Materialism in the 60s vs the 21st Century, is There a Difference?

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Has this idea recently arisen or has it always been existent? Materialism can in be summarized shortly and sweetly as; the act of buying stuff to make us happy and the more we buy the happier we are.

Photo: money and happiness?

This process is a very familiar concept with today’s generation but was it always the case? Many can agree there is a significant difference in materialism and consumerism in the 1960s compared to today. A big reason for this change is the different perspective of some of the youth from then and now. There is no doubt that materialistic needs have always been high amongst many adolescents, although today’s generation seems to embrace the notion on a whole other level. The 1960s prove to have had an opposing attitude towards this behavior. In short, the 1960s were a period of rebellious protest where hippies tried to oppress social norms and encourage society to embrace a simpler more liberal way of life. In other words, discourage the support towards corporate America with its postwar, fast paced consumerists values. According to Joseph Cummins, this rebellion against materialism was a response to the baby boomers prosperous post war upbringing that came with grassy green lawns and white picket fences. Although these liberal ideas greatly influenced the minds of many people, a new business related concept blossomed: advertising. Advertising was a great success in the 60s as much of the youth were influenced from the comfort of their own couch and were instilled with desire that therefore translated to profit for major retail companies.

Photo: Materialism

Our society’s belief today stems from this concept but has greatly evolved and differs. For example, unlike then, today we as consumers have purchasing power and are able to communicate with companies so they can provide us with useless things that we think will make us the happiest. In addition, the 1960s that advocated a slower and more easygoing way of life, greatly contrast todays booming, fast paced and interconnected way of life. Materialism proves to be more prominent in most of our lives today more than ever. We base the success of our lives based on our salaries and the amount of things we can acquire with it. Dr. Steve Taylor reports in an article in psychology today, that it’s not in fact our hardship that drives our hunger for wealth and material goods, but it’s our own inner dissatisfaction. In other words, many young people believe that happiness can be bought. Our high standard of living forces us to constantly strive to provide ourselves with things we feel will make us happy. Does this actually work? No and the fact that many Americans take more antidepressants than anybody else on earth proves it. When taking all these factors into account it can be concluded that the attitude on materialism in the 60s and now differed amongst most of the youth due to their different perspectives on ways of life. That being said, the 1960s will remain a controversial time period. Many critics have argued that "the era created the welfare state, bred a culture of immorality and self-indulgence, and bequeathed to America’s taxpayers an enormous burden.” Although materialistic values proved to be different, these exact words are what seem to be used to describe our millennial generation today and seeing that’s the case, there really isn’t a big difference between then and now.