Consumerism and its possible effects...

Consumerism….

Firstly, when we talk about consumerism, we should take into consideration what it means. As we know we refer to consumerism as the habit of buying and buying new products, without taking care of how much money we spend.

Once upon a time, people were not used to spend money as people do now, and the reason for this is that they were not so exposed to new things, because the media did not get to all the people it reaches now; and the other reason is that people took care of more important things, in the sense of buying and having new things, did not represent happiness for them.

Actually, people live for buying and having the new products which are in the market because this is the meaning of happiness for them. As we mentioned before, the media also has its effects on people decisions. Nowadays, people are exposed to a lot of different “propaganda” , which tells them that this or that product is excellent, selling them the product, and convincing them that if they do not have an x product, they are nobody, and that they will not be happy. These are consequences of Globalization.

Globalization allows us to know what is happening all around the world in exactly the same moment. Communication has improved our way of living, things which were unthinkable, like knowing what is going on in the other side of the world, or communicating with your friends in a cheaper and intimate way, are possible thanks to Globalization; but the question is: “ ...has it only good effects, or benefits?

Globalization has also bad effects on people and one example of it, is when people consume and consume, without taking care of other things. As we know, the media tries to convince us that we need all what they offer to be happy, and we as human beings believe it. Another bad effect is that we disconnect ourselves from the real world, for instance, when we chat with others, through Facebook, or when we make comments on Twitter, thinking that we are much more connected and that in this way we are more communicative with others, when in fact this is not true. While using all the benefits Globalization gives to us, we are not enjoying common things like

spending time talking face to face with our parents or friends. As a consequence we are less communicated among us.

More or less the same happens with people who consume a lot in the sense that as they are shown that they are nobody if they do not have the latest product, they buy this new thing. The media does not only sell us all new products and objects in the market, but also imposes a way of living. And what is worse, it convices us that we can be happy, only if we have all these things, and it does not give any value to real life situations which are enjoyable.

It is necessary to take into consideration that not all the people react in the same way. There are some people who are able to make a clear distinction when believing in something the media says about a new object in the market, but, sadly, these people are very few.

What is more, some of those people who believe in everything the media says become “compulsive buyers”, in the sense that all they see, they buy, and by this way, they get in enormous debts. Some of them lose all they have because they buy and buy, without taking into consideration that maybe they cannot afford these things they buy. What is more, there are very intelligent people who studied how to atract people using marketing and as a result they convince the most intelligent person who can discern what is necessary for them and what is not necessary.

All in all, it can be said that the major responsible for consumerism, from my point of view, is the media, and its actions which are made intentionally, for convincing people to consume an x product, but it is also important not to forget that people themselves choose what to do, in relation to this topic.