Consumerism In America

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

wants, and money is spent on the most silly and necessary items. There is nothing wrong with spending extra money on items to make life more convenient, but with the help of clever advertisers, money is spent wastefully and carelessly. People who spend money extravagantly and unwisely lead to a culture that has become wasteful.

New products such as the iPod, a portable device

that holds hours and hours of music, are extremely

convenient. People are used to carrying around portable

cassette tape walkmans, or portable CD players, which hold

only one cassette tape, or one compact disc, providing only

one hour of music, maybe two at the most. As well as having access to up to five-thousand songs, the iPod is very easy to carry around, and it only weighs 5.6 ounces

(apple.com/ipod). Choosing between a portable cassette tape walkman, portable discman, or an iPod would be a fairly easy choice for anyone who can afford to spend an extra three-hundred dollars. The iPod is an easy, convenient way to listen to music anywhere. While the iPod is defiantly not a necessity, it is useful. Unfortunately, the creators of the iPod did not stop there. It did not take long for them to come up with the iPod Mini and iPod Special Edition. The iPod Mini is a smaller version of the

iPod, with a few different features, but no major difference. The Special Edition iPod is black with a red wheel. It has few music features that are different from the original and mini, yet costs fifty dollars more than the original iPod. This is when spending money becomes ridiculous, for there is no important reason to buy the Special Edition iPod instead of the original.

As said before, vehicles are needed for a means of

transportation. Of course everyone wants a car that is

reliable and safe, but some people feel the need to have an

extremely fast car. While it is natural for people to want

their possessions to look appealing and nice, again, some

take it too far. Things such as iridescent paints for cars

are completely unnecessary. While a family of six probably

needs a mini-van or a sports utility vehicle to tend to all

the members of their family, a television is not needed.

Spending disposable income on something such as that is

being wasteful, and that money could serve a better purpose

for other people, especially with the amount of Americans

and people from other countries living below the poverty

level. It could be said that buying anything that is not

completely necessary is not right, because that money could

be used for a better purpose. However, Americans can choose to spend their disposable income however they would like,and it makes sense to buy products that make life more

convenient. Americans just tend to cross over the line of

what is reasonable and useful, and what is wasteful.

Advertisers make their products seem extremely

important in life, and as if they are needed to survive.

Sometimes using false hope, advertisers convince their

consumers that they must go out and buy the product right

now, because it is life changing, and results will be seen

quickly. Weight loss and beauty products are advertised in

magazines, on the internet, and practically everywhere there are ads. They make the customer feel as though they are not good enough, as if they have something missing. Weight loss products make claims, that are usually false, promising that the buyer will look and feel better about themselves. By showing pictures of other's results after using the product, a customer could be convinced into investing in the product themselves. Beauty products are advertised in a similar way. Usually targeted towards women, most of the time they contain pictures of beautiful women, using or wearing whatever lipstick, nail polish, or shampoo that the particular company is advertising. When a

women sees an advertisement that first makes her feel as though she is not good enough, she may be more likely to buy the product, in hopes of becoming what she is not. Although many people know that products do not always do exactly what they say

they will, people continue to buy these things. An advertisement for Hydoxycut, in Fitness Magazine, shows a beautiful woman in a white shirt, exposing her stomach, and low-riding brown pants. She has a smile on her