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Creation of Discontent

The document discusses Juliet Schor's argument that discontent in society has grown due to ignorance around the negative impact of materialism on happiness. Schor cites polls from 1957, 1970, and 1978 showing that Americans were happiest in 1957 despite increasing material goods. Even though possessions don't equal happiness, people continue chasing more through a "consumer merry-go-round," convinced more will make them happy. This cycle of wanting more causes distraction and obsession, taking people away from their actual lives.

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gerald lawagan
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5K views

Creation of Discontent

The document discusses Juliet Schor's argument that discontent in society has grown due to ignorance around the negative impact of materialism on happiness. Schor cites polls from 1957, 1970, and 1978 showing that Americans were happiest in 1957 despite increasing material goods. Even though possessions don't equal happiness, people continue chasing more through a "consumer merry-go-round," convinced more will make them happy. This cycle of wanting more causes distraction and obsession, taking people away from their actual lives.

Uploaded by

gerald lawagan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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In “The Creation of Discontent”, Juliet Schor explains to the reader that

discontent is a growing phenomenon caused by society’s ignorance of the negative


impact that materialism inflicts on our happiness. Her point is simple and she
primarily explains it by the use examples.
In her fourth paragraph, Schor cites a series of polls regarding “happiness
levels” which illustrate the fact that Americans were happiest in 1957. In 1970 and
1978, the poll was conducted again. Many Americans did not describe themselves as
“very happy”, despite the increasing demand for material goods.
Schor states that even though possessions do not equal happiness, we continue
to ride a “consumer merry-go-round.” This “consumer merry-go-round” can be, more or
less, described as a vicious cycle. She goes on to say that even the wealthy are a
part of this cycle and convince themselves that they are “living paycheck to
paycheck.” Afterwards, she relents and goes on to say that the mentality is also
shared by those who make substantially less, but have an enormous amount of
luxuries at their disposals.
In her conclusion she restates by example, that discontent with our material
possessions only causes us to become distracted and even obsessed with obtaining
more and more. This causes us to become desensitized and which take us away from
our actual lives.

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