Tomas Mawad
Mrs. Bruzzano
Hum 101
24 September, 2018
Materialism
“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase… but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep,” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-12.) I feel that this definition relates most accurately with today’s society. Desire will always be there to push for materialistic values, however, I am not saying it is wrong to hold objects near and dear, afterall, it is human nature to yearn for the next best thing, but where is the line between basic desire and greed. There are reasons for our materialistic ways, social outlook, self reward, or other societal factors within one’s life, but how does this affect us?
Materialism in today’s society is seen as going hand in hand with social outlook, people will always try to bridge themselves to the next advancing path of social upkeep, often losing sight of true sentimental value behind monetary value because of an associated social status. Social media being a huge driving factor in this of course. The creation of social media also came with the creation of a web of social influence. Social media provides a constant flow of celebrity influence to millennials, creating something reminiscent of a standard in this day and age. Millennials constantly send messages of things they feel they must obtain to “fit in”(Richens, Marsha L.) However, that doesn’t mean the older generations don’t also fit into this web.
In this hard working economy, everyone is entitled to a reward for their hard work. Something to push them to work harder in the future to obtain said object. Materialistic views are shared within a self reward cycle as well, hard work leads to a feeling of accomplishment. We
“celebrate” this accomplishment when we reward ourselves with something we worked for, the brand new car, clothes, gadgets and gizmos. In this, individuals may get carried away with material wealth rather than spiritual wealth, putting money before relationships. In an article by the Huffington Post, it was found that “those who pursue wealth and material possessions tend to be less satisfied and experience fewer positive emotions each day.” Those with contrasting values have been found to be more “satisfied with life” (Gregoire, Carolyn.) Society gets tangled up in a never ending cycle of consumerism. As long as new things will head into the consumer market, people will never be satisfied with what they have. But where does this obsession spark from?
According to Marsha Richens, parents are often the root of materialism. Parents only want the best for their child and keep them happy, one way they find to do this is in spoiling their child. But that doesn’t mean spoiling your child makes you a bad parent, however, it is still important to set up a reward system. Otherwise, the child may grow into a state in which he uses purchases as a means to satisfy unpleasant mental states. This is an extremely dangerous mindset to find yourself in, as newer models come out, mankind will always want to progress, and we are only temporarily happy with what we acquire. It comes with an obsession to preserve said objects until it’s seen as outdated, repeating the cycle. It is so easy to get carried away with the social worth of object that we neglect its true value or purpose. There exists a constant struggle to be on top of what is new which in return builds the economy, but at the cost of an individual’s financial security.
