TV...The Promoter of Materialism

PJPOWER

know1 wrote:

This is common sense. Just because everyone is doing or saying something does not mean you have to do it. You ultimately decide what you're going to do.

Did you know that up to a certain age, a child cannot distinguish what is seen on TV from reality? You do ultimately decide what you're going to do, but the decisions many people make come from things they have seen, when they were seen, and how what they have seen is represented to them..........are you denying that?

miller8966

Collin wrote:

materialism (MONEY) Show phonetics
noun
the belief that having money and possessions is the most important thing in life:

edit: do you always think in extremes?

I want to reward myself for the hard work i do. I see no problem with me buying a high definition tv and a nice car.

Collin

miller8966 wrote:

I want to reward myself for the hard work i do. I see no problem with me buying a high definition tv and a nice car.

Did you not read the definition? Do you think having money and possessions is the most important thing in life?

know1

PJPOWER wrote:

Did you know that up to a certain age, a child cannot distinguish what is seen on TV from reality? You do ultimately decide what you're going to do, but the decisions many people make come from things they have seen, when they were seen, and how what they have seen is represented to them..........are you denying that?

But kids up to a certain age don't really have the money to buy material things.

I'm not denying that people can be influenced, but it is up to them personally how much power they give to that influence.

lalalalaaaaaaaa

THC wrote:

Most if not all religions are against materialism. YOu turn on the tv...and it litterally preaches materialism. By default...i'm going to have to say for the most part...TV teaches a doctrine that is against our general religious beliefs.


What do people think?

We all promote and take part in materialism....if we didn't, we wouldn't be on a computer right now talking on a message board.

Collin

Saturnal wrote:

We all promote and take part in materialism....if we didn't, we wouldn't be on a computer right now talking on a message board.

I disagree with this.

know1

Collin wrote:

I disagree with this.

OK...then let's backtrack and discuss the definition of materialism.

In my opinion, most people define it as "people who have more stuff than I do".

Collin

know1 wrote:

OK...then let's backtrack and discuss the definition of materialism.

In my opinion, most people define it as "people who have more stuff than I do".

In my opinion, materialism is considering material stuff more important than it actually is, it's valueing them the same as non-materialistic stuff like love, friendship... it's an idealology that materials can give you true happiness.

miller8966

Collin wrote:

In my opinion, materialism is considering material stuff more important than it actually is, it's valueing them the same as non-materialistic stuff like love, friendship... it's an idealology that materials can give you true happiness.

My xbox360 gives me happiness.

know1

Collin wrote:

In my opinion, materialism is considering material stuff more important than it actually is, it's valueing them the same as non-materialistic stuff like love, friendship... it's an idealology that materials can give you true happiness.

Well, that's just about as subjective as it gets. I think that gets back to my simpler definition - that it just means that someone has more stuff than you do.

Collin

miller8966 wrote:

My xbox360 gives me happiness.

And how long will that last? Do you think your xbox will still give you happiness in twenty years?

Collin

know1 wrote:

Well, that's just about as subjective as it gets. I think that gets back to my simpler definition - that it just means that someone has more stuff than you do.

And that's not subjective?


This is what the Cambridge dictionary says:

materialism (MONEY) Show phonetics
noun
the belief that having money and possessions is the most important thing in life:

Webster:
2 : a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things

surferdude

know1 wrote:

But kids up to a certain age don't really have the money to buy material things.

I'm not denying that people can be influenced, but it is up to them personally how much power they give to that influence.

I agree with you.

A big part of growing up is taking responsibility for who you are and your actions. Part of this is no longer blaming others for your own actions. I don't care what your background is, if you don't like something don't you do it too.

Far too many people want to remain blamess and carry none of the onus of responsibility for their actions. It is always someone elses fault. Victims of bad parenting, bad teachers, victims of circumstances. Fuck that, round about 16 or so you shoul dbe looking in the mirror and saying "I am in full 100% control of what I do. I am not a victim of anything" or as Ed would say "I am mine".

Collin

materialism

• noun 1 a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values

Oxford dictionary.

Collin

surferdude wrote:

I agree with you.

A big part of growing up is taking responsibility for who you are and your actions. Part of this is no longer blaming others for your own actions. I don't care what your background is, if you don't like something don't you do it too.

Far too many people want to remain blamess and carry none of the onus of responsibility for their actions. It is always someone elses fault. Victims of bad parenting, bad teachers, victims of circumstances. Fuck that, round about 16 or so you shoul dbe looking in the mirror and saying "I am in full 100% control of what I do. I am not a victim of anything" or as Ed would say "I am mine".

True, but to be honest, I have never seen a somebody say 'it's my parents'/society's fault that I want all these things.'

Nobody blames people for that?

hippiemom

know1 wrote:

But kids up to a certain age don't really have the money to buy material things.

I'm not denying that people can be influenced, but it is up to them personally how much power they give to that influence.

Small children may not go shopping on their own, but corporations are most definitely interested in "branding" the kids quite young so that by the time they're old enough to make their own buying decisions, they will "know" that they prefer Coke and Nike and Toyota to Pepsi and Adidas and Chevy. It's brainwashing on a mass scale, and it's almost impossible to insulate yourself from it. I know how hard it is, because I have to work at it ... I have Adblock on my browser, I don't watch tv, I refuse to look at billboards, the only magazines I read don't have ads. But still, there are ads on the news channels on my satellite radio, there are televisions in the doctor's office and even at the grocery store, and I'll occasionally catch myself glancing at the ads in the newspaper. And of course there are corporate logos plastered all over just about everything, so unless you're a hermit in the woods, you really can't miss those.

It requires a lot of effort to avoid media messages in our culture, and kids simply aren't equipped to do it. It's everywhere, even in school. I've had to argue with teachers some years because I insisted that my kids be allowed to leave class during Channel One time if they so chose, and some of the teachers felt that would be disruptive. Some teachers were supportive, and there were even a couple of dissidents who defied school board policy by refusing to turn on Channel One, but a few actually thought that I was being unreasonable because I didn't want my kids to be forced to sit through advertisements that insult their intelligence!

surferdude

Collin wrote:

True, but to be honest, I have never seen a somebody say 'it's my parents'/society's fault that I want all these things.'

Nobody blames people for that?

No but they'll adopt patterns of behavior that may be materialistic without ever questioning why they behave that way. They may see their parents lavish lifestyle while not knowing their is an equal and offsetting charity donation being made. Not that they have bad intentions but that they've never taken the time to think about who they are, who they want to be and how that person they want to be behaves.

know1

Collin wrote:

And that's not subjective?


This is what the Cambridge dictionary says:

materialism (MONEY) Show phonetics
noun
the belief that having money and possessions is the most important thing in life:

Webster:
2 : a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things

People can have tons of stuff without thinking it is the most important thing in life.

miller8966

hippiemom wrote:

Small children may not go shopping on their own, but corporations are most definitely interested in "branding" the kids quite young so that by the time they're old enough to make their own buying decisions, they will "know" that they prefer Coke and Nike and Toyota to Pepsi and Adidas and Chevy. It's brainwashing on a mass scale, and it's almost impossible to insulate yourself from it. I know how hard it is, because I have to work at it ... I have Adblock on my browser, I don't watch tv, I refuse to look at billboards, the only magazines I read don't have ads. But still, there are ads on the news channels on my satellite radio, there are televisions in the doctor's office and even at the grocery store, and I'll occasionally catch myself glancing at the ads in the newspaper. And of course there are corporate logos plastered all over just about everything, so unless you're a hermit in the woods, you really can't miss those.

It requires a lot of effort to avoid media messages in our culture, and kids simply aren't equipped to do it. It's everywhere, even in school. I've had to argue with teachers some years because I insisted that my kids be allowed to leave class during Channel One time if they so chose, and some of the teachers felt that would be disruptive. Some teachers were supportive, and there were even a couple of dissidents who defied school board policy by refusing to turn on Channel One, but a few actually thought that I was being unreasonable because I didn't want my kids to be forced to sit through advertisements that insult their intelligence!

How do advertisements insult intelligence?

If you're an intelligent person you wont buy a product just because you see a "cool" advertisement. What insults intelligence is when certain people feel that others are too stupid to understand an advertisement.

hippiemom

miller8966 wrote:

How do advertisements insult intelligence?

If you're an intelligent person you wont buy a product just because you see a "cool" advertisement. What insults intelligence is when certain people feel that others are too stupid to understand an advertisement.

To be honest, I don't see ads often enough to give you any examples. The last time I saw television ads was when I was putting up Christmas decorations and my husband had a football game on. I don't remember a single thing about the ads, but I do remember after several of them asking my husband "How can you stand to listen to this shit? They're talking to people like they're idiots." Advertising seems to be targeted at a pretty low intelligence level. It gives me a headache.

It's not just about buying a particular product either, it's the whole mindset promoted by our media culture. Happiness is for sale! This is what a successful person looks like! If you don't think you're internalizing some of that, regardless of whether you buy a given product, you're fooling yourself.

By the way, I did not demand that my kids not be in the classroom during Channel One, only that they had the option to leave if they chose to. I don't think anyone of any age should be forced to sit through a sales pitch against their will, and I encourage my kids to make those decisions for themselves. When they were young we would occasionally watch tv and we'd discuss the ads and the techniques that the advertisers use to manipulate public opinion. I would tell them facts about a corporation's behavior and point out how it was in conflict with the image of themselves that they were trying to portray. We'd talk about stereotyping in the ads. I wish every parent would do this, but very few of them do.