The Controversy Of Continuous Consumption

Many Americans are influenced by the trends in advertisements and a big part of the problem is impulsivity. Americans experience a satisfying feeling when they shop. They are unmindful that low prices result from underlying costs unexposed by corporations. Businesses practice unsustainable production and through their influence, society neglects a developing environmental crisis.

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

With an understanding of what the question is, we need to look at three main words within the question. The words are identity, equivalent and products. Identity is "the distinguishing character or personality of an individual." Equivalent is "equal in force, amount, or value." Lastly, product is "something that is marketed or sold as a commodity." To me the words being stated tells me that each item is gender based, so the item(s) I buy tells me my “own” gender. I would have to reject this notion. Because in my experience I have gone to “Stores [that] hang a variety of identities on their racks and mannequins” (Norton Pg. 88). And in the process of seeing their items, I might have liked a nice female sweater that I would have bought for my

Through the Cold War, America was transitioning in various ways such as the way messages were shared, consumerism, and the constant race against the Soviet Union. During the years 1959-1964, Rod Serling, a New York writer and playwright began using one of the newest inventions, the television, as a way to share his opinion about controversial topics. The rise of the television allowed Serling to access to a larger audience whom he could share his opinion in the form of science fictional episodes in the show The Twilight Zone. Although the show seems ominous and a horror related TV show, it allows us to understand the effects and feeling towards topics such as a possible nuclear war, consumerism, space exploration.

In 1977 a new word-affluenza-was introduced to the dictionary. This word is commonly used by other countries to describe Americans. The United States has been plagued with affluenza- an addiction to material goods; however, I also believe that one should live the way they want to.

Throughout the novel brave new world consumption plays a vital role in their economic and political system. However the role consumption plays in the world state isn’t much different from the role consumption plays in our society. People may be encouraged to buy things in a different manner, but both systems end with the same product.

Before reading the excerpts from “The Overspent American” I was not familiar with Juliet Schor’s work. While reading however, I saw that her views were different from many of the other authors that we have read so far. When I had finished the reading I found the reading enjoyable and fascinating. The reason that her writing intrigued me was because of her multiple perspectives while writing. Not only does she concentrate on the economics of American people, but she also uses a sociologist lens to show the purchasing habits of our culture. “The Overspent American” focuses on how we as a society have changed our spending patterns from the past. During the 1950s the phrase “keeping up with the Jones’” was coined and it represented Americans trying to outspend their neighbors and friends. For example, my friend buys a boat and I also need to buy a boat to make sure my friends saw me as being wealthy. Today our society as changed in many ways but Schor finds that our spending habits have altered the most since the 1950s. By analyzing and evaluating her work, one can see how Americans spending habits have changed over time and how our economics have been overtaken by television and broadcast media.

America is seen as a culprit of treasuring material possessions. America has been infected with the disease called “affluenza”. This is a disease that causes Americans to work extra hours, “stress”, “waste”, and be in debt. If Americans become satisfied or the economy will drop in this happening seems like a myth. However, we need to be careful on fast we get addicted to inquiring material possessions.

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.

Fussell mentions, “Style and taste and awareness are as important as money” (27). Two people can make the same amount of money however if one purchases organic foods while the other sticks to conventional foods, he who purchases the organic food is viewed on a higher pedestal socially than he who does not. What this implies it the deception that people have the ability to choose who they want to be or how they decorate himself, deciding on the lifestyle that they want. The middle class seems to suffer from an anxiety of having to portray themselves as better than they really are by buying into more honorable products or surrounding himself with aesthetics associated with a higher status because they are trying to mask their insecurity financially. “Worried a lot about their own taste and about whether it’s working for or against them, members of the middie class try to arrest their natural tendency to sink downward by associating themselves, if ever so tenuously, with the imagined possessors of money, power and taste” (41). The “American Dream” connotes to one being able to change his world around and start the life he wishes to live. This idea is implemented into many individuals which leads them to believe they can move up on social ranking no matter of their background. Unfortunately, moving from one social class to another is unlikely which causes those specifically in the middle class to indulge in an upper class lifestyle so that they can fit the mold. To protect his esteem, one may create a perception of himself publicly as better off in order to receive admiration and approval from others. Basically, in order to be looked upon with more honor, members of the middle class conceal their insecurity with their social standing by flaunting a lifestyle or greater standard of living, inherited from an upper

In Brave New World the ideas of consumption is much similar to us in our everyday life. Their ideas of consumption does indeed affect their view on happiness and their happiness on the reservation. Throughout the chapters in this book, you see a lot that is happening in this world. They take their groups very serious. Also, they consume of a lot of everyday resources much like us.

Another aspect that functioned as Americanizing was the ability to consume more. During the first three decades of the twentieth century the discretionary spending increased from twenty percent to thirty-five percent (Committee on Recent Economic Change). Stuart Chase, a consumer activist and an economist, published a list of goods which was “not a list which all possess but only a list to which all aspire.” In his research Chase found that people were looking for more silk, more accent on underwear, more electric appliances, more candy and sugar, and other goods (75). If almost everyone shared desires for a common range of goods it is safe to say that consumerism functioned as an Americanizing force for many immigrants. Christine Frederick,

As we are constantly exposed to mass media and popular culture in our modern society, the insidious nature of consumerism has allowed it to penetrate into every aspect of our lives, dictating our very beliefs, values and wants. Nearly every individual in our society subconsciously conforms to the shallow and superficial mindset that characterises our consumerist culture. This idea is highlighted by the following texts; the poem “Enter without so much as knocking” by Bruce Dawe, an extract from the sermon “The Religion of Consumerism” delivered by Peter House, the poem “Breakthrough” by Bruce Dawe, and the

In terms of social culture, for one thing, the China consumers are attracted by middle- and high-end products and somehow more attracted by French luxury goods, and they believe that the higher the price, the better the quality (Yuval, Vinay and Cathy, 2011, para7) (Exhibit 1). For another thing, the traditional virtue of thrift is rooted in the mindset of the Chinese, with which some of the rich in China indicate that they would not spend a large sum of money to get a product.

There are some economists who support a theory the U.S. economic system is without a social class system, in the typical sense. However, through many proven research methods, science leans in the opposite direction of that theory. It has been shown that humans have a natural tendency to not only roam in places where they feel as though they belong, but they also exhibit similar traits in spending based on their surroundings. The main idea of the article “Social Classes and Spending Behavior” by Pierre Martineau is to understand consumer spending behavior in different social classes in order to apply a specific research design, created by Lloyd Warner, to several different market models. When a consumer of visibly lower social class walks into a expensive department store, the clerks inside will treat her considerably different than they would if a different customer from a noticeably higher living standard walked in (121). By having the difference between them, people who have the same standard will be treated differently in subtle ways (121). Apart from how others from separate social classes are treated, there is also differences among consumers of the same income level, which serves as a better indicator of their social class, as opposed to income level. It is said that Middle-class people do not hesitate when buying refrigerators and other appliances which is durable goods, also no hesitation when buying things in discount houses and making purchase in bargain stores