Everything Now Summary

We are a culture of spending on expensive things we do not need. Most of the time we buy products that are useless. This means that our lives are driven by the media that influences the viewers to buy useless products. The More factor and Everything Now presents the idea that the economy is driven by deception, social status, and confusion. Since the beginning of the United States people have been given the promise of new frontiers. This meant, for poor European immigrants an opportunity to change their lives. What seemed like a promise was in fact deception. Laurence Shames in the More Factor, explains that in the 1880’s prospectors, with the goal of getting the railroad to pass through their developments, promised people in the East Coast …show more content…
The media has done a perfect job to lead us to confusion on what we actually need and want. There are products that people believe that they cannot live out. For example, there have been people who have displayed their tantrums in public over their cell phones which have lost battery power or left behind at the food court in the mall. In reality, their cell phones are not the responsible for the mere existence of an individual. Further, McKevitt in Everything Now explains the difference between wants and needs. “Needs are rational and permanent. We have always needed- and will always need- food, water and shelter…Wants, on the other hand, are emotional, ephemeral and ever changing.” (McKevitt 145) This excerpt explains that needs are what keep humans alive such as, food, water and shelter. Humans are unable to live without these basic necessities. In contrast, wants are purely the desire of a person. Such as, wanting a brand new game system, a fast car that is barely street legal, or the latest phone on the market. This is one of the reasons why consumers are never satisfied because there is always new products in the market that make their predecessors obsolete. Moreover, Mckevitt explains Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs… is often portrayed as a pyramid, with the biggest, most basic needs at the bottom (air, food, water), then safety issues (health, employment, property), moving up through relationships and esteem (achievement, confidence, respect), reaching self-actualization at the top (morality, creativity, and problem solving)” (McKevitt 146). According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, humans instinctively want to survive therefore, biological and psychological needs are imperative to the survival of humans. “As one set of needs is assuaged, focus moves to those on the next level