The Downfall of us All 1.12.11
(I am not attached to the title. The essay is on Materialism)
(Some parts are rough—just getting some ideas down)
(person who is helping me with ideas)
Max, you could start with some statistics on incoome in America verses the rest of the world then the average debt in America. Why if we make so much are we so in debt?I have seen some articles in US News and World Report on what the average person considered necessities in the 1970’s and what the people of the 1990’s considered necessities. Now the one I’m thinking of was probably written in the 1990’s but you might be able to google something like that get some interesting info to kick off you speech. You know your “hook”/attention getter. Then start your speech with this paragraph that you have worked on.
Advertising has a funny way of making us believe that a product will make us happier. Beaten into our everyday lives on billboards, TV, magazines, newspaper, and the radio, they constantly show us the thing that we just can’t live with out, the model better than the last one and the product that will change your life forever. We have grown into people who need “things” to make us feel good. We get caught up in a lot. Clothes lose style, iPods get thinner, cars go faster. What we have just isn’t good enough. But when do we stop? When is enough, enough? There is a difference between what we want and what we need. This is a big problem that needs to get fixed. This new way of life has many different names, but it is widely recognized as materialism.
The Essay on Child Care The Effect On Family Life
... parents are busy trying to make money so that their children can live a happy, fulfilled life with most things they need. ...
A recent poll showed that 80% of Americans are in debt. The combined amount of debt owed is $2.42 trillion, just in credit card debt alone. The average person in America is in $15,000 worth of debt. The objective of this essay was to create a need in America. I think the need in America is the things we don’t need. The company Ferrari sold a car for over $9 million. Think of all the other things you could do with that money. How many lives could you change? Aren’t cars just used to take us places? Think of the things we really need: Food, water, air. Other things we might need are, running water, electricity and Air conditioning. Just because we have the money doesn’t mean we need to spend it. There are starving people all over the world. But, we want a new iPod because it comes in a different color. Sometimes we don’t even have the money to buy things, but we think we need them so we borrow money to buy a 50” flat screen TV because the picture looks real. Going outside isn’t fun anymore. Kids want to go on facebook, play their gaming console or watch television. Americans need to learn how to live without things and how to give instead of take. Why are people spending money they don’t have? Why are people buying things that they can’t afford? They are digging a hole that keeps getting deeper.
Wanting and needing are two very different things. Internet has become something we could need for school and work. It is very nice to have. I have no problem with Internet, cable and other things. But there is a point where we go to far.
In the year 2000 the amount of people looking for a credit card counselor doubled from just 10 years before in 1990. The average amount of people seeking help average at $43,000 in debt.
People in other countries don’t want things, they need things. They need food, shelter and clean water. We need those things too. If you loose power, or your Internet stops working, you feel like you can’t accomplish anything, but is life going to stop? Food and water are things we need, things we really can’t live without. We get caught up in trends, fashion, fitting in and being cool.
The Essay on Theres More To Compensating Good People Than Money
The very word conjures up images of money-a bountiful sum in cash or checks, a generous amount, richly deserved, paid in return for good works of some kind. But in today's economic and employment environment, giving someone a cash reward for work beyond the call of duty-a raise or a bonus-often has less impact than the employer intended. It simply isn't as surefire an "employee retention tool" is ...
Every person in the family has their own computer and there’s a TV in every room. A recent poll was taken and it said almost 50% of people think a cell phone is a necessity, 70% of people think they can’t live without a microwave, almost 70% of people said they needed a TV, people think high speed Internet is a must have. Those things
(person helping me with ideas)
Max point out the way it is a problem. Pick three or four different ways it causes problems and talk about each one. For example credit card debt, selfishness(if we weren’t buying the latest greatest we could do some good with that money and self reliance instead of reliance on God. I bet you will find that as materialism increased faith decreased. So you could use each one of thoseas paragraphs to show that it is a problem. I hope that helps some email me back if you still need help. As you get going more or if you have any questions about what I said.
Food, water, air; these are things we need. When most people use the word “need” they use it completely wrong. I need an iPod, a laptop and a cool new smart phone. Take a moment to think. Do you really need those things. Life doesn’t stop when those break or get lost. Does anyone really need a $200,000 sports car. No. You may want things. But do you need them? I challenge you to find the difference between what you need and what you want. When life becomes about bigger and better, more, more, more and the one with the most toys wins; that is materialism.
Deuteronomy 15:6
For the Lord your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.
Proverbs 22:7
The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.