Should we Americans be ashamed of our materialism?

“Anyone have any good news for me? Do we have any redeeming qualities?”

Yeah. I think Americans can be very friendly and open people. That counts as something.
Be proud of who you are, it is your faults and your good qualities that make you who you are.

Ugh.

(Small Business Saturday, folks)

I don’t think “we” should be ashamed of anything. I am not materialistic so I have nothing to be ashamed of.

Well, it’s a start.

Some people were quietly spending the day with families maybe or celebrating Buy Nothing Day. But people not rioting over waffle irons. But videos of those people don’t make it onto youtube. There were a lot of people not rioting over waffle irons.

Well, it depends on if you identify as a American or a human. I was born here, that’s it.

“Are we doomed as a society, headed to a future idiocracy?”

<—-Not this idiot

“Anyone have any good news for me?”

Ron Paul is running for President.

I don’t think it is just Americans @Syz. You would get the same here in Australia and the UK and I am sure other countries too. Not pretty. I don’t think that we can judge all by those who riot over as @lillycoyote suggested, waffle irons, though. There are undoubtedly many Americans who give generously where they can, and even when they probably can’t afford it.

I know there have been times and incidents here in Australia that have made my skin crawl with distaste, but there are many other occasions when I could sing with pride. For instance, in the floods earlier this year, people queued to help clean houses for those affected and donated and donated and donated. The same with the Black Saturday fires. There is good and bad in all.

I had to laugh at the idea of ‘future idiocracy’. “Future”?

I am about as far from being materialistic that you can get. I guess that is because even as a young kid I had to work for what I got. I always appreciate the simple things. I do notice that the less one earns what they receive the more materialistic and less thankful they get.

Yes.

Yes.

No.

As human beings in general we spend enough time being ashamed of one thing or another. Folks have always tended to act incredibly retarded when they gather together in large groups. Hell, they’ve been doing it since, well, they started to gather together in large groups.

The media should be ashamed of portraying what amounts to a fraction of the American population as the norm.

It’s like watching Jerry Springer. Those people are not me.

Scenes like this are far too common. If seeing it causes people to reflect on what is really important to them as human beings and to put the desire for material goods into the proper perspective, then it can serve as a useful learning opportunity.

Listen to @Blondesjon.

There is a movement away from materialism. I know I promote this video a lot, so I;m sorry if you already watched it, but I try to get everyone I know to watch thestoryofstuff.com.

Not really. If an American like myself works hard and earns his pay, he should be entitled to enjoy the material rewards that he can buy with it. That’s what really defines America——the freedom and luxury to enjoy our material wealth with what we earn and can afford.

I often wonder how much of the violence and whatnot on Black Fridays happens because of materialism, verses other issues coming out because of a pressure cooker situation. It seems more likely to me that a lot of these fights happen because, say, someone just had a bit of a fight with a relative over Thanksgiving dinner and the residual emotion from the fight boils over in the store. Or someone is getting a divorce after several years of marriage, and this Thanksgiving is not only the first without their spouse in many years, but there are some concerns over who will get custody of the children and this one gift might tip the scales in this person’s favor. Or some woman is feeling like she isn’t a good mother and is hoping to make up for it with this one great gift. Or some person ate a lot, and is now having some “tummy trouble”, and really needs to go to the bathroom but, of course, can’t until they’ve finished shopping, and this fight isn’t so much about materialism so much as a testament to how much nicer people are after they’ve voided their waste systems.

HAHA!! I recognize those purple boxes! I just mentioned the waffle irons in another thread. I was at Walmart at that time, but had no idea it was such a big thing until just now. I got to the waffle irons about 3 minutes after they became available so I guess I missed the real craziness. There were about 5 left when I got there.

I actually joked to people while waiting in our line for the xbox that no one would never stand around for hours and wait for a $2.47 waffle iron. Come for a big ticket item and maybe get one of those on the way out? Sure, but that’s about it. Looks like I was wrong! Now I know why they were looking at me like I was crazy.

As for redeeming qualities… I saw several people helping each other. For example, a woman was there to get her daughter a Cinderella doll, which would be her only Christmas present, but there was only one near the top of the pallet while the others were buried beneath Tianas and Ariels. A man and I who were closer to the pallet got the Cinderella for her. He said his daughter was 2 and wouldn’t know the difference, so he took an Ariel instead.

Big dumb fat arrogant moronic folks can be found dotted around the globe, just about anywhere.
Not an exclusively american trait, in fact you yanks are a fairly cool bunch…in small doses of course ;¬}

Materialism is the philosophical basis for Marxism. Don’t you mean “consumerism”?

The greed for stuff syndrome becomes more apparent this time of year. I’m inclined to think the aggressive shoppers are buying for their kids, or relatives or their kids. It fits right in with the explanation of why kids nowadays are spoiled rotten. Their parents are buying approval from their own children, as no parent wants to be a lame parent. They will fight tooth and nail for the last X-Box or whatever thing is popular or highly sought after. I wonder ,do adults without kids, who are buying for friends, or people who aren’t expecting toys, become aggressive in the stores. Or does parenthood really cause a drop in I.Q. like I’ve heard rumored? I think the way advertising is produced coveys the image of you gotta just have this or be behind the curve, The Jones’s curve. I can see how people in other countries who see a few of the American ads might be led to believe the Yanks are all materialistic and money grabbers. The ads have to sell and to accomplish that they may need to portray products and buyers as over the top just to get the point across. I ‘m holding out hope that most of society is really not like that. I really don’t know most of society so it’s a guess.