Consumerism The Trap Of Materialism - 1704 Words

â€Å"The Trap of Materialism† Out of all of the different causes that people live for today, consumerism is the only one spread completely around the globe and into almost every culture. Throughout the thousands of years that humans have been on this planet the universal idea of success has been altered greatly. Today, the most common vision of a successful life is the ability to consume the greatest amount of stuff by obtaining the most amount of money possible. If you are unable to afford a house and own a car then you may be considered unsuccessful. This idea of prosperity, sometimes referred to as the American Dream, is advertised as the absolute life goal however, it is responsible for destroying the very planet that grants us the†¦show more content†¦As civilization developed life became easier and the possession of material goods became more common. However, the availability was not yet at large. For the next thousands of years only the selected wealthy a nd powerful had the luxury of owning unnecessary but socially defining goods for example, jewelery and clothing. This culture carried on until material goods became more and more available and acceptable. During the seventeenth century increased trade routes caused a new middle class made up of traders and businessmen. These entrepreneurs took advantage of their new wealth and made it acceptable to be materialistic and flaunt new belongings in front of others. Relative wealth is the significance of somebody s income based off of the comparison to the people around them. Being or seeming more wealthy than the people surrounding you has been proven by Carson Chow, a senior investigator in the Laboratory of Biological Modeling, to make you more happy than having absolute wealth, which is affluence based on a poverty level or fixed standard. â€Å"Happiness is linked more to relative wealth than absolute wealth† (Chow 1). Relative wealth allows corporations and businesses t o easily read into the minds of their consumers and force them to purchase more without the consumers even realizing. Experts use psychology, propaganda, and planned obsolescence to make people feel that they need to buy more of theirShow MoreRelatedMaterialism vs Happiness in America Essay1206 Words   |  5 Pagesnot even realize the trap society has lured them into. The procurement of material wealth has become an obsession in modern Western culture. The culture has become obsessed with acquiring vast amounts of wealth and anything associated with â€Å"being wealthy†. This need for material objects has intensified 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-WebsterRead MoreAnalysis of the Poem Enter without So Much As Knocking by ruce Dawe615 Words   |  3 PagesCollected Poems 1954-1992. ‘Enter Without So Much As Knocking’ shows how consumerism has a negative effect on society. The poem portrays the life of a typical man who is living in the suburbs. It begins with the birth of a child. As the baby begins to observe the world he has been brought into, he sees instructions, signs and expectation. Dawe stresses the point of the first thing that the baby heard, a voice of consumerism on television opposed to a loving and comfortable family. The baby has beenRead MoreComparison: Consumerism and Christianity2171 Words   |  9 Pagesstanding in line for Black Friday deals? Black Friday is often viewed as the epitome of consumerism, but it is actually an example of an extreme, not the typical every day sort of consumerism. In all actuality there are many aspects of consumerism, some beneficial and some harmful to the populace. As humans were created to consume, consumerism and Christianity are compatible, but only in so far as consumerism does not become a fully materialistic pursuit. This is clearly demonstrated largelyRead More Freeganism: An Eco-friendliness Way of Living Essay examples1142 Words   |  5 PagesHutchins, a passionate supporter of this form of life, depicts it as dumpster diving to use resources that would go to waste, voluntary work that includes sharing human resources, such as time and skills, and finding ways to limit consumption and materialism in our own lives and those of others. A variety of reasons people choose to participate in the freegan lifestyle are more diverse than one would think. Uninformed bystanders may initially imagine the homeless scavenging bins to survive, butRead MoreDeath of a Salesman - Materialism Alienation1696 Words   |  7 PagesModern Tragedies deal with modern issues such as materialism, consumerism, procrastination and alienation. To what extent does Death of a Salesman show evidence of at least two of these issues, and how does Miller present them? Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ is a modern tragedy; one that incorporates both the tragic genre presented in theatres for centuries as well as essences of the modern world we live in. Materialism is a modern phenomenon, something which possibly began due to the AmericanRead MoreReclaiming the American Dream Through Community Service1250 Words   |  5 Pagesthe superfluities of life. These superfluities of life distract from achieving the true American Dream. I believe that the true American Dream has to reflect the three founding tenants: â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.† The fact that consumerism makes up the majority of our lives shows that we need to change our attitude of the American Dream, thus, we should follow Thoreau’s revolutionary advice in â€Å"Civil Disobedience.† Firstly, the American Dream has turned into a contradiction. UponRead MoreThe World Is Too Much With Us And The Unknown Citizen2049 Words   |  9 Pagesirresponsibility, and if the object of the poem, the common man should be scorned or pitied. That the common man who is busy conforming to the norms of the state and the society has lost connection with his natural surroundings evokes sympathy for him. Materialism has subsumed his capacity to think to an extent that he cannot even decide whether he is free to do as he wishes – can he say no to enlisting for war? Or can he hold an opinion that did not coincide with the larger public? The tone of the authorsRead MoreMyrtle Wilson as the Wasteland Figure in the Great Gatsby1597 Words   |  7 Pagesout what he sees as the faults of modern society. Myrtle is materialistic, superficial, and stuck living in the physical wasteland referred to as the valley of ashes. Fitzgerald uses her to portray the social wasteland, particulaly the growing materialism and superficiality of modern society. He makes a huge statement about the repression of the impoverished by the upper-class in the modern wasteland through Myrtle. She not only lives in the geographical wasteland, but she also embodies the moralRead Moreâ€Å"Marketing, Consumerism, Materialism and Ethics: the Modern Marketing Conundrum†4276 Words   |  18 Pagesinto existence. Companies had to market their products in an ethical and responsible manner. This created more pressure on the companies. To tackle this problem the companies had to resort to aggressive marketing strategies. Companies knew that materia lism is considered very important in a market like India because all people want physical possession of the products that they buy. So they resorted to unethical marketing. Yet they are successful in their businesses. Making profit at the expense ofRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects On The Environment Essay1966 Words   |  8 Pagesexcessive demand for consumer products has created most of the present ecological imbalances. Consumer products go through a multitude of steps that are required for them to turn into the final product we see in our everyday life. This push towards consumerism entails a push to an exponential increase in the practices that lead to the creation of the pollutants that are contributing to global warming in such adverse ways. These shortcomings will become a much bigger issue than most people imagine it