Reaction to “The Urge to Splurge”, Thesis Paper Example

Stefen Theil’s article “The Urge to Splurge” (2010) fulfills the expectations of it’s title. The article is basically an anecdotally based survey of how Americans, as consumers, have responded to the downturn in the economy that has been impacting the society as a whole for the past several years. In his article, Theil quotes a consumer who expresses the idea that many Americans feel which is: spending money is what makes people happy even when they can’t afford it. Therefore, Theil’s thesis in the article is that most Americans are psychologically inclined to spend rather than save. The idea that spending is necessary to be happy, according to Theil, is a defining characteristic of the American identity. Obviously, Theil’s assertion, while being supported by casual, rather than scientific evidence, rings true. This is due tot he fact that Americans are socialized to be consumers.

In the article, Theil makes a comparison between the resolution to cut spending that many Americans felt compelled to make given the weak economy and the resolution that many dieters make in regard to eating. His conclusion is that over-spending, like over-eating, is a gratuitous pursuit, but one which is deeply ingrained in the self-image and lifestyle of teh typical American consumer. Theil writes “But as any dieter can tell you, resolutions are made to be broken.” (Theil, para. 2) In this regard it is obvious that Theil intends his survey of American “austerity” to make an ironic commentary on the nature of American capitalism whule at teh same time celebrating the underlying optimism of the consumer culture. It is due to the fact that many people equate buying with pleasure and self-fulfillment that the practices of austerity are difficult for Americans to adhere to or even make a robust effort to accept as necessary.

Theil remarks that Americans, as a whole, are indisposed toward recognizing the damaging aspects of the consumer culture. Although Theil remains conspicuously non-judgmental  in his analysis, a careful reading of the article suggests that he is gently criticizing both the American consumer and the cultural and social conditions that have encouraged such rampant spending and the equating of money and materialism with personal happiness. He observes that “The New Austerity is easier to talk about than it is to practice—and not just because Americans are hard-wired to buy stuff.” (Theil, para 7) The idea of being “hard-wired” to spend money is a central idea in the article, but Theil also notes that most middle-class Americans have no choice but to spend money even under conditions of “austerity” because they are already so far in debt.

Theil’s vision of American life is much darker than it might appear on only casually reading the article. What he is actually describing is a kind of cultural and social crisis that is based on teh economic crisis, but also persists despite any particular economic conditions. He points out that the rich are getting richer during the recession and that the average American is going deep into debt in order to sustain the luxury conditions that are taken for granted by the upper-class. The inference that Theil makes regarding the deep divisions in class is that they only impact the amount of money that is available to each respective class-level but fail to impact the propensity to spend. He notes that “If anything, there’s a rising class divide between savers and spenders,” (Theil, para. 8). This class divide is unlikely to disappear even when the economy turns around because the “spenders” are inherently disinclined to ever become savers.

Obviously the best way to understand Theil’s article is to view it as a commentary on the perils of fostering a materialistic culture. However, because most Americans are unable to view consuming as being anything other than both necessary and positive, the reality is that American culture is unlikely to change despite the recent catastrophic economic events. In final analysis, the article is a brooding and ironic commentary on the addiction that many Americans have to spending money. The tragic twist of the reality sketched in the article is that the consumer culture, at this point, seems self-perpetuating and, therefore, unlikely to evolve or change into social conditions that foster better conditions for the lower and middle-classes in the United States.

Work Cited

Theil, Stefen. “The Urge to Splurge” Newsweek Magazine. December 6, 2010: 28-30.