Reply #55: its a very big problem

[SPAZtazticman]

as a matter of fact, the materialism and superficiality that pervades our society is one of the prime reasons that bushco and the neocons can get away with what they do. nobody cares enough to think about the issues, they only know what the mass media tells them to believe. after all, suv's are patriotic! in fact, the problem of consumerism in our society can be traced back to one source: big business. the wealthy corporations who run this country have a vested financial interest in keeping us a bunch of spending sheep, existing only to buy the products made for us in sweatshops and factories in countries who's names we can't pronounce by the working sheep of the rest of the world. the more materialistic, superficial, and artificial our culture gets, the more we spend on material goods, goods which we'll probobly replace anyway as soon as the old product went out of style. in addition, there is an added benefit to the corporations: a country whos people only care about getting themselves the newest car or fanciest house won't really put that much thought into their government, allowing the rich to gain political, as well as economic, power. I say the root of the problem is the corporate media.
However, we all have a hand in this problem as well. while corporate fat cats may be the main benificiaries of our society's unchecked materialism, they are by no means the only culprits. Materialism has become so ingrained into our culture that it has become an institution in its own right. From an early age, one message is drilled into the minds of our youth: you must make money. Sadly enough, we measure success in our society not through deeds performed, but in dollars. even in the original post that i am responding to, the writer referred to possetions as making people "happy". We have sunk very low indeed, when our only measure of happiness is wealth accumulated.