Mystiqik+Annotated+Bibliograpy

//Conclusion//

Overall American culture is to strive for financial wealth in order to insure self-sufficiency. From there individuals use their money to "keep up with the Joneses" by purchasing various top products and the new must haves. Influence comes not only from the media but from family and friends as well. New trends have to kept up with, and peers must be outdone. Everything is about who has the best of the best. Some of the money spent on buying luxuries could be donated to several charities, or better yet, less fortunate countries. With more self reliance individuals form and increased amount of faith in what they can provide for themselves, and begin to steer away from spiritual guidance and hope, trding bibles for vanity.

//Annotated Bibliography//

//Effects of Materialism//. (2002-2009). Retrieved October 29, 2009, from AllAboutPhilosophy.org: []  Another site that includes a religious aspect. States negative examples of effects such as: lust, envy, false comfort, selfishness, greed, etc... goes on to imply that several societies are becoming humanistic, denying any spiritual nature of mankind.

Geela. (2004). //The American Dream: Materialsim-Religion-Values//. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from [] Discusses the various connections between religion and the social world when it comes to beliefs and values. It poses the question "What is the true American dream?" Points out several aspects of our "corrupt" society. Tries to explain reasons as to why certain things are happening in the U.S. and figure out where the country is headed.

Lane, R. E. (2006). //Afeter the End of History: The Curious Fate of American Materialism.// University of Michigan Press. In this book Lane illustrates his research by presenting us with a dialogue between two protagonists—two social scientists who regularly meet for lunch in a diner just off-campus. One of them is a narrowly trained economist who believes that wealth matters above all else; his companion is an eclectic, humanistically inclined political scientist who believes that the materialistic perspective is outdated and that social scientists should be thinking about other, more direct routes to human well-being. Their conversations draw from a wealth of sources: ideas from history, philosophy, psychology, and religion; and address topics such as justice, money, development, work, and happiness.

Sato, R. (2009). //Scientists That Find That Low Self-Esteem & Materialism Go Hand In Hand//. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from [] Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. They also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases. The study primarily focused on how this relationship affects children and adolescents.

Twitchell, J. B. (1999). //Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism.// New York: Columbia University Press. We live in a commercial age, awash in a sea of brand names, logos, and advertising jingles - not to mention commodities themselves. Are shoppers merely the unwitting stooges of the greedy producers who will stop at nothing to sell their wares? Are the producers' powers of persuasion so great that resistance is futile? James Twitchell counters this assumption of the used and abused consumer with a witty and unflinching look at commercial culture, starting from the simple observation that "we are powerfully attracted to the world of goods (after all, we don't call them 'bads')." He contends that far from being forced upon us against our better judgment, "consumerism is our better judgment. "