Introduction
Materialism has a long history that began in the middle of the 19th century with the second industrial revolution and the advancement of electricity and the production of steel. Materialism implies a belief that industrially created goods, new technologies, and scientific developments underlie human happiness and are the key to the solution of all of the problems. In other words, materialism is based on people’s obsession to hold a certain status, own specific goods, and be wealthy (Kasser 489). The current paper examines the phenomenon of materialism in the contemporary world and provides examples to illustrate the ideas.
Main body
To begin with, as it has already been mentioned, materialism signifies the desire to possess as much as possible. Thus, since consumers are ready to purchase more, factories should be prepared to increase the number of produced items to satisfy the demand. In the 21st century, this led to the implementation of outsourcing strategies by wealthy corporations. It is a widely known fact that such multinational corporations as Nike and Apple are locating their factories in the less economically developed countries of South-East Asia. These countries have weaker environmental regulations and cheaper labor costs. Concerning Nike, Merk emphasizes that the working conditions in the foreign factories are unsafe, and wages are comparatively low (131). Additionally, in the early 2000s, Nike’s striving to increase production level turned into the use of child labor on Pakistani enterprises. From this, it could be inferred that living in the epoch of materialistic values drives employers to scarify the well-being of the workers for the sake of cost savings.
Another aspect of the discussed issue is the rise of conspicuous consumption that everyone could witness on a daily basis. It has already become a standard that in order to be happy, one should own a house and a car. In fact, the private living space and a vehicle are more a necessity in modern society rather than a whim. Still, according to numerous advertisements, it could not be reached without purchasing certain brands of clothes, jewelry, or cosmetics. For instance, such jewelry brands as Pandora and Tous, promote the idea that the accessories have an intimate relation to emotions and memories and are the easy way to please every lady. Therefore, it becomes apparent that materialism substitutes non-materialistic values and makes people believe that positive emotions have a precise price, weight, color, and size. In spite of the fact that everyone understands that an expensive branded item is not a key to pure joy, companies try to persuade potential customers to buy things that they do not actually need.
Conclusion
To sum up, it is essential to notice that materialism in the period of its origins might be slightly different from its expression in contemporary society. Apart from people, the examined phenomenon influences the politics of large and small enterprises worldwide. In some cases, companies put a higher value on the size of their income than on the working conditions of employees that seem to be inadmissible in the era of democratic values and civil liberties. Still, materialism is the force that feeds people, since companies open new factories that create new working places that solve the issue of unemployment in developing countries. Materialism affects the world we live in and has already become an indispensable part of many people’s mindsets.
Works Cited
Kasser, Tim. “Materialistic values and goals.” Annual review of psychology, vol. 67, 2016, pp. 489-514.
Merk, Jeroen. “Global outsourcing and socialization of labour: the case of Nike.” Handbook of the International Political Economy of Production, edited by Kees van der Pijl, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015, pp. 115-131.