American Consumerism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American Consumerism - Essay Example This essay shall shed more light on American Consumerism as described in the work of Dratch and Schor. A lot of Americans generally feel dissatisfied in terms of material possession. This is in relation with the interview of Schor (1). However, this does not mean that they overspend in purchasing goods to fulfill their needs but they purchase these goods because they want these goods to live comfortably. This explains why a lot of Americans work for longer hours as opposed to citizens in other countries. The need to satisfy this wish list, as well as work more to fulfill is one that leads to their being the best savers. A good example is how Americans purchase goods that relate to their own lifestyle. A great percentage of Americans will purchase a car that appeals to them, visit specific shopping malls, rent specific houses, and even dress in specific designer clothes. This explains that they wanted that particular type of good but did not need it. Such kind of lifestyle pushes them to get to that particular brand of product so as to retain their image and class in the society. Americans lead a rich lifestyle yet they spend very little amounts of money. This is from the compilation of Dratch (1). Americans have been said to be the best analyzers of their spending habits and do not purchase goods to please other people. Through the making of budgets just as Dratch recommends (1), Americans avoid being materialistic and making purchases to please other people. This means that they only purchase goods that are important at that particular time in their life or goods that will add value to their present life. The American consumer cannot be said to lack self discipline. This is derived from the interview of Schor with Soron (Schor 1). Additionally, the media through advertisements cannot be blamed for the consumer behavior of the Americans (Schor 1).