To Spend Or Not To Spend

After watching the Overspent American in class it really opened my eyes to how the standard of living is perceived through the media. I never had a thought about how the TV shows that are being watched portrayed people as ‘middle class’ when they have all of the luxuries of the rich. People ultimately get this perception that they are able to live this way because they’re part of the middle class too. People always want more and more things and in order to pay for these desires to buy they are consequently working more. The video pointed out that by the 1980’s it was projected that Americans would have a 4day work week and a leisurely lifestyle. So why isn’t this prediction true? Simple, people want more and more! In order to get more they have to increase their wages. Another option to get more “stuff” was also explored in the video and that is to acquire debt. Like the video said, ads are being shown to people who come from a variety of income levels and some people are unable to afford the ‘luxury’ item being shown to them. Marketing has definitely kept up with the trend of more is better, no matter the price. Marketing high priced items to people who do not have a large salary may actually be working however. Why else would marketers market to people who don’t have sufficient income to pay for their items? The answer could be that some people are willing to have a large amount of debt in order to keep up with the Joneses. 

Is marketing to blame for this increase in consumer spending and increase in personal debt? Or should we hold people accountable for their own decisions whether that is to spend their money or not?