Materialism and Avarice

You know, it was pretty convenient how we had that quickwrite today (I chose the one about modern society and materialism) since I've been roughly thinking about the same subject already. I didn't get much on the paper since I was thinking all over the place and once I had one idea down, I'd totally forget the others. Anyways, I shall commence.

To start off, I believe that our society deserves to be criticized for straying away from the idea of "necessities first, wants last". Materialism has been provoking people leading them to give into greed which strongly shifts their perspective and personality. It has gotten to the point where future opportunities or your own sense of individualism heavily depends on your possessions or looks.

One thing that has kept up materialism's 'spirit' is something I call 'materialistic uniquity'. As people, the most important thing should be your mind. Each person has their own perspective and abilities, although some people may be similar. Nowadays, people don't 'look' at your mind. Instead, they look at you physically. Adolescents, in particular, has fallen into this. To be recognized, you have to look 'fresh'. Your different appearance makes you look so much more appealing to the eye and if you interact with people similar to you, you become shifted into groups-- cliques. I find wide minds more attractive than wide wardrobes kthx.
Now, I understand that your appearance may sometimes speak for your personality, but you cannot gamble with that.

Okay, another thing I have realized is that we hate necessities. Well.. that's a bit exaggerated, but we don't care about it as much. Avarice is the biggest bitch in the world and we are ALL affected by it. I have a perfect small example: My mother. Not to call her out or anything.. but seriously.

So, my mother has an obsessive habit of pulling money out of my bank via ATM or swiping money away from my room which I don't hide so well.. I know it's stupid on my fault for not hiding it well enough, but I should be able to trust my mother enough to kind of just leave it, right? Wrong.
This has been going on for years and I never get legitimate reasons of why she'd take money from me. A few reasons she has given me was.. car repair, I owe my friend, bank issues, etc. There was this one time where she withdrew about.. $1000 from me and came back home with Neiman Marcus bags and a brand new Yves Saint Laurent coat. Holy shit son. REALLY? My sister wasn't the ONLY one who needed to go to college, thank you very much.
Enough with pointing fingers, but I do this sometimes too. Not at such drastic measures though.. I don't know. But sometimes I see improvement. I just always think of what my sister would tell me, "Get what you need, not want". It's really hard to follow, but when I'd get something in my hand, I tend to look at it for a LONG time. Then I would decide to buy it or just put it back.