Materialism

Some would say that the United States with its combination of productivity and wastefulness has a problem with materialism. For example, the iPhone 6 launched September 19th and people just had to have it even though their current phone was capable of all the basic operations of a phone and probably more. This can be interpreted as wastefulness and materialism-a word that has taken on a negative connotation and is used by those looking down on the common American consumer. Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines materialism as, "a way of thinking that gives too much importance to material possessions rather than to [spiritual] or [intellectual] things." In my opinion, the interpretation of the iPhone situation as materialism could not be further from the truth. Yes, a material object is being purchased with hard earned currency, BUT the person is taking joy from their possession of the object. They are improving their spiritual health with some joy in an object even if it is only temporary. When that enjoyment wears off, they will just move on to the next new and exciting item, and in our current society, there is never a shortage of new and exciting products. Also, the satisfaction of materialistic desires allows the mind to focus on other things or maybe an intellectual task. Thus, describing the situation as materialistic is paradoxical. There is a potential for ill effects from excessive materialism, but as it is now, the underlying materialism in society is in no way a problem.