#Materialism

I've been around materialistic people all of my life, one thing they've taught me - and continue to teach me, is that I never want to be like them. Don't get me wrong, I like nice things and have nice things - everyone does. Yup materialistic people, everyone -- not just you -- have nice things in some form or another. I can hear the materials now, "Yeah but they don't have the BMW like I do or the boat out back like I do." Maybe they don't have that, so what? Do you win then? Because you have the fanciest stuff?

Even the poorest of the poor, have something nice they cherish and love. One difference between people who have and love their nice things versus materialistic people, is that the materialistic feel a "need" to brag about it. The richest of the rich, who have the money to buy that materialistic guy's boat and beemer ten times over, even have non-materialistic people among them. For example, Leonardo Di Caprio, he can have any car he wants and yet he drives a #Prius, because he is a humble person who is more concerned with the environment and global warming, than his own desire to show his wealth. Meanwhile, you have ding dongs such as Justin Bieber getting arrested in SoBe for racing a yellow Lamborghini.

You know these people, they're everywhere, you can't escape them. The ones who "must have" the latest designer bag. Those who will spend their rent money on designer shoes. The ones who feel a need to tell you how much they paid for their sunglasses. The ones who post photos of their designer stuff on their social media sites. When they're in the act of materialism, they are so happy, giddy and believe themselves to be the superiority of society. Unfortunately, even the richest can see the truth, that they are insecure, lost and seeking attention.

If they channeled all of the energy they put into showing off, into something more constructive such as helping people, then we would take notice and be really impressed. The problem with today's society is that everything revolves around money. In New York, this is more true than anywhere else in the world, there is even a common saying here, "pay to play." Our money revolving society, coupled with the recent recession, is making people do and say the craziest things. We have to have money unfortunately to survive in our world (maybe those Mormons are on to something after all),  it's not a competition though, on who can have the most.

Another common saying in New York is "fake it until you make it." This need to pretend to be rich is not necessary. It would be more impressive if those fake people spent their money on improving their well-being, instead of on a beat up Lexus. How about we learn from the uber-rich, such as Angelina Jolie and start a new saying, "If you're privileged, help people."

Example of a cheesy photo a materialistic person would consider posting on Instagram







Popular Posts