Money for Material

In my previous post, L.I.F.E., I stated, “The American culture has become a materialistic driven country.” What I meant by this was that many people are into materialistic things, and they buy name brand products, which are more expensive than generic products. For example: instead of buying cheap ten dollar sunglasses from Nordstroms, some people would buy two hundred dollar sunglasses that are name brand such as: Chanel, Gucci, Oakley, etc. According to Wikipedia, “materialistic describes a person who is markedly more concerned with material things than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.” Material things are physical matter used for production and manufacturing. They get processed to become finished materials so they can be distributed to stores and consumed by people. So my point is that sunglasses are sunglasses and they all serve the same purpose. Why buy name brand sunglasses for two hundred dollars when you can get them for ten?

The next possible answer to that question could be because of the quality of the products. People may consume material things based on quality or price. It just depends on the person, how much money they have, and how much they’re willing to spend. Here again, money comes into play. Consuming material things require money. Why does everything come down to money? In my personal opinion, I believe that money is an essential part of life because without money, how are you supposed to pay for rent, cell phone bill, car payment, food, and clothes? Life would simply be easier if nothing involved money, but that is speaking in a non-realistic sense. Chris commented and asked, “Is money really essential, or is it in fact extra, added on to the materials that actually do seem to make people happy?” I think that people’s value for money depends on every individual. If a person were categorized as low class, then their value for money would probably be higher than that of people who are high class. In other words, poor people would see money as an essential part of life, while the rich may not since their money is abundant. Also, the rich may spend money like it’s just extra added onto materials to make them happy, but maybe not. The question “Does money buy happiness?” is debatable because for some people, money can get them things they want such as new cars, clothes, and jewelry. For others, it may not because some people who have money can’t take a vacation due to work.

It’s hard to define the importance of money because there are so many possibilities and it’s different with everyone. Some people value money more than others, and there are people who can care less about money.