Materialistic Drive by Aaron M.

Measures of success have shifted substantially in the US over the past hundred years. In the past, social standing was broadly measured qualitatively, by the strength of the family, standing with the community, or what can be lumped together as traditional values, with little influence of direct wealth on that image of respect beyond the staples of a home. The idea of purchasing million dollar homes and hundred thousand dollar cars to flaunt was not of major prevalence in society in the early 1900s. Then came the engineers.

The rise of technology changed many of the values of society as a whole by offering cheaper, mass produced alternatives to hard work. The push mower became the gas mower became the riding mower. The sink was replaced by a dishwasher, microwaves shortened cooking times, and washers and driers really took over. This shift from personal pride to efficiency provoked a materialistic response. Machines were now doing the household labor, and the personal accomplishments fell to the wayside as wealth and machines became the new source of productivity, pushing the source of pride from what the person did, to what the machines did for the person, finally to the machines themselves. The task became unimportant. Only the quality of the machine that performed that task was relevant.

Fast forward to today and the same mentality applies. Cost and popularity over function rule the materialistic aspects of society, which is a great deal. However, there has been another subtle shift, this time away from materialism, along several fronts. Primarily, the current financial state of the US has really shifted the societal focus from bigger TVs and cars to a desire to maintain a home, though recently that is a materialistic drive in its own right. The other source is the environmental movement. The source of environmental pollution stems from the need for more things, which require chemicals to create and energy to run. With the eco conscious drive, fewer items are being sold daily resulting in a shift away from materialism for society. What this will lead to is anyones guess, but likely increase in efficiency technology rather than the focus on bigger and better things.

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