Reflection on "Why Stuff is not Salvation"

In today’s society, people are obsessed with materialistic goods. People are often too concerned with what they want rather than what they actually need. Rather than being satisfied with one item people constantly desire more. Unfortunately, items seem to lose their value when humans desire another item that seems better. A cycle begins to occur as people discard their old items and look for new ones. Also, this cycle can even lead to financial debt. When people make material goods their main priority, they do not put the items that they need first in their lives. This often leads to financial debt because these people do not know how to manage their money wisely, and choose to spend it on worthless items- such as toys, gadgets, etc. 

Although materialism seems to be a relevant theme in our society, it is not central to the lives of every family. For instance, in my household my parents try to not feed into materialism. One of the main reasons for this is because we have eight members in our family, and cannot afford to spend money on toys and gadgets that will end up on the floor. My sisters and I generally receive gifts only on Christmas and our birthdays, and must buy other things that we want with our own money. Our parents will provide us the items that we need, such as clothing and food, however if we want additional items that we do not absolutely need, we must buy it ourselves. As a result, the items that we possess are more valuable to us because we have to either work for them or they are special gifts from our parents.