Preview

Affluence: The American Dream

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
141 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Affluence: The American Dream
America is ruled by capitalism, therefore making us a society of consumerism. Affluence is essentially the "American Dream" people are constantly striving for this unlimited wealth or comfortable lifestyle when in reality it doesn't exist. There will always be pressure to "keep up with the Jones" in order to achieve this idea of happiness. This concept is not something new Americans have been under this pressure since the 1950s. It's just increased due to the amount of advertisement being pumped out by the media. If the focus of affluence shifted to value things money can't buy like: good health, healthy relationships, and peace of mind. People would strive for that. I have noticed a trend of minimalism is becoming very popular. I think slowly

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Today’s new materialism determines your placement on the social ladder. In almost every American organization, money and things are the whole foundation, so it makes sense that Americans would be so materialistic. Americans thrive…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the article “Stuff Is Not Salvation,” by Anna Quindlen, she discusses American materialism and the desire to acquire a greater number of things than needed. Quindlen talks about how television commercials have made it possible to purchase unnecessary things. She discusses how American society over-spends and stuck with financial obligation by mass over consumption of products they do not use. She furthermore discusses how America society has fallen into so much financial obligation and that more and more individuals are becoming homeless and losing their employment. She argues that a person in America changes his or her telephone every sixteen months basically in light of the fact that it has gone out of the latest fashion. She then need the America society…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, Americans are becoming over materialistic because of competition. Source number five, “The New Consumerism”, an essay written by Juliet Schor, explains the concept of competition between Americans, which leads to dangerous effects. In the essay, Schor explains how the American neighborhood led to competition in the middle of the twentieth century. Schor states, “In the 1950’s and 60’s, when Americans were keeping up with the Jones down the street, they typically compared themselves to other households of similar incomes” (Schor ¶ 3). This explains competition because even though each family has similar incomes, the competition to have the same possessions may develop in the neighborhood, even if they don’t need it.…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nacirema

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Miner speaks the truth. Americans are obsessed with vanity and having multiple things that are completely useless to them. They are self-absorbed and more focused on how they look and how they are perceived, rather than the type of person that they are. This self-consumed way of life damages our relationships with others and what truly matters and makes the human soul happy. This way of life that we live starts from the second we are born. We…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Americans will never be satisfied. An unfulfilled black hole of void echoes their stomach. Why does the nation think everything is a necessity? In comparison to other countries, America is by far the greediest. Although Americans may be seen as ambitious, the crave for more of unwanted clutter is disgraceful.…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Challenge of Affluence

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This article, by Alice Rivlin, begins by delineating the questions around the sudden growth in the economy due to technological change. She describes that it was unexpected, yet one of the causal factors was based on the idea that computers and information technology could be a solution to unskilled laborers in the midst of a tight labor market. Furthermore, Revlin goes into detail about the role of fiscal policy employed by Clinton and Bush, and the monetary policy (or lack thereof) on the Fed’s part. Revlin states that “The Fed's more significant contribution, however, was doing nothing, or almost nothing, in 1996 and 1997” but that had the predictions and models been right about growing inflation rates and a tighter labor market, the Fed would have been seen as reckless.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People being materialistic causes America today to be so unhappy and disillusioned because the majority of people have to keep up with what’s new and always try to get the latest trends. Being materialistic has caused Americans to become greedy and also causes to ruin a lot of relationships. People tend to be so materialistic because…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today American’s would much rather have things handed to them rather than working hard. People these days would be completely happy with receiving success with minimum effort. This has been a big jump from the past to now. People use to love and enjoy working hard. They felt that if you worked hard enough you would achieve success and have a great feeling of accomplished behind you. Most people back in the day did not want things handed to them. They wanted to earn what they wanted in life because it would be more rewarding. Today people would not mind getting things handed to them. They would rather live their life doing whatever they pleased each than going to a boring desk job. Today world has diffidently become more of a lawless society. People are more willing to break the law for their own…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The American Dream

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There were many differences between the novella and the film. One of those differences was how Lennie killed the pup. Another is when one of the workers named Mike who also worked on the boss's land, asked to switch jobs with someone because he could not keep up. The final differences is the way George killed Lennie at the end.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The american dream

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages

    To this day whenever someone new comes to the United States they come along with a famous ethos “The American Dream”. Many people immigrate to America each year to receive their rightful freedoms, equality, and opportunities to achieve their goals. In recent discussion about the American Dream, a controversial fight has been over whether this dream still prospers and is achievable or if it is even a realistic idea to have anymore. On one hand, some people like Anne Jolis an editorial page writer for the Wall Street Journal Europe look at America today and say the “The dream today is in doubt”. From this perspective, MONEY is the power that runs basically everything in America and rules upon if you will achieve your dream. On the other hand however, people like Chris Demello argue that the dream is still alive and always will be. To me the American Dream is no longer obtainable. There is a horrible amount confusing and fighting that is happening in the States, the economy and government is more debt than ever before, and education is becoming worse preventing people to strive and their best to help the country run.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The American Dream

    • 1515 Words
    • 7 Pages

    “Fannie and Freddie Helped Spawn the Mortgage Crisis, So Did Affordable Housing Mandates” by Hans Bader January 9, 2012…

    • 1515 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The American Dream

    • 3111 Words
    • 13 Pages

    To achieve higher expectations of success than the previous generations, and accomplishing what hasn't already been accomplished, can be considered the overall American Dream. Generally, every child wants to surpass the achievements of their parents as a natural act of competition and personal satisfaction. Throughout The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, and Death of a Salesman, there is a constant yearning desire to achieve the “American Dream;” whether it be reality or illusion. Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Miller, all portray the ideas of the American Dream relating to the time period that they are referring to. The strive to achieve a goal whether it be to be the wealthiest or achieve a great life by hard work seems to be the template for the original American dream in the books. To be able to support one’s family, have a decent job, a car, and a home, is the stereotypical, “American dream.” Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Miller incorporate their ideas of the American dream symbolically throughout their stories.…

    • 3111 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The American Dream

    • 3069 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Throughout one’s life, a person will strive to reach a certain level of success. Each individual determines what he wants in life, and to what extent he will go to reach it. However, as The United States of America has risen so have these standards, resulting in many people determined to obtain items they do not need in order to achieve the temporary bliss of being better off than others. In 1931, James Adams coined the term “American dream,” stating that it was "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (Adams 404). Despite the fact that many of the citizens of America live truthfully to this dream, others would agree that with advances in technology and living standards, the so called “American dream” has changed. Another, more modernized version of the American dream has emerged stating that it “has become the pursuit of material prosperity - that people work more hours to get bigger cars, fancier homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families - but have less time to enjoy their prosperity” (American Dream). Many Americans have become more interested in having enough money to buy worldly and unnecessary possessions rather than living in a society where each person has the potential to reach his own goals. Throughout American literature, authors have portrayed how greed has intertwined itself with the progressing American dream of having material prosperity, resulting in a corrupt society.…

    • 3069 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The American Dream

    • 2100 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Generally considered that the American Dream consists of a healthy family, a well-paying job and a sturdy home. A lot of people dream about it and use all their opportunities to achieve it. However, the socioeconomic situation of the United States is an obstacle to this ideal. The characters who inhabit Raymond Carver’s Cathedral are blue-collar Americans confused and illusioned by the hollow image of an American dream they see on the TV screen every night. Denis Johnson’s protagonists, however, have never heard of an American dream, and are certainly not devoted to achieving it; their lives slip by a state of alcoholism and drug use and futures become brutally shapeless. Their despairs and disappointments are displaced instead through drug addiction, alcoholism, infidelity and unemployment. Nonetheless, there are rare but genuine pulses of hope in both authors’ stories. (Carvarian people find their own ways to communicate and affect each other in order to survive in this brutal world. Johnson’s character is influenced by his own experience and surroundings; his sparks of hope occur while he is on his journey to recovery.) Despite the fallacy of the American Dream, the characters of Denis Johnson and Raymond Carver have occasional moments of hope, either in the struggle to achieve the American Dream, or in spite of it.…

    • 2100 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Consumerism in America

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Consumerism is the center of American culture. Americans tend to confuse their wants with their needs. With new advances in technology, as well as the help of advertisers, people are provided with easy access to new products that seem essential to their everyday life, even though they have survived this long without them. People cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. But realistically, according to people's different lifestyles, more than food, clothing, and shelter are needed. Most people need to work to survive. Unless a job is either in their own home, or within walking distance, a means of transportation is needed. Whether it be a vehicle, money for a taxi-cab, or a token for a ride on the subway, money must be spent in order to reach the place of work. For a student, paper, pens, and possibly a computer are a necessity. In order to complete school assignments, these tools are sometimes even required. Schooling is required for many types of jobs, which provide money, which is without a doubt essential in life. Food, clothing, and shelter are not the only things needed to survive. The problem begins when people with a larger disposable income take it too far. A car is definitely needed, but the fastest car in the most attractive color is not. Needs begin getting confused with…

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays