Materialism

Given a choice between candies and money, babies and young children will choose candies, which only satisfy them in the present. The teacher will not excuse the class until everyone is quiet. Knowing that some people have to be somewhere in a few minutes, troublemakers continue to be loud, trying to delay the time, but unaware that they are remaining longer in a place they do not like. These scenes portray materialism or shortsightedness in people.

Many people take wrong actions without thinking about punishments, hassles, and the future. A number of criminals often do not consider the fines, imprisonment, trials, and other adverse consequences. Most people do not know how to save money. When they see something they like, even if it is expensive and unnecessary, they become impulsive and do not think about having enough money for the future. It is the same with drugs, smoking, and alcohol: people desire the immediate pleasure or escape from problems without considering the hangovers and bigger problems that come hours later. People are usually just materialistic. By the time they regret their mistakes, it is often too late.

Naive and straightforward people are often considered “stupid” and “easy victims.” However, deceitful people are the stupid ones, and later end up being victims. Many people are not aware that if they cheat others, they are mostly cheating themselves. Many students have copied others’ works instead of doing their own, and also cheated on tests without studying. Do they know that they are just cheating themselves? They will not learn anything, and one day, when life situations require the class materials, they will be in trouble. Why lie or blame others when everyone else knows or will eventually know we did it? We will only be in double trouble: for the wrong we committed and the lie we told. Why put ourselves in double trouble if we could have only single trouble? However, many people do not seem to see it.

Our environment is being destroyed because of shortsightedness, as well as many lives lost. Without thinking about the hassles and responsibilities of adults, children and teenagers usually cannot wait to grow up. Many incidences of chronic diseases are caused by years of unhealthy materialistic behaviors, such as lack of physical activity and consumption of too much unhealthy foods. Power-hungry people are often trying to become leaders without considering the responsibilities they will be facing.

Many governments and authorities are not thinking long term. They just care if things will work in the present without thinking about the future, and often take the easy way out. Many people are not aware that cooperation is better than competition in the long run. Selfishness is mostly a materialistic behavior. 

I realized that the moderators (mods) at TheOneRing.Com have become really materialistic. It seems as if they just want to get rid of people because there are so many members. They look for possible victims to harass and ban, without studying the contents and quality of their posts and comments. They are often not aware that they are losing good members who will improve the quality of the site. There were also members who pretend to be nice just to become mods, so they can control others and often abuse their powers. They did not see the difficult work mods face.

Not wanting to be materialistic could be my reason for being indecisive. I want to make decisions without regrets, so I often spend time weighing the possibilities, the costs and benefits. That is why I often have self-debates about buying things I can live without, or how I should plan my schedules.