You Shouldn T Have Anna Quindlen Analysis

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,

“Outlet shopping is perhaps luxury’s greatest ploy to get its goods into the hands of anyone and everyone,” (Thomas, Pg. 246). “But outlet shopping is the antithesis of the flagship, the antithesis in fact, of luxury itself.” (Thomas, 2007. Pg. 247) Columnist Karen Heller explained to Thomas after visiting Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in New York, “The clothes were marked down, picked over and repeatedly pawed, the opposite of how they were originally displayed. Their power to enchant seemed minimized, even at a third the price, smashed together like produce in a storage hold.” Thomas explains how luxury merchandise is purely just that, leftover “luxury” products: overproduction. No longer does luxury embody the experience of pampering nor does it signify class and wealth. Some

Anna Quindlen, a Barnard College educated Pulitzer Prize winner and writer of “Doing Nothing is Something” took a gander at a long standing query: does free time result in creativity? In her article, Quindlen argues that children shouldn’t be overscheduled or overburdened and should be left to do, well, nothing. She proposes that creativity stems from the ability to be left alone with thoughts. She also mentions that competition encouraged at a young age is a cutthroat technique to facilitate “success” and mocks the effort. Although these are valid thoughts, they fall short of insightful as she seems to only acknowledge one perspective within the shrinking middle class. However, having nothing to do can lead disadvantaged youth

The audience in which Juliet Schor, Elizabeth Warren, and Warren Buffet write to is none other than the American general public who identify themselves within the bounds of the middle class. Schor, a professor at Boston College, writes in her excerpt “When Spending Becomes You”, to the American middle class about overconsuming in products that aren’t exactly necessities. Schor uses key pronouns in her second paragraph such as “you” and “yours” to directly involve the reader in the piece. She wants American’s to look at what they have and truly question where and how all this “stuff “came to be. Warren, a Senator, gives a deeper thought into why Americans may be spending more. She compares costs of items from the 1970’s to similar items today

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.

What others see as boring, I see as practical. What others see as cheap, I see as economical. Clothing trends disappear as quickly as the newest iPhone fades into technological oblivion. The simple will forever hold a place within society.

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.

The rapper Kanye West stated “She don`t believe in shooting stars but she believes in shoes and cars.” Malls, Outlets and online resources are the most common sources for shopping experiences for many people today. There are also the many food outlets and sales that encourage people to purchase items that may or may not be necessary. In her essay, “American Consumerism,” Jamie Bentley reflecting on Simon Benlow’s essay “An Apology to Future Generations” that expresses concern about consumers’ negative impact on the environment reveals this generation’s obsession with materialism, with the hope that people will learn to do more with less. The many options available to purchase items create a problem for individuals who desire to have what they

Every human being impacts the world they live in, especially Americans. Americans live for what’s new and what’s in; in The Wastemkers, Vance Packer identifies this wastefulness as a part of the American culture. Vance Packer may have written this book over 50 years ago, but the issue still applies to now. Not only do Americans participate in this wasteful culture, but they also take pride in it: boasting about every penny they spend and how ‘new is always better’, but what they fail to realize is this wasteful culture is exceptionally harmful in various ways.

Do you know what it's like to be starving without no food? There's a big problem with kids and not eating in America, and i'm sure in other places too. School for children is a very important place for them. Some kids don't get to go home and have a meal or even eat at all. Many school give free food to kids while they're at school, these programs such as schools or free camps save starving children that never get to eat. In the story Anna Quindlen points out that getting food stamps for people that actually need it takes more time then selling weapons. “Stamp application is twelve often impenetrable pages; a permit to sell weapons is just two.” This shows we have a big problem in America.

Throughout history people have continuously felt the need to validate themselves by the number in their bank account or their status in society. Americans are constantly concerned with what other people think about them. They want to make sure they look the part which means having certain things and maintaining a lifestyle that proclaims their family’s social status. Whether it is adhering to high social standards or splurging on luxurious goods, people were willing to do whatever it took to maintain a high social standing. From 1914 to 1945, American Literature portrayed that Americans’ pursuit of wealth and social status was not only unfulfilling, but also became a barrier that separated people.

The music video “Wings” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis helps to tell the story of a hip-hop style song addressing the issue of consumerism that we have today in America. In this music video, Nike shoes are used to portray an expensive item that people desire to have. Nike shoes are an effective symbol for this as many Americans attempt to impress others by buying shoes and showing off the purchase. In many cases, because the possession of status items is more important than saving the money for basic needs, people buy luxury products (expensive shoes, for example) even though they are difficult to afford. The message of this music video is that people wrongfully believe that the possession and displaying of status items makes them superior

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.

4 years ago has become obsessively with purchasing “brand” clothes. She spends thousands of dollars each months to get numerous of brand clothes in order to, as she claims, be able to look well-being in front of her friends. She indicates that people judge each others based on their appearances – how we look, what we do, and who we interact with. Sadly, major of people in the U.S. share the same perspective with my cousin. The materialistic values and materialistic purchasing behavior has linked to many compulsive and impulsive spending, individual’s depression, social anxiety, and many other undesirable outcomes. The purchasing the social status of well-being is only one side of materialism, the other side is the struggle of a majority American population due to the financial problems. For instance, I’m currently going to university, which I’ve had a significant loan to be able to afford university tuition. I’ve been struggling with working part-times and studying with tons of extracurricular activities for my graduate schools. The the daily expenses and financial needs has become a huge pressure, I believe, not only to myself but to many other Americans. The materialistic values has become a “cash-value” more or