Just living in a Material World

The target audience is focused predominantly on the American population because of her frequent referral towards Americans as a whole. She uses the question, “why in the world did we buy all this junk in the first place?” as a means to draw the audience in (500). Short stories are supplied in order to support her claim of happiness not being derived from objects. She begins with a story of a holiday disaster, where an employee gets trampled to death by shoppers obsessed with getting the greatest deals. This story is used as an example of the most extreme materialism, and informs the audience of what can happen when materialism gets out of control. Quindlen provides several examples to back up her claims about American debt. For instance, she claims that debt from credit will reach a trillion dollars in the year 2010 (501). This claim supports her statement about how bad America’s addiction to consumption is. She goes on to provide several additional examples throughout her piece. Other than providing examples, Quindlen uses uncomplicated vocabulary and provides the reader structure within her article. Both good and bad aspects are provided in her piece of literature and in the end she does get her point

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

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,

Growing up in America one doesn’t really question our customs or the daily lives of the people here. Everyone kind of has a precedent for our everyday live and no one really tries to break the mold on that. Poranee Natadecha- Sonsel argues that Americans are unlike many other countries because they have a certain individualism about everything they do in their culture. In her article, “The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as American Cultural Value”, the author reiterates over and over again that the way Americans value their individualism really impresses her. She names a few examples of American individualism such as conversational topics, privacy, and

How do we define this ideology of the American Dream? Society has formulated this idea over time. We as people have chosen to base our lives around it and make it our goal to try and achieve something that in all honesty is just this abstract idea that we as have chosen to believe and chase over time. Due to society following this ideology, people have grown to believe that happiness can only be achieved after they have reached the American Dream. You see these advertisements for products that make you think if you don’t own that specific product than you are not going to achieve the American Dream. Media has managed to turn people into these materialistic beings that are just sitting there waiting to be told what to buy next. For my paper I will be analyzing the film The Great and focus primarily on this idea of materialism and more specifically how this American Dream myth and ideology plays into it. Why does the media want us to believe that happiness is derived from the “stuff” we buy and not the things we already have?

In America, during the 1920s, a decade known as The Roaring Twenties, there was a transformation in American prosperity due to the rise of consumer culture and, increasingly, materialism became more prominent in society. Americans, in newfound prosperity, looked to increase their wealth without limitations and consumed itself with leisure culture for self-gratification. As more Americans looked to satisfy their lives through wealth and consumerism, the old ideals of the American dream, of a hope for a better future were destroyed due to an excess of wealth, privilege and a lack of humanity. Previous ideals in American history were hopeless as the wealthy acquired more riches and the poor lagged behind and both classes viewed wealth and

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

In a world focused on material possession, the routine of an everyday lifestyle becomes dependent on the haves owning more than the have nots. The United States culture tends to make trends and popularity an everyday necessity to fit in. Through playful sarcasm, Jennifer Price illustrates the way the American culture thrives off of acceptance and being bolder to not suffice but ultimately prosper. Price characterizes the culture using a plastic pink flamingo to reveal the foolish, carefree, and materialistic mindset the Americans possess.

Materialism is Terrible Americans tend to be materialistic people. We tend to judge each other by how much money we make we also judge by what we wear and what kind of house we live in. The character in the novel Into the Wild Chris McCandless, did not care for money or a nice big house. These things did not interest him into his pursuit of happiness. Materialism isn’t necessary to make people happy; Chris gave away his belongings and rejected his graduation gift and he still led a good life.

Although my hypothesis may be accurate, what if we view it from an opposing point? What if Fitzgerald’s America is an inaccurate representation of the time? Berman (1994) explains how materialism in the society is the main cause of destruction to the American dream by “infecting all branches of thought”, and how commercialism is “infecting all branches of action”. (Berman, 1994). Ever since the post war, the society has been brainwashed by “seditious elements, ignorant, boisterous, treacherous, and dangerous” (Berman, 1994) ideas characterised as “new languages and thoughts into our population in immense quantities, interpenetrating and contaminating it in many ways” (Berman, 1994). Berman (1994) later illustrates the result of the maximised level of consumerism: “the tone of the public mind is to a woeful extent sordid, selfish, greedy.” This depicts the

How does American society define one’s self-worth? By how they look, what they drive or simply what they buy? In today’s consumer centric American culture, our goods represent us as Americans as well as the American cultural identity that revolves around materialistic goods. In which a typical American works from 9am-5pm to earn a sufficient amounts of money to buy and display his self-worth through a variety of cleverly advertised goods. In which the advertisement depicts a perfect world that is free of pain, suffering, where the typical American can escape his routine life and experience ephemeral “freedom”. To this very purpose of freedom that our founding fathers wrote the constitution to which today’s conformities ideals and societal norms

Americans once sought after the prestigious American Dream, however, within recent years, this has changed. Americans worked hard for their money, and to give the best they can give to their children to make their lives enjoyable and easy. Children in America have become soft, forgetting what it was like to not have technology. We have grown up in a world where entertainment is easier than ever to obtain, whether that is with video games, or social media. This has warped Americans into having an entitled attitude. If something becomes too difficult to obtain, we give up or throw a fit. Entitlement and public school is ruining the American Dream.

American's Sense of Entitlement In today's society, people have the "what can you do for me" attitude. The nation has lost their sense of self worth and value of good moral ethics. American culture has many people feeling that the world owes them something, even when they did nothing to deserve it. Today's culture has left Americans feeling a sense of entitlement from the people around them, such as parents, teachers, and even the government to grant them commodity regardless of their efforts.

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.

In todays modern society, there is now a constant growing concern about adolescent’s exposure to the medias portrayal of sexuality and love. The publicity of love and sex that todays adolescents are saturated in is mainly unrealistic and false, theoretically affecting and distorting their, behavior, beliefs and attitude towards sex and love. These impractical pictures tend to commonly be publicized through social media, networking, television and movies. The medias views tend to contradict the biblical messages towards love and sex, confusing young society on the meaning of true commitment and love. A popular television show targeted to the demographic of female teenagers ‘Gossip Girl’ features and emphasizes the wrong messages concerning love and sex.