Americans and Materialism Essay Example for Free

Americans and Materialism striveThe sixties represented an era of significant economic growth for Americans. Some economists argue that the early 1960s began the consumerism that defines American culture today. To what extent did American materialism that is, the beliefs in the accumulation of personal wealth chip in Americans afraid of communism? The chances of a communism in America were extremely small Americans loved their popular capitalist government. They would have not traded it in for being communist. In reality we as Americans are consumed by things we see and hear on TV, by what we see our neighbors have, and by what many people think is classical in life. Materialism is a huge problem in this country. It appears to get worse as technology increases and new gadgets are invented and easily obtained but because both(prenominal) people become obsessed with having and they lose will power of it.Discussion topic 2 Based upon your reading materials for this unit, d o you agree or disagree that more government interpellation is desireed in the capitalist arranging? Please justify your response with concrete examples. Yes, there should be government intervention in to capitalistic system with some extent. I my perspective markets cannot exist without a government to protect property rights, enforce contracts and settle disputes all of which is intervention. This would benefit the providence in variety of ways. Firstly, government regulations allow businesses to remain in the private hands while removing some of the worst abuses of pure capitalism. Extremely wealthy people or companies have the ability to control whacking sections of the economy because smart business dealings.Only Government involvement can fix that. When a manufacturer has a monopoly, the consumer is no longer autonomous, prices are not set by supply and demand, and therefore the system cannot function effectively. As a mixed economy there is competition between compani es but we need government regulation to ensure that these types of monopolies do not exist. A safe amount of government intervention would result in higher incomes, production and employment, which would then lead to expansion. Limited government involvement prevents crises such(prenominal) as inflation, unemployment and depression. Without government the strong will take what they want from the weak and there will be no reason to voluntarily exchange good and services which is the sole purpose of buying and selling. (Harrison, chapter07).Harrison, Brigid C. and doubting Thomas R. Dye. (2008) Power and Society. Cengage Learning. Mason, Ohio