Preview

A Materialistic Society

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
668 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Materialistic Society
Harper Lee Jordan
English 101: Composition
Professor C. Anderson
02/22/12
A Materialistic Society A happy life is more important than anything someone can buy in a store. It’s not a physical thing nor is it materialistic. Society has come to orbit around the quality of things they can buy to impress the neighbors and to show off how much money they have invested. They want the shinier, the bigger house, and the greener lawn. It doesn’t matter how expensive your car is or how big of a house you have. Material possessions are great for only so long, but nothing lasts forever. Society shouldn’t be focusing so much on materialistic things that can always be replaced, when memories are out there to be made. Today, life is being lived too fast. No one slows down to enjoy their life. We should all get off the train once in a while and experience things at our own pace. In today’s society, life is about how successful a person can be, how much money they can earn, and how much nice stuff they have. Society’s prime focus is mainly about materialism instead of the more important things in life such as family. According to New York Times there are statistics stating that “materialism is bad for you” In Lexington Massachusetts, a psychologist and couples therapist named Aline Zoldbrod says” A husband and wife no longer connect, they are so exhausted from the pursuit of nicer things ( a big house, private school for the kids, fancy cars) that they are time starved and depleted. Life is luxurious yet unsatisfying and simply no fun”. Now, children are starting school around three and four years old. People are even staying in school longer. Now instead of going to get a job, when a student graduates high school, they immediately go to college. After college, they go to work. At this job they will have a 401K and a pension plan. They will work at this job for over twenty years. During these twenty years, they will raise a family and put them through school. The cycle

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    After reading Anna Quindlen’s essay “Why stuff is not salvation” I have come to realize that Quindlen makes an excellent point asserting that consumers are purchasing items for the “want” rather than the “need.” “where junk goes to linger in a persistent vegetative state, somewhere between eBay and the dump.” (Quindlen, Anna) It is demonstrated several times throughout the article that Quindlen wants people and families over all to realize that it is not materialistic items that will bring true happiness to their lives. I agree with Quindlen because I am able to make several personal connections with her personal experiences.…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A person should consider to buy the things that they need instead of what they want. There is a lot of famous people that has several exotic cars but somehow lives a miserable life. A person with one car will live better than the person with two or more. In today’s society, materialistic thing cause less happiness than people who are less…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyone wants happiness. For many people, that happiness supposedly comes from material items. It is perfectly acceptable to want to have objects, but being dependent on money and items to make yourself happy is not a good mindset. The happiness you feel when you buy something new is only temporary. Objects will be forgotten, and items will perish. A spiritual teacher by the name of Adyashanti offers a theory for that: “When we make a purchase and/or get what we want, we are temporarily happy and fulfilled. But the reason for happiness is not because we got what we wanted, but because for a brief period of time, we stopped wanting, and thus we experience peace and happiness.” The short story ‘Approximations,’ by Mona Simpson demonstrates the belief of materialism…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cultural Baggage

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the article “Cultural Baggage” the author Barbara Ehrenreich philosophizes about her meager heritage and the heritage of others in America. We all came from descendants from any point in history and the world. We just didn’t appear on earth from thin air. Civilization of “none” is a delusion, a chimera. It may be fine title for a blockbuster movie,…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Australian Materialism

    • 1888 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The views of the Australian materialists on the identification of the mind and the body, simply stated, are that states and processes of the mind are identical to states and processes of the brain. Henceforth these philosophers (for the purpose of this article I will be referring in particular to Smart and Armstrong’s views on the matter) assume the position that all processes of the mind and experiences are due to physical reactions occurring in the brain and that these physical processes can account for the mental states that one may encounter. Smart’s takes a Materialist stance regarding the identification of the mind and body, and a more scientific one at that, believing that everything…

    • 1888 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Money and gems can not buy happiness, but only comfort. For example Prof. Howell says, “And yet we still keep on buying material things,” He says ,“Because they’re tangible and we think we can keep on using them.”(Prof. Howell 2008). This tells us that people will buy jewelry and furniture because they’re tangible and will last a while. This also proves that people will buy material goods because they think it will last longer than a cruise or a flight to Hawaii. Dr. Dean says “People's’ desires for material possessions at the same, or greater rate, than their salaries… this means that despite considerably have more luxurious possessions, people end up no happier.”(Dr. Dean 2008) This…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Unfortunately, the American dream is becoming more and more materialistic. I guess it was always a bit materialistic, but when I look at America today, I see a nation obsessed with shopping and buying unnecessary products. Previously, people aspired to have a nice house in the suburbs with a couple of cars, the big SUV, the Costco member ship and the greener grass. Now, there is no end to the products that people want: the latest I Phone, expensive cars, and designer purses, the list is endless. The American dream revolves around luxury goods for most people. Shopping is not a problem on its own; it’s the obsessive accumulation of unnecessary products, along with the hope that…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday people purchase thousands of objects and live in large houses and live the ideal material life, with material things, and lives based on what they own. However there are several people all over the world that have no homes and base their belongings on what they can carry with them. Lars Eighner was found homeless and through this, discovered his own lessons of life by scavenging and developing the understanding the difference between those who live through their possessions and those who do not. Thoreau learned his way of life through his exploration of nature, and his examination of the material world, which is something that Eighner did as well. “On Dumpster Diving” by Eighner and “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” by Thoreau, they discover life lessons, and they criticize the 'rat race millions' but not similarly, which can be explained because of the way they approach life.…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A proposition is used to per sway people in order to take action, or join a cause. President;…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Since the establishment of this country, Americans have set their eyes on success. The way we define success has changed along with technology. The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”[1] When repeating this phrase out loud one draws up images of fancy cars, big houses, quality clothes, etc. What Adams fails to mention is that success requires work, furthermore success in terms of fancy cars, big houses and other luxuries require over 40 hours a week of work. The more time one spends at work, the less time one has to spend doing other things. Ellen Goodman’s “The Company Man”, is a prime example of why spending an excessive amount of time working is harmful to a human being. In providing a comfortable life for his family, the main character neglects to have a presence in his home. The pursuit of the American Dream calls for an unbalanced lifestyle, which alienates individuals from their families.…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As a human species, we are wired to survive. In the beginning, survival was simple; all we needed were the elements of nature and a few tools that abled us to obtain these essentials. Naturally, as we evolved so did our technological advancements. As time passes, the fine line between “needs” and “wants” starts to become unrecognizable. We have progressed to an age where complicated is the new simple and we have created a mindless routine of more taking and less giving. Superficial factors, born from our innovations, cloud our judgment and have detached us from healthy influences, including thoughts and emotion. Growing technology has fueled the fire for the need of an easier life with instant pleasures, and distanced individuals from becoming independent and excelling…

    • 1263 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everything that we strive for and the lifestyle we desire is really unnecessary. As “the father of modern economics” Gregory Mankiw’s theory, the biggest contradiction for the modern society is how to use limited resources to satisfy human’s infinite wants, needs, the necessary items to keep life, have limited amount but human’s want are unlimited (Gregory, 2004). Perspective has greatly changed for the worst, now making consumerism the heart of the American Dream. The media has had a significant role to play in this, showcasing that all we need is money to spend on ridiculous things so as to fit in. I do agree that the American Dream should not be about what you buy, but about the mark you leave in the world. The things that really matter should be more about a fulfilling career, a family and giving back to the…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This phrase means trying to fix things is useless, and it’s so much easier to just throw it away. This is a sarcastic comment on materialism, principally the wealthy; don’t waste energy to fixed things and just simply throw things away. The society wants continuous grow of consumers. So, people need to throw away materials to get new materials rather than fixing old ones. So this is the use of propaganda to boost citizens to do that. Every person repeatedly hears this through the process of sleep teaching starting at an early age. The phrase is continuously embedded so…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Classless Society

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In addition, one of the biggest dilemma that's produced as a result of our socioeconomic system is its own reincarnation. The duplication on a mass level of norms, roles, careers, health, wealth, and lifestyle as generations pass results in the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer. However, this is the not the image that is portrayed in the popular image of America’s class structure. One of the four biggest myths veiling the reality of class is that the U.S is “fundamentally a classless society,” and aside from a few minor distinctions everyone is uniform under the law. Likewise, the second myth, derives from the fact that since we are a “classless” society, we’re all in general, the same or in this case middle-class; as a majority…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thesis: “People are Unemployed because they want to be”, should not be used as a rationale for the overall level of unemployment currently being experienced.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays