Materialistic!

"Materialism is the belief that one's physical possessions constitute the greatest value in one's life" (Twitchell 388). We naturally place a big importance on valuable things, thus making materialism a vital and meaningful role in our lives. To think of our world without any material possessions is difficult to do. Without materialism, our world would not mean the same as it currently does. Most of the world spends most of its energy producing and consuming goods (Twitchell). In the essay, Two Cheers for Materialism, the author James Twitchell explains that materialism is an important part of our society because we Americans make it that way. Twitchell, argues that materialism is a "vital source of meaning and happiness in the modern world" because we allow it to effect our lives physically, socially, and mentally.

The French calls the U.S. a nation of shopkeepers because of our rapid development of a mallcondo culture. There are malls practically in every city now within our society. It is the American way within all cultures to "buy things, steal things, exchange things, and horde things" (Twitchell 389). Each item or thing a person possesses has meaning to them but that meaning may not be the same to someone else or vise versa. It is safe to say that people live through things. We create ourselves through our things. And we change ourselves by changing our things (Twitchell). Our commercial culture has been blamed for causing several negative impacts within life, but is the commercial culture entirely to blame? No, it is not, although it has contributed but would not be fair to say it should be entirely blamed. Anthropologists want us to believe that consumption habits are gender-specific but I do not completely agree with that because although women tend to shop a bit more than men, the reality is that both genders do about the same amount of shopping within their own lifetime one way or another.

Accordingly to Stanley Lebergott, an economist from Wesleyan University, argues that most Americans spend money to find happiness (Twitchell 392). Consumerism causes people to get in debt because of its easy avaiablity. It is easy for people to obtain credit cards to help buy consumer goods to support their shopping habits. Materialism offers a temporary palliative against the anxiety of emptiness but with all sadness American continue to shop and spend on materialistic things. Twitchell says that "consumption will turn sour because so much of it is based on the chiemera of debt. Easy credit=overbuying=disappointment=increases anxiety."

It seems that materialism has many affects on our society. The negative debt that our country is facing right now is one prime example of what Twitchell argues. People can be affected physically, mentally, and socially from debt and the loss of materials especially those materials that have meaning. I agree that people who work hard for their money should have the ability from time to time to shower themselves or others with gifts or materials if the feel like doing so. Most people are thankful for having the opportunity to buy things they need and like, and at least they are thankful for those item they do posses and not greedy. I believe people do not like to be categorized my either upper or lower class anymore because it offends them in someway. Maybe this is what causes so many people to use credit so that they can keep up with other people and the trendy styles which then cause them to be in debt and have financial issues later. Regardless, of the issues that arise from being materialistic, the fact is is that our consumer market will continue to rise and produce more consumer goods, thus continuing this cycle.