Materialism

"We live in a greedy little world/that teaches every little boy and girl/to earn as much as they can possibly/then to turn around and spend this foolishly". Shania Twain says it best: We do live in a "greedy little world". I write this blog post on Black Friday. It's nighttime so things have died down but I have pretty much looked at the entire day but I spent the day in town, shopping and going through sale after sale after sale. In fact, my mother and my sister started off the day outside of the mall, standing in line with everyone else waiting to burst into the mall. And for what? Good deals. It's ironic that we have Black Friday after Thanksgiving; nothing seems more hypocritical. 

Americans are trapped. Perhaps the rest of the world is too. We are exposed to more advertisements than we ever have before and we are given a whole new bubble of technology to distract us. This is a perfect set of conditions for everything to brew under. 

Small children want toys. Yet, in a way, adults want toys too. They want their fancy gadgets: iPods/iPads, TVs, nice laptops, cars. All of it.  

We have become addicted to things. They're all that we're able to think about, it seems. Everyone works so hard only to blow all of their money away. 

And who can blame us? People have been groomed. We're supposed to go to college, take on debt, get out credit cards, get a nice, big house, get a car expensive enough to be someone else's salary and be able to pay for the college tuition of the 2.5 kids we're supposed to have. Ads murmur to our basest selves and peer pressure is even louder. 

When I walk through hallways, I see girls with Juicy Couture and Vera Bradley, Abercrombie and Fitch as well as so many other designer clothes. For many, I can see how this would be enough to start up the urge and learn a set of behaviors that would make the urge strong for their entire lives. And that's pretty much the state of our society. 

With this kind of attitude, it's easy to forget what's actually important in life. It's easy to lose track of the fact that there are the deeper pleasures of life, that some things cannot be so easily replaced as toys can be. It's easy to lose yourself. 

Sure, people might acknowledge it in a shallow day like they do on Thanksgiving. They pretend that they've really mulled over their true blessings rather than just brushing it aside. They pretend that Thanksgiving is really about family rather than awkward situations, stress and turkey. Then their true natures emerge on Black Friday, when they show what has really ruled their lives. 


Of course, relishing in physical things isn't too bad if done in moderation. The only problem is that it seems most people are obsessed with it, that their whole lives are centered on it. And that's where the real problem lies right now. 

Materialism in excess leaves you distracted. You forget about love, happiness, freedom, thought. You only want things, only want to fill the deep hole inside of your chest. The only problem is that that deep hole will never be able to be filled. That greed inside will be insatiable because someone will always have more. Instead, you have an addiction you cannot fully shake. 

I truly feel sorry for these materialistic people. One day, they'll wake up and they'll realize that their life and everyone  in it is gone. 

Materialism has slowly buried our minds, our hearts and everything in between under layers of pretty toys.