Jasmin Hopper

Over-Consumption and Wastefulness in America

By: Jasmin Hopper December 1, 2008

In the past few years, Americans have taken many of the things acquired in life for granted. People have become more frugal with their money and how they spend it. People don’t know how to appreciate money and the value of an object. Money has become something of no value. Money is not being spent usefully. People now and days buy things that they want but don’t necessarily need. You have people who spend outrageous amounts of money on fads and trends such as luxury cars, over-sized homes, and over priced fashion clothing and this is called splurging. People who splurge are “rite now” shoppers and don’t really pay any mind to what the consequences are. They see items in clothing stores and malls that they want and buy it right then, not giving a second thought about things that are needed. “The United States, […] maintains its standard of living by using more than one-fourth of the resources consumed in the world” (Long A3). To put this into perspective, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that in 2005, the United States alone, produce a lump sum of over 245 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste prior to recycling (EPA). These figures equal out to approximately 4.5 pounds of waste produced by each person living in the United States, each day! Although 32 percent is recovered and reused, 15 percent is incinerated, the remaining 54 percent of waste produced by Americans and their over consumption is deposited into landfills (EPA). (http://cssorrell.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/america-the-great-a-satyrical-paper/) Middle class families and citizens purchase things that, 9 times out of 10, they can not afford or pay for in the future. As quoted in “The Over-Consumption Myth and Other Tales of Economics, Law and Morality”, Economist Robert Frank claims that

America’s newfound “Luxury Fever” forces middle-class families “to finance their consumption increases largely by reduced savings and increased debt”. (http://www.yale.edu/law/leo/052005/papers/Warren.pdf). Meaning that they purchase items out of their budget and this can lead to non-payment of bills on items like cars and houses and repossessions. This in turn can and will cause people to go into bankruptcy or near-bankruptcy. People file bankruptcy when they become so far in debt they can’t pull themselves out. Debt stems from credit card bills that people fail to pay. People charge things that they can not pay on their own, to their credit cards. People pay for so many things on their credit cards that when they get their bills they can not pay them or they can only pay the minimum amount that is due. Not only do they charge items to credit cards that they don’t necessarily need but people own too many. People sign up for credit cards that they don’t need. People have 3, 4, or 5 credit cards and charge them up but they can only afford to have maybe 1 or 2. Credit cards, if used correctly or responsibly, can come in handy when making pricey purchases. Not only do credit cards play a significant role in why people file for bankruptcy but loans play part in it too. A loan is money from another source that has to be paid back over a period of time. People can get loans for college, for business, and to buy houses and they have to be paid back in full. Loans for houses and business as well as college tuition is very popular. With loans, you get the money all at one time or as you need it and over a period of years or months the company or bank your loan came from charges interest for the months the money is not paid back. People take these loans out on houses that cost too much and are way to big. They take money from somewhere for something really

unnecessary like a 600,000-sqft house that they may only stay in for a couple nights, when the money being used for this can be going to first time home buyers or entering freshmen college students for loans. People take these things for granted and use them as they please instead of using it for good and useful reasons. Money has made many people selfish. Money can also make people do crazy things. It has also made people become greedy and this has caused our economy to decline. In the past year leading lending companies and stocks have fallen and this has really taken a toll on America as a whole. This year America witnessed the worst economic crisis since the late 1980s. This year, 15 banks failed. The Dow Jones declined well over 1,874 points during what was considered “Black Week” in October. Gas was at its all time high with an average of regular grade at $3.14 a gallon (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/27/business/26gasweb.php). This crisis showed Americans that we should learn to budget and use our money better. One day, America will once again be the country it used to be; a country of opportunity and futures.

Work-Cited (http://cssorrell.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/america-the-great-a-satyrical-paper/) (http://www.yale.edu/law/leo/052005/papers/Warren.pdf) (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/27/business/26gasweb.php)