Many people say that we now live in ‘consumer societies’ where money and possessions are given too much importance. Others believe that consumer culture has played a vital role in improving our lives.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
People have different views about the impacts of consumerism on our society. While a school of thought holds that money and material possessions are over-prioritized in our consumer society today, others believe that such a culture has significantly contributed to the improvement of our lives. Personally, I agree with the former view because this way of life has made humans greedier and more selfish and has put our mother nature in jeopardy.
On the one hand, there are several reasons why some people are in favour of a consumer society. Firstly, the ever-increasing demand to possess more can facilitate economic growth. For example, international trade in Vietnam has more than tripled over the last few decades due to the surge in demand for foreign products. Furthermore, the consumer culture has also given rise to more employment opportunities as more human resources are needed for mass-production and manufacturing. As a result, more people are able to earn a higher income, which has significantly improved their standard of living and reduced the overall rate of poverty. However, the benefits that consumerism brings are only short-termed because a sustainable society needs to develop in harmony with nature.
On the other hand, I would concur with those who believe that consumerism does more harm than good to human beings the world over. As most manufacturers aim to increase sales and tempt people to buy more to maximize their profits, many have embraced planned obsolescence and deliberately created short-lived consumer goods that are meant to be disposable. This has significantly contributed to the already overwhelming amount of waste being dumped in landfill sites, and thus exacerbating current environmental problems. Second, consumer societies often encourage people to associate wealth with happiness, meaning that the more they can own, the happier they will be. This can result in many placing material possessions over other traditional values such as compassion and empathy, which can eventually create a selfish and greedy generation.
In conclusion, while the growth of consumerism does bring about many benefits, I believe that the price we have to pay in terms of our environment and our traditional values is much more significant and thus, we should not give too much importance to financial and material possessions.