In modern day America, most of society lives without thoughts of the struggles that other humans endure to sustain the status quo of this country. Compared to the rest of the world, the United States is extremely luxurious and even the poor live comfortable lives when compared to…
First, Americans are becoming over materialistic because of competition. Source number five, “The New Consumerism”, an essay written by Juliet Schor, explains the concept of competition between Americans, which leads to dangerous effects. In the essay, Schor explains how the American neighborhood led to competition in the middle of the twentieth century. Schor states, “In the 1950’s and 60’s, when Americans were keeping up with the Jones down the street, they typically compared themselves to other households of similar incomes” (Schor ¶ 3). This explains competition because even though each family has similar incomes, the competition to have the same possessions may develop in the neighborhood, even if they don’t need it.…
One of the main arguments in this book is that money only equals happiness up to a certain financial point, in other words, even when growth makes us wealthier, it doesn’t make us happier. Actually, the level of ‘happiness’, as measured by a major survey taker, peaked in the United States in the mid-1950s, and has been on a steady decline ever since, even while the amount of material possessions, hours worked, house square footage, and cars driven has…
The cashier at the gas station admires the business man that comes in everyday in his crisp suit, as the janitor of a building admires that famous actress on TV. We are all trying to attain that next material thing; whether it is job or a new set of rims on our car we think things will bring us happiness. We let others put a value to the definition of success, and then we run after that. What we don't realize is that even if we did attain what they define as success, once we attained it they would push the bar up and find something new that would the new measure of success. It is like the saying goes we are always trying to "keep up with the Jones'".…
As human beings, we are usually never content with what we have already got. And even when we do appreciate it the situation tends to change and want just the opposite. The human mind is dynamic and it always finds itself having some type of expectation from life or situation. The expectation is always in an ever-changing mode in the pursuit of extremely opposite entities. e.i. instead of the color black, you want white or when you are stranded on a dessert, you want to be somewhere freezing…
There are so many wants in our society because people like to have the best of the best things. people like to have the best shoes and clothes. People like to look good instead of just needing things. People think that the best looking things are the best.…
People have become accustomed to getting what they want and when they want it. With this attitude people have lost respect for not only other peoples wants but their needs as well.…
Throughout the history of time and even mythological stories and fairy tales, people have always seemed to want more than want they have. They have never been able to satisfy their unlimited wants for money, power, or even just materialistic items. This greediness has and always will be the downfall of many wealthy and powerful individuals. No matter how advanced we are in society, people will always find a way to question what they have and not appreciate what they have. One question has always been asked after studying these downfalls. Why are people never satisfied with what they have? Some possibilities could be incredible greediness, overwhelming jealousy, and the feeling of being inferior.…
Man is greedy. Human accumulate millions of dollars and yet they still feel the need to gain more. Rather it’s by getting the money the right way or cheating their way to the top by taking advantage of the poorer. Instead of them spending the money on things that will help the community or feed the hungry/ homeless, they spend it on materialistic things such as fancy vehicles and homes. Twain tried to get a lot of different kinds of wild animals to store a vast amount of food-but none of them would do it. They only stored enough food to get them through the winter. Humans are willing to take as much as they can get without thinking about the people around them.…
A) Identifying myself to an article is something that I look forward to when reading and that is exactly what happened with “Why are we so angry?”. I enjoyed this article because I could relate to several of the stories they listed. Anger is definitely a big problem in today’s society and although there are many ways to be happy, anger is always present and easier to come by with today’s lifestyle especially in “America”. For me, driving is a place where I frequently get mad so when I read the hook of this essay it automatically caught my attention and as I read more and more it seemed like this article was “hitting home” with every story it told. I can totally see the authors point. Also, I liked how he tries to give a few tips on how to fight ones temper at the end. For example the first line of “How do you tame a toxic temper?” where he states “The first step is to figure out what’s really making you angry” was a nice to read because I know for a fact that many people take out frustrations on other people or thing as an excuse to not confront what’s really bothering them.…
individuals can agree on everything, but what is problematic today is the sense of entitlement…
Envy and greed has existed since the beginning of time. Maybe we are born with those traits or maybe we are taught through life’s lessons. The rich are perceived as having a carefree un-stress-filled life. The reality shows and news stories of the wealthy buying yachts, taking lavish vacations with their Barbie doll mate, summer homes that are actually castles and extravagant parties. The rest of the world seems to be the servants of the wealthy. How can society not be envious or greedy to obtain what the few have in their life?…
America has many outstanding qualities which allow us to have many freedoms. I think that America’s gift to my generation is to get back a strong work ethic and pride. Many people like to play yet expect someone to support them. We need to get back to the ways that my grandparents and great-parents were raised where you had to work hard, do without many times and earn your way through life. They took great pride in their work and always tried to do their best at everything. They either worked hard or did without. They didn’t complain about not having things. If they couldn’t afford them, then they didn’t get them. Whereas, in society today, many people expect things to be given to them without putting forth the hard work. I would like to see…
In this article Schwartz explains how the increase in choice is pertinent in the aspect of society’s happiness or lack thereof. Schwartz states, “In the past 30 years – a great time of prosperity – the proportion of the population describing itself as ‘very happy’ has declined. The decline was about 5 %”( Schwartz 173). That 5% would calculate to be about 14 million Americans. A lot has happened in the past 30 years that has more to do with the happiness of not only Americans, but civilization on a global standpoint. With the passing of time there are more choices to make and more responsibility involved with these choices.…
As a kid, I was never aware of any of this. When I was about 5-6 years old , just like most of the other kids my age, I would always ask for every toy I saw in a store and then have a fit about it in public when my parents said “No!”. My parents always used to tell me that I should be happy with what I have and that there were kids my age who didn’t even have shelter or proper necessities but I never listened because I was only 5 years old and really obnoxious. Later,when I got into middle school, I used to see some of my peers at school with the latest phones and other electronic gadgets. I kept asking my parents for a latest phone and didn’t listen to them when they said “no”. At last, they got tired of trying to change me and bought me the iPhone 4s which was the newest phone at that time. I felt really happy and stronger than my parents because I was getting everything my way. Little did I know at that time that I was the one that was ruining myself and that there are more than a billion people who are living in extreme poverty and many more people who are living off of just $2.50 a day while I was crying for materialistic items which are not even worth over helping those needy…