Consumerism Is Ruining The World

Consumerism is Ruining the World Every commercial on television has one thing in common: its purpose is getting you to buy the product at any cost. This is the reason that there are more toy commercials around Christmas time than any other time throughout the year. Why do retail stores advertise patio furniture and grills at the beginning of summer? It is the time which people will most likely buy them. The same concept has been applied to food. Food companies will do whatever it takes to get their food sold. . People love the idea of food, but Americans in particular love the idea of the most food for the lowest price possible. We bargain with food just like any other product and have bought into consumerism without even realizing it.
We, as Americans, play right into the advertisements. Auto sales have gone through the roof and cars are being replaced to improve what people have, not because they legitimately need a replacement. For the first time in history, there are now more working cars that have been sold than there are drivers. Eight trillion dollars were spent by consumers on products in the retail industry in 2002 alone. Spurlock looks at the big picture in The Eater Reader: “We spend more on ourselves than the entire gross national product of any nation in the world” (Spurlock 40). Two hundred, twenty-two billion dollars were spent in 2003 on medication. It is almost as if we are being told what to do and how to live. You would think that as Americans, we would have control over what we buy and the decisions we make. By watching television and reading the newspaper as much as we do, we allow marketing companies to have as much control as we do without physically buying the products for
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says that the increased portion sizes are, “a key factor that is contributing to a potentially devastating increase in obesity among children and adults” (“Larger Portion”). When people do not know what the correct portion sizes are, they tend to have larger amounts of cholesterol, fats, sodium, and calories in their diets. Excess calories lead to health problems and obesity, as The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute puts it: “Larger portions mean more calories, which can easily add up to extra weight” (“Larger Portion”). Americans’ perspectives on portion sizes have changed because restaurants have offered more amounts of food. People are more likely to eat more food if more food is put in front of them. We fall victim to it more often than not. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis” (“Childhood Obesity”). Eating the way that we do only makes our health worse. Obesity is one of the leading causes of death in America next to smoking. Spurlock puts it best: “Americans are eating themselves to death” (Spurlock