Consumerism

According to wikipedia:

Consumerism is the equation of personal happiness with the purchase of material possessions and consumption.

The question arises – does owning more material things actually make you happy? Or is it one of the many tactics of the companies at large to make their millions at the expense of our over indulgence and splurging?

With pre-christmas sales around the corner, we’re bombarded from all sides to part with our hard earned money in exchange for something we may or may not need, but have surely been convinced that it’s something we cannot live without. This consumer culture that has been paved out over the past few decades has seen a rapid increase in money being pumped into the economy by the truckloads. With the present economical crisis, most countries are suffering even more due to the decrease in consumerism and the government is doing all it can to encourage the masses to get involved and keep them adrift during this economical storm.

Parental indulgence of this volume affects children and leads to childhood misery. Many sociologists believe that buying more for kids can cause unhappiness. Children who are heavily involved in a consumer culture are more depressed and anxious than other children. The advertising industry is increasingly targeting young children in order to create at an early age a demand for consumer products. The obsession with possessions affects the mental health of some children.

It is our duty as responsible parents to be cautious and alert and we need to draw the line when it’s necessary and protect ourselves & our children. There’s nothing wrong with the occasional splurge but what we should be vary of is being overcome by constant consumeristic cravings. Some of us tend to develop strong materialistic values than others and it needn’t necessarily be linked to money per se but more to the striving for it.