Jack-Quest

With social media playing a huge role in society, us Americans are becoming more materialistic. We are being influenced by people who give us these unrealistic expectations in life and always making us want more in life than what we have. We try living up to these expectations by buying elaborate accessories, when in reality they serve no purpose to us, making us feel empty on the inside.  Like Steinbeck said, “We trample friends, relatives and strangers who get in the way of our achieving it; and once we get it we shower in on psychoanalysts to try to find out why we are unhappy” (Steinbeck). Despite all of this, us Americans still claim to be realistic, yet we pay $800 for a phone just so we can be like everyone else. We buy name brand clothes that are overpriced. We pay $7 for a cup of coffee. The list goes on and on. The American Dream Steinbeck relates to is not something someone can buy, rather is it something you earn. As Steinbeck said, the American Dream is “yearnings toward what we wish were and hope we may be: wise, just, compassionate, and noble. The fact that we have this dream at all is perhaps an indication of its

Ted Conover’s book, New Jack, is about the author's experiences as a rookie guard at Sing Sing prison, in New York, the most troubled maximum security prison. He comes to realize that being a correctional officer isn’t an easy task. This is shown from the beginning when he is required to attend a 7 week training program to become a correctional officer. He comes to realize what inmates have to endure on a daily basis. Throughout his experience into a harsh culture of prison and the exhausting and poor working conditions for officers, he begins to realize that the prison system brutalizes everyone connected to it. New Jack presents new ideas of prisons in the United States in the ways facilities, corrections officers, and inmates function with

When I hear the words “Jack Tales” I think of the tale Jack and the Beanstalk. Where Jack sales his cow for magic beans. Then, his mom throws them out the window and a magic beanstalk through the night. Jack decided to climb the beanstalk several time and while up there he would take stuff from the giant while he was asleep. When Jack tried to steal a magical harm, the giant woke up. Jack rans down the beanstalk with the giant behind him. When he got to the bottom he took his ax and cut down the beanstalk. The giant being on the beanstalk when Jack did this fell down and hit the ground dying.

These days we are surrounded by the latest technology: smartphones, hybrid automobiles, and robots that clean your floors. Companies are constantly finding ways to capture your attention; to keep upgrading and spending endless amounts of money on items that you don’t need. In “Honestly–You Shouldn’t Have” by Anna Quindlen, the reoccurring theme of materialisticness is mentioned and is applied to every American, starting from the Industrial Revolution up until now. In reality, having these upgraded objects and over expensive clothing represent how socially insecure they are. They simply cannot live looking poor or old fashioned, they need to show others that they are not bottom feeders. People see what they have and know there is a better model

From IPhones to new cars to discounted food, advertisements and the desire for the newest or cheapest items surround humans every day. Socially we are held responsible to not only “keep up with the Joneses” anymore, but also the Kardashians, Gates, and Walton families. Today’s society has proven that the desire to have the newest items for the most affordable prices stands more important than our true happiness. Joseph Turow provides in his article, The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry Is Defining Your Identity and Worth, which the advertising industry has greatly affected your consumption habits and the prices you look for. James A. Roberts grows on that idea, in that with the help of these advertising firms, you continue to run

People should always have the best of the best regardless of our financial status, correct? With this in mind. Consequently, North Americans are too materialistic. Many people in North America feel the need to have a nice, expensive car to commute every day. When in fact, many people put themselves in difficult financial situations in order to make payments for a luxury vehicle, when they could have purchased a car that is more affordable for their budget. Besides having a nice car, North Americans will discard of perfectly functioning items to have a reason to purchase the newest model. Specifically, in this day and age, cellphones are the most important thing to have. Every year a new model of a cellphone

Consumerism has structured our economy for generations: living on a day-to-day basis has been fired in a web of buying and spending money on things that we do not need to survive. Kurtis, Kaplan and Bradbury all present liable information on consumerism, what it is and how it has conformed our society over the years. Bradbury uses his story, “The Veldt,” to show the fear of many on how our materialistic life style could eventually destroy us. Consumerism has been labeled for the success and virtue of America, along with the title of the “American Dream.” In the documentary, “The Century of the Self,” Edward Bernays was able to successfully drive out what the “American Dream” truly meant to everyone in America.

From a young age, our parents teach us to be grateful for what we have. However, as human beings and Americans, we * find it difficult to be content with what we consider “less.” Much of the American Dream revolves around success, and in general, the more you have, whether it is money, possessions, or relationships, the more successful you are. The American value of achievement often results in selfishness, once described by William E. Gladstone as “the greatest curse of the human race” (William E. Gladstone quotes, 2010). Collectively, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath demonstrate how selfishness breaks society, affecting both the individual as well as those around him, and how selflessness repairs it.

Only a couple of decades ago, hard work and determination guided people to obtain a piece of the opportunity America is all about. Lately there is a surge in having our fifteen minutes of fame and work less, buy more. There are Americans who feel that materialism is the way to obtain true American happiness. TV ads bombard the population with information on what is truly needed to be the best. All media outlets convey how to be more like the famous. Commercials inform on how this star uses this phone and this athlete buys this car. In trying to assimilate to others, some continue to spend even though they cannot afford it. In “Framing Class, Vicarious Living,

is that leading in material gain” (Pidgeon 2). The American society has made its people focus so much on making money and material gain that the people forget the real things in life that matter, and the things that are actually achievable. People may think that money can achieve all goals in life, but in actuality it cannot because money cannot buy happiness nor can it fulfill all dreams. “From Jay Gatsby… to Tony Soprano… the woefully wealthy are among the seminal figures of literature, film and television… extolling the lifestyles of the rich and famous while exposing the sadness of celebrity” (Zane 1). The power of money and materialism make people forget about who oneself really is and lose a sense of selfhood. Money over powers the things

As Americans, our individuality is valued every which way we turn. From ideas to fashion trends, we help create the world. Imagine if we weren’t allowed to express our thoughts, and everyone was forced to be “normal”; plain-looking clothes, working in the same buildings for the same things,

In the essay The Chosen People, Stewart Ewen, discusses his perspective of middle class America. Specifically, he explores the idea that the middle class is suffering from an identity crisis. According to Ewen’s theory, “the notion of personal distinction [in America] is leading to an identity crisis” of the non-upper class. (185) The source of this identity crisis is mass consumerism. As a result of the Industrial Revolution and mass production, products became cheaper and therefore more available to the non-elite classes. “Mass production was investing individuals with tools of identity, marks of personhood.” (Ewen 187) Through advertising, junk mail and style

As Austrian writer Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach wrote,“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” History and literature have established that the ideal goal every American has wanted is for his thirst for material possessions to be reached, but even then, the individual isn’t truly happy. Money, and the things it can get you, have long been a part of American culture and the materialist culture of society have been examined in numerous ways from novels to the art of those like Andy Warhol. A life free from the economic woes that plague almost everyone seems like the quintessential existence, but material wealth is not a way to mend issues.

There is something about imagining the future which has a certain appeal to most people. For a consumer society like America, this imagined future almost inevitably contains more and more objects which will make our lives bigger and better. In America, the more things a person accumulates, the happier he or she is supposed to become. The more a citizen spends, the more secure and personally fulfilled that citizen will be. By following this credo, each citizen is able to carve for themselves their own peaceful and happy niche. Surrounded by a mountain of things, which, simply by their existence, proclaim this person as successful, the citizen is able to distance him or herself from others. “ I made it, so you should be able

Throughout American history, personal circumstances have had much to do with your worth, your value. For example, race, sex, color, dialect, education, parents, sexuality, political views, and many more things have provoked people to determine whether or not we are worthy in their sight. However, we should not care if we are worthy in their eyes, yet we do. It takes a thousand words to lift us up, and one word to pull us back down into that spiraling hole of depression.