117. Lewis refers in passing to the United States as "the most materialistic culture of the face of the earth." Do you think that's a fair assessment of this country? What evidence might be provided to substantiate such a claim? Is calling a country "materialistic" (wanting lots of things) the same thing as calling it "rich" (having the ability to acquire lots of things)?
On a related note, if wealth is not widely distributed throughout a country, is it fair to say that the country is rich (as opposed to saying that some people in the country are rich)? If you can find a reliable source on the internet that suggest which country is the richest, and where the United States ranks on that list, share it. When you look at the list, consider this: to what degree is the wealth of a nation a reflection of the character of its people?
To me, America is a materialistic country and a rich one. Is this necessarily a bad thing though? When I think of a poor country, for instance I think of developing countries that don't have what we call basic needs. Running water, food, modern medicine, and access to the internet at the drop of a hat are things we consider pertinent to our lives. But I don't think we consider that there are people in the world living without. With that said, I do not think that everyone who lives in a rich country is wealthy, nor do I think those in materialistic cultures are materialistic. But when people who are the poorest in our country have access to basic needs and opportunities, they have more than someone living in a poor country. I would also say that our desire to acquire more and more things stems from our "American Dream" mantra. We measure the success of our people by how much they have. How much money. How many followers on social media. How beautiful they are. I agree with Amos' wife on the account that while they may not have our luxuries or our "wealth", other countries have things that we do not. Israel, when talked about by Barbra, interacts with each other daily in a personal manner. Here we order our groceries online, and have the workers bring them out to us.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that America is definitely better off than most countries I wouldn’t call all of its citizens rich. Millions of Americans can’t afford access to healthcare and rely on food stamps and other assistance to feed themselves and their families. The cost of living is going up, but minimum wage isn’t increasing at the same rate causing more and more people to not be able to afford basic necessities. Compared to European and other developed countries we don’t provide as many opportunities and access to basic needs as we think. Just because a country has billionaires and is materialistic doesn’t make it rich. We’re an incredibly materialistic and wasteful country. Our society values quantity over quality and bases one’s success in life off how much and what type of material goods one owns. Whenever a new product or an upgraded version of something is released we quickly discard our perfectly good older stuff without a second thought. In conclusion I don’t think a materialistic country is automatically a wealthy one, but it is automatically a wasteful one.
DeleteI agree that the desire to acquire more comes from the American dream. I feel that Americans are just distanced, and that everything we measure people is by surface items. Many other countries are more tightly knit, valuing the whole human rather than what the human can do or obtain, or if they can become wealthy. So yes, I agree with Amos’s wife in that instance.
DeleteI was reminded of several of George Carlin’s bits when I read this line. I would agree that the average American greatly values his pricey possessions, more than most other countries. New York City is widely regarded as the finance capital of the world. Roughly 12% of the people who live there are millionaires. However, when I think of a “rich” country, I think more in terms of the median standard of living. If you lined up the population of a country and looked at the person in the middle, what goods, services, and opportunities for success would that person have? In that regard, many European countries beat the United States.
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