Material World or Shall I Say Material Country Imagine a Native American family, where their belongings consist of clay pots, woven blankets, self-made clothing, and bartered food. Now imagine a typical American family, where some of their belongings consist of store bought clothes, high tech computers, and fairly new cars. Materialism has gotten out of hand in America. 6% of the World's population is American, yet Americans use 30% of the World's resources. Materialism in America can be seen everywhere one looks such as in the home, car, and school.
Materialism means the attitude that worldly possessions make up the greatest good and highest value in life; this is evident in the home. Many families buy new homes or remodel their home to make it modern. They often spend ungodly amounts of money for a "pretty"� house to show off to others. For example, many famous people spend millions of dollars on mansions; meanwhile other people spend loads of money to make their dream home.
Clothing in history
Eliminative Materialism
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam ...Recently, my aunt and uncle remodeled their 20-year-old home for about ten thousand dollars to build an addition to the house and remodel each room. The house now looks gorgeous with its mahogany front door, oak floors, and marble countertops. Along with buying or remodeling the home, many people spend heaps of money to furnish the empty rooms. My aunt and uncle spent even more money to furnish the remodeled house. The old furniture, which was in great condition, was given away to charity to make room for the new furniture. Along with the new furniture, the kitchen received new silverware, appliances, and dishware to go along with the kitchen motif. Most of the belongings in the home are unessential to living. Why must one have coordinating plates to his/her kitchen or buy new furniture when the furniture he/she has is sufficient? To continue, Americans are materialistic because they value newness and innovation, which is apparent in cars. Cars are like houses, which are frequently updated by purchasing a new car or "souping up"� the existing one. Some people replace their car every two to three years with a newer, classy car. For example, my old history teacher would replace his car every three years with either a BMW or Audi. His car consists of leather seats, powered moon roof, CD/DVD player, and heated seats. A person who would not want to replace his/her car would "soup up"� or refurbish it; he/she could get new car accessories such as a spoiler, hubcaps, and stereo system. For instance, my boyfriend has spent over two thousand dollars on a new stereo system that included a new stereo face, subwoofer, and speakers. Cars were originally made to get from point A to point B not to show off how much money you have. Is it really necessary to spend an extra two thousand dollars on a stereo system for a car when there is already one in the car? The car one drives to school can make him/her or break him/her in high school. Materialism can be seen in the typical high school student's life by the clothes he/she wears or his/her school supplies. To be cool in high school, one must wear name brand clothing and shoes such as Abercrombie, Express, Structure, Tommy, Doc Martens, Nike, and Adidas. For example, my friend only buys clothing from Abercrombie where a t-shirt costs about thirty dollars. An example of her outfit would be a t-shirt that says Abercrombie on the chest and Abercrombie jeans with Doc Marten sandals. She would buy a simple plain white t-shirt from Abercrombie for thirty dollars, but the same t-shirt would cost ten dollars at Target. When it comes to school supplies, some people rather pay the extra dollars for the cool looking pen or pencil. For instance, one would buy a gel pen for an extra dollar instead of regular ink pens. Another example is buying nice looking mechanical pencils instead of regular yellow pencils when they are cheaper. Why pay the extra money for the cool looking school supplies or name brand clothing when you can get something that simply does the job? In conclusion, materialism has become one's worth in America, where people proudly wear expensive clothing and drive impressive cars. Materialism has gotten out of hand in America. Americans have become obsessed with their belongings; it is seen in the home, car, and school. Materialism has made its way into a living; materialism is not just a behavior anymore.
Living in a material world And I am a material girl You know that we are living in a material world And I am a material girl ~Madonna
Cartesian-materialism
Abercrombie & Fitch
abercrombie street