Guterson shares his experience of the Mall of America as it opened and its effects of the American culture. From sharing statistics about the amount of jobs available, the number of parking spots, or how much cash is dispersed each week from just the ATMs; Guterson allows readers to feel the massive scale of the mall. He shares stories of the people he met and his own views on the mall, and what it says about America and its people’s values. GutersonRead MoreThe Advancement Of Materialism Before There Was Materialism1483 Words   |  6 PagesShannon Grigsby English 336.500 Marco Portales September 30, 2016 The Advancement of Materialism before There Was Materialism: The Exploration of Gold On September 27, 2016 Andrew Fox proposed to his girlfriend Heather Terwilliger at Yankee Stadium during a Tuesday night MLB showcase between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately, as Andrew pulled out the ring to propose to his soon to be fiancà © the engagement ring fell into the stands amongst a max capacity crowd. As AndrewRead MoreMaterialism in Society1161 Words   |  5 Pagesfeel superior to. This issue with the cell phone is just a part of a much larger problem in America, materialism. This affects almost all Americas in many ways, most being bad, and it needs to be stopped. The question is how do we stop such a widespread problem? To take action realistically, one would have to start out very small at first. One of the most realistic starts for ending materialism is to first form small organizations with people interested in this action. Local groups or organizationsRead MoreWhy Do We Spend Lavishly?1323 Words   |  6 Pages Why do we spend lavishly? Money is the answer to all things, when I was a very young girl, my sunday school teachings taught me that money was the root of all evil. America and their materialistic culture is a natural thing. This is the way they are being taught. Once a new item get advertises, we all rush online, at store to get that new item. We continue to swipe our card everyday even if the money is not ours. Later we are stuck to picking up extra hours just to pay off all of the debt. TheRead MoreMaterialism And Its Effects On The United States1249 Words   |  5 PagesMaterialism, although commonly seen as a harmful characteristic, has the potential to be a beneficial one. The desire for a vast number of possessions has often been tied with the wealthy; however, both wealthy and poor alike have materialistic tendencies and thus, everyone has the potential to live unsustainably. Being materialistic is not what classifies a person as sustainable or unsustainable, it is what that person pursues with their tendencies that does so. If someone wanted to purchase a newRead MoreGatsbys Pursuit of the American Dream Essay827 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican Dream from what it used to be in the past. Not only does Jay Gatsby achieve his success without hard work, but this success is not a matter of being able to achieve just like every other person. His success is just a result of the I want; materialism of Gatsbys time, the 1920s. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The figures in Fitzgeralds book all represent different outlooks on the American Dream. Nick, who comes from the Midwest, represents the traditional morality that this country used toRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald992 Words   |  4 Pagesthis model is certainly reasonable. F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby use the motifs of materialism, carelessness, and decay seen in the 1920’s in order to show a decimation of the American Dream, and the human race. Throughout The Great Gatsby it is very easy to recognize how the time period affected the author s point of view, one of the motifs that is affected by the time period is materialism. During the 1920’s the view of money shifted from a common commodity to a necessity that is only