Adinolfi 1

Sofia Adinolfi
Wilson
HELA
22 February 2016
Social Issue: Materialism
Everybody knows times change many things. The definition of happiness is something
that has had drastic change over the last 50 years. Happiness means different things to different
people. It seems that years ago people let the people in their lives define their happiness. For
example if they had healthy family and friends for the most part they were happy. Today many
people believe their wealth is what defines them and the amount of "stuff" they own defines their
happiness. This would be classified as materialism. Oxford Dictionaries states that materialism is
a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than non
physical necessities such as love, family, and friends. Some of the negative affects of materialism
is people today letting their wealth define their happiness and children being deprived of their
knowledge between wants and needs and not knowing how to properly earn things in life.
One problem with materialism in todays society is that people become attached to the
idea that happiness is determined by your wealth and by the abundance of physical things an
individual owns. However this is false. Tim Kasser a psychology professor at Knox College,
states that individuals have come to think a new item can magically fulfill or replace a feeling of
emptiness. And when the new item replaces yet doesnt satisfy the individual, the feeling of
emptiness grows stronger.

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Humans have physiological needs and when these needs aren't fulfilled with purchasing goods to
replace their problems, it can lead to depression, anxiety, and anger (Kasser). Patricia Dalton a
clinical psychologist, states that todays pressure on adults to obtain the most material goods has
increased stress in families. It can result to adults working more hours, spending less time with
their kids, and higher debt (National Australia). Not only does obtaining more goods for the
wrong reasons not help with an induvial physiological wellbeing but it can lead to stress on
everyone around them.
Another problem that occurs with materialism is when children take in an abundance of
material goods it will then lead to them not knowing the difference between wants and needs.
This will also lead to future problems with learning how to earn things for themselves so they
can one day be able to support themselves independently and contently. This also coincides with
how children are affected by pressure of media. Today almost every 10 year old and up has
possession of some kind of phone. Over the years the age in which children received phones has
dropped. At what age will this stop. How low will it go? Children in todays society are under
constant pressure to be up to date with things like their wardrobe, technology and what they look
like. It has consumed our society and has drawn a blur between how children view what they
want and what they really need (Rowe, Jonathan, Ruskin). And with parents willingly trying to
make their child happy they give these things to them in a heart beat. This will not teach them
vital social skills they will need later on in life like how to support themselves by working a job
and knowing how to balance their expenses with what they want and what they need.

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Although materialism has its negative effects on todays society it also has positive ones.
Parents who buy their kids gifts and goods that they dont necessarily need isn't a bad thing. It is
what they think they should do as a parent and they have the right to. And the amount of money
an individual has is no ones business but their own and they have the right to use and spend it
however they please (Janet). Whether it is in the kids best interest or not it is not up to anyone
but the parent.
Problems with materialism today have affected people of all ages. Kids through adults. In
adults materialism has put stress on them to maintain a high class family with obtaining
abundance of items. It has affected kids by having pressure from parents, and media to try and
get them to "fit in" by constantly having the latest of everything and depriving them of vital
social skills they will need to thrive on their own one day. It has also affected the way people
view others by what they spend their money on. Some people hold judgments on the way others
chose to spend their money and define their happiness. Each persons happiness is mainly
controlled by themselves. Others can have great affect, but we each hold the control of our own
happiness. How we choose to construct our happiness is in our own hands.

Works Cited

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Street-Porter, Janet. "Spare me from the eighth deadly sin; The story of Conrad Black illustrates
perfectly what happens when materialism spirals out of control." Independent [London,
England] 2 Sept. 2004: 37. Global Issues In Context. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Kasser, Tim. "Materialism Leads to Unhappiness." The High Price of Materialism. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, 2002. 23-28. Rpt. in Is American Society Too Materialistic? Ed. Ronnie
D. Lankford. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Rowe, Jonathan, and Gary Ruskin. "Corporate Marketing Is Responsible for Childrens'
Materialism." Is American Society Too Materialistic? Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2006. At Issue. Rpt. from "The Parents' Bill of Rights: Helping Moms
and Dads Fight Commercialism." Mothering (Jan. 2003): 28-35. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

"Fairness demands we put priority on ending the jobless culture - LIVING AND
WORKING." Australian [National, Australia] 6 Oct. 2003: 6. Global Issues In Context.
Web. 23 Feb. 2016.