Is Stuff Is Not Salvation, By Anna Quindlen

In her 2008 essay, “Stuff Is Not Salvation,” Anna Quindlen argues that the consumer culture in America has been overrun with the desire to spend money on unnecessary “junk” such as “appliances, toys, clothes, [and] gadgets” (160). Quindlen’s main argument is that this “junk” that we own is, for the most part, meaningless and without any personal value to the owner. She believes that people could be happier living more simply buying only the objects that are needed. Quindlen has an agreeable and relatable

In the article ‘Why Stuff in not Salvation’, Anna Quindlen is suggesting that the people are out of control with consumption of products. She writes, “addiction to consumption, so out of control that it qualifies as a sickness” which is validated by the death of the Walmart employee, the debt the country is in, as well as the ungrateful spirit in humans. Anna states in the article, “By 2010 Americans will be a trillion dollars in the hole on credit-card debt alone.” According to Nerdwallet.Inc the

Valued Possessions vs. Insignificant Desires Anna Quindlen, a novelist, social critic, and journalist wrote an intriguing essay “Stuff is Not Salvation” about the addiction of Americans, who splurge on materialistic items that have no real meaning. The ability to obtain credit is one of the main reasons to blame for society’s consumption epidemic. However, Quindlen feels the economic decline due to credit card debt is insignificant compared to the underlying issues of American’s binging problems

In her essay “Stuff is Not Salvation” Anna Quindlen speaks on the topic of American’s ridiculous addiction to consuming products. Quindlen believes that this addiction is an even bigger issue than loosing homes, and jobs. She explains how American’s tend to frequently replace undamaged items, leaving old items to gather dust. With the use of credit, one can now purchase items without physical money, digging themselves into debt. Important things such as bills and medicine are often put behind the

“But the prospect of an end to plenty has uncovered what maybe a pernicious problem, an addiction so out of control that is qualifies as a sickness.” (paragraph 2) In the famous essay “Why Stuff Is Not Salvation” by Anna Quindlen, Quindlen denounces the consumer values of the modern century. She states in paragraph 6: “Now much of the country is made up of people with the acquisition habits of a 7-year-old, desire untethered from need, or the ability to pay.” This quote unveils that a large amount

individual a sense of belonging to a greater belief. In today’s world, especially in American society, people tend to be highly materialistic. Perhaps the urge to buy everything could be a disguise for the search of the person’s identity. Just as Quindlen wrote in her article about materialism, “Here I

to be used right away or will it collect dust? It is not a profitable item if it becomes stored away in an area taking up space? Americans do not have to pay out what they do not have and end up in debt just, so others profit. The author, Anna Quindlen, does make a valid point regarding, our possessions are not what we think. Americans consume personal property that we do not appreciate and forget what really is valuable. Consequently, it’s easy to forget what is more important than possessions

The articles written by Walker, Angelou, Eighner and Mairs, teach about accepting yourself and overcoming personal problems in there essays on personal accounts. By contrast Williams, Quindlen and Kristof articles talk of issues in today’s society and how as a group we can solve these issues in essays covering cultural and the environment. These articles became some of my favorites throughout the semester for being able to relate so easily, but also the joy of reading the authors stories to be able