Is Consumerism Embedded in American Society Essay

Submitted By sumc2015
Words: 1049
Pages: 5
Open Document
Is Consumerism Embedded in American Society? Is happiness the motive behind the spending habit of Americans? Or do we simply spend on impulse and reap the consequences when our credit cards max out and we are forced to file bankruptcy? Cash is no longer the currency but rather plastic cards, easy to access, harder to lose, and made to seem entirely efficient. The motives behind a person’s actions can never be determined however, there are substantial amounts of evidence that we spend borrowed money on things we don’t need. Advertisement and social culture are heavily influential in the decisions of Americans today especially younger generations. Research suggests that there has been a shift in the direction of credit card advertisements from adults to young adults in their teens. Why this group? This age group has embraced the idea of debt as a necessity for a good quality life. Money is more personal when it can be held in your hand, but the lightweight plastic that carries your hard earned money is so easily swiped. The people of America use credit as an alternative way to pay for things. This trend has shown to not only exist within the society but in government purchases as well. Not only does oblivion drive the outrageous spending by people but also lack of concern. The only concern of the average credit card holder is making the monthly minimum payment.
Margaret Pressler of the Washington Post states, “ [O]n top of those low- interest loans, young adults increasingly leave school with substantial credit card debt” (Pressler 2). The pressure put on young adults by “society” has grown rapidly and the desire to keep up with the Jones’s leads people to buy simply to be noticed. The amount of self-control exhibited by credit card holders today is little to none. Marketing experts are brought in by massive corporations to make enticing commercials and advertisements to sway buyer’s habits whether it be on the television, internet or newspaper. As stated in the article Swimming in a Sea of Debt the problem with being so young and in debt is that “ [Y]our maxed out on your debt, you have nowhere to run, no savings, not additional capacity to borrow and you’re cooked” (2).
Why spend when you don’t have it? There are many factors that influence people buying decisions a two of which include; the progression of societal trends and the expectation of happiness. The advertisements on television and other forms of media are constant and continually in the minds of consumers. The pressure of an ever changing world causes people to not think when their buying the next best item, because of happiness they think it will bring them.
On the other side of Consumerism comes the idea of materialism. Materialism stems from having so much abundance and little appreciation for the things you do own. The enthusiasm to buy things comes from the desire for more material goods to heighten your societal status.”Sure, we spend a lot of money on tacky vulgar stuff. But so what? We spend a lot of money on culture, hospitals, and philanthropy, too” (Wente 2). She makes a great point here, however, culture, hospitals, and philanthropy all are wonderful assets to society put in place to help communities thrive and countries prosper. So, to compare the vulgar and unnecessary things many spend their money on to philanthropy is quite audacious.
She goes on to say that consumerism brought about the; [T]he steam engine, the automatic textile loom. the assembly line, the symphony orchestra, the railway, the corporation, abolitionism, the steam printing press, cheap paper, wide literacy, cheap steel, cheap plate glass, the modern university, the modern newspaper, clean water, reinforced concrete, the women’s movement, the electric light, the elevator, the automobile, petroleum, vacations in Yellowstone, plastics, half a million new English-language books a year, hybrid corn, penicillin, the airplane, clean urban air, civil rights, open-
Show More

Related Documents: Is Consumerism Embedded in American Society Essay

Consumer Consumption Essay

Are You What You Buy? As a society we are embedded in a culture of consumption. Consumerism brings out a passion in people to have things, be it objects or services that will make them feel better. This "passion" becomes a powerful force that makes people make some unwise decisions in their life. The money consumers spend on these goods could be going to the ever-surmounting needs for health care, poverty help, or other things that would help the society as a whole. This is why America is the…

Words 1295 - Pages 6

The Onion Satire

satirical piece successfully mocks the American society’s prevalent consumer culture by pretending to market a fictional product that is a metaphor for the kind of products marketed today. This parody offers a poignant criticism of the growing materialistic desires of American buyers, as well as their gullible appeal to false authority. The article establishes a fake scenario that revolves around a new product to ultimately reveal the down-sides of hyper-consumerism. By using exaggeration and irony, the…

Words 1011 - Pages 5

Catcher In The Rye

Explore the different ways in which madness and loneliness are explained through the use of narrative voice in The Catcher in the Rye and American Psycho. Both Ellis and Salinger use first person narratives. The Catcher in the Rye was set in the late 1940s as opposed to American Psycho which is set in the late 1980s. These different contexts provide very different lifestyles and social pressures for both protagonist’s however, both writers focus on the effects of materialism and prodigality and the…

Words 1247 - Pages 5

Essay on Counterculture: Changing American Identity

Counterculture: Changing American Identity When, “4 Kent State Students killed by Troops” would be the first-page headline of the New York Times, any reader can assume there are problems in America. This article is one of the examples of traits in the changing era published in the front page of the New York Times on May 4th, 1970. Oppressed with racism, gender issues, consumerism, and the conservative nature of the society in general, American youths led the move for a new way of life going against…

Words 1380 - Pages 6

Essay on Credit Card debt

census website excluding mortgage most of that debt comes from credit cards. Credit cards are becoming a huge problem in our society that it is affecting more than just consumerism. It’s affecting the way we live, Suze Orman provides advice and ways to turn the debt around and still keep up with the Joneses. Every public place you go it is hard not to run into the embedded idea,subliminal message use the credit card. You will see credit card logos on the front of every business. Every department…

Words 1033 - Pages 5

'Logical Fallacies In Brave New World'

Personal Connections: Have you seen similarities between Brave New World and other literature, advertising, other media, people? How does this chapter connect with what is currently happening in our society? (Practice developing your own voice by playing with sentence variety and length, utilizing humor when appropriate, and using precise diction and strong verbs.) Brave new world is similar to 1984 by George Orwell. Both are dystopian novels and…

Words 2133 - Pages 9

Anthropology - illness and healing take home exam Essay

ANTH202 Illness and Healing Take Home Exam Cailyn Brown | 42886562 Question 1: Provide a short analysis of the main issues raised in each lecture (12 lectures), and consider how these issues contribute to a broader understanding of the concept of ‘illness’. Question 2: What does the concept of health promotion imply? What does it say about our understanding of health and illness? How are these ideas connected to our obsessive concern with body image? Question 1: Provide a short analysis…

Words 5699 - Pages 23

Essay on Final Study Guide for Livanis Intl 1101

INTL 1101 Final Exam Study Guide Americanization - Consumerism, individualism - American products and values - Cultural imperialism? Trying to homogenize world? McDonaldization - Fast-food principles dominant in American and other societies - Uniform standards - Lack of human creativity - Dehumanization of social relations Infantilization - Benjamin Barber “consumed” - Against “ethos of infantilization” that sustains global capitalism - Turning of adults into children…

Words 3747 - Pages 15

Family Exam Notes Essay

(ex, the mode of production, industrialization) macro-micro focus -power differences characterize society at all levels (ex, capitalism creates: exploitation of men in the workforce; oppression of women b) Political Economy -assumes the power of the one class over another (social control), capitalist relations of production -a more concentrated focus on how economic and political processes shape society and history and therefore family, families c) Structural Functionalism Parsons & Bales -the social…

Words 8630 - Pages 35

OPEC Oil Economic Development and Research Paper

organizational success in which I am going to discuss further. The word “Oil” sounds so minimalistic in language yet deems global responsibility as bloodshed, massacre and war have occurred due to a liquid that is less dense then water. It has also designed societies into poverty and desolation all because of capitalist industrial empires lust for wealth and power. One of OPECs objectives were to gradually reduce the influence of oil companies, their primary function was the proliferation of revenues. Initially…

Words 6595 - Pages 27