The Explotation of Credit Card Companies

The idea of the American dream revolves around attaining happiness, success and equality. For higher wealth classes obtaining these components aren't a concern; but for many, the American Dream has become a nightmare. For the poor being able to obtain simple necessities such as food, clothing and shelter is a daily struggle. The price of being poor is a lot costlier then those in the realm of the wealthy. Based on the current economic and social systems in America it does not provide everyone with a fair chance to achieve the “American Dream”. In todays society many Americans believe money is the only way to happiness. True or not true, money certainly isn't a hindrance to obtaining the necessary components for survival. But if the American Dream is no longer about happiness and freedom it becomes solely about wealth and possession. "Money cannot buy happiness." (Anonymous, Spring Board pg.81) represents the concept that money doesn't necessarily play apart in your emotional well-being. Today, materialism is more important than character. Money isn't everything; you don't need it to be happy and certainly not to achieve "The American Dream". In addition to that, although money can jump-start your future it can also drive you into the ground. Dana Gioia, the author of "Money", says "...Money holds heads above water..." Implying money plays a crucial part in keeping your dreams alive while America demands so much. Although finances are a building block to ones version of the

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

After the dream moved on from home ownership, it turned into a need for the latest products. Middle class Americans, however, did not have enough money to purchase the new trend. In 1950, the first credit card was introduced and as time went on it became more popular than ever. Americans were thrilled with the idea of owning everything they could imagine without having the money to do so; however, many people racked up a large amount of debt. In addition to the debt, America faced a mortgage crisis in the early 2000’s. The American Dream came crashing down for many and their once happy lives were now full of stress, yet they believed there was hope for a better life.

Although modern society may be heavily motivated by avarice now, it hasn’t always been this way. The term “American Dream” came into existence in the 1920s when ideas were similar to the ones we have now. As shown several times in the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream was the want for materialistic things. The greed during this time period led to the stock market crash and

The purpose of usury laws was to regulate the maximum interest rates of loans. This law was created to protect borrowers from excessively high interest rates. It insured that lenders could not put the borrower in a situation where they were not able to fully pay off their debt. However, as said on investopedia.com, “In the United States, individual states are responsible for setting their own usury laws.”

The American dream has lurked over its people with open, forgiving, and promising arms. It served as a beacon for all who wanted to escape their indigenous lives, and seek refuge in a place where opportunity and hope ran rampant. The beacon that was once brightly lit for the world and its inhabitants to gaze in awe at, has since been dimmed by the very people that kneel beneath it. Their absolute, immediate fulfillment of this dream damaged one of the internal foundations that made the country as strong and powerful as it is. More specifically, the American dream has provided Americans with a set of ideals that effectively led to an overarching usage of credit cards, which, in a broad view, deeply harms the nation’s economy, simply because those ideals are no longer biologically possible, as according to WIRED 's article, “American Dream a Biological Impossibility, Neuroscientist Says” by Brandon Keim.

After the independence of America, American dreamers started to strive for wealth because possessing materials was important for them to succeed in their dream. According to John A. Pidgeon, “striving for wealth has become a way for Americans to ease their consciences, while one’s morality is often measured by the ability to acquire material possessions” (Pidgeon 2007). They believed that they could achieve any goals by becoming rich and possessing materials, and believed that the wealth and possession could bring anything they sought.

Things we want versus things we need. People often forget what they really need in life like water, air, food, shelter, love and affection and most importantly a family. Most people think they need a nice car or they need a $600 phone or nice name brand clothes but really you don’t. They don’t need all the extra stuff all of those things are mainly what you want because that’s what you see everyone else with around school or work or just in general wearing. So it makes you want it because you see everyone else with it. You don’t need materialistic things to make you fill superior in society.

It has shown me that even if a person looks and acts normal day-to-day, on the inside they could be dealing with things beyond their reach. For example, Scott, didn’t know he was experiencing short-term PTSD. For all he knew, he was having bad dreams and haunting memories, which was normal in his mind. I would have never diagnosed him with short-term PTSD and been able to give him treatment possibilities without this class. Throughout these short months, my character in media has come to life and acted like a real client with actual troubles. Seeing that the “Longest Ride” is merely a movie, a plan to help and give insight wouldn’t be needed or

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.

The book, Affluenza; All-Consuming Epidemic, De Graaf, Wann, and Naylor refer to comsumerism as a disease, affluenza. Affluenza, meaning placing a high value on obtaining material things in order to help us to feel more affluent, is contagious, which, in turn, has caused negative consequences with our health, families, communities and the environment. This book discusses the symptoms, diagnoses, and cure for the disease known as

Because, at the end of the day “almost all of us place at least some importance on possession, money, and image” (Kasser). And when did society have a shift from the American dream of being able to own a house in the suburbs and a car that can move you from point A to point B, to having a big house with a pool and movie room, with the newest luxury car? As Ellen Goodman put it, “Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.” We could also see this shift in the Pursuit of Happiness; to our founding fathers this pursuit meant, having the ability to contribute to society rather than pursuits of self-gratification. Now it seems that all we care about is self-happiness, and with this buying items to make us

The general population living in America have a steady dependence on cash; regardless of whether it intends to survive or to endeavor. "Extravagance is a need that starts where need ends"(Coco Chanel). This represents once the prospect of being overpowered with progress moves toward becoming reality, the life you once had before is gone and the better approach for living now relies upon your wealth.

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.

The world is the influenced by what they see and want to be there, where the low class wants to be like the middle class and the middle class trying to look like the upper class. Today celebrities and people in upper class have influenced our sense of importance and needs, when it comes to the aspect of picking commodities. Thus, many have resulted to high and unnecessary expending in order to imitate a particular social icon. It can be ascertained that almost all average American adult being in debt might be as a result of overspending their need limit. This excessive and unnecessary spending as a result to boost our economic status has led to some drastic tragic events. A Chinese man, Tao Hsiao, 38, on the 9th of December 2013, jumped to his death in a shopping mall at China because the girlfriend would not stop shopping after several hours of shopping ( The Washington Times). “He told her she already had enough shoes, more shoes that she