Is Materialism Bad?

[defcon 1]

I have been constantly taught that materialism is a cold and greedy ideology. I never understood why that is. Does buying a lot of things truly make you a terrible person? I am a materialist because the way I see it, If you purchase from a certain company, that company will grow, more jobs are created and with an economy centered around market, enterprise, etc, materialism will improve the economy. The way I see it, materialism is indirect charity.

If I had the money, I would gladly buy something like say... more domestic cars than I need, since I'm from Michigan and most people have been laid off because the American auto industry isn't doing too good.

I hope I made my point clear enough. Are you a materialist? Are you proud of it? Is it good for the economy?

 

[Xhumed]

It's bad if thats the be all and end all of your existence.

 

[sammyfreak]

Materialism isn't inherantly bad. But when you start caring more about things then people you are a dickhead (sorry for being blunt). Or so my opinion goes anyway.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

materialism is only bad if you can't afford things.

 

[John Galt]

Is love bad? Love can give you a beautiful relationship, a sublime experience, a song that leaves you speechless, but also jealousy, sorrow, and hate. Materialism is just this same love extended to objects. It has the potential to drive a man to build an empire, and the potential to drive a man to murder.

Materialism is what helps make life what it is. Greed is what causes most human problems but also fixes many other problems. It provides a nice incentive to invention and innovation that mere contributing to society just doesn't have compared to good ol' fashioned greed. Granted, there are horrible, horrible downsides to greed (just watched Zeitgeist, pretty interesting points on the federal reserve), but there is also a wonderful side to greed that helps mankind build the world we live in today.

Materialism is simply a facet of greed in my opinion. The lust for better goods drives innovation in material sciences. Would we have the genetically and chemically altered crops that provide an abundance today if it wasn't for those who wanted more? Would we have the means of communication that the internet provides if it were left up to the ascetic? I do not believe the world we live in would even be possible if we didn't have a healthy interest in the material world. Whether or not this is a good world, however, is up to you.

 

[Somethingironic]

Materialism is often confused with need. Materialism is wanting something, as is greed. If you just go out an buy a towel from Walmart, you aren't "fueling materialism ONOEZ" you're buying yourself a towel, that you need for when you take a shower. If you were to say go out and buy said towel, discover your friend has the Towelmaster 10600 with dual entry ports for either armpit, and you go out and buy that along with your original towel, now you're being a materialist. You bought something you didn't need or really care about.

 

[Rampancy]

As I understand it, materialism is not something someone does. I always it was the "He who dies with the most toys wins" philosophy. Either that or valuing things more than people.

So, in response to defcon, I would say that yes, materialism is bad, but I don't think you are a materialist. Capitalist, yes, but that's a whole different question.

 

[RetiarySword]

Its not bad, people buy stuff so it makes their life easier, maybe a dishwasher, or a game to releive the stress. If we didn't buy stuff where would we be? No industry would flourish, the economy wouldn't grow.

It only becomes bad if you start showing off your crap past a certain amount. Its ok to pull into your friends driveway with a new ferrari, because you feel good about it. But when you buy stuff just so you can say you have it, to make people feel jealous, is when it becomes bad.

 

[Lazzi]

Materialism is an inborn trait. All mammels have some form of owner ship.

If you have two dogs that wernt raised together but have already grown used to each other you will notice tat each of the has there own spot, humans, water dish ect.

So unless this make all mammles fundamentally bad then materilism isnt wrong.

The only reason some people percive ti as such is becuase humans (the oddest creature that you will ever come across) are easly suseptable to over induglign things. We want a large amount of things becuase it shows status, this can be take the form of food (i.e. the better a wild animal is that higher its social ranking), of simply object (there is a species of bird that collects blue object scatter them aroudn there penthosue sized nest and uses it to attact mates, they will even steal from other birds nest).

Baiscly its only bad when it becuse the dominant trait of any person, verses simply beign a shared trait.

 

[werepossum]

Materialism can be bad, if it drives you to ignore the non-materials things that matter most. It can also be bad if, using Somethingironic's towel example, you have a perfectly useful towel but can't properly enjoy it for wanting a nicer towel.

Dave Ramsey put it best: Buying things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like. That's materialism at its worst.

Some people also take great comfort in material things. This may be foolish, but it's somewhat understandable. If your life sucks, it might be easier to visualize (or even obtain) a new shiny new car than to visualize or obtain a way to fix your life. Possessions can be controlled; people largely can't. And for some - my late grandmother stands out - materialism addresses deep-seated fears. For her it was growing up desperately poor in the Depression and having next to nothing. She bought clothes in one of every color, most of which were given away without ever being worn. That was her way of ensuring she would never again have to wear patched, threadbare clothes, or have to use one of her two bedsheets as her table cloth. Bad? Probably, but understandable and it eased her fears.

 

[Mister Shades]

Materialism as the democratic driving force to make people do bigger and better things with their lives once they are comfortably able to feed themselves. If you have no materialistic drive, you just work in a shop or something for the rest of your life with no drive or ambition to do anything better.

Materialism is bad when your materialistic need actively interferes with other peoples ability to meet their minimum living standards (i.e. food, water, etc).

 

[zen5887]

Is love bad? Love can give you a beautiful relationship, a sublime experience, a song that leaves you speechless, but also jealousy, sorrow, and hate. Materialism is just this same love extended to objects. It has the potential to drive a man to build an empire, and the potential to drive a man to murder.

You are the smartest man alive!

I think its how much you go into it. I like to have nice things.. I wont kill people to get these nice things

 

[ElephantGuts]

Well it may be bad for the soul, as it could make you forget about more spiritual things and being a good person. But on the other hand its good for stimulating the economy, so in theory (and as its seeming to be proven) a country with a bunch of materialistic people would be successful (USA).

 

[PurpleRain]

It's not bad, but it can make you a tool. A tool for marketing, for society, or just a plain ol' tool.

EDIT

Wow, that word can loose all its meaning when repeated.

 

[the monopoly guy]

congratulations. You're a fucking billboard.

 

[John Galt]

You are the smartest man alive!

Booyah! That's going on my list of titles I got from the internet.

 

[Sylocat]

I'm a little confused. Are we talking about materialism or consumerism?

 

[defcon 1]

I'm a little confused. Are we talking about materialism or consumerism?

I honestly don't know the difference. People always tell me "you're such a materialistic bastard" so I just roll with that.

congratulations. You're a fucking billboard.

Yes I am, you have a problem with that? I have shirts for Zelda, Blizzard and a few other things. If I like the manufacturer, I will support them like so. It's not like I'm hurting anyone, I'm only helping their business.