Consumerism
Webster's dictionary defines consumerism as "the economic theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is beneficial." That is essentially the basis of what consumerism was in its early days. The problem with that definition is that the people who practice consumerism today hardly concern themselves with the economical (or ecology, for that matter) implications of their habits. I would argue that the vast majority isn't even aware of the term or the lifestyle's negative affects. Today it has more to do with materialism and over-consumption. Consumerism today can be more accurately defined as an epidemic in which people feel the need to purchase more and more material goods, in an attempt to reach a state of happiness and completeness. Instead, the buying habits they practice become perpetual and routine, and they constantly want more material objects. This lifestyle has proven wasteful of our planets resources and destructive to our ecosystem. In the late 1940s, Americans' spirits were high. We had pulled ourselves out of the Great Depression and the allies had just won World War II. The troops came back home and an incredible amount of them immediately started families. Suburban neighborhoods sprung
The over-consumption caused by consumerism has reached unhealthy proportions. The United States contains about six percent of the world's population, but consumes thirty percent of its resources. Twenty percent of the world's population (mostly concentrated n the U.S., Canada, Saudi Arabia, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia) consumes seventy percent of its resources and owns eighty percent of its wealth. This creates a serious environmental problem. Americans produce about 16 million tons of solid waste annually. Eighty percent of that solid waste is dumped into landfills. Roughly half the landfills that were open a decade ago have closed, and there aren't many new ones opening. Ford Motors Chairman William Ford even apologized for making so many SUVs, calling his Excursion "the Ford Valdez" for its propensity to consume fuel. He condemned SUVs as wasteful and polluting, but said Ford would continue to manufacture them anyway because they are extremely profitable. Through the 1950s, Americans were increasingly seeking a comfortable contention. Businesses beckoned consumers with flashy neon signs. Fast food restaurants and TV dinners made life more convenient. Automobiles were now available in a rainbow of colors. The average family was able to live a more "extravagant" life. A liberal movement in the late 1960s denounced the consumer culture of the United States and preached simple lifestyles. Consumerism survived this movement. In fact, many members of that movement proved to simply be followers of the true liberal thinkers and later became a new classification of consumers themselves, nicknamed "young urban professionals", or "yuppies" for short. Yuppies were usually young businessmen obsessed with keeping up a modern, luxurious lifestyle: wearing the expensive brand named clothes, living in penthouse apartments, driving overpriced luxury cars, overall surrounding themselves with the best and the latest material goods in order to keep up a "successful" reputation. Yuppies were a part of American culture t
Some common words found in the essay are:
Town Square, War II, Ford Valdez, , Yuppies American, Japan Australia, Turnoff Week, SUVs SUVs, Buy Day, David Byrne, percent world's, percent world's population, shopping malls, percent resources, eighty percent, world's population, buy day, material objects, voluntary simplicity, solid waste, store items,
Approximate Word count = 1391
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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