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Wealth disparity between social classes in America
Wealth disparity between social classes in America
Wealth disparity between social classes in America
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Corrosive consumption doesn’t play a big part in our society anymore. Think back to the early 1900’s when the rich would flaunt their money and values to prove they in fact have a higher ranking, while the lower or working class would show the struggle through their average clothes and way of living. Now coming into the era of the people that are known as millennials, it is a whole new ball game. Throughout the decades millionaires and high class people started to down grade when it comes to representing their wealth. For example, my grandpa Thola's brother was a millionaire and nobody knew it, not even the family until he passed away. He was the owner and founder of Preston Quarries that was bought out by Wendling Quarries about 15 years
later. He worked everyday of his life and never let his money ruin it and kept an honest man out of himself. Uncle Thola was a true downshifter: he took on the three steps in a different way. He cut out what he didn’t need, the money,--he saved it for his family to use when he is gone. He stayed in a house that was the perfect size for his wife and himself and never anything more. Finally, he used what he raised to his benefit, he fed his whole family off his crops, and cattle. His idea’s and lifestyle was passed onto his children and grandchildren-- millennials. They are living a simple life and not showing the wealth they inherited. Based of what I see in my own family and friends corrosive consumption is not as prevalent in today’s society.
...hat materialistic attitudes are harmful to one's well-being. “The psychological perspective attributes the development of materialistic values to family circumstances that create stress and self esteem issues that promote materialistic values,” (Hung Vu Nguyen.) Many people in our culture attribute material goods to personal achievement. Truth rings true with Bertrand Russell’s statement “It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” Even at young ages children are competing and bragging to one another of who has more possessions. Past studies by Rindfleisch say that materialism developed over time as a response to stress due to family issues such as divorce, separation, and loss of loved ones. Materialism leads consumers to put a disproportionate amount of their resources into acquiring goods.
Have you ever felt like you are spending too much money at a time, on pointless items? Statistics show that American’s consumption rate of goods has increased by forty-five percent in the last twenty years (Statistics-Consumption/quality of life pg. 194). Americans are experiencing a thing that is many times known as “Affluenza”, this is when someone buys more items, such as clothes, cars, houses, or any unnecessary items. Many people talk about this so-called “Affluenza”, like it is a medical term. The word Affluenza is pretty much saying that people make money and work hard for their money and they like to buy nice things, because they can and they have the money to. They are fortunate enough to be able to have these nice things for themselves because they work so hard for it. Many Americans are not satisfied with their positions because of false ads, selfishness, and jealousy. Some celebrities, some of the wealthiest people on the planet have committed suicide because they are not happy with what they have and they feel like they need more items, when really they have everything they need to be happy, but they suffer from Affluenza and make these bad decisions.
“Proper society did not think about making money, only about spending it.”, said Barbara W. Tuchman. This quote shows our real world, and the people that spend money, but they forget about the value of money. Nowadays people want more that they have. They forget how many things they have, and how much money they spend. Most people when they see other people having something better, and in that moment they want to have it also. Also, people forget how hard they got that money, but how easily and quickly they spend it. In the article “The treadmill of consumption” by Roberts, he says that people are willing to go into debt to buy certain products and brands. That is right that people can do crazy things to buy certain goods.
“.everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with the objective of getting rich. Their chief interest is in commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, ‘doing business’” (Camus 4). Citizens’ unawareness of life’s riches and pleasures shows their susceptibility to the oncoming plague.
Conspicuous consumption means the rich man show their money and social class by spending money on something that beyond practical, and cause the waste, and pass through this to gain the fame and honour. In the 19th century, Americans still uphold diligent and thrifty, but that just lasted about three hundred years. In the 1920s, many consumers spent a lot of money on something expensive that they cannot afford in the past and they don’t really need. Conspicuous Consumption Definition | Investopedia.
In 1899 Thorstein Veblen wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions. In this work, Veblen presented critical thinking that pertains to people’s habits and their related social norms. He explores the way certain people disregard the divisions that exist within the social system, while subsequently emulating certain aspects of the leisure class in an effort to present an image of higher social status. He also presented the theory of conspicuous consumption, which refers to an instance when a person can fulfill their needs by purchasing a product at a lower cost that is equal in quality and function to its more expensive counterpart; however, said person chooses to buy the more expensive product, by doing so, they are attempting to present an image of a higher social status. The almost 110 year cycle between 1899 and 2010 reveals few differences in buying behaviors, other than the differing selection of luxury goods to indulge, or over-indulge in.
What seems to go unnoticed by many Americans is the evident and growing wealth gap. According to Pew Research Center, the current U.S. income is at its highest since 1928. This large dispersion of wealth can be attributed by the “fall [of the] routine producers” (Reich). Where jobs that were once attainable during the 70s are declining due to advancing technology and corporations finding workers in poor countries who are willing to work at half the cost of the routine producers. What also drives this wealth gap is the power of corporations in an age of extravagant consumerism. Through media, the demand to buy what we want is unavoidable. Corporations are able to gain revenue while people go unemployed because of America’s vast opportunities to buy what we want when we want it.
Domestic production of mattresses and foundations in 2010 was slightly below 6 billion dollars and almost 16% less than the peak mattress production of 2007 (International Sleep Products Association, 2010). Many consumers have lost confidence in the economic state of the country and therefore have begun to believe that, as Newt Gingrich said recently, "if you can’t afford to buy a house, don’t buy it" (Gingrich, 2010). The economic downturn has signaled the end of conspicuous consumption, defined as “the act or practice of spending money on expensive things that are not necessary in order to impress other people” (Merrian-Webster's Leaner's Dictionary, 2010).
In the 1900s there were several problems that existed in American Society. These four main problems in our country held us back from progressing and were the biggest issues at the time. The four main problems were workers protection, urban living conditions, clean responsive government, and struggle for equal rights. Each had its own significant individual problem but some were weighted to be a more important problem to the general population than others. During the 1900s, of the four main problems that compiled of workers protection, urban living conditions, clean responsive government, and struggle for equal rights, Urban Living conditions was the most severe and destructive to the population due to its importance and the struggle
The middle class society idolized the use of credit cards; however, the majority of Americans took advantage of this right and irresponsibly spent so much money that when it came time to pay the credit, they couldn’t afford the bill. The mass consumption economy played a role in the moral decay during the 1920’s because the psychology of consumption led people away from their sense of responsible spending to indulging themselves with material
Consumerism has corrupted today’s society. We’ve become so attached to brands and products that if we don’t have the thing we want, we get upset. Some people become so upset they’re willing to steal or kill for the thing they crave so bad. Now that is an extreme case, but it gets the point across. The point being, we need to stop being so attached to things. The brands controlling the products make limited quantities of things we all want so that people will be forced to spend lots of money. We spend so much money on things we think are sold out forever but really, it will be back on shelves later.
Hazardous Chemicals In The Household Being a mother myself, I have to be careful about what I bring around my children. These chemicals were created for a reason. However they can’t come without consequence. There is much debate on the use, storage and purpose of these products. However it’s important to do your research and make sure you aren’t harming yourself or others.
Luke run, “Alex shouted” the mutants are going to catch up to you, hide in the bushes! Nobody make a sound or a movement. “Are y’all alright!” Alex asked while sighing. Ok do any of you know what those things are. “Hayley claimed to know,” those are mutant animals that came to be from a chemical spill in a lab in Texas. One day a chemist was on the news saying one of his co workers died in a chemical spill in his lab. The chemicals also reached the animals and caused the to turn into mutants. They are highly dangerous if they bite or scratch you, you also turn into a crazy mutant animal. People used to call them the mutants but now most people who are even alive refer to them as the Doz.
A century or 2 past, our society’s hierarchy was supported cash and land. Today’s new materialism determines your placement on the social ladder. In many high schools, if you don’t have an iPod or any other cool device, a replacement automotive or lots of cash, then the cool crowd typically doesn’t even notice a person. In nearly each organization, cash and things are the entire foundation, thus it is sensible that Americans would be thus materialistic.
Having money and wealth is not all its cracked up to be. One shouldn't have to buy fancy cars and name brand clothing and seek other things to make them happy when they are bored with what they have. You can take the regular person wearing regular clothes and driving a used car and he can do the same thing as the rich person driving the Jaguar and wearing Armani suits. Its not the luxury items that make a person, but the person that makes themselves. A person who knows what they want and how to get it and who works for it is far more valuable than any Armani suit.