Analysis Of Stuff Is Not Salvation Anna Quindlen

One of the biggest problems facing American families today is the inability to afford fresh, nutrient filled food. In the United States today over 13 million families don’t have the money to buy fresh food and have to live on unhealthy diets. In the essay Prudence or Cruelty, author Nicholas Kristof talks about how much of a danger malnutrition is to poorer American families. Kristof mentions that the sole reason for such a high rate of malnutrition in poor U.S citizens stems from the lack of money to buy fresh goods. The price of fresh goods is too much compared to the amount of money these families are making. With multiple mouths to feed and a limited budget, going to the grocery store for these families is almost unheard of. These families

The phenomenon of consumerism is quiet powerful due to the impact on individual’s lives. Society has come to the point, happiness is associated with consumption. However, the way consumerism works, is if the items being purchased gives temporary happiness. There individuals are always buying the latest products to remain happy. In the text, “The Cult you’re in” Kalle Lasn, discusses a cult-like nature of consumer culture on Americans. Lasn uses the work ‘cult’ as a metaphor; he does not mean an actual cult but American consumers seem to be in a cult-like nature. The ideal example of Lasns argument is the text, “The man behind Abercrombie and Fitch”, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, goes in great depth of the life of the CEO, Mike Jeffries, of

Norton, Anne. “The Signs of Shopping.” Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular

“If shopping is what most Americans do with most of their scant leisure time, then they are trapped in the vicious circle that Marx outlined. Such widespread cultural values are deeply unkind in that they

The rise of industrialization and manufacturing that began in the eighteenth century has drastically changed the lifestyles of the world. No longer do citizens find, make, or trade for everything they need at home and in their local communities, but instead they rely on national and global commerce to provide for them. This shift in production is the basis for the annual Buy Nothing Day, which attempts to reverse the ill effects of gross consumerism and spread awareness of the issues in our current lifestyles. While many critics would point to the fact that one day will provide little to no discernable impact on the problems faced, Buy Nothing Day will produce greater effects through the awareness it provides than any actual deeds committed on that singular day.

In his short story, “The Semplica Girl Diaries”, George Saunders exaggerates the world of consumerism creating a reflection of modern day America in which people own Semplica Girls- young girls brought from foreign countries and hung in the front yards of affluent homes. This exaggeration of American dependence on immigrants and foreign labor reveals Saunders belief that consumerism promotes materialism. Explaining this belief, Saunders develops characters that reflect the complexity of consumerism and implements recurrent images pertaining to wealth and the corporate world, the juxtaposition of gruesome and joyful images, and the inclusion of images that draw comparisons between the employment of Semplica Girls and slavery. With the use of these strategies, Saunders expresses that consumerism enforces the dehumanization of the consumer and the abuse of immigrants and foreign workers.

The article The Political Ecology of Consumption: Beyond Greed and Guilt by Josiah McC. Heyman is about the moral and economic influences on resource consumption, specifically highlighting the differences between the United States and Mexico. Drawing on his experiences living in Agua Prieta, Mexico, the author uses interviews and candid interviews with locals to emphasize the fundamental differences in resource consumption between Mexico and the significantly more modernized United States. The author paints a bleak picture for the future of working class Mexican labourers, and insinuates that American consumption will eventually overtake the more traditional society that they have lived in for centuries. I was intrigued by one woman’s remark

Americans and others around the world are often struck with what is deemed “shopaholic syndrome.” The symptoms of this prevalent matter are spending preposterous amounts of time and money shopping. To treat this, a Buy Nothing Day was conceived and established in some countries. As the name implies, it is day when people choose to buy nothing to fight against and raise awareness of overconsumption and growing consumerism in our world. There are a myriad of flaws in the logic of the Buy Nothing Day; therefore, the Buy Nothing Day is not the transcendent solution to this problem. (Claim)

Consumers begin their journey by walking towards the smiling face of the supermarket with its immaculate, glamorous glass sliding doors. Unfortunately, shoppers are dependent and vulnerable to supermarkets since it is the place to purchase a gamut of necessities for a household. Therefore, shouldn’t the average American try to save as much money as they can

(You will have in me a president who respects you, who represents you decently and who appreciates you).

The soul of Black Friday, or lack of, is consumerism at its finest; it seeks not to contain itself within 24 hours and requires more as Walsh wrote (Walsh, M), shredding a chance of family time and chatter for wrestling and slamming against their fellow neighbors and family for the latest iPhone. Moreover, nationwide retail store employees handle the rapid mobs stampeding through the jungle of shelves and shifting carts, unfortunate enough to hesitantly exchange family time for a job with minimum wage. Meanwhile, impoverished Chinese families and children celebrate in their own way - performing monotonous tasks to build those iPhone, televisions, and brand clothing with pathetically tiny wages for long hours, persistent stress of being replaced by another worker, the harassment and sexual abuse of female workers, the constant looming of suicidal thoughts in a system that reaps your labor and flushes profit at the expense of your body and soul (Cooper, R). Those young and privileged in China can enjoy their own Black Friday, China’s Singles’ Day which “not only surpasses U.S. spending on Black Friday, it crushes it like the well-chiseled heel of a Jimmy Choo pump” (Epatko,

The idea of purchasing unnecessary items is exemplified in Jacks condo. Jack identifies his condo as an “ikea nesting instinct”, and he feels compelled to purchase materialistic items he does not need. When browsing through a catalog he states “[I] wonder what kind of dining set defines me as a person?” Consumerism holds a strong force upon Jack, he feels that he owns defines him as a person. Jack works at a job he does not enjoy simply to supply fads that have been instilled by society.

As the weekend comes to an end most people are getting prepared for the week ahead of them. If there anything like me they come to realize they need groceries because what is left will not last till the coming weekend. As I get into my car I think to myself how much I dread going into Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is always packed with people at any time, any day. As I grocery shop I see all sorts of people doing obscured things. At Wal-Mart there are the leisurely shoppers, the coupon queens, and the speedy shoppers.

Moreover the effect of Wal-Mart on communities is not only economic, but also cultural. The company is alleged to be a “conservative cultural gatekeeper” (Art Carden, 2009). Its market power can be used to influence people’s value,

We now live in a consumer society, in spite of the fact that an unequal society, as opposed to an industrial society. This exposition will investigate contending claims that shopper society produces champs and washouts by drawing upon the works of Zygmunt Bauman investigating the idea of the 'lured and the subdued ' while displaying his contention. (Bauman, referred to in Hetherington and Havard, 2014, p.125). This article will likewise exhibit victors and washouts utilizing the zero total diversion and positive-aggregate amusement in a purchaser society. A shopper society alludes to a general public in which the purchasing and offering of merchandise and ventures are the most imperative social and financial action. (Hetherington and Havard, 2014, p.121-122).