Materialism in Today's Society
Have you ever sat down and really thought about how much you value your possessions? Do you value your belongings more than you value friends, family, love, or yourself? The truth is that obsession with possessions has become a way of life in today's society.
Materialism has been defined as the theory or doctrine that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and highest value in life. (Heritage Dictionary, 3rd ed.) This means that we look to possessions to bring us happiness. We then use these possessions to make things and people behave or respond the way we desire. We have become so successful at fabricating and manipulating the world that we have come to believe that altering our surroundings is the way to solve all of our problems. We go through life contemplating that inner well-being depends on what we have or do. Due to these assumptions, materialism now carries the status that people?s religion, occupations, and bloodlines used to carry (Twitchell 1999). We identify ourselves and others by what we wear, what we have, and what brands we sport.
Our unrestrained consumption ascends the unlimited number of goods and merchandise available (Twitchell 1999). As the quantity and variety of products grow
Materialism in Today?s Society 3
larger, so does the demand for these products, thus resulting in mass branding. A brand is a product name or logo, that when consumers become familiar with, immediately brings to mind a specific product or service (Pavitt 5).We, as humans, want to fit in so we wear and use certain brand names because of the status we gain from them.
Everywhere we look, there are dozens of newspapers, magazines, billboards, and televis...
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Materialism has been found to help us deal with life and problems and help us escape from all the issues of the real world? Just like a drug, material objects, luxury, and all the finer things bring us happiness and fulfillment. This is why I have come to believe that materialism has become more of a way of life for people in today?s society.
References
Boston, Gabriella (2003). Designed to Fit In; Teen Fashion Defined by Peer Pressure.
(The Washington Times, D01).
Bothelo, Greg (2002). The Brand Name Game. (CNN New York, Dec. 05, 2005).
Pavitt, Jane. Brand. New. (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000).
Russel, Peter (2000). Waking Up in Time, Materialism- An Addictive Meme.
Kulman, Linda (2000) Our Consuming Interest. (U.S. News and World Report, 2000).
Plasticsurgeryresearch.info. Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Research. (2002-2003).
I feel like materialistic best fits me, because I am externally into name brand items. Sometimes I place myself on a pedestal above everyone else, and if I don’t have the best material things or someone has something that I want but don’t have, I will through a huge fit until I get it. Once I get it there will be something else that I have to have to ensure that I’m better than the next person. From my socks to my suits, if it’s
Drawing from the eudaimonic view and from SDT, Kasser & Ryan (1993, 1996) related money and materialism to well-being. They predicted that people who place a strong value on wealth...
...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.
Morrie’s opinion on money is that one does not need it to be happy. That materialistic things won’t give one the desire one is looking for. In this quote Morrie says “I can tell you, as I’m sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you’re looking for, no matter how much of them you have” (Albom 125). I agree with Morrie’s sayings on money on how the world promotes that “more is good”. They indeed do brainwash people getting them to think that we need all these materialistic things. I notice that people to tend to mimic and copy famous people on what they’re wearing, what they’re buying, and just anything they’re interested in. People think that they’re life’s are going to be great when they do all these things that have no meaning in life.
Are material things really that important? Is being rich really going to solve all your problems?
Money is the driving force behind our society, and the severe materialism that we are experiencing is taking a toll in our persona, relationships and quality of life. People work extremely hard to have bigger houses, the newest car models, and the latest technologies. At the end, none of these things make individuals happy because they barely have time left to enjoy them. However, society keeps reminding us that we are what we own, and if we don’t have much, we are nobody. The author Carolyn Gregoire explains that “…there is no direct correlation between income and happiness. Once our basic needs are met, wealth makes very little difference to one 's overall well-being and happiness. And in fact, extremely wealthy people actually suffer from higher rates of depression.” Another interesting point relates to relationships; according to a study published in the Journal Of Couple & Marriage Therapy, materialism is actually correlated with unhappiness in marriages. Finally, materialism and consumerism affect deeply the attitude of the individual toward others. The individual becomes more self- absorbed, exhibit narcissistic traits, and is more likely to behave unethically. The article Wealthy Selfies by Maia Szalavitz argues that “…in five different experiments involving several hundred undergraduates and 100 adults recruited from online communities, the researchers found higher levels of both narcissism and
In every given business, the name itself portrays different meanings. This serves as the reference point and sometimes the basis of customers on what to expect within the company. Since personality affects product image (Langmeyer & Shank, 1994), the presence of brand helps in the realization of this concept. Traditionally, brand is a symbolic manifestation of all the information connected with a company, product, or service (Nilson, 2003; Olin, 2003). A brand is typically composed of a name, logo, and other visual elements such as images, colors, and icons (Gillooley & Varley, 2001; Laforet & Saunders, 1994)). It is believed that a brand puts an impression to the consumer on what to expect to the product or service being offered (Mere, 1995). In other application, brand may be referred as trademark, which is legally appropriate term. The brand is the most powerful weapon in the market (LePla & Parker, 1999). Brands possess personality in which people associate their experience. Oftentimes, they are related to the core values the company executes.
Logo is acknowledged everywhere throughout the world. The Coca-Cola drink was established in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia by creator John Pemberton, an average of nine servings of Coca-Cola was sold each day. As of today, Coca-Cola has expanded its numbers to 1.9 billion servings of company merchandise (Coca-Cola, 2017, Who we are).
Materialism goes back to the ancient Greeks, where philosophers like Thales and Parmenides contributed towards the formulation of Materialism. But later, during the heavy influence of Christianity, denial of the spirit and the holy son was massively condemned and materialism was not spoken about. Until the 17th Century, when materialism was revived once again by philosopher Thomas Hobbes and the scientist Pierre Gassendi, among other French Enlightenment thinkers. Dualism was still the more favoured choice, because of its compatibility with Christianity. But in the 19th and 20th Century Materialism grew with the new scientific
The Coca Cola Company has been "Refreshing the World for 125 years"(Coca Cola). In the 200-plus nations that The Coca Company serves, it is hardly possible to go anywhere and not be able to find a refreshing Coke. Since its creation in 1886 by John S. Pemberton as a "Coca Cola syrup & extract"(Coca Cola), the beverage became in instint favorite and quickly became a national product in the United States. Innovations such as "The Contour Bottle" helped distinguish the Coca Cola beverage from the many other competitors that tried to imitate their success. Working with their bottler manufacturers, The company was able to patent a bottle specifically for their product. "A bottle for Coca‑Cola that was so
Students, like everyone else, used VKontakte for different purposes. First of all, it's an easy way to connect with another person. So, they share personal experiences, ideas and opinions. Furthermore, they can share information, files and documents that give teachers, and not worry about the ...
We live in a materialistic culture that thrives on having "things." Yes, we must have things in order to live (shelter, food, water, etc.), but the word is misused. Our culture has become so materialistic that we forget what is really important. The "have" mode has almost become the norm, especially with our generation. Even though we subconsciously practice the mode of “being,” many people do not realize it which makes it difficult to appreciate life and all the aspects of “being.” “Because the society we live in is devoted to acquiring property and making a profit, we rarely see any evidence of the being mode of existence and most people see the having mode as the most natural mode of existence, even the only acceptable way of life” (Fromm 25). Majority of people want to be as successful and rich as possible that this idea takes over their mind and eventually lives. Every young person is obsessed with “fitting in” and having the latest and greatest items. This attitude causes adolescents to lose sight of what is important and lose touch with their emotions. Our culture needs to begin to think less about material items and being rich and more about his/her emotions and what it means to be truly happy. It is important to focus on the “bigger picture” and how one must become the best person he/she can be to benefit
A: According to Marx, historical materialism has been controversial and is a part of the evil that has caused class struggle. Ruling and lower were two classes that were struggling against each other till one finally wins and becomes the new ruling power. Marx and Eagle clearly highlighted the importance of both classes in Communist Manifesto, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (pg. 344). Marx, who began his argument by stating his belief that all humans should be able to live equivalent lives under self-governing rule, and materialism, is a system that stops such equality from being achieved. A great example is that Marx connects the existence of classes through the ownership of private property and the desire to gain more property. According to Marx those who own their own property (bourgeoisie) force others who do not have their own property (Proletariat) to work for them. For Marx, materialism is the desire to accrue more possessions and belongings therefore forms an unequal society and if the society is unequal in nature some people will gain more than others and will be in position of power over others. According to Marx, materialism is a key factor of the class struggle and inequality.
Coca Cola is a worldwide known company that is very successful. The success of this company is due to the structure and management of how this company has been run. " In 1886, John Permberton, an Atlanta pharmacist and civil war veteran with a passion for making home made headache cures, brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola." When Coca-Cola started to become popular a business man named As a Candler bought the beverage from Pemberton and started Coca-Cola on it's road to success. Candler had the resources to start the Coca-Cola Empire and due to the functions of management as a foundation, it has reached success and remained as one of the biggest companies in the world.
Finally, it is a general opinion among many that academic performance is a manner of will and determination of an individual rather than their socioeconomic status. For instance, in schools of higher learning, there are a lot of students from richer backgrounds who do not perform well as compared to those perceived to be from poor backgrounds (Sacerdote, 2002). Research has shown that while socioeconomic status may influence the availability or access to learning materials, it is the student’s personal determination to excel that determines the kind of lifestyle they