Americans have more “stuff” than ever before, but does that mean that we are happier? In most cases the answer is no. The increase in consumerism has led to an increase in debt which is one major source of unhappiness among Americans. When income does not match the aspirations for buying is when the real issue begins. Excessive consumerism is a serious issue in America because it is causing psychological effects and hurting relationships, a more minimalistic lifestyle should be adopted.

“As with all things psychological, the relationship between mental state and materialism is complex” (DeAngelis). It is true that psychologists have not come up with just one answer to this problem of excessive consumerism. Two very influential psychologists, Fromm and Lach, began looking into excessive consumerism and its effects and found that no matter which way it is looked at it is “detrimental to the well-being of people” (Brunner, 181). Now, a few specific side effects that have been noticed: type-A behavior, ruined relationships, narcissistic personality, insecurity and just general unhappiness (Gregorie). By noticing these few things about materialism psychologists have taken major steps to not only pin-pointing the exact signs of materialism, but also figuring out how to help these people. Unless you are an extreme minimalist, being aware of this issue is very important. 

People who are considered “rich” in our society seem to have it all. But really, they probably struggle with the effects of excessive consumerism the most. Because they have the money to fuel their materialism, their relationships suffer. People with “materialistic values tend to have lower-quality relationships, and to feel less connected to others” (Gregorie). This leaves the more wealthy in our society feeling very lonely, because they are more connected to their “stuff” than they are their spouses and or other friends and family. “Extremely wealthy people actually suffer from higher rates of depression” (Gregorie) and not necessarily because of the money, but because most of the time they are continually striving for more money and not to better themselves in longer-lasting ways.  Also, more affluent people struggle with being more narcissistic, which can also affect relationships. “Materialistic values tend to have lower-quality relationships, and to feel less connected to others” (Gregorie). If someone is more concerned with themselves than anybody else then it makes it difficult to create long-lasting relationships. Even though the effluent’s bank account is not hurting from their consumerism habit their relationships are which is just leaving them lonely and unhappy.

As stated before a lot of the unhappiness lies within people who have higher aspirations for what they would like to buy than they have the monetary ability to acquire. For some reason a lot of Americans have created a habit of just charging things to their credit card without the thought of if they are able to pay the bill at the end of the month. In Gregorie’s article “The Psychology Of Materialism, And Why It’s Making You Unhappy” she pulls from Walsh’s article “If You Shop on Thanksgiving, You’re Apart of the Problem” which says “That’s our entire economic system: buy things. Everybody buy. It doesn’t matter what you buy. Just buy. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money. Just buy… Buy like you breathe only more frequently.”  As the overall debt increased so have the depression rates. Once people are sad “we then try to restore social connections and environmental quality through private purchases. (Lonely? Buy a new car, and you will attract others. Living in an ugly world of strip malls? Visit a tropical paradise for a few days.)” (DeGraff, 23). These purchases still cannot be afforded and more debt is created which just creates more unhappiness in the long run. It truly is a vicious cycle for materialists. In the end, the entire issue of excessive consumerism cannot be blamed on the people as there are external factors that contribute to this issue.

Since the 1950’s, consumerism has grown tremendously, but so has the ability to buy things. It is no longer required for you to even leave the comfort of your home. Everything that is in a brick and mortar store is now also online. Not only can you shop online, but also there are home shopping channels and catalogs to order from. About twenty billion mail order catalogs are sent out every year (Degraff, 18). The ease of access has made it harder and harder for Americans to say no to buying that item that seems like a necessity now, but three months from now this necessity will find its home in the back of their closet. Even if there was not this ease of access for buying, marketing strategies today bombard people. They are so convincing they make people feel like their life is incomplete without whatever they are selling and they would be willing to drive and buy whatever it is. In DeAngelis’s article she pull the quote “we end up blaming the victim, in this instance by locating materialism primarily in the person while ignoring the huge corporate culture that is invading so much of our lives.” This points out the issue that we are blaming the consumer a little too much. While consumers are not blameless for their materialism, the corporate culture has created an environment that makes people feel as though the only way to thrive is to give into buying. 

Corporate culture is not the only thing that could have led someone to being materialistic. From a young age various decisions that you and the adults in your life make, influence who you become later in life. “Teens who reported having higher materialistic attitudes tended to be poorer and to have less nurturing mothers than those with lower materialism scores, the team found” (De Angelis). Also, “young people whose parents were undergoing or had undergone divorce or separation were more prone to developing materialistic values later in life than those from intact homes” (DeAngelis).  Both of these cannot be controlled by the child. These are decisions that are made with no regard to them and the consequences that come with those decisions. Besides decisions adults make that affect teens and children, the age group of two to fourteen influence purchases that make up five-hundred billion annually (Kanner, 213). Marketing has in recent years, due to the de-regulation of children’s television, targeted children by using very dramatic and exciting commercials. This a very effective tactic because children process dramatics different than adults. Adults can recognize the underlying motives for that type of commercial, but children just remember the dramatic parts and set their sights on obtaining that excitement in their life. Once the child gets whatever they were wanting for not only does it set bad habits of materialism, but also most of the things that are bad for children are advertised in this way to children. This would include violence and junk food. Violence in video games and the media have been presented to kids as “fun and exciting and that no one gets hurt” (Kanner, 221). Since at a young age people have a hard time sorting out the fantasy from reality this much violence effects their social, emotional and intellectual development. Lastly, advertisements for candy and junk food has affected the obesity rates in America. These companies link what kids might see everyday to their food product so that they always want more. The links are made with characters in the media where they will see it on TV and without even thinking about it want to eat whatever it is. Obesity and development problems will follow these children throughout the rest of their lives. Consumerism is making too much of an affect at an early age.

Besides affecting people our excessive consumerism also affects the environment. Climate change, deforestation and clean water are all issues that excessive consumerism contribute to. A major reason for consumerism contributing to climate change is factories. “Globally we use well over 20 times the energy per year that we used in 1900” (Kanner, 72). All of the energy that is used has emissions that don’t just go away. These emissions go straight into our air and contribute to global warming and climate change. About 60 percent of global greenhouse emissions are derived from consumer culture (Jacobs). Global warming has been something that has been argued time and time again as to whether it is a conspiracy or not, but in the end the facts speak for themselves. Just by changing the consumer population’s consumption a serious amount of toxic emissions would be reduced. An example of a change that could be made is reducing the amount of cars on the road. Driving cars is an example of a way that consumers directly contribute to these greenhouse gasses. America specifically has the most cars which is why America is also the leading contributor in carbon dioxide per capita (Jacobs). Not only though are we creating more and more carbon dioxide but America is also cutting down our sources or oxygen, trees. Whether it be for fuel or land for factories or homes, deforestation is a serious issue. “Harvesting, development, and fuel gathering have already destroyed approximately four fifths of the world’s original forest cover” (Kanner, 72). This is a very dangerous situation because without trees there is nothing to take in the carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. Along with this issue that change in climate from deforestation creates changes in weather like flooding, landslides, and clogging of waterways (Kanner, 72). If this pattern of consumption is followed, future generations earth will look much different than its current state that we live in. Lastly, excessive consumerism has cause the issue of clean water. Only three percent of the earths water is usable (Kanner, 73). This three percent is still a very large amount considering the amount of water that is on the earth but, chemical pollution is rapidly diminishing that amount of water. A industry that oddly effects the depletion of water is the meat industry. 

“Each calorie from meat consumed takes seven times the energy required to produce one calorie from grain. Moreover, because grain is irrigated to grow cattle feed, water is essentially wasted and contaminated to produce meat” (Kanner, 74)

Reducing the amount of meat eaten is a small thing all households can do to help with the problem of diminishing clean water. While when thinking about excessive consumerism thinking about the effects it has on you is important, but also thinking about the effects it has on the environment and future generations is also very important. 

“So if you’re like me and occasionally use the individual-action-doesn’t-matter rationale to, say, buy cheap home furnishings from Target, then it’s time to face the music: Consumerism is killing the planet (and  our souls)” (Jacobs).

In the end, the question is, if you are that person who is caught up in the world of consumerism can you change and become a happier person? The answer is yes, but for some it may not be very simple. The cliché “the first step to recovery to admitting you have a problem” is very true in this situation. Someone could truly believe that buying more makes them happier, but the truth is it does not. Once one has admitted they have a problem it can now be solved. One way to remedy excessive consumerism is through mindfulness. The means you have a “focused awareness on the present moment, which can be cultivated through meditation and contemplative practice” (Gregorie). The more you are aware of what you have right now rather than thinking about what you will be getting in the future, the less urge you have to buy more. Another way to help with ones problem with excessive consumerism is to understand your motivations. Is it advertisements promise of “adventure, reputation, esteem, joy, fulfillment, and sex” (Becker)? Or is the lure of fitting in? If the answer is yes to the first question then continually reminding yourself of the lies in every single advertisement you see is important in your road to recovery. If the answer is yes to the second question then it is important to remember, 

“Just because your neighbors, classmates, and friends are chasing a certain style of life does not mean you need to as well. Your life is too unique to live like everyone else. And if you think you’ll be happier by following all the latest trends in society, you are wrong. Just ask anybody who has stopped.” (Becker)

Lastly to remedy a consumerism issue, you have to understand that things are fleeting but memories and experiences last forever. So, doing more of what you love and makes you happy will be the greatest thing you can do for yourself (Becker). Doing these simples things can be harder for some, but in the long run the research shows that remedying one’s consumerism issue will make them tremendously happier. 

Although consumerism and spending money go hand in hand there have been ways proven to make you happy while spending money. In Michael Nortons TED talk “How to Buy Happiness,” he gives his results from an experiment done with college students. The experiment was he gave envelopes of money to these students and either told them to spend it on themselves or spend it on someone else. Some of the envelopes had five dollars and others had twenty dollars, in the end though the results were the same and the amount of money did not matter. When asked how spending this money made the students feel the people who spent it on someone else all reported that they were happier than they were before and the people who spent it on themselves felt indifferent. So, in the end the conclusion from this can be that it is not the money that is making us unhappy, rather what we are spending it on. By spending more money on others or giving away possessions that you may already have “your life will feel lighter. Your heart will feel warmer. The world will be better” (Becker). Or if you are going to just spend money on yourself, “purchase only what you need to more effectively accomplish your unique role in this world—everything else is only a distraction” (Becker). Everyone has a role to fulfill on this earth and that plan does not include you being unhappy with yourself. If spending money to get where you need to be is necessary than that is money well spent. Spending money on things that are fleeting is not money well spent and that is where the problem comes in. 

Throughout this paper excessive consumerism has been proven to be bad in every situation. Besides the major negative side effects though it was also stated that there are ways to spend your money to be happy and ways to help stop the vicious cycle of excessive consumerism. Based on the research anyone can come to a conclusion that this is an issue that needs to be addressed in order to not only help the people in America, but also the ecological state of the Earth. 
