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Art Colony: measuring materialism
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
› by victoria
my marketing class almost made me cry in it today. I went up to the professor afterwards and asked her "is a marketing class supposed to be this profound?" and she said "Not really! :ha ha: But I think self-actualization is very important and it can make a difference to all of us so I want to share it with the class."
Today we talked about Materialism. It was a very odd class for me, because I wanted to speak out in it but it's embarassing to really speak out, at least, to say what I wanted to say. It's actually rather embarrassing to type it here, thinking about it doubly, but if Blaine can have the courage to admit things of a similar cut, so can I. Here goes:
Questions from the "Measuring Materialism" quiz:
The things I own say a lot about how well I'm doing in life.
I don't pay much attention to the material objects other people own.
I usually buy only the things I need.
I enjoy spending money on things that aren't practical.
My life would be better if I owned certain things I don't have.
I wouldn't be any happier if I could afford to buy more things.
I'd be happier if I could afford to buy more things.
It sometimes bothers me quite a bit that I can't afford to buy all the things I like.
I don't think you can aptly measure materialism without experiencing a pretty damn low point when you can't buy what you need. Like, what you need, like food, for example. Back in January, February, I'm not precisely certain of the date (I mean, I don't keep a "fluctuating economics journal" although I probably should) there were times when we were literally running out of food. At said point, when you walk around a University where it seems like everybody else is so, so much more well-off than you are, it almost drives you insane. You get angry when you see people spending $8.00 on a sandwich. I don't know quite how to describe it: it's a searing emotion that cuts through things. You become sharp. I wouldn't have made it through this time without the help of kind friends (you know who you are); but seriously, it's a sobering thought.
Am I materialistic? Probably. I am far less materialistic than I was back in the day when I was pickled like a small vegetable in the brine of peer-pressure-consumerism like in middle-school, but I would still be upset if someone destroyed all my books (or what remains of my book collection). Moving taught me a lot about the value of my objects. Yes, there were t-shirts that i was irrationally attached to, and I still haven't gotten a lot of them back--same goes for books, CDs, comic books, random stuff. I know that in all likelihood, chances are that I will get them back someday.
I was probably more self-actualized in highschool than I am at Marquette. But is being more self-actualized being more lonely? Does that mean I wasn't self-actualized back then, because I was (in a way) lonely?
on a sidenote, last night we celebrated National Talk Like a pirate day with small rum n' cokes (from a wee bottle o' rum) and watched "Pirates of the Carribbean" which I rented out from the library.
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