The way of life of a modern society is quite interesting, and far removed from the ways people lived in previous eras. In the industrial age, mass production has created a market where, provided you live in the right place, you can get virtually anything you want. In fact, the focus of a consumerist society is to gather as many things as possible; the determination of status in this type of world is based on how much you have, and how much those things cost. This is more true in America than it is in any other country, given the vast resources and the substantial control that American industry has over the world economy. However, it can be argued that the overemphasis on consumerism that has been found in the modern world has led to a moral bankruptcy which turns a blind eye to the poor in favor of holding on to whatever we wish to keep.
Americans consume more than any other people in the world - we constantly take, take, and take, and there must be a reason for this. Consuming so much can take a moral and ethical toll on a people - entitlement can take place, breeding resentment and obsession with getting the next thing. Since Americans consume so much, and this very consumption can have dramatic effects on the fiber of a people's principles, it stands to reason that Americans are facing a crisis of consumerism. This obsession with materialism must, at the very least, be examined further if it is to be determined that said consumerism should be accepted as "the American way."
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, people lived in relative scarcity; things were accepted as they were given to people, and people merely worked within their own limitations. After the Industrial Revolution and the advances in technology that started with World War II, however, Americans found themselves at the start of a brand new age - more and more new technologies, fashions and medicines were being created, more than they could possibly keep up with. At the same time, they had the means and the will to work towards possessing these things. Thus, the consumer culture was born - advertising and marketing worked toward making people want all the new things that were being created. The new American lifestyle was created, where everyone had a house with a white picket fence, their own dishwasher and speedboat, and so on - an ideal was made that every American was told they could reach. So reach they did; people worked harder, prices fell, manufacturing methods improved to make things cheaper to buy as income rose, making it easy to find products that nearly every American citizen would buy. Of course, that has led to a diminishing of certain principles along the way.
This trend of consumerism extends even to the clothes people wear. People are extremely obsessed with fashion, and American consumerism has lent itself to a clothes-buying culture that is nearly backwards in its assumptions of what people want, or why they want it. There are trends in consumer culture that create the image of poverty; buying ratty, distressed clothes at high-end stores for lots of money, for example. This is one of the symptoms of American consumer culture - utility is no longer the issue, but consumerism is tied into social status and prestige. To have more is to be more, and that equates to buying things that people do not need. Junior jet-setters become the new celebrities, providing another rung on the social ladder for ordinary people to aspire to - particularly in terms of the clothes they wear.
Mass production of food has led to a large food surplus in many industrialized nations; however, this has also led to a vast increase in obesity among those who can afford this food. The factorization of food has led to the super-sizing of America and American food intake; instead of making people buy two regularly sized things, people were found to want to buy one larger thing; this led the increasing of portions to fit the American appetite. American consumerism went along with it, and the result was an emphasis on value. People wanted more for their money, as they always do. When Americans in particular know (or are led to believe) they are getting a 'deal,' they will more often than not take advantage of it. The most egregious aspect of this is that they will take the deal, even though it is more than they need or want. This is further evidence of the American taste for more leading to a compromising of principles and existing social ideas for the sake of consuming.
All of these trends in consumerism stem from a central idea of the insecurity of the American people, particularly as they stand as the sole superpower remaining in the world. Americans are constantly in fear of falling behind, and are never satisfied with what they have. This leads them to consume more and more, in order to fill the hole they have in their lives with not having enough. This stems from the uniquely American cultural milieu, which is a melting pot of different cultures, as well as the overall prosperity of the majority of Americans.
It should be said that, perhaps, American consumerism is not as dire as one would think. It is the very push for materials and things that has led America to become a world superpower; their excess is a consequence of being able to have so much. This despair at 'not having enough' could be a symptom of their drive for excellence; they do not wish to simply rest on their laurels and let the world pass them by. There can be no question that consumerism is a cornerstone of American culture - it is the lifeblood of a capitalist society. However, there are those who could argue that this consumerism is good for America. The American thirst for achievement remains in many people, and so they wish to work hard to have the ability to buy the things they want. It is not enough to have lots of money; one must be able to get things with that money in order to display to their friends and family that they have made it.
There is a level at which capitalism and consumerism can go too far, though - when the illusion of choice is removed from the people and placed in the hands of those who know exactly how to push their psychological buttons. From the clothing companies, who sell a lifestyle rather than the exact clothes, to the food industry that offers unhealthy amounts of processed food for less than healthy, organic food, the need for profit - for more - has led Americans toward habits they simply have too hard a time breaking. This leads to overtreatment and an overall fear that they do not have enough. Given just how empty American life can seem to those who live in it, is it truly good to have more? Or will it merely make you sad that you don't have what the others have?
In conclusion, the uniquely American brand of consumerism is thought to be an overall destructive force in the lives of those who experience it. The life of excess that a constant search for resources and materials leads to can tend to create a sense of melancholy and emptiness, not to mention a fear for the future, that leads to those with means searching for more to fill that hole. Looking for potential solutions is hard; essentially, it would mean an end to the 'must have everything' mentality that pervades most of American culture. Consuming, in and of itself, is not a bad thing; in American consumer culture, however, it has gone too far, and the people are suffering as a result. This has led to a plateauing of the quest for excellence inherent to the American people; their search for identity and more things to consume and possess has led them to play it safe, and maintain their old lifestyles for fear of change.
