Political Forum - US & World Political Discussion Forums - View Single Post - The steady decline of the American way of life

LiveUninhibited · 05-08-2008, 10:38 AM

The first scientific sociological study was conducted by a French man named Durkheim, it was about suicide. He found that it was social ties that protect people from suicide, and that Catholics fare significantly better than Protestants in this regard. Religion was the most important factor, I think marital status was second. Protestantism encourages individualism and materialism, and these ideals go hand in hand with suicide and depression.

I don't think the problem of American materialism/individualism is new, and I certainly don't think it's caused by humanism per se as most Americans remain religious. As long as absolute material conditions are adequate in ones mind, they will have little impact upon happiness. Otherwise, as Durkheim said, "Inextinguishable thirst is constantly renewed torture." America's ideology of hyperconsumption makes it seem as if no amount of material acquisition is ever adequate. I'll be happy when I have this. I'll be happy when I have that. One could blame businesses, as they want to maximize profits by maximizing consumption, and the way to do this is to convince people that they need to buy more first, and then that it is their product that consumers need second. But if the business people were not so obsessed with material gain to begin with, then they wouldn't push consumers quite as much. It's an ideology that is to blame, this insidious aspect of American culture that is easy to feel ambivalent about. I simultaneously blame and praise the Protestants for the blessings and curses of this most capitalistic country. We have better material possessions available today as a result, but more important things such as social ties and values go out the window.

This is, of course, is just one contributing factor to why Americans may be less happy than most of the world despite its material success, and also why the material success following WWII did not lead to more happiness. An apparent increase in unhappiness in America may be due to medicalization and rationalization, where moods lead to diagnoses and people do not tolerate the ups and downs of life as normal.

05-08-2008, 10:38 AM	#31 (permalink)
LiveUninhibited Mercenary Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Oregon Posts: 333 Country:	The first scientific sociological study was conducted by a French man named Durkheim, it was about suicide. He found that it was social ties that protect people from suicide, and that Catholics fare significantly better than Protestants in this regard. Religion was the most important factor, I think marital status was second. Protestantism encourages individualism and materialism, and these ideals go hand in hand with suicide and depression. I don't think the problem of American materialism/individualism is new, and I certainly don't think it's caused by humanism per se as most Americans remain religious. As long as absolute material conditions are adequate in ones mind, they will have little impact upon happiness. Otherwise, as Durkheim said, "Inextinguishable thirst is constantly renewed torture." America's ideology of hyperconsumption makes it seem as if no amount of material acquisition is ever adequate. I'll be happy when I have this. I'll be happy when I have that. One could blame businesses, as they want to maximize profits by maximizing consumption, and the way to do this is to convince people that they need to buy more first, and then that it is their product that consumers need second. But if the business people were not so obsessed with material gain to begin with, then they wouldn't push consumers quite as much. It's an ideology that is to blame, this insidious aspect of American culture that is easy to feel ambivalent about. I simultaneously blame and praise the Protestants for the blessings and curses of this most capitalistic country. We have better material possessions available today as a result, but more important things such as social ties and values go out the window. This is, of course, is just one contributing factor to why Americans may be less happy than most of the world despite its material success, and also why the material success following WWII did not lead to more happiness. An apparent increase in unhappiness in America may be due to medicalization and rationalization, where moods lead to diagnoses and people do not tolerate the ups and downs of life as normal. Last edited by LiveUninhibited; 05-08-2008 at 10:50 AM.