Kayla Salyer, Berman

Materialism. This is a term that is ingrained in human beings from the moment we are able to understand the meaning. Americans are materialistic. The rich countries are materialistic. Humans are materialistic. We surround ourselves with the things that make up are lives.
Yes, this does not define every individual. Many believe that love, kindness, hope and many other concepts and actions are not based on materialism, and yet this does shape a big part of our lives. People strive for more, both in the materialistic world and the intellectual world. This is what makes modernism possible. Why is it that we strive for things to such an extent? Why are we all not striving for what makes our lives more meaning on an intellectual side?

"All our inventions and progress seem to result in endowing material forces with intellectual life, and stultifying human life into a material force" (Burman 1982, 20). Burman explains that modernism is obtained through both the intellectual and the material aspects of our lives. Without the strive towards stronger better things people would cease grow and thrive.
Despite my wish for people to be only driven by love, kindness, hope, I find that our world would be nothing it is today without materialism. Through science we are able to reach new levels of intelligence which, in turn, forms modernism. I am then forced to acknowledge that materialism, in its original form, is necessary, and helpful for our society. The need for the constant growth in material things is what drives much of our modern world.

As Burman describes it, "It is ironic and contradictory, polyphonic and dialectical, denouncing modern life in the name of values that modernity itself has created, hoping -- often against hope -- that the modernities of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will heal the wounds that wreck the modern men and women of today" (1982, 20). Dangers cannot stop the flow of life because 'the grass is always greener on the other side'. As far fetched as it may sound, this can be translated to the need for materialism. Human beings need something in their lives to drive them to keep living, whether it is spirituality, science or the simple concept of 'life will get better', we use material things as a way to find meaning in our lives. We use materialism as tool to seeing the future as a better life. We want the faster cars, and the nicer cloths. We want the faster computers, and the thinner phones. This gives us something to work towards, something to push us towards a better future

Although materialism is looked at as somewhat of a bad thing, I would like to put forth the idea that it has shaped much of our modern world. Without the constant need for newer, better, and simply more things, we would have a very different world today.