Many Americans love shopping, especially during the holidays, with its captivating discounts and sales, which lead to uncontrollable splurges on irrelevant things. According to Quindlen, this is an example of America’s crazed consumerism and it is absolutely absurd. In her article, “Honestly, You Shouldn’t Have”, she states that there is currently an assumption that purchasing American merchandises symbolize an act of patriotism and at the same time, build a strong economy. She also states that we, as Americans, need to acknowledge important spiritual values such as friends and family rather than material goods.
Ever wondered why a lot of food commercials and cleaning products have black woman as the face of them? It isn’t merely because these women just got lucky and landed a mainstream commercial, they were chosen for a particular reason. It’s the fact that their black and they give off the perfect Mammy persona. Mammy is a term that originated in the post slavery era. It was used in relation to the house slave that tended to the master, his children, and his wife.
Nevertheless, the interviewees frown upon being labelled as someone that values luxury over reasonable spending. Hence, they expressed their emphasis on the importance of needs over wants, and that practicality should triumph over extravagance. They see “limited” consumption as a form of self discipline, where excessive spending was only justifiable when it is spent on the family and invested in the children. If
“Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket” People spend too much time on watching people live than worrying about themselves. They spend countless hours caring for others more than their own life. Sometimes they let their jobs control their life and they have no time to spare for their family. In “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket,” Jack Finney’s protagonist, Tom Benecke, shows how easy it is to waste time rather than spend spending time with his family.
As can be seen, Oliver is a very materialistic person. He gets caught in a never-ending cycle that causes him to buy things to make him happy, but it is not long lasting. Josh Lieb’s almost ludicrous caricature of the wealthy tycoon, Oliver, provides an irreverent view on how money and happiness are related. Some people, like Oliver, find happiness in objects. They use the objects to fill the love and happiness they did not receive from others, but then it becomes superficial.
As argued by Claudio Lomnitz in his article American Soup, we Americans are Anglo-Protestants, culturally speaking at least. The first thing that comes to many people's minds when they think of America is the national ethos of the U.S.: the American Dream. This dream is closely related Lomnitz point that one of the many features of an Anglo-Protestant is “the belief that humans have the ability and the duty to try and create a heaven on earth, a ‘city on a hill’” (Lomnitz, 2005, p.1). Whether you’re a descendant of an original settler of the New World or an immigrant fresh-off-the-boat, you’re closely related to the American Dream, and a true Anglo-Protestant. Whether you agree with that point or not, it’s easy to see that we as Americans have a strong history of religion.
Generally, Singer hopes that people should make a plausible budget to donate money to strangers (384). He starts criticizing Americans who waste their money in things that not necessary to them when he said, “The average family in United States spends almost one-third of its income on things that are no more necessary to them than Dora’s new TV was to her” (379). Here, Singer is trying to warn families not to spend money in not necessary things that this money could mean difference between life and death. At this point, the author is very serious about people’s spending, which could save children’s lives. He also gives his reader a story about Bob, who been in a difficult situation that he can save a child’s life, but he could lose his fancy
Have you ever wondered if you need everything you own, that shirt you never wear, or the shoes that sit in the back of your closet? In the speech “Less Stuff, more happiness”, Graham Hill uses this thought process to help people listening use a similar lifestyle as his own. In this Ted Talk, Hill speaks about his use of a very minimalistic lifestyle, living inside a 420 sq. ft apartment. Throughout the speech, he uses various forms of rhetoric such as Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Diction, Syntax, and Tone to help persuade the audience to use a more minimalistic lifestyle such as his.
As well as feeding into consumerism to fill a void, “I ordered pair after pair. I was ordering them as quickly as I could… I had nothing left” (293). This shows how people often feed into things they might want but not actually
Mark Spitz states that “he was crestfallen when he ate at another location for the first time” and he recognized the “same stuff on the wall” (189). This moment is crucial because it emphasizes how even the most precious and sentimental aspects of our life are a result of consumer culture. Many aspects cleverly crafted to appear as a one-of-a-kind product or experience actually result in a slightly customizable template. Similarly, Sorensen explains consumerism as “the capacity to realize and replicate itself by borrowing against the guaranteed promise of the future as the site of more of the same and of endlessness of reproduction without difference” (562-3). Whitehead further supports this idea by illuminating the reproduction of a one-of-a-kind
Comedy has been a form of entertainment since ancient Greece. Comedy often reflects society, so as technology became more advanced it also became more accessible to the public. Leaving the house to see a play transitioned to leaving the house to see a film, which transitioned to staying at home and watching television, and then transitioned to watching videos on an iPhone. Technological accessibility broadened comedy as genre and created notable characters, distinctive styles, and has influenced modern comedians. Bo Burnham began to gain popularity through YouTube.
The concept of consumerism was first brought to my awareness in First Year Writing. I admit, before this intro course, I was indeed ignorant of the negative impacts that consumption had on society. FYS opened my mind to the dangers of over-consumption, and more importantly, helped me see beyond what meets the eye. Take for example, Disney, a seemingly innocent corporation, a company’s whose name is practically synonymous with the notion of childhood innocence. Upon initial judgement, one would assume that Disney is merely harmless family entertainment.
It should not be about buying a house, car, boat, etc. Why materialism made a sudden leap in this era, I would think the media has something to do with that. It’s understandable to work up to those additions, but they should not just be the “goal” that one works up for! Somewhere along the way, the pursuit of pleasure started taking hold of the dream. Life should not be shallow.
A few years ago when I visited Hungary, my relatives were shocked by the amount of money I spent to fund my trip. “You spent how much on WHAT!?” my relatives exclaimed when they found out I had spent over 150$ on ice cream alone. In addition to not counting the other ridiculous amounts I spent on food, there was also gifts for my family back home and countless nonsense that I had bought for myself. I was even asked, upon purchasing snacks at a local grocery store, if I was preparing for an apocalypse.
Can Money Buy Happiness? In today’s materialistic world that we live in, the phrase that ‘can money buy happiness?’ is an often asked question. There is no right or wrong answer but only peoples opinions and people always think their opinions are right. Money is an easy way to gain happiness since in our daily lives we need money for food, shelter, and keeping ourselves healthy, which are necessities for having a happy life.
