Materialism

Materialism: Can it make you Happy?

Can Greed and Materialism lead to true happiness? "Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works and greed will save the USA." (Wall Street) "Cause we are living in a material world and I am a material girl" a theme in one of Madonna's most famous songs.

Greed and materialism stand in apposition to any manifestation of true happiness. People are under a false perception that money will solve all of their problems and as a result bring them their utmost joy and happiness. Many psychologists, philosophers, and religious figures throughout the ages have refuted this assertion. People in American society take money very seriously because it can either make or break your life choices. In order to fit in today's society Americans feel the need to obtain material assets so that they are looked upon as being "in style" or being economically sufficient. Money and greed is the main factors that cause people to be in debt. People today work hard to obtain wealth and success not so that they can be happy but just because they want to "keep up with the Jones". Money can only make you happy temporally because if you are working hard just so that you can buy material things you really are not going to enjoy them because all of your time and energy is put into maintaining your material wealth by working extra hard.

It is Normal to think that money is not everything in life, although in the world we live in your not going to accomplish anything or get anywhere or even live a life that is considered normal to the world without money. Even though you cannot buy love or happiness you are very unlikely to find either if your living under a bridge. We rely on money, if all the money in the world disappeared tomorrow the world, as we know it would collapse. Everything is connected to money in some way. Everything essentially has a price tag on it if your pocket is fat enough. This is what makes money extremely appealing. But money shouldn't be the driving force that motivates people to be successful and wealthy. People should be driven by pride, integrity, and happiness.

Materialism also is the standards that other people see that we think we have to live by. As Webster's Dictionary state,