The Evils of Consumerism Essay - 1114 Words

In the 1920s, the United States enjoyed a great economic growth, which enabled millions of Americans to spend larger amounts of money. Recently invented items, such as cars, also contributed to this dramatic rise of consumerism that occurred during this period. Advertising campaigns helped to fuel the demand for the newly invented items. However, many economists believe that this over indulgence and over spending were harbingers to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The consumerism in the 1920s paved the way for a changing life style and attitude over money and spending in America. Many Americans acknowledge that we, as a society, spend too much money, but this does not stop us from wasting millions of dollars on products and services†¦show more content†¦There is confusion between wants and needs because Americans have lost any meaningful sense of what is necessary and what is superfluous. Many people in America perceive that owning a home, two cars, a television and a phone is normal and necessary. Those who do not have all these things are thought to be deviant or are pitied. However, these items are not necessary; a century ago, many of these items were not even invented. Even in the midst of an economic crisis, new gadgets, such as the iPhone and iPad, still sell out within only days of being released to stores. Greed soon consumes the public; everybody â€Å"needs† the newest phone, television or computer. A few months later, a new model of the phone will be unveiled, and everybody â€Å"needs† that instead. Soon, the society is defined by profligacy, as the fully functioning goods are thrown out to make room for the new models. Eventually, this wastefulness and unnecessary production of goods contribute to major ecological problems such as global warming, but for many this is a small price to pay for receiving the newest and coolest gadget out there. Consumerism also causes the decline of moral values as material wealth is placed over moral and spiritual values. As society becomes wealthier, people judge others based on their material wealth rather than on their spiritual or moral values. To satisfy their greed, some people may do anything for money. Competition in theShow MoreRelatedConsumerism : Consumerism And Consumerism855 Words   |  4 PagesConsumerism is seen as caustic in the eyes of many. The common trend seen among copious economists is that consumerism is evil and is corrupting the people partaking. The claim that consumerism is causing a global wide drop in happiness is ludicrous. In Rockwell’s essay â€Å"In Defense of Consumerism† he claims without consumerism there is no production, and without production there are no jobs, which ultimately leads to poverty and unhappiness. Over a couple centuries life expectancy has increased byRead MoreConsumerism Essay1620 Words   |  7 PagesConsumerism – Bruce Dawe Poetry || 2009 Every society has mythology. In some societies, it’s religion. Our religion is consumerism. As we are constantly exposed to mass media and popular culture in our modern society, the insidious nature of consumerism has allowed it to penetrate into every aspect of our lives, dictating our very beliefs, values and wants. Nearly every individual in our society subconsciously conforms to the shallow and superficial mindset that characterises our consumerist cultureRead MoreDisney Films: The Little Mermaid1588 Words   |  7 Pagesof religion and moral behavior, encouraging moral obedience through self control. This interactive fairytale â€Å"transforms [its listeners] into participants in the fictions...and thus returns them to their real lives for the choice between good and evil-smiles and tears† (Mortensen 445). The story encourages self control through the character of the little mermaid by witnessing the various painful tasks she endures to achieve the ultimate goal. Moral behavior, while riddled throughout, is most powerfullyRead MoreSocial Evil1517 Words    |  7 PagesA social evil is any action or consequence that is not in the public interest or which is anti-social and works against the development of society. Social evils cause damage to the society or its citizens in physical, emotional or cultural form. Terrorism would be an example of a social evil as would be prostitution , organized crime, alcoholism, pollution, dowry in any form or corruption. Following is a list of 10 social evils: 1. A decline of community A major theme that emerged from the consultationRead MoreThe Cold War and the War on Terror987 Words   |  4 Pagesfighting a group of people; America was also fighting an idea. In the Cold war, America was fighting of Communism. The USA believed they were truly free, and that in order for other countries to be truly free they had to embrace capitalism and consumerism. America tried to spread capitalism to Vietnam and Korea by fighting in those countries, similarly to how America tried to bring Democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan. In the War on Terrorism, the idea that America was fighting was the idea of TerrorismRead MoreThe, By Hip Hop Duo, Macklemore And Ryan Lewis1375 Words   |  6 Pagesculture and how it effects todays youth, however, this song explores the ideas around consumerism all over the world and how it completely controls todays youth more than ever. Personally, I love this song as Macklemore has perfectly portrayed a relevant and very alarming topic of consumerism mainly through the use of symbol ism and really made every single one of his listeners think about their issue with consumerism and how we can overcome it. One way he gets his topic across in the text is throughRead MoreFight Club : A Marxist Lens1501 Words   |  7 PagesWritten in 1996, Fight Club expresses the issues of its time with Palahniuk using a Marxist lens to express the evils of capitalist society in relation to loss of identity in a society built on achieving relative gains with those at the top benefiting at the expense of those at the bottom. The 1990s was a decade of excess , where people became fixated on consumerism, which, characterised the period as one of social disconnection, recklessness and greed , destroying moral values and widening theRead MoreHeart of Darkness/Blood Diamond Essay1194 Words   |  5 PagesGreed is the Root of All Evil Greed exists at the centre of evil on not only an individual level, but also that of a communal and global level. Contextually there is a superficial alteration in the stimulus (Ivory vs. diamond) for greed and of global awareness towards the issue, although in the century that separates Joseph Conrad’s exploration of colonial regime in his novella Heart of Darkness and Edward Zwick’s post-colonial film Blood Diamond, the values driving the major characters and factionsRead MoreEssay on Effects on Consumerism742 Words   |  3 Pages Consumerism is a description of society’s lifestyle in which many people embrace to achieve their goals by acquiring goods that they clearly do not need (Stearns, 7). The idea that the market is shaped by the choice of the consumers’ needs and wants can be defined as a consumer sovereignty (Goodwin, Nelson, Ackerman, Weisskopf, 2). This belief is based on the assumption that the consumer knows what it wants. Contrary to this logic, marketers convince us that the consumer does not know what theyRead MoreChristian Speculation about the End of Times1807 Words   |  7 Pagesthe future: beliefs about resurrection or further rebirths, hopes of a better future, or even fears of apocalyptic tribulations. In this essay, various religious ‘futures’ will be investigated: the evolution towards spiritual individualism and consumerism, the success of yoga and the Christian speculations about the end of times. It will be easily demonstrated that each of these ‘fu tures’ is highly controversial – but are they controversial primarily because of the way in which they reinterpret the