People Nowadays Work Hard to Buy more Things IELTS Writing Task 2

Consumerism is a phenomenon with its roots in individual freedoms. The promotion of the interest of individual has made its place in society due to the demands of the individuals. There are people who agree that consumerism supports the economical growth of the country. It is the driver of all creativity and innovation and has inspired cost reductions. The basic requirement for the competitiveness of goods & services in a materialistic market has increased. People are working hard to buy more things which leads to a good lifestyle. For example, previously people used to buy fruits from the market and prepare juice by hand. Now, these juices are readily available in the market. There is a variety of juicers that is available at a cheaper price. These are all made to make life easier. There are multiple such examples that show that buying more things in the modern world has made our life easier. people only see the benefits of such materialistic things. Another example is gaming consoles. previously people used to go to fields to play games. Now, they sit at the comfort of their home to play games.

Though there are advantages, there are multiple disadvantages also. Some people believe that traditional values are being lost due to increasing materialism. They also believe that it is changing the moral fabric of society. People working hard to buy things means that they will go to any lengths to fulfill their requirements. This will definitely affect the ethical and traditional values of society. Thus, materialism also encourages the exploitation of resources and human assets. Consumerism increases the debt burden on people so the argument that buying something will make people gratified doesn’t stand because people then have to worry about their crippling finances or the number of hours they will be putting in to make up for that, this leads to lifestyle diseases like Diabetes and hypertension, etc.

In conclusion, it is important to aim for social security and if that comes from material possessions then there is nothing wrong with it because demand drives production which in turn creates jobs bringing prosperity to everyone’s lives. But it's equally important for people to check their consumption and be ethical consumers. One should not forgo their traditional values of community living, relaxation, and cordiality over material things because traditions take centuries to cultivate.

Various reasons can be attributed to the fact materialism is compromising traditional values like everyone in this world has conjured up a rat race wherein the person with the most things to show off for their affluent lifestyle wins. This is leading to an unhealthy work hustle as people are devoting more time than they should work developing lifestyle diseases and facing lower life expectancy. After doing reasonable hours of work – one used to spend time in their community which helped their mental well-being but that has stopped due to busy work schedules and self-centered priorities of people.

This materialistic rush has created more problems than it has solved. A person who is supposed to take care of the elderly in the family chooses to migrate to urban areas from rural areas in order to earn more so that they can have more. This has led to the loss of traditional values of maintaining a rural community, and taking responsibility for the elderly and has replaced it with the self-serving interests of a person i.e., Materialism. The size of families is getting smaller because when everyone wants to have everything a joint family might need a lot of money to sustain itself.

The significance of culture is also being lost as people now just buy processed goods to celebrate their festivals without putting any effort leading to the commercialization of festivals – this has caused many of traditional values to disappear and traditional artisans to lose their livelihood. Growing consumerism is harmful to the environment as well due to the huge quantities of waste it generates.

In conclusion, one should lead a balanced life as our traditional ethos has taught us, this is not only in the interest of our mental and physical well-being but for environmental well-being as well.

JS Mill has said that a dissatisfied Socrates is better than a satisfied pig but one can’t ignore the need for the greatest happiness of the greatest number and consumerism is known to make people happy and alleviate their fears about a destitute future. A population that feels gratified at the end of the day is less likely to be invited or involved in conflict leading to a peaceful environment.

Consumerism accounts for individuals’ rights because collective rights have their own disadvantages. For Example, in a traditional setup, the head of the family took decisions for everyone wherein the patriarch has been detrimental to the progress of women. Consumerism ensures that people have the freedom to spend the money they earn on what they want. It keeps human rights at the center and vests decision-making power in an individual because bodily autonomy is a must to ensure a life of dignity – which is the ultimate end for traditional values as well.

In addition, a consumer who is always searching for new things to buy is a key supporter of small business owners trying to make a livelihood because if consumerism wasn’t there, nobody would buy their products enough to run the shop. Such consumers are also ten times more likely to donate to smaller causes because they aren’t conservative about spending money.

In conclusion, consumerism doesn’t always have to come at the cost of traditional values because one who earns more will be able to cherish their traditions more like specialized care for the elderly, remittances in developing countries, and globalization of one’s culture.