There's a lot more to life than material possessions

Editor,

I recently came across several articles from various sources decrying this generation's obsession with material wealth, physical looks and having the latest gadgets above all else. New polls show that the obsession with material things among our nation's youth is growing and that being rich is more important to today's young people than it was in the past.

UCLA's annual survey of college freshman, released last Friday, found that nearly three-quarters of those surveyed in 2006 thought it was essential or very important to be very well-off financially. That compares to 62.5 percent who said the same in 1980 and 42 percent in 1966, the first year the survey was done. Another recent poll from the Pew Research Center found that about 80 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds in this country view getting rich as a top life goal for their generation.

I am curious to find out what UNM students think about this. As a UNM employee and student, I have many interactions with the campus population, and I know from personal experience that many of the kids I come across are highly evolved, articulate, sensible and socially conscious people who are not particularly materialistic. I admire and respect most of the young people I interact with daily, but I have also had the displeasure of sitting in a classroom full of students who seem to fall into the above category. It's disturbing and distracting to sit in a class where kids are either text messaging each other, listening to their iPods or asleep the whole time. I am deeply concerned about the future of our nation and the possibility of an entire generation growing up with no value system other than the meaningless pursuit of material wealth.

As Oprah Winfrey recently stated when asked why she chose to build a school in South Africa instead of this country, "If you ask the kids (in the U.S.) what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don't ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school."

I am worried that our society has created a generation of mindless robots who are unable to think for themselves or seek alternatives to the hypocritical, materialistic society we live in, or even realize that there are alternatives. I see the high rate of depression and suicide among young people as a direct result of the utter pointlessness of this pursuit of wealth and material possessions above all else, at any cost.

Sure, it's great to have money, but have people completely forgotten that there is much more to life than simply acquiring more and more stuff and looking good? Unfortunately, I fear these lessons are being instilled in this country's youth by parents who suffer from the same mentality.

Jason Darensburg

UNM student and staff