Analyzing Daniel Quinn's 'Price Of Materialism'

Iulian Dutu

Mr. Frengos

ENG 4UI

July 23, 2014

Finding Happiness

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed” (Gandhi). The world will be a better place when people will come back to the real values of life. People wrongly associate their wellbeing with material goods. Materialism does not create happiness but instead gives adverse health and mental effects. The return to a simple lifestyle based on necessities and keeping good relationships with family and friends will enable people to live a better life.

People negatively associate their wellbeing in life with material goods. In the video The High “Price of Materialism”, Tim Kasser states: “the good life is obtainable through the goods life, by making lots of money and spending it on products that claim to make us happy, loved

and esteemed” (Kasser). All people are materialists to some extent and while there are many material goods that are helpful and necessary, problems can arise when the desire for material goods controls people and their actions. Materialism becomes an obstacle when the desire for buying goods becomes an addiction. This addiction to “stuff” gives a level of peace and happiness: the more you have the more content you are. However, the feeling of contentedness that comes from buying something often fades rather quickly after the purchase is made, leaving people feeling just as empty as before. Society views individuals in a positive light through their acquiring of the right material goods. In other words, new cars, clothes or electronic gadgets are purchased in order to impress others, and when others do not react, there is a feeling of disappointment. It is simply not the case that humans will be put at peace spiritually by obtaining a certain material object. Instead, people focused on materialism spend a great deal of time and energy on things that are completely unrelated to the important aspects of their lives: family, a healthy lifestyle, social life, friends and helping others. The real values of life are those that cannot be encountered by the physical senses, purchased with money or placed on a shelf. Furthermore, indulging in materialism brings adverse health and mental effects. As Annie Leonard discussed in “The Story of Stuff”, “In the USA we have more stuff than ever before. But polls show that our national happiness is actually declining.

Our national happiness peaked in the 1950’s, the same time that this consumption mania exploded” (Leonard). The same idea is developed in Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, when the Gorilla Ishmael states “The story the takers have been enacting here for the past ten thousand years is not only disastrous for mankind and for the world, it’s fundamentally unhealthy and unsatisfying. It's a megalomaniac’s fantasy and enacting it has given the Takers a culture riddled with greed, cruelty, mental illness, crime and drug addiction” (Quinn 87). Daniel Quinn points out that the state of health and security of the society are greatly diminished as a result of the addiction to materialism. In a study, psychologist Galen Bodenhausen of Northwestern University found out that people who depend on constantly feeding their consumerism, buying expensive cars, electronics, jewellery, luxurious properties and the latest modern fashions, rated themselves higher in depression and anxiety compared to people that invest their time in prosocial activities (like working for a good cause) (Bodenhousen). Anxiety and depression leads people to a never-ending cycle of exhaustive work

for making more and more money. Leonard states, “People relax by watching hundreds of commercials daily and still continue to feel discontent, finally deciding to cheer up by shopping” (Leonard). Goods acquisition only brings ephemeral happiness, with people falling back to depression and dissatisfaction. In order to cure their anxiety, people resort to artificial sources of happiness such as drugs and alcohol. Drugs and alcohol increase the severity of health and mental problems, adding more potential addictions in addition to materialism. On the other hand, since society judges individuals based on their social status, some people would do anything in order to succeed. Not even murder would stop people such as Balram from The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga to follow his materialistic dream. Being born in a very poor family in the darkness of India, Balram knows that it is insufficient to use his uncommon intelligence and ambition to rise up in India. Instead, he feels he must step on his morals and murder his boss in order to become a successful entrepreneur.
Society will be healthier and happier when people focus on the basic needs of life. To better understand the benefits of a simple life, the Hierarchy of Needs created by Abraham Maslow has to be considered. Psychologist Maslow believed that people possess a motivation system unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. In his opinion, people are motivated to fulfill certain needs (McLeod). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs contains five motivational needs, depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. This five-stage model can be divided into basic needs listed here in order of importance: physiological, safety, love, esteem and growth, and self-actualisation. Individuals must satisfy lower levels basic needs before progressing to meet higher-level growth needs. Self-actualisation, the highest level of needs can only be reached by certain people. Maslow described the need for self-actualisation as “the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming” (Griffin). Self-actualisation though has nothing to do with materialism. Self-actualisation can take many forms depending on each individual’s quest for knowledge, understanding, peace, self-fulfilment, meaning in life or beauty. For society to return to the real values of life, people should consider following Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. An individual that is representative of this society should match the following characteristics: relaxed, creative, nice, fair, self-sufficient, spontaneous, loving and realistic. In Western society, individuals enjoy a good quality of life. Generally, people do not have to be worried or concerned about tomorrow. Unfortunately as Ishmael states, “Man was born to turn the world into a paradise, but tragically he was born flawed” (Quinn 89). Materialism is one of the worst flaws keeping people away from happiness. People should have a good sense of what is enough to possess and not fall into greediness. There is no benefit for people to have three cars, four TVs and five cellphones. All these goods are not necessities but the constant illusion of buying happiness. The same idea is stated in the article “Materialism Breeds Unhappiness” where the author states, “if these material possessions would supposedly make me happier, why did I have to continually get more of them to keep myself happy” (Chua) ? Also, buying large amounts of food is not necessary. As an example, in many cases excess food goes to waste. Expensive fashions, cars, and houses are unnecessary as well. A twenty-dollar shirt has all of the same functions of a one hundred dollar shirt. All of the excessive expenses people make to satisfy their consumerism are not necessities but status symbols. Humans were able to live for hundreds of years without these luxuries, feeling much happier and being healthier. People must become conscious of the artificial connection between material possessions and necessities. Each emotional benefit that people might feel by buying goods represents a certain gap they feel inside them and not a necessity. Instead of jumping immediately to acquire the latest material good, people should learn to resolve the dissatisfaction inside them. Material possessions are just unnecessary ornaments in people’s lives. The real happiness is to be found outside of material goods and wealth.
True happiness is not about money; it is about keeping a good family life. Mark Twain said that “We are always too busy for our children; we never give them the time or interest they deserve. We lavish gifts upon them, but the most precious gift, our personal association, which means so much to them, we give grudgingly” (Twain). Mark Twain wanted to point out that love and happiness cannot be bought by money. Being connected to family provides a strong type of social support that money cannot give. People rely on their families in times of crisis for emotional and practical support and sometimes even financial help when it is required. The support in time of need, the nostalgic connection to memories, and the unconditional love are special ways in which family brings contentedness and relief from stress. Small things such as cooking and eating meals together, talking about the events of the day, sharing joys and defeats, and traveling together on vacations bring happiness. Having a meal or going for a walk with children away from distractions like TV, cellphones, computers and video games is a better way to start real communications between children and parents to build a stronger relationship. Fostering closer relationships in families enables children to follow their parents as role models and use similar strategies when they will be adults. Buying the latest cellphone, constantly sending children to summer camp away from home and parents working even during vacations ruins the real values of family and brings individual isolation and an unsatisfying life. Furthermore, happiness lies in friendship, not in material wealth. Clive Staples Lewis states that “Friendship is not necessary like philosophy, like art … it has no survival value rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival” (Lewis). Materialistic items such as expensive houses, electronics, automobiles and wealth do not provide happiness as strong friendships do. Even if individuals can understand the importance of close and warm friendships, not everyone is aware that friendships are truly necessary for their happiness. A friend’s presence is important in both hard and good times, and in many other ways people never expect. A good friend is always there when they are needed, in many cases without being asked. In bad times a friend will go out of his or her way to help when somebody is feeling down or in need of special attention. In good times, the joy is never completed until it is shared with friends. True friendship can only be maintained if friends keep in touch often. It is why when somebody is feeling anxious, bored or depressed, the solution is not turning on the TV, computer or going shopping. The real solution is to call or meet a friend in order to regain the good mood. People should not make excuses like being too busy since life only lasts once, people need to live it to their fullest.
In conclusion, happiness and wellbeing cannot be bought by money. Instead of people being pleased with the ephemeral contentment that consumerism might give, they should be willing to find the real cause of their dissatisfaction in life. People will soon realise that the real key to happiness is family and friendship. Without a doubt the Earth will be a better place when people break the cycle of materialism and enjoy the real values of life.