Feature What’s behind American consumerism? As Americans increasingly spend more than they earn‚ psychological research is providing clues as to why. By Amy Novotney Monitor Staff July/August 2008‚ Vol 39‚ No. 7 Print version: page 40 Woman holding a bag and a credit card One bright spot in the midst of the country’s economic downturn may be a long-overdue focus on reining in our spending. Since 1982‚ Americans’ personal savings rate has dropped from 11 percent to below zero‚
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Consumerism: Using coupons to save money Gina York ENG102 May 23‚ 2012 Sarah Giragosian Consumerism: Using coupons to save money Consumers face daily struggles. However‚ many would say that the one thing they struggle with the most is how to find ways to stretch their paycheck enough to cover the bills and put food on the table. In fact‚ despite having two paychecks coming in‚ the average American family is still unable to make ends meet. While we can eliminate some things from our daily
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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
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Social forces‚ particularly the media‚ have contributed to a phenomenon in which consumerism is highly accentuated in the African American community (Dillon‚ 2010). In recent years‚ it has become evident that consumption and materialism is heavily emphasized in African American culture‚ especially when considering the plethora of rap and hip hop songs and even movies praising such consumerism (Mukherjee‚ 2006). It is becoming increasingly evident that the ability to consume is equated with achievement
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CONSUMERISM ESSAY Whoever said money can’t buy happiness? Today‚ the argument can be made that happiness and consumerism are directly linked. It is fair to say that happiness is a relative term for different people. However‚ the obtaining of new and shiny things has become such a part of everyday life‚ that it provides happiness when people are purchasing something new‚ and causes sadness when no buying is taking place. For many‚ it seems to be a protective coating against the harsh
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Jo Littler BEYOND THE BOYCOTT Anti-consumerism‚ cultural change and the limits of reflexivity This article focuses on the possibilities and limitations of reflexivity in contemporary anti-consumerism activist discourse. Opening by noting that much contemporary anti-consumerist discourse has a fraught relationship with what was once termed ‘identity politics’‚ in that it often attempts to reject or negotiate with an idea of identity politics that is figured as existing in the recent past‚ the article
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In “Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching” Lao- Tzu has an anti-materialistic view point. He believes that possessions and wealth are leaden weights of the soul; they are meaningless and trivial. Any truly free and enlightened person will regard them as evil. (22) Being in a state of true enlightenment means not being overly concerned with possessions and learning to be completely satisfied with the items you do possess which are within your means. The advertisers in this commercial use one rhetorical
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DISHONEST FACE OF CONSUMERISM A statistic illustrates that in 1950‚ there is one car for every fifty people but in 2009‚ there are more than one car for every twelve people in America. This example demonstrates the increasing effect of consumerism by the end of the 20th century. According to Cambridge Dictionary‚ consumerism is the situation in which too much attention is given to buying andowning things. In the light of this definition‚ it can be concluded that consumerism usually leads to
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Felicia Gardner HMXP 102 Dr. Matthew Fike October 13‚ 2010 Consumerism In Children Introduction When I was two years old my mother enrolled me in gymnastics. Gymnastics was a huge part of my life for the next four years. After moving up to be with the fourteen and fifteen year olds my mother realized that something was not right‚ because I was having body issues at the age of six. In the text “How Do Our Children Get So Caught Up In Consumerism” by Brian Swimme he addresses the issue of how deeply affected
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Ethics of Consumerism Abstract: Consumerism is the economic philosophy that the increased consumption of goods and services by people above the commonly established level of basic needs is good for the society and economy. The question of ethics came into existence in this context because of the nature of the business interest groups to exploit the opportunity in the wake of increased consumer spending to their advantage irrespective of what would be the consequences over a longer period
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