Hyper consumerism is a major problem in America and I do not think this problem will ever change. That mindset of “keeping up with the Johnson’s” is so true within this generation. I just watched a video on YouTube called “you don’t need this” where Emitai Etzoni discusses want vs. need and how humans are actually very simple. A Human only needs three things to be satisfied and happy. The problem today is choice, the more choices equals the better chance that consumers will be satisfied because of such a large variety. Freedom of choice is nothing more than the freedom to buy and consume. With that being said the increasing the number of choices is not so much about improving human well-being rather it’s about expanding the market and making money. Everybody always wants more and more which to me means the pursuit of happiness is unattainable. Greed equals American consumerism no one’s satisfied ever I look at it as exactly the same concept as the old saying money can’t buy happiness. Occasionally it is okay to go and spend or splurge on something you want but today’s society works by wanting, working, buying, using, and rinsing. Same concept as a drug addiction except the withdrawal stage is just significantly longer than that of a heroin addict. I guess you could say that this greedy nation is plagued by the addiction of want vs. need. Ever seen a movie where kids or adults are enjoying a nice Coca-Cola or Pepsi? Back then it was the only pop around and it was a luxury to enjoy one. Today they have soda dispensing machines with around 60 different choices that are all accessible by a computerized machine. You can go into any college cafeteria and find all different selections of beverages. All I’m saying is the things that used to be enjoyed were simple and with all this choice it takes away from the value of things. I remember how special I used to feel as a kid getting gifts on Christmas and birthdays. I really do not think kids are going to feel the same special way I felt because they will be in a society with an increasing greed driven, unsatisfied mind state.
It is crazy how wasteful the U.S is in different aspects. The sad part is everybody knows it which pisses me off. Do they even have plastic recycling in Arkansas? I just see everybody dump everything in the trash. That topic of waste isn’t even interesting rather more disturbing. My interest is the wasteful spending we do on others and this is something everyone should think about. Have you ever gone out and bought a gift for someone that you spent a decent amount of money on not really knowing if they would like the gift or not? Well let’s just say for kicks that they hate it, find no use for it, or don’t need it. This is concept is called deadweight loss and it’s the fancy economic term meaning waste says Joel Waldfogel “it’s a loss to one party that’s not offset as a gain to someone else. So for example, if I give you a dollar, that’s a loss to me, but it’s a gain to you, so that’s not a deadweight loss.” I never really thought about this concept but I think about how many times my dad who (has one of the largest arsenal of tools) has gotten gifts from my mother who always just goes out and buys random tools because she thinks he will like them but always keeps the receipt because she knows he’s going to exchange to most likely buy the correct item that he actually needs. Obviously when she buys clothes though there’s no exchanging those because she knows what he likes and my father will wear. So as a country we spend $70 billion dollars estimated on gifts for the holidays. The question the article The Economics of Wasteful Spending: The Deadweight Loss of Christmas asks is out of that hefty chunk of change how much is actually spent on gifts that satisfy the receiver and how much of that is wasted? The main issue comes from the buyers that have an obligation to give a gift but know nothing about what the recipient wants (this is my aunts). I think about how many times my brother and I received clothing from our aunts and have never worn anything they bought us. It’s funny because society teaches us to be polite and say thank you and take the useless gift. Newsflash how bout you buy us some notebooks, pencils, even a god damn shake weight for all we care. Buy us anything except brown wool sweaters or weird 2XL tee shirts because that is wasted money over the years and I estimate it to equate to upper hundreds of dollars.
The cost of our obsession from material goods is actually scary to think about. When I think about obsession with material things I always think of Michael Jordan. Air Jordan changed the way people look at the shoes on your feet. Back in the day Nike used to advertise that if you wore Jordan’s you would have a distinct known advantage over your competition. Ever seen the movie “Like Mike” where an orphan boy gets a pair of used Jordan’s? The boy is able to play in the NBA because of his new found advanced skills due to wearing a pair of shoes. The real truth about the cost of the obsession of these shoes can be seen in lyrics like North Carolina rapper J-coles “They killin’ people for J’s, that’s death over designer”. The same situation is seen in west coast rapper The Games lyrics “I stay strapped like car seats, been bangin since my lil nigga Rob got killed for his Barkley's, that's 10 years I told Pooh in 95' I'd kill you if you try me for my Air Max 95s.” In both verses the rappers are talking about instances in which people kill each other like savages for notoriously popular shoes. Personally from a business perspective a shoe fetish can be looked at in two regards. You either have one have a major problem or two if you know how to keep these shoes clean, and presentable, you are looking at items that that may have significant value down the road. Another example of an obsession with “stuff” can be seen every year on black Friday in Wal-Mart. Just a personal opinion here but I know there’s some good deals out there but you’re crazy if you think you’re going to find that hot deal in Wal-Mart on black Friday because the items are in such limited quantities that you’re going to have to throw fists to have a chance to get what you’re looking for. The best bet is to wait until Cyber-Monday and avoid the crazies by sitting within the comfort of your home and ordering hopefully necessities vs. wants online. The question you asked is can you say no? Honestly I think I could but at this moment I am brainwashed just like the rest of society.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/the-economics-of-wasteful-spen/