Materialism is one of my biggest grievances about humanity. I personally and firmly believe that if we all stopped wanting so much, we would be able to coexist more peacefully. Wars are started over wants for power, land, property, or bragging rights. People are much too fixated on the thought that one person is better than the other, one religion is higher or more relevant than the other, and one race is superior to another. We strive to have the latest technology, to be thinner, to succumb to the season’s latest trends. I find this lifestyle unappealing, and it says a lot about America and why we are given such a negative connotation by other countries. In wanting so much and being so competitive over who has the latest and greatest gadgets, we forget that we are all equals, and that we are all falling victim to commercial industry and mass-induced greed.

I believe that we are not able to appreciate anything until we don’t have it. We cannot find the meaning of life or be receptive to nature and its beauty until we turn off our cell phones and just stroll through the park or sit at a nearby lake and just absorb all that is around us. Few people in this country today are willing, or even capable of doing that. We are labeled as consumers, because all we do as both a country and as a human race--is want. If we appreciated what we had instead of continuously desiring things and fighting for them, we would be a much more unified and well rounded society. The more we have and the more we demand, the less we will progress intellectually, socially, and emotionally.