Why do you americans buy so much crap?

With the risk of sounding like eurotrash I have to ask this question. Why do americans buy so much stuff and have like a billion credit cards and then still manage to max out all of them?
I don't mean this as an insult but as a swede this is a really alien concept for me.

im american and i wonder the same thing.

why is everyone so materialistic?

its only the stupid people that think their cool car or their fancy phone makes them a better person. and its only the stupid people who see the fancy cars and think that the people who own them are better.

FUNCTION OVER FASHION.

everyone is too worried about their status and what everyone else thinks about them

with all of the money wasted by pop stars and professional athletes we could feed the hungry and clothe the poor.

It's a disease




advertising is so out of control, inbedded into everything.

less is more, i say. makes you apperciate things a lot more

good question on a normal day

even better question now they they are protesting those people that make it possible for them to go buy all that junk and max out their credit cards.

average us credit card balance is 15,000 bucks. back in the day people use to save and then go buy what they wanted now is the instant gratification crowd or as i like to call them.

the i want it all i want it now and i dont care crowd how my fellow americans currently have an over riding sense of the id.

only way to explain it

form what i have seen, we here in the US are a spend because we can, and are a throw a way, because it is 1 old or 2 because it is no longer needed, and got new and better on one or more cards to pay for it/ them. Thus being able to say; "Living the American dream, showing I have the means and being up to eye balls in debit, to prove it" yuck, barf and puke. makes me sick, just knowing we are like this as my self working fool at slave wage, just barley keeping a float, i have but a few simple needs, hot food roof over my head and the inter net, what more does one need?

reply to post by Metallic Monk
We like shiny things.
And we need it all. My Ronco "Hair Parter" saves me .00035 seconds every morning.

Seriously?
We like to have stuff.

its just a big arcade.

some people try to get as many tickets as they can so they can get the big fancy prizes while others use all of their quarters on the fun games that dont pay off.

we're just too set on the glamour of having the fancy prizes that we completely forget about enjoying our life experience.

some people need porches and gold chains and some people can be entertained with a stick and ball.

dont give in to the allure of 'the next big thing', its all about keeping it simple and appreciating what you got!

Because we all know that, pretty soon, we won't be able to afford anything anymore, so rather than preparing for rough times our mind, similar to that of an alcoholic/drug addict, wishes to have "one last hurrah" even through our lives have essentially Been nothing more than one, long, final "hurrah"? I dunno, its my best guess other than mind control put into ads and into the design of packaging, etc...Haarp? Chemtrails? Some twisted combination of the two, with a pinch of the latest rendition of MK-ULTRA, specially depsigned for the masses?

I dunno, what is being done differently in America regarding the whole sphere of the process of buying things? From marketing, to regulations, to the wages being paid, to the education system, everything that would influence somebody in how they choose to spend their money.

I dunno, dude.. I don't know if I really wanna write THAT book... I'll just go with a dumbed down society coupled with unscrupulous practices by the corporatocracy

People might want stuff but why buy it on credit when you can save and then go out and buy it. Take a flat screen for example. Two ways to buy it.
A. Go out and buy it on credit to have it right now and because you can't wait.
or
B. Save enough to afford it. And while you save up to it a new model might hit the market and then your TV becomes cheaper or you probably will be able to afford the new model.

is it so important to buy a TV here and now. can't you wait a little while? it seems that you might actually gain more if you wait a while to save up to it.

It is a disease of sorts, not so directly as a money-disease though. Money just happens to help the disease along.

If you wish to learn about such peoples, a good place to start is Alain De Botton's book 'Status Anxiety'.

Of course if you are a person who are very needy for social acceptance and want people to look up to you then you might buy a lot of stuff and follow every trend there is.
The irony is of course that doing the complete opposite is usually the way to success.
Being independent and following your own trail and if people have something mean to say then just be like teflon and never let anything stick to you. Keeping it real, for yourself and never give a f about other peoples bs.
I used to be bullied in school, not really bullied but it was a rough psychological enviornment, but when I was done with my elementary education and went on to Gymnasiet I changed how I used to act. In elementary school I was very self concious and looked for approval everywhere i could find it but now when i started to go to another school I got a chance to change and that I did. I didn't care about anyones opinion about me and I felt a complete rewiring of my psyche. It was great. I see it as a high point in my life and still have very fond memories of that time though i finished four years ago. I really urge people to think about who they really are and what they really like to do. Then do it and stop caring about what other people think. You have no idea what an amazing feeling it is and how much better you will feel.
Money and stuff can't buy self esteem. It can only fuel it for a little while. Personal development and independence is a sustainable fuel that reproduces itself. Or at least it did it for me.

Its because of what the media shows the american public, Everything you have is always less what you can have the next day, and they tell us that to be acceptable in society we have to buy these things.

Why bother buying all these products, it all ends up in a great big hole in the ground anyway. Just get your money and bury it. Then stamp on it and spit on it.
Useless and not needed commodities = money in big black hole

nuff said

You don't sound like Eurotrash at all. This is a question many American ATS posters will not be offended by, because many of the people posting here don't go out and buy so much crap on credit cards.

Americans are entitled. Plain and simple. As an American you are bombarded with reasons to be entitled. Want to go to college? The messages being sent aren't: Okay, work your way through college. The messages being sent say:

1.) Your rich parents will pay OR
2.) You can get a grant or scholarship OR
3.) You can get a loan and pay it back over 30 years.

We have "celebrities" who aren't even celebrities. Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, and Kim Kardashian are a few. Paris Hilton is famous because she made a sex tape which was then "leaked" to the media. Her grandfather is the Hilton Hotels guy. She gets paid to show up at bars/clubs/parties, or endorse products. She has no talent; she does not sing, dance, act, nothing. Nicole Ritchie is famous because her daddy was Lionel Ritchie. Kim K is famous because her parents are rich and she got noticed by going out club hopping with Paris. Again, these ladies did NOTHING to earn their fame. Yet, they are billed as "famous" and "hot" and if they carry a purse or wear an outfit, girls want it. They also want boob jobs and hair extensions. The media gives more attention to people like this than real issues. Like war or politics.

Americans are constantly told that if you want a house you get a loan to have one, and if you want new furniture for your house the store will give you a loan and if you want a new car, guess what? You can get a loan. No one is encouraged to live within their means. They are encouraged to spend as much as their credit will allow them to spend. When I was buying my house, I had real estate agents REFUSE to help me because I wanted to buy a house that cost only 30% of what I was qualified to get a loan for. They weren't interested in what I was willing to spend (and have a safety net!) but only what the banks would ALLOW me to spend. See the difference? In fact, I even had trouble getting a loan because my down payment was "too big." Yes, you heard that right. For picking a smaller, affordable house, and having a down payment, I had disgruntled loan officers who were annoyed I had saved money to put down on a home. I was encouraged to get a loan for the full value of my home and spend my savings to furnish it. Are you kidding? Why would I do that? Logically, it makes no sense, but that is what Americans are raised to believe. At least most of them.

Sorry for kind of ranting, and I could go on and on...But the answer to your question is: We do that over here because we are raised to think it is normal, it's all you see, and everyone else is doing it. I have taken many social rebuffs over being financially responsible. My friends have no concept of the fact I got my car by paying cash. Someone asked me I won a lottery, then smirked at me when I responded I just saved. Americans have their heads on backwards.

i see it as an attempt at escaping the terrifying, inescapable fact that outside their eight cylinder mitsubishi hiroshima and their seventy eight inch plasmogrifier television they are exactly like everyone else, lost, in a sea of confusion and chaos, where the only thing that is certain is the end of their existence, which is therefore quite possibly meaningless..




..or summink.

OBEY, CONSUME, OBEY, CONSUME.... oh wait I'm not some sheeple.

reply to post by Canned2na


"go back to bed america, your government is in control. here's american gladiators, watch this and get fat and stupid, oh yeah, and keep drinking beer you f'in morons" -bill hicks

couldn't help remembering once i saw your pic xD

reply to post by Metallic Monk


I don't mean to come off arrogantly at all, but it seems to me that 'buying crap' is a typical American mind-set. I personally have saved up all of my money since I was a kid. And now that I have more money to know what to do with, I still save it. What's shocking is that I actually get mocked by my friends for doing so, especially when I tell them to save their money. Go figure.

it's just easier to live above standards in the usa. in europe you won't get much credit if you are on a low income or don't show profound securities. i like the us system better, but that's because i'm a total liberal.

and as for buying crap, so do we. whenever something new like cellphones, internet or iphone/pads hit the market, it doesn't get distributed faster anywhere than here. and what makes this even worse, we more often than not pay more than double the US prices.

reply to post by Metallic Monk


I don't buy anything unless it makes me happy. Since most things seem to annoy me, I don't buy much.

Because I don't buy very much, my way of living is frowned upon by fellow Americans.

So I ask them, "why?"

Their responses are varied, but essentially add up to this..."Because you are dirty and poor and a weirdo if you don't constantly buy stuff"

One day it hit me... To be more accepted by my fellow Americans, the inside of my house must look like inside of a alien space ship. At least what you would expect the inside of an alien space ship to look like. It's different for everyone.

Americans see their country as The Land of Kings, and to be a true king - you must own EVERYTHING.

May sound like a joke, but I promise; it is the answer to your question.