Dulce Garcia 1

Dulce Garcia

Scott Harpt

English Composition #22769

2/27/2022

Consumerism AND happiness/quality of life

Consumerism is just another word for many people, especially when you have a life full

of luxuries and the comfort of spending without worrying that your money will run out. But

unfortunately, not all people have the opportunity to spend lavishly. Nowadays, we all worry

about looking good, about having the best, but we don’t worry about what matters. For example,

when a child cries because he wants a toy, the first thing they think about is buying it so that he

stops crying. Or when we buy when we don’t need it, we throw it away the first time we use it.

We do not realize that we are the cause of the planet being the way it is. So, I have a question,

does being materialistic make people happy? Growing up full of luxuries can be a good thing,

but you have to know how to educate your children to face situations in which if they lose the

way of living with the comfort that they have been used to, they know how to react according to

the circumstances. The class developed the theme of consumerism, and the articles that we saw

are related to different points of view of the authors. The issues that I would like to discuss are

below.

The first article I’d like to talk about is “Healthy economy should thrive, not grow” by

Kate Raworth’s TED tack video. The author explains how the economy has been affected by the

inadequate management of companies that only care about producing and not growing. One of

the reasons why the economy is being affected is because, as Raworth says, “we take earth’s
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materials, make them into stuff we want, use it for a while, often only once, and then throw it

away, and that is pushing us over planetary boundaries” (Raworth).

Figure 1 The doughnut of social and planetary boundaries 2017 (Raworth).

Regarding the conference that Raworth gave and the presentation that she made on the

doughnut of social and planetary boundaries, I agree with the project that she proposes, since

applying it would change the economy and help people who have nowhere to live, what to eat,

and give them a better quality of life.

The second article is about “How to raise a minimalist” by Lisa Armstrong where she

explains the benefits of raising a minimalist. If people start raising minimalists from a young age,

it is possible that a different approach to life, therefore, helps with a better economy. One might
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think that they are a minimalist, but there are more people with less leaving one to help that has

overconsumed in materials that are not necessary.

The advertising has a lot to do with it since if a person sees something new, they want to

buy it without needing it. Each person needs to want to buy what others have. That is why the

economy is the way it is because we consume without need, and then if we no longer like it, we

throw it away when other people can use it. Armstrong wrote, “by raising a minimalist, a better

mindset can provide” (p. 73). I want to say that I agree with Armstrong’s points about the benefit

of teaching their children to be minimalists. Since they teach them that they do not necessarily

have to have a lot to be happy.

The third article is about “Consumerism and quality of life” by Anna Drapińska where

she explains “The phenomenon of consumerism, excessive consumption of goods and services

unjustified by actual human needs and disregarding social, environmental and individual costs,”

is being increasingly discussed (p. 103). Consumerism has always been around since the

beginning of humanity, which has had several impacts due to population growth and the need to

make a living. There are good things about consumerism that lead to a better quality of life; for

example, without the need to consume so much would possibly have adverse effects on product

production, which could impact the quality of life because one would not be able to make a

living and adequately provide for themself or family as Drapińska says, “whether high

consumption level actually leads to an increase in the quality of life” (p. 103).

Our population worldwide grows every year; more consumerisms will occur naturally; it

seems that the quality of life feeds off of consumerism. No matter what position one is in living

their quality of life, there will always be that need to want a little more, whether it be material or

to improve their way of life. It is hard to say what is needed for an excellent quality of life as
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there are so many different situations in life that will have a significant effect on consumerism; it

could mean a reduced amount from one person and maybe a more substantial amount from

another person. In the end, one needs to make their own choices on what is needed and hope that

the best decisions are made when consuming products.

In the article “The Myth of America’s Culture of Consumerism” by Joseph N. Cogen, the

author argues “why American consumption has boomed over the past three decades, even as

wages have stagnated, and debt has risen” (Cogen). However, of course, consumption is no

longer a pleasure compared to other times. Still, a necessity, since no matter how much we want

to save, it is not possible because every time more things are needed both for the home, for

education, work, food, among other things. Although we all indeed spend on unnecessary things,

for example, when a new item comes out, we always buy it without needing it. As a result of our

expenses at home, I would like to add the graph below to demonstrate the change from the 1970s

to 2010.

120 200

110 150

100 100

90 50

80 0

Consumption Savings Loans

Figure 1. Household consumption (% GDP), net savings (% disposable income), and consumer loans (% GDP) in the United
States, 1970–2011. GDP: gross domestic product.
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In the graph, we can see how consumerism and loans are up to the limit, and savings,

unfortunately, is as if it did not exist. Unfortunately, advertising also does its job by promoting

the items people consume. Therefore, a significant factor so that the economy will not affect

the population so much would be to limit spending on unnecessary things. That is why we

must teach ourselves to be minimalists.

Works Cited

Raworth, Kate. "A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow." ted.com, Apr. 2018,

www.ted.com/talks/kate_raworth_a_healthy_economy_should_be_designed_to_thrive_not_

grow.

Armstrong, Lisa. “How to Raise a Minimalist.” Real Simple, vol. 19, no. 11, Nov. 2018,

pp. 71–74.

Drapińska, Anna. “Consumerism and the Quality of Life.” Handel Wewnêtrzny, no. 5, Sept.

2017, pp. 10

Cohen, Joseph N. “The Myth of America’s ‘Culture of Consumerism’: Policy May Help

Drive American Household’s Fraying Finances.” Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 16, no. 2,

July 2016, pp. 531–554. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/1469540514528196.3–110.