Materialistic Americans When someone says “American Dream” usually the first thought that comes to mind is the ‘white picket fence’ picture: a tall man in a suit with his loving wife standing next to him and a little boy and girl in front of them; All of them are standing proudly in front of a cute little house with bright smiles. That picture is not realistic in today’s society, and maybe never has been realistic at all. As America was being colonized, the main goal was to become successful and to form a good environment for their families. Throughout these past couple of decades, the goal of being successful has intensified by a lot. From wanting to newest phones to purchasing what is in style. Americans have grown to be materialistic and
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In “A Reality Check for Americans Obsessed With ‘More’” by Peter Sagal, he explains how he heard about a guy “who had written a book about young oil traders, guys who made millions of dollars a year or sometimes a day. He said that they were living out what he called the new American Dream” (pg 2). Seeing people like the oil tycoons being praised the way that they are shows that our society has grown to see wealth as a form of happiness; wanting what someone else has, materialistic wise, is very normal in this era. Money has become what most of our world surrounds itself upon. In “Is America the Most Materialistic Society in the History of the World” by Michael Snyder, he expresses that “[Americans] spend most of [their] time either making money or spending it” (pg 1). Americans worry so much about making money, they don’t enjoy life to the fullest. They are taught that in order to be successful and carefree they need to have a good job. In reality, happiness comes from the people around oneself and being able to look at everything with positivity and …show more content…
Advertisement for a new toy on the television, billboards and other sources are always around children so materialism is inevitable. Pretty much ever since one’s first birthday, he or she is surrounded by toys and other new things, “most of our ‘holidays’ have become highly materialistic, and the biggest of all in our society, Christmas, is an absolute orgy of materialism” (Snyder 1). Spoiling one’s kids is not necessarily a bad thing, either way kids are going to be informed and directed towards always wanting more. Advertising is always subliminally in American’s lives, such as clothing brands on tv shows or foods in commercials. However, desire and materialism can be good at times. In “Materialism Is Not All Bad!” by Swati Desai, she projects how “desire is a life force, and when practiced with wisdom, it can create beauty. The wisdom lies in recognizing that modesty, cooperation and compassion, when combined with materialism can indeed be a source of creativity, satisfaction, peace, or prosperity” (pg 3). So, even if materialism can lead to an unhappy life due to Americans always searching for more, it can also create a sense of need to succeed in life. Too much greed can lead to an unfulfilling life, but having a desire to prosper is something that is very special about
In “A Reality Check for Americans Obsessed With ‘More’” by Peter Sagal, he explains how he heard about a guy “who had written a book about young oil traders, guys who made millions of dollars a year or sometimes a day. He said that they were living out what he called the new American Dream” (pg 2). Seeing people like the oil tycoons being praised the way that they are shows that our society has grown to see wealth as a form of happiness; wanting what someone else has, materialistic wise, is very normal in this era. Money has become what most of our world surrounds itself upon. In “Is America the Most Materialistic Society in the History of the World” by Michael Snyder, he expresses that “[Americans] spend most of [their] time either making money or spending it” (pg 1). Americans worry so much about making money, they don’t enjoy life to the fullest. They are taught that in order to be successful and carefree they need to have a good job. In reality, happiness comes from the people around oneself and being able to look at everything with positivity and …show more content…
Advertisement for a new toy on the television, billboards and other sources are always around children so materialism is inevitable. Pretty much ever since one’s first birthday, he or she is surrounded by toys and other new things, “most of our ‘holidays’ have become highly materialistic, and the biggest of all in our society, Christmas, is an absolute orgy of materialism” (Snyder 1). Spoiling one’s kids is not necessarily a bad thing, either way kids are going to be informed and directed towards always wanting more. Advertising is always subliminally in American’s lives, such as clothing brands on tv shows or foods in commercials. However, desire and materialism can be good at times. In “Materialism Is Not All Bad!” by Swati Desai, she projects how “desire is a life force, and when practiced with wisdom, it can create beauty. The wisdom lies in recognizing that modesty, cooperation and compassion, when combined with materialism can indeed be a source of creativity, satisfaction, peace, or prosperity” (pg 3). So, even if materialism can lead to an unhappy life due to Americans always searching for more, it can also create a sense of need to succeed in life. Too much greed can lead to an unfulfilling life, but having a desire to prosper is something that is very special about