As I have been reading various books this summer, I've noticed that there is an underlying subject that lies deeply within the ideas of many novels. Often, the main idea of a story is not the only idea you can find. This underlying subject I'm referring to is none other than the topic of materialism. Watching YouTube and other forms of mass media, I've recently begun to notice that people put too much emphasis on possession. These days, it seems as if people actually believe that money, possessions, and status are more important than joy, love, and family/friends. Yesterday, I realized that people seem to place the "What I Got for Christmas" videos above those "How I Spent my Christmas" videos. They have more views, more likes, and there are more of them overall. This makes me wonder if people find possession more entertaining than other's thoughts or feelings. I'm guilty of this too. I love watching haul videos every now and then, but it's hard to not feel guilty for pursuing items when some people don't have half of what we have. In America, a good amount of us are considered middle class. By the world's standards, American middle class is considered wealthy. If you have a roof over your head and food to eat when you are hungry, you are considered lucky to most of the world. After watching the movie Queen of Katwe, this concept became real to me. There were so many things I realized, and I probably have much more to realize about those who live differently than the standard American does. In the story, the main character, Phiona lives in a house that is missing the roof because her family doesn't have enough money to afford one. In one of the scenes, it rains very heavily in her city. My heart sank! Her entire house flooded, and her baby brother almost drowned as he was swept away with the water. I had never thought that could happen. Because my needs and a lot of my wants are met and exceeded, I truly understand how blessed I actually am. Would you say that today's people are too materialistic? Are we truly earthly-minded, or do we just need a little reminder on how to distinguish our wants from our everyday needs?
Nene Usim
I empathize with you on how lucky we are to have a roof over our heads, food, family/friends, and much more. I can truly say that as long as I have my incredible family and friends then I'll be okay in life. Having materialistic things are nice, but that's not the sole purpose of living. To live a happy life consists of blithe memories, or doing things you love to do the most, or enjoying the serene environment around us, or simply being with family. Despite that thought, I always see people who aren't naturally happy. Ever since I was growing up, I've always been taught to appreciate what you have, and never worry about materialistic objects. I believe that if you appreciate life and what you have, then everybody and everything you have received would be appreciated. Materialistic objects may bring us happiness and joy, but what if we don't have that anymore?
ReplyDeleteWe have many other things to make us happy rather than technology. Personally, I am not the kind to make someone feel unappreciated. I feel that some people take for granted the things they receive, yet they're also blind of how another feels. I'm sure most people have heard the term "it's the thought that counts," yet some parts of society don't realize that the object is necessarily everything. As trivial as it seems, some homeless people are happy with what they have, and they don't have much. I think that society is very materialistic. When it comes to new tech, everyone is jumping to get them. It's kind of absurd that people prefer getting new items, rather then to spend time with family or friends. Our wants and needs can be distinguished sometimes, and others not. It's the if we really need it to help aid our mundane lifestyle, or really just want it type of case.
Well if you have a stable income you shouldn't worry about food or drink. If you've never experience poverty first hand then of course you're not going to truly appreciate what you already have, not truly. Of course you're going to be materialistic when all your needs are met because now it's less about survival and ways to convenience yourself. It's just a typical thing to do. I love my things but I could just as easily entertain myself if need be. I think the real argument is why we aren't contributing our leisure to people in poverty? We also have a terrible homeless issue, they need to round them up because a good chunk of them have some sort of mental disorder or a drug addiction, then get them the help they need. I rather have that than new road ways, or a bronze statue in a park.
DeleteI strongly agree with you on how due to the fact that most of us haven't experienced poverty first hand it is difficult to truly be grateful for things like food, water, and shelter. If you have lived your entire life with these things and everybody you know has always had these, we don't really recognize how many people don't have food, water, and shelter. We have one of the highest populations of homeless people in the world, and yet there are still so many of us buying material objects that we don't really need. We go out and buy $700 phones even though we have phones that work perfectly fine and are only around a year old. This $700 could provide a hot meal for 300 homeless adults, or 200 toothbrushes with 100 tubes of toothpaste. And that's for the same price as the newest phone that we all "need" to have. I'm not saying we should all go donate $700 to the local homeless shelter, but as stated above take into consideration of the things that you have and keep in mind those that don't have access to these basic needs.
DeleteIt's true that almost everything people desire and cherish nowadays are luxuries. I'll be the first to admit, I cherish a lot of things I don't actually need. Majority of the time our thought process is "how soon is my next birthday so I can beg my parents for a new phone" even though we have a phone that works perfectly fine. Constantly, we're looking towards what we can obtain in the future instead of being content with our current circumstances. Realizing that we have enough might be an important step in becoming less materialistic.
ReplyDeleteGood idea! That's definitely an important step. People who lack everyday items usually value family and friends much more. They also find joy in the little things. It's also very interesting that some people with so little belongings have so much to give!
DeleteAt a young age, I was taught to “not take anything for granted” and to “be grateful for what I have.” As the years go on, these powerful words make me appreciate everything that I have, especially when I see stories on the news and movies like the Queen of Katwe which show how easily it can be taken away. With a roof over my head, food, family and friends, I’ve always been satisfied with my life.
ReplyDeleteYet even though most of us are happy with our lives, we don’t realize how materialistic we are, and how much we base our joy and happiness on items and materials. One reason I believe we’ve grown to be materialistic is the use of the media. Many of the ads and commercials we see are on our phones, computers and/or television. If we didn’t have the media to show us and introduce new objects, we wouldn’t feel the need to get them. Sometimes, you’ll see someone famous with a clothing item or a new gadget, which makes you want something even more, just because you’ll have something in common with them.
Since more and more people get things that they want rather than need, we tend to believe that it is a need, that it is a requirement in life. Haven’t you ever gotten something just because everyone else had it? Because of this, our minds are getting tricked into thinking we need something, when in reality, we don’t.
The heavy amount of consumerism and materialistic behavior could be attributed to the capitalist society we live in. There are the producers, and there are the consumers. The small amount of producers are disproportionately wealthy compared to the working class consumers. Their wealth is dependent on the consumers, and they will do anything to sustain or increase this wealth. What is a way to get the consumers to keep buying and spending their money on frivolous things to fatten the wallets of the producers? Advertisements, as Grace has pointed out. Millions of Americans spend hours watching television, and when people watch television, they are being exposed to numerous advertisements that prod at a person's desire for luxury. Simply searching for something is being stored into google analytics so that they can show ads on the pages you look at that fit your interests and desires. Even if a person were to stay at home and play with their pet rock instead of watching television or going on their phone, they would probably come across an advertisement in the form of a mailed Hollister magazine laying in a pile on their kitchen table. It is incredibly hard to resist the temptation to desire more and more objects when the world around you is so intent on draining your pockets of money. I believe that as a society, we have been coerced into behaving in a materialistic manner, and that it is an issue. Having new shoes makes a person happy for two seconds before they are scuffed, but spending time with loved ones, or doing things you enjoy, create happy memories that can always be looked back on and cherished for years.
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