The Importance Of Instant Gratification

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,

In The More Factor author Laurence Shames explains that Americas fascination of wanting as much of everything as possible has played a key role in building this nations character and has been evident through Americas short history. Laurence Shames claims that the so called "ethic of decency" has been absent in the American way of life and replaced by an "ethic of success". While Shames has a valid point, I consider the lack of emphasis on decency and contentment in America a positive rather negative. Shames suggests that in the 1800's Americas love of possession and want was born.

They maintain their productivity and civic spirit in a world changing due to technology and automation. Nixon prattles about American productivity and work ethic because the US was going through an economic recession. Nixon addresses the various concerns Americans have over the declining economy. He acknowledges the changes occurring to the labor force and economy.

Projections that have been made about how today’s society and culture will look in the coming years, decades, and centuries, all have yet to be seen in how valid they are. If you look in any sort of media: television, social media, or radio/music, you will see people giving their interpretations of what will become of our world down the road. Yet, few people look to see how our the current state of culture and society reflect the projections made by people in previous years, decades, and centuries. In looking at the visions of the future presented by both novelas, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, and The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, each story presents aspects of society that prominently appear today. Written during the Industrial Revolution, a time where technology and human innovation was at one of its highest points in recent history, both stories explore the possible effects of the machinery that was becoming evermore present. Both authors present aspects such as omnipotent technology, decaying human independence, and destruction of real communication, to create the artistic statement that complacency is rising within the human race, and that complacency will eventually lead to the fall of mankind. In both stories, the authors speak against human complacency and deference to technology, warning that it will lead to the creation of weaker people and society that will ultimately destroy the human race, yet that complacency is present in today’s culture and due to the

During the Gilded Era, Robber Barons-- capitalistic individuals such as Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan-- presided as economic kings. Their dominance of the economy even allowed J.P. Morgan to bail the United States government out of a debt crisis. During this era, individuals could create new methods to increase efficiency as Ford showed with the construction of the automobile. As Alexis de Tocqueville states in Democracy in America, “Death is often less dreaded by them than perseverance in continuous efforts to one end.” At heart, optimism is the ability to imagine better ways, methods, or products to forge the American identity. Arduous work to increase efficiency is a strong component of the American identity. Achieved through hard work, the American identity grew into an optimistic belief that every American has an opportunity at success, even if starting with nothing, —the ethos of the American Dream. This dream circumscribes the ideal of personal monetary gain. The predominant American identity during this period consisted of unrestricted capitalism and personal

1-The intended audience for this article are the millennials/ this generation. The author directs this article to this generation because he believes this generation has the responsibility to keep the American Dream alive for the next generation. As the author clearly sates, “for the American Dream, to survive another generation, then another. “if the American Dream is to come true and to abide with us…it will, at bottom, depend on the people themselves. “The people who have the power to change the world should just as the people who have the power to change the dream for better we should. The ones who can move physically and can be heard should move and speak their mind to help for the better is this generation. The authors audience are

In the late 1800's, American society began to burst with cultural activity. After the Civil War and the Reconstruction, Americans were eager to return to their normal lifestyles. The period that followed, however, was quite different from what the country was used to. During the war, many pushed hard for a rise in industry, leading to an explosive industrial revolution far beyond what people had expected. America's business and economy had boomed, and, as the new century approached, many had a new outlook on life. They were eager to escape the dull regiments of both the past Victorian era and the new urban lifestyle. This was easy for the upper and middle classes, both of which were growing due to the rapid increase in industry. It

During the rise of industrialization, the United States had just ended the Civil War and was starting to move on. People had an aspiration at this time to make a more than decent living for themselves, and the economy was at the right spot for this to be possible. This time period in American History is referred to as the Gilded Age, termed by the famous author Mark Twain, which simply means covered in gold; however, Twain did not necessarily mean this in a good way. He believed right under the surface of this gold plating was still problems with the American society that didn’t look so appealing. This essay will discuss how practices during the rise of industrialization during the Gilded Age shaped the American work and labor force.

Everyone in the world wants and needs to make money one way or the other. People in the world say that money is not everything. Money does not equal successs. Money does not It give back themselves an oppurtunity to feed themselves, or enjoy the luxuries that America has to offer. When reading Wilson's Article, “When work disappears” According to the trading economies in the United States of America, the US unemployment rate was recorded at 4.9 percent in August of 2016, which not been changed two months prior. 7.8 million people in the United States are without jobs. Making it hard for an Average American to live comfortable. William Julius Wilson’s article “When Work Disappears” discusses the disappearance of work in the industrialized

Other substantial facts written in Adam Davidson’s, “Making it in America”, are how times have changed in today’s society compared to our past. For example, Davidson explains how a hard work-ethic doesn’t cut it today as it did back in the 20th century. Another point made in, “Making it in America”, is how uneducated individuals can be taught how to do a new job in about 25 minutes. This shows how simplistic their jobs can be and why it can be replaced by modern

Following World War I, many Americans became hyperpatriotic and lived their lives much like previous generations. However, younger generations, especially the very one that fought in World War I, began to express themselves in new ways, and placed value in material wealth, and with their life choices constantly challenged by traditionalists, they believed that freedom was achieved through individual action. The new society was a consumer society, with very little regulation on businesses and where the individual American worker had very little power. modern culture was intertwined with a new modern business culture, one where society got modern things, by working hard as an individual, but overproduction and under consumption forced the

In the experiment group, children were asked to postpone their desire to eat marshmallow for ten minutes, but they were notified how much time left to hold their

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

"I have run up credit card bills that I didn't know how I would pay off. I recognize when I am engaged in a spending spree, but I often have felt powerless to stop myself. The compulsion to finish the list and to avoid adding other things to the list - by buying them right then - has often been much stronger than the recognition that I didn't have the money to pay for what I was buying" (Spenders Anonymous, n.d.). This excerpt is from the story of a man named Kirk, who is a compulsive buyer. Kirk is not alone; many Americans are controlled by a cycle of working and spending what meager amount they have left to buy luxury items. Sometimes these citizens do not even have the money to pay for what they are buying. Truly, these people are miserable, but the idea that consumerism equals happiness and that they are living free lives is driven into American people since childhood. Consumerism and freedom are key parts of the American dream. The American dream emphasizes hard work and sacrifice, but in return, it promises the possibility of success to everyone, regardless of his or her socioeconomic circumstances. Despite the good intentions behind the ancestral ideal, the American dream has turned into a nightmare.