Shopping Addiction Essay

In The United States these past few years everything has gone from bad to worse dealing with spending money; which has developed economical problems, such as debt. Currently people are spending their money on things that they do not need such as iPods, MTV, and so on. They buy things to satisfy their

Black Friday shopping is a controversial issue in the United States; while many believe the day after Thanksgiving is a part of holiday festivities, others view it as destructive. Throughout “Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization,” Andrew Leonard argues that the chaos of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in which crowds of Americans shop all night for extremely low prices, lessens the sophistication of Americans and the true meaning of the holidays. People become so consumed in the idea of endless sale prices that they forget to embrace what they already have, such as family, food, and shelter. He believes that Black Friday shopping has become out of control and describes the negative effects of excessive consumerism. he explains how most consumers act completely insane while Black Friday shopping and how society encourages this behavior by creating commercials and advertisements. Furthermore, Leonard states that it hurts the economy and damages one’s mental health. While Leonard is probably wrong when he claims that Black Friday shopping is completely troublesome to America’s well-being, he is right that consumerism overpowers the true significance of Thanksgiving.

Life: Where do we come from? How did we get here? These are questions each one of us eventually asks ourselves and, in so doing, searches for the answers. It is intrinsically woven into us to know the basis of what sustains us. Why is it then, that the general public is satisfied in knowing only about current celebrity gossip and is content to remain ignorant when it comes to where our currency originates and how it is produced? Some may find it too confusing and overwhelming a subject about which to think. Is it possible that its perplexity is not by mistake? James Corbett mentions in his documentary, Century of Enslavement: The History of The Federal Reserve, “Our monetary ignorance is artificial, a smokescreen that has been erected on purpose and perpetuated with the help of complicated systems and insufferable economic jargon.” (Corbett, J., 2014, July 6.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IJeemTQ7Vk)

Money is the crux of society. Without it, anarchy would break out. Bargaining would fail as people would claim the trade wasn’t fair, thievery would explode across the globe, lazy people would do nothing, and people wouldn’t have motivation to do anything but help their own family and selves. Yet, while everyone knows money is important, is ALL money important? For centuries, the penny has been part of American currency. And back in the day, it served a great purpose. Pennies could buy candies, breads, and many other things all on their own. But as time has changed, so has the value of the penny. As costs went up, the value of the penny went down. And with its lesser value, some people wonder if it’s even worth it to keep the penny around. But the answer to that little puzzle is as easily seen as a jigsaw meant for four years olds is put together. The penny must be kept.

Judith Levine wrote the book “Not Buying It’’.It is a nonfiction book about Judith Levine,along with her friend Paul,to go 12 months(1 year)without shopping . Levine researched consumerism and anti-consumerist movements.Judith Levine was led to write “Not Buying It’; because she thought it was “the confession of a woman any reader can identify with.Someone who can’t live without French roast coffee or SmartWool socks,but someone who has reached their limit with our consumption,and its effects on the earth and everyone who dwells here”.

“Oh my god! Pennies should be rid of!” This is around the same quote you will come to realize is stuck in your head. The must get rid of the penny because it is expensive and has almost no value. In addition, it costs more than one penny to create one penny. The penny is also nearly unusable. Besides, all people do with them are keeping them in jars or carrying them around, not being able to use them because they get declined by several types of machines. For these reasons, pennies are worthless pieces of copper we can’t invest on.

The relationship between our identities and possessions remains on going. In fact, Joan Kron elaborates on that matter in her essay The Semiotics of Home Décor and mentions how we barely know what is actually beyond our home décor and possessions (74). Kron argues that our possessions and home décor grants us with various aims that cater to our human needs “Our possessions give us a sense of security and stability. They make us feel in control…we use things to compete.” (75). Also, Kron talks about status and how its vitality is depicted through our possessions. Something as simple as the price tag, the originality and rareness of the object and its competence can say something about our status. With this in mind, Kron asserts that “Some objects

Things that are valuable to us can be things that are old or that have family value and some of the values can also come from our memories. Some of the values that we have, might not be bought with money. There are many treasures in the world but it is all in the person.Everyone has a different perspective of what something valuable can be to them. When people who have the chance to get anything they want, they don’t seem to value everything they have but when you compare it to a person who doesn’t have the chance to get everything they find even the smallest things valuable to them.

President Lincoln who is a great model of the USA, " would be ashamed to have his face on this specious specie"(Source C). Why would they put the face of a great president who did good things in the US on a piece of copper that has no value what so ever. He will feel no gratitude toward the country by repaying his hard work in a non-valuable piece of copper that should be helping but its really not. As years pass by, the economy is changing by how much money is worth by stating that, " you can't buy anything with a penny any more"(Source C). The penny was worth more back then but now you can't even buy a piece of gum with it. If the penny can't even buy a product why keep it around, its not like its being used. It can also be said that, " Two-thirds of them immediately drop out of circulation" (Source C). Meaning to say that approximately sixty-six percent of pennies disappear or just end up in a place where it will eventually be

The point of sale assessment depends on the consumer’s perceived shopping motives. Shopping motivation represents a fairly mature reach of research. Many retailers consider smart shopping comprises high sensitivity on process. Smart shoppers are always keen on getting a discount. Shopping on Black Friday is the consumer’s motivation. It gives them the excitement of the game. (look for competitive) Its part of the mystique, shoppers can celebrate their ability to get the best deals.

Whether a present is bought at a store or crafted by hand, there is still a great deal of valuable thought and meaning behind it. Unfortunately, nowadays most people believe that a price tag is what dictates an object's worth. However, value is determined by at least one person's perception of worth because relationships are valuable, history increases value, and the public's desires decrease value.

Thomas Paine wrote “The Crisis” in 1776 to persuade America to fight for independence, yet aphorisms in his text still apply to present day life, years after America separated from Britain. He states, “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; ‘tis dearness only that gives everything its value.” For the audience in 1776, this meant that the value of independence only comes from the effort put into fighting for it because only then do citizens understand the true privilege of independence. This quote applies to present day life because the consumer culture has led to the decrease in the value of objects. People continuously search for the next new item to purchase and dispose their few-months old products, leaving no time to treasure

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. Quindlen’s essay gives excellent points regarding the differences in America’s typical shopping habits. Additionally, she mentions how people acquire all this “stuff” but seem to never realize, “why did I get this?”(501). Quindlen makes her

When comparing two different ways of shopping most people do not even think about the difference, they do both and not even realize it. In today's society people shop while at work, after work and on the weekends, whenever time permits. Stop and think how can I get more time in the day for family or just myself? The best way to figure that out with all the recourses we have is to go into a store and spend time looking through racks and waiting in endless lines to just purchase something. I compared going into a store verses online shopping; to see which one will save you time and money.

Shopping is one of the most common social activities in our life. Lingering in one store and another, the customers are looking for the products that meet their requirements and making decisions to purchase while enjoying the leisure time with their families or friends. At the same time, to achieve a better business performance, the retailers try to attract the customers to pay more attention to the products and stay longer in their stores by using various kinds of technologies to surveil the shoppers, such as using cameras to monitor their shopping behavior, tracking their purchased items, and even analyzing these consumers’ background. However, the surveillance of consumers by retail anthropologists is manipulative and unethical