Insights Into Teens: Episode 156 ”Teens and Materialism”

Insights Into Things

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-3j569-12e3657

Teens today are often described as being the most materialistic generation in history. 

Whether this is accurate or not, it’s hard to argue that many teens today do exhibit materialistic tendencies.

On this episode of Insights Into Teens we’ll explore teen materialism, we’ll take a look at the contributing factors, and we’ll look at how to help teens cope with materialism.

Audio
Youtube
Twitch
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

Subscribe to Audio
Subscribe to Youtube
Subscribe to Video

Show Notes

[INTRO THEME]

  • [INTRODUCTIONS]
    • Insights Into Teens: Episode 156 “Teens and Materialism”
    • My generous and enterprising co-host Madison Whalen
    • Summary
      • Teens today are often described as being the most materialistic generation in history. 
      • Whether this is accurate or not, it’s hard to argue that many teens today do exhibit materialistic tendencies.
      • On this episode of Insights Into Teens we’ll explore teen materialism, we’ll take a look at the contributing factors, and we’ll look at how to help teens cope with materialism
  • [SHOW PLUGS]
    • But first I’d like to invite the listening and viewing audience to subscribe to the podcast.
      • You can find audio versions listed under Insights Into Teens, you can also find video and audio versions listed under Insights Into Things.
    • I’d also like to invite you to give us your feedback on what we’re talking about or give us your suggestions for show topics.

[TRANSITION]

[SEGMENT 1]

What is materialism?

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-materialism-22209
https://bit.ly/3pi2Fat
  • Materialism is the importance one places on material possessions

. 

  • These possessions could be anything, such as clothes, shoes, handbags, cars, electronic equipment, and gadgets or anything else of that nature
  • One’s home also counts as a material possession, even though everyone needs a place to live. 
  • However, people who tend to be more materialistic might view their home as a way to reflect their social status rather than serving as a place to dwell for shelter.
  • Someone with a high level of materialism, described as “materialistic,” considers material possessions to be central to their life and their identity.
    • They focus a good deal of their energy on acquiring possessions.
  • Someone with a low level of materialism described as “non-materialistic,” or “not materialistic,” don’t consider acquiring possessions to be particularly important, although they vary in the extent to which they acquire material possessions in order to meet other objectives, such as social acceptance.

Causes of teen materialism

https://www.verywellfamily.com/how-to-avoid-having-materialistic-children-3288010
https://bit.ly/3BZTwuE
  • Materialistic Children have less Supportive Parents:
  • In a study of tweens and teens, parents who were emotionally unsupportive had more materialistic children than supportive parents.
  • By support, we’re talking about the ability for the parent to talk to, encourage, and be there for their child in good and bad times. 
  • Self-esteem is the key to understanding this finding.
  • Supportive parenting increases adolescents’ self-esteem. 
  • The higher a child’s self-esteem, the less likely they are to look to items to bring them happiness and a sense of worth; they get their self-worth from relationships, instead.
  • You can teach them the value of relationships by paying them with your time, energy, and interests. 
  • This will help them see their worth as a person. 
  • And even if you do buy some things for them along the way, maintaining your relationship will lead to higher self-esteem, which often leads to lower materialism.
  • Materialistic Children tend to have less Supportive Friends:
  • Similar to the findings of parents, the support of peers is also important for counteracting materialism. 
  • In the study, kids with supportive friends had higher self-esteem and, in turn, fewer materialistic beliefs. 
  • Supportive friends are those who are understanding, who help out in times of need, and who do not get angry or upset for no reason. 
  • Supportive friends also avoid relational aggression and subtle bullying. 
  • Encouraging your child to find and maintain these types of friendships may help your child think less materialistic.
  • Materialistic Children often have Materialistic Parents:
  • Your own behavior also affects how much goods and money matter to your child. 
  • Children learn by watching, so if they see you valuing money as a source of happiness, they are likely to do the same.
  • In addition, the researchers discovered that the more materialistic a parent was, the lower their child’s self-esteem.
  • Because low self-esteem is linked to higher materialism, it follows that materialistic parents had materialistic children.
  • Materialistic Children also have Materialistic Friends:
  • Similarly, the attitudes and behaviors of peers affect materialistic beliefs. 
  • The researchers found that adolescents with materialistic friends had lower self-esteem and, in turn, higher materialism themselves. 
  • Encouraging your child to find supportive friends who don’t put a high value on money and things may, therefore, help your tween avoid being consumed by consumption.

[AD1: SSE]

[SEGMENT 2]

Why is materialism bad?

20 Serious Reasons Why Materialism Is Bad for You
https://bit.ly/3C1YLKv
  • Materialism changes you in unexpected ways. 
  • It badly affects your emotional and mental well-being, without you knowing it. 
  • It harms your way of looking at life.
  • Materialism brings several pains along with it, so here are some simple clues to help you understand how worse it can be.
    • You define your value in terms of the objects you own:
      • In the course, you lose your authenticity, self-belief, and think your worth is only equal to the price tag of your t-shirt.
    • You get stuck in a never-ending comparison:
      • The possibility that your lawn is less green keeps you restless and insecure. 
      • You stop sleeping well at night.
    • Your self-esteem shatters when you don’t meet your own unrealistic expectations:
      • Even if you’re blessed with abundance, you become blind to your own goodness.
    • You delude yourself by buying more stuff and thinking you’re closer to happiness than before, even when you are not:
      • You remain unhappy for insensible reasons.
    • You get fooled by advertisements and hypocrisy around yourself:
      • You stop using your senses and remove your wallet without a second thought.
    • You become desperately poor, not because you don’t have enough, but because you develop a hunger that can’t be satisfied.
    • You keep demanding more, get stuffed with selfishness and show no trace of contentment:
      • So you suffer more due to such behavior.
    • You feel grateful for nothing:
      • You stop appreciating what you already have, because it’s not as good as what you want, therefore you’re busy chasing the next shiny thing.
    • You crave external appreciation and wait to be noticed by others:
      • You put your efforts into impressing others, even when it doesn’t serve a purpose.
    • You keep feeling incomplete, unsuccessful and dissatisfied – and you carry the same feelings with you, till the end.
    • You disturb your well-being through your attachment to your bank account:
      • You become too dependent on your possessions, as you try to define yourself through them, which arouses mental and emotional instability.
    • You fall prey to negative feelings such as greed, jealousy, and hatred – as you often see others as a part of your race – and you don’t want them to win.
    • You compromise your values and principles for gains – soon, the gap between right and wrong starts to fade for you.
    • You lose your true identity:
      • Then, you try to become what others want you to become, not what you hope to become.
    • You spend your resources on temporary pleasures and lose the opportunity of making a change in your own and others’ lives:
      • You neglect the bigger picture.
    • You become blind to the qualities of people and judge them based on their earnings and financial status:
      • This only makes you look pompous and arrogant.
    • You limit your perception to the monetary side of life, after which you stop seeing all other ways to happiness and success.
    • You see no other way to prove your self-worth, or to estimate your success, and therefore cling to the path you’re already on.
    • You unknowingly manipulate your own emotions, and hence, gather regrets and pains as time passes.
    • You trap yourself within the life you choose, and only find nothingness, despair, and meaninglessness when you look back:
      • It can be miserable when you have almost no memories.

[AD2: ENTERTAINMENT]

[SEGMENT 3]


How to help a teen dealing with materialism

https://middleearthnj.org/2012/10/23/helping-teens-escape-materialism-in-a-materialistic-world/
https://bit.ly/3QoOwUW

  • It is difficult to keep teens out of the materialistic trap because of our society’s increasing culture of “buying more”, the targeted advertising to teens and young adults, and teens’ desire to fit in with their peers.
    • However, their spending habits are not fully formed – parents and other adults have the ability to shape their thoughts and decisions on materialism before they get themselves into debt or in other trouble.
  • Following are some ideas for raising teenagers to avoid the materialism trap:
    • Model simplicity:
      • Children are more likely to imitate what they see than what they hear. 
      • The best way to reach your teen on this subject is to model for them the joys and benefits of intentionally living with less. 
      • Clean out your closets. 
      • Don’t run out and purchase the newest gadget. 
      • Explain your decision-making to your teen as you carefully choose your possessions.
    • Encourage idealism:
      • Many teenagers desire to find a cause that can change the world, but their ideas can be quickly dismissed by adults. 
      • No matter how far out or naïve their idea, encourage your teen. 
      • Allow teenagers to dream bigger dreams than the mansion, fancy wardrobe and sports car. 
      • If they say they want to feed all the starving in Africa, listen to their ideas without inserting too much reality and then volunteer with them at the local food bank. 
      • If they grow up thinking about making a difference in others’ lives, then they are more likely to act on those ideas as an adult and feel good about themselves.
    • Volunteer as a family:
      • Invest your energies into helping other people. 
      • Shifting your focus onto the needs of others can encourage gratitude for what you have and replace materialism. 
      • Lead your family to offer your time in the community by working in a local food bank or other organization that serves the underprivileged.
    • Watch less television:
      • This serves a dual purpose. 
      • First, it limits the amount of advertising your teen sees, which has a major impact on their spending habits. 
      • Second, it allows them to spend more time thinking or being creative.
    • Identify ad messages:
      • Even if you limit your TV time, advertisements can never be completely avoided. 
      • So, teach your teenager to read behind the marketing message. 
      • Ask questions, such as, “What are they really trying to sell you with this advertisement? Do you think that product will deliver on its promise?”
    • Discourage entitlement:
      • Clearly, parents must provide their children the basic necessities in life (food, shelter, clothing, etc.), and, of course, parents should take joy in giving their teens nice gifts on their birthdays and holidays.
      • However, many parents feel compelled to provide kids with their every whim and want. 
      • Instead, we should do two things: (1) demonstrate the truths of responsibility – showing that it is hard work to maintain our possessions (cleaning houses, repairing cars, etc.) and (2) require your teen to purchase expensive items with their own money, which will provide them more fulfillment and a better understanding of the relationship between work and money.
    • Expose them to the less fortunate:
      • Our world has wide-ranging economies. 
      • Expose your teen to the lives of other people who live off of substantially lower incomes than Americans, but, in many ways, seem happier. 
      • Obviously, it would be great to travel to poor countries to see it firsthand, but for most people, that is not feasible. 
      • You could still rent a documentary or research information online.
    • Establish goals and challenges:
      • Many people will try to use possessions to fill a void within themselves. 
      • The problem is that “stuff” can’t do that. 
      • Teach your teen to establish their own personal goals and challenges so that they can base their self-worth on their actions, rather than their possessions or the admiration of their friends.
    • Avoid the status game:
      • Be sure to model inclusiveness to your teen. 
      • Seek friends from all social classes, and make sure you do not insinuate that you consider one person more worthy than another based on their money or profession.
    • Be supportive:
      • A recent study found that teenagers with supportive parents and friends have higher self-esteem, which makes them less materialistic. 
      • Children with lower self-esteem valued possessions significantly more than children with higher self-esteem. 
      • So, parents, be supportive of your children.
  • Ultimately, it is important for parents to teach their teenagers that what matters most is who they are, not what they own.
    • Value your teen’s character, dreams and talents, so that they can see their happiness is not determined by their possessions. 
    • Teach them to pursue the greater things in life.

[TRANSITION]

  • [CLOSE]
  • Closing thoughts shoutouts

[OUTRO AND CREDITS]

Transcription

00:00:01:15 – 00:00:50:16
Michelle
Insightful podcasts by informative host insights into Things, a podcast network. Welcome to Insights Into Teens, a podcast series exploring the issues and challenges of today’s youth. Your hosts are Joseph and Madison Whalen, a father and daughter team making their way through the challenges of the teenage years.

00:00:51:11 – 00:01:04:16
Joe
Welcome to Insights Into Teens. This is episode 156 Teens and Materialism. I’m your host, Joseph Whalen, and my generous and enterprising co-host, Madison Whalen.

00:01:04:28 – 00:01:08:27
Madison
Hi, everyone. Never thought I’d be described as enterprising, but here we are.

00:01:08:28 – 00:01:16:14
Joe
Sure you know how to make a buck, don’t you? You do chores, you clean, you do various things to make a couple bucks here and there.

00:01:16:18 – 00:01:17:03
Madison
Fair enough.

00:01:17:21 – 00:01:19:19
Joe
That, by definition, makes you enterprising.

00:01:19:28 – 00:01:20:13
Madison
All right.

00:01:21:03 – 00:01:38:05
Joe
So we are back from an interminably long hiatus here. Yeah, our marching band schedule has just been killing us these last few weeks here, so we’ve been, oh, almost three weeks. Four weeks now without a podcast.

00:01:38:09 – 00:01:39:13
Madison
Yeah, it’s been a bit.

00:01:39:22 – 00:02:03:20
Joe
So we’re probably still going to be kind of erratic for the month of October and things probably will settle down for us in November. Yeah, we’ll probably get back to our regular schedule in November. Hopefully get going to get cracking on our holiday special. We haven’t done anything yet. Yeah, but we are here this week. I don’t know if we’ll be here next week, so enjoy the show today.

00:02:04:20 – 00:02:05:00
Madison
Yeah.

00:02:05:25 – 00:02:33:15
Joe
So today we are talking teens and materialism. Teens today are often described as being the most materialistic generation in history. Whether this is accurate or not, it’s hard to argue that many teens today do exhibit materialistic tendencies. On this episode of Insights into Teens, we’ll explore teen materialism. We’ll take a look at the contributing factors and one look at how they help teens cope with materialism.

00:02:34:10 – 00:03:01:23
Joe
Before we do that, though, I do want to take a moment to invite our listening and viewing audience to subscribe to the podcast. You can find audio versions of this podcast listed as insights in the teens. You can also find video and audio versions listed on there insights into things, and you can find this on pretty much anywhere you get a podcast Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, etc..

00:03:03:12 – 00:03:25:29
Joe
I would also invite you to write in. Give us your feedback. You can email us at comments and insights into things dot com. You can hit us on Twitter at Twitter.com, slash insights, underscore things, or you can find links to all of our social media on our website. I have in my scrip, on our web. Web. That’s really not how it works.

00:03:26:07 – 00:03:34:03
Joe
No, but our official website is W WW dot insights into things dot com. Are we ready.

00:03:34:05 – 00:03:34:26
Madison
I think we.

00:03:34:26 – 00:03:36:10
Joe
Are. Here we go.

00:03:41:25 – 00:04:11:03
Joe
So our friends at very well mind ICOM tell us about materialism and they say materialism is the importance one places on material possessions pretty straightforward definition there. Yeah these possessions could be anything such as clothes, shoes, handbags, cars, electronic equipment, gadgets or anything else of that nature. One’s home also counts as a material possessions, even though everyone needs a place to live.

00:04:11:21 – 00:04:39:18
Joe
However, people who tend to be more materialistic might view their home as a way to reflect their social status, rather than serving as a place to dwell for shelter. Someone with a high level of materialism is often described as, quote, materialistic. They consider material possessions to be central to their life and their identity. They focus a good deal of their energy on acquiring possessions.

00:04:40:22 – 00:05:01:18
Joe
Someone with a low level of materialism described is often described as, quote, non materialistic or not materialistic. They don’t consider acquiring possessions to be particularly important, although they vary in the extent to which they acquire material possessions in order to meet their objectives, such as social acceptance.

00:05:03:11 – 00:05:30:03
Madison
So causes of materialism and this comes from a very similar website with a similar title of Very Well Family, which I’m pretty sure we’ve also probably used in the past. Materialistic children have less supportive parents, and a study of tweens and teens. Parents who are emotionally unsupportive and more material had more materialistic children than supportive parents. Bye bye, support.

00:05:30:25 – 00:05:56:13
Madison
We’re talking about the ability for the parent to talk, to, encourage and be there for their child in good and bad times. Self-esteem is the key to understanding this finding supportive parenting increases adolescent self-esteem a higher the higher a child’s self-esteem, the less likely they are to look to items to bring them happiness and a sense of worth.

00:05:57:09 – 00:06:20:02
Madison
They get their self-worth from relationships instead. You can teach them the value of relationships by paying them with your time, energy and interest. This will help them see their worth as a person. And even if you don’t buy some things for them along the way, maintaining a relationship will lead to higher self-esteem, which can often lead to lower materialism.

00:06:20:26 – 00:06:51:10
Joe
Materialistic children tend to have less supportive friends. Similar to the findings of parents, the support of peers is also important for counteracting materialism. In the study, kids with supportive parents had higher self-esteem in turn and fewer materialistic beliefs, supportive friends or those who wonder or understanding and who help out in times of need and who do not get angry or upset for no reason.

00:06:52:04 – 00:06:58:10
Joe
Supportive friends also avoid rational aggression. Relational. Sorry.

00:06:59:02 – 00:07:00:28
Madison
It’s okay. Or it’s been a bit.

00:07:01:01 – 00:07:14:28
Joe
Yeah. A little rusty here. Supportive friends also avoid relational aggression and subtle bullying. Encouraging your child to find and maintain these types of friendships may help your child think less materialistically.

00:07:15:08 – 00:07:42:04
Madison
Along with being unsupportive, materialistic children also have, well, materialistic parents. Your own behavior also affects how much goods and money matter you to your child. Children learn by watching. So if they see you valuing money as a source of happiness, they are likely to do the same. In addition, the researchers discovered that the more materialistic a parent was, the lower their child’s self-esteem.

00:07:42:16 – 00:07:50:11
Madison
Because lowest low self-esteem is linked to higher materialism. It follows that materialistic parents had materialistic children.

00:07:51:03 – 00:08:20:21
Joe
Materialistic children also have materialistic friends. Similarly to the attitudes and behaviors of peers affect materialistic beliefs. The researchers found that adolescents with material stick friends had lower self-esteem and in turn, higher materialism themselves. Encouraging your child to find supportive friends who do not put high value on money and things may therefore help your tween avoid being consumed by consumption.

00:08:20:21 – 00:08:27:27
Joe
I love that line. So let me ask you, why do you think we live in a materialistic house here?

00:08:32:03 – 00:08:35:00
Madison
In certain aspects, we are probably.

00:08:35:03 – 00:08:46:12
Joe
I would agree with you 100%. I am materialistic myself because I. I mean, you just look at my Star Wars collection, you.

00:08:46:12 – 00:08:48:11
Madison
Know, or just take a look around the studio.

00:08:48:13 – 00:09:11:07
Joe
Or just take a look around the studio. But for me, the acquisition of these things is less about my status with other people because nobody comes over to look at my stuff. Then it is a comfort. It’s sort of like a comfortable blanket for me.

00:09:11:18 – 00:09:11:26
Madison
Yeah.

00:09:12:08 – 00:09:39:22
Joe
You know, my home. Our home is really what I wrap myself up in when I come home from work. And and I enjoy being at home and being around these things because we’ve made an environment here that is conducive for comfort. For me, you know, like I enjoy the technology that I have or I enjoy the video games that we have.

00:09:39:22 – 00:10:06:04
Joe
They’re all things that are for comfort. For me, they are very little to do with how other people think of me or like I don’t buy, I don’t buy things. So the people think differently of me. So I think the materialism that I suffer from and I say suffer because my collecting hobbies are very expensive. So there’s some suffering that goes on there.

00:10:07:04 – 00:10:33:19
Joe
I think the materialism that I suffer from is less destructive from a social standpoint. Financially, it’s a disaster. I can tell you that because it’s like the amount of money I just saw, you know, Sideshow Collectibles just came out with two new Darth Vader statues that I want, and they’re like $650 each. Hmm. Now I’ll go out and spend $650 on those and never sell them.

00:10:34:01 – 00:10:45:03
Joe
You know, even when they become, they go out of print and they’re collectible and they double in price. I’ll never sell them. So it’s don’t even like it’s an investment. It’s literally just for my own edification.

00:10:45:05 – 00:11:15:15
Madison
Yeah. And I think, like, a similar allegory can be said of me with clothes. While I certainly have, of course, the collector thing like you do, I know a lot of people find materialism in clothing and like a lot of it, like we’ve talked in length about, you know, judging people by their appearance based on their clothing, like what kind of status they have, are I am materialist, I’m somewhat materialistic when it comes to clothing.

00:11:15:15 – 00:11:17:07
Madison
I really enjoy hoodies and.

00:11:17:21 – 00:11:18:26
Joe
And there’s a microphone.

00:11:18:26 – 00:11:19:09
Madison
In my.

00:11:20:21 – 00:11:23:12
Joe
Talk more with your mouth and mouth and less with your hands.

00:11:23:26 – 00:11:44:15
Madison
Or at least most of my left hand anyway. So basically I have a set of clothing that I prefer to wear and I would normally just constantly have. Hoodies is probably the biggest example of it, but half the time it’s really not about what I think other people are going to say. If I’m wearing a hoodie, a lot of the time, it’s just for the comfort level.

00:11:44:15 – 00:11:58:15
Madison
I enjoy having a pocket. It’s nice to be warm, but also have the ability to. If I get hot, I can just take it off. Read a lot more about the comfort level and it’s very similar to how you feel about, you know, your collectibles.

00:11:58:16 – 00:12:20:18
Joe
Yeah. Coming from a family that had very little as far as disposable income goes. And, you know, we live paycheck to paycheck. We had a single family income. We’ve talked about it in the past. I didn’t have anything. So what little bit you had you kind of held on to and I grew up with for I was the youngest of four brothers.

00:12:21:09 – 00:12:44:10
Joe
So everything I got was either shared or it was handed down from someone else. So it was very rare for me to get anything of my own. And I, you know, I make a joke now because like I was into computers when I was a kid and I never had when I first got my computer, I didn’t have a monitor, I couldn’t afford a monitor.

00:12:44:29 – 00:13:07:24
Joe
So I had to hook it up through this adapter called an RF modulator to a TV. And it wasn’t the right hook up, but it was the only thing I could do to get it to work. And it looked terrible. You had lines through it, yet a wavy line. The colors weren’t right, so you would sit there in front of the TV and use the computer for a period of time, get a headache from it.

00:13:09:04 – 00:13:27:29
Joe
And I make a joke now because I’ve got, what, six monitors in here? I’ve got six monitors on my one computer downstairs and a total of maybe eight monitors, ten monitors on my desk. So I’m overcompensating for some of the some of the things I had to endure as a kid.

00:13:27:29 – 00:13:28:12
Madison
Yeah.

00:13:29:01 – 00:13:50:20
Joe
So I think part of my materialism stemmed from literally having nothing as a kid. And fortunately, I can afford these things now. So I, I overindulge. And then sometimes I think, do you think you’re materialistic other than the clothes?

00:13:50:20 – 00:14:11:26
Madison
Probably. I do find I am a collector of sorts, similar to how both you and Mommy are, and that I like to kind of decorate my room with it. Well, I don’t have one specific hobby that I decorate my entire room with. I find other hobbies and like I like the collectibles. And again, that is the comfort level.

00:14:12:21 – 00:14:17:20
Madison
I am probably a lot more picky when spending my money because.

00:14:18:27 – 00:14:21:23
Joe
That’s your money. Yeah, you’re a lot less picky when a Vermont.

00:14:23:12 – 00:14:26:16
Madison
I’ll be honest there. Yes, it’s true.

00:14:26:16 – 00:14:31:07
Joe
So do you think materialism can have a positive side to it?

00:14:32:20 – 00:14:56:11
Madison
I mean, me, yeah, there are a lot about like a lot of things we talk about on this podcast. There’s good and bad to come with it and like you can’t go from it’s best to stay in the middle of the scale if it’s too far down the one side, something bad is going to happen. If you’re too far up on the other side, something bad is going to happen and really got to find that perfect balance.

00:14:56:11 – 00:14:59:23
Joe
So materialism with balance is a good thing.

00:14:59:29 – 00:15:00:21
Madison
Yeah, it can be.

00:15:00:29 – 00:15:44:17
Joe
Okay, I’ll buy that. We’re going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we’re going to talk about why materialism is bad. We’ll be right back. For over seven years, the second Sith empire has been the Premier Community Guild. In the online game, star Wars, The Old Republic, with hundreds of friendly and helpful active members, a weekly schedule of nightly events, annual guild, meet greets and an active community both on the Web and on Discord.

00:15:45:18 – 00:16:15:13
Joe
The second season of Empire is more than your typical gaming group. We’re Family. Join us on the Star Forge server for nightly events such as opera, Oceans, Flashpoints, World Boss Funds, Star Wars, Trivia Guild, Lottery and much more. Visit us on the web today at WW w start the second sip and fire dot com.

00:16:21:02 – 00:16:30:05
Madison
Welcome back to insights in the teens today we’re talking about teens and materialism honestly kind of seems like every time we have a topic it’s just teens and.

00:16:30:05 – 00:16:33:01
Joe
Teens and something really insights into teens. What do you expect?

00:16:33:02 – 00:16:43:12
Madison
Well, fair. So now we’re going to talk about why materialism is bad. And this comes to us from really should I asked what this was help.

00:16:44:29 – 00:16:49:16
Joe
We show visit I don’t know. We’ll put it in the show notes.

00:16:49:17 – 00:17:13:16
Madison
Yeah, put it in the show notes. So sorry I can’t pronounce it so they say materialism changes you in unexpected ways. It badly affects your emotional and mental well-being without you knowing it and harms your way of looking at life. Materialism brings several pains along with it, so here are some simple clues to help you understand how worse it can be.

00:17:14:21 – 00:17:38:22
Madison
First up is that you define your value in terms of the objects you own. In the course, you lose your authenticity, self-belief, and think your worth is only equal to the price tag of your T-shirt. You get stuck in a never ending comparison. The possibility that your lawn is less green keeps you, but keeps you relentless and insecure.

00:17:39:04 – 00:17:59:04
Madison
You stop sleeping well at night, which is a bit extreme, but I guess can be fair. Your self-esteem shatters when you don’t meet your own unrealistic expectations. Fair, even if you’re blessed with ambiance, abundance. Even if you.

00:17:59:10 – 00:18:01:07
Joe
Can be blessed with an MBA to moon.

00:18:01:18 – 00:18:07:20
Madison
Even if you’re blessed with abundance, you become blind to her own goodness. You dilute yourself.

00:18:07:27 – 00:18:08:22
Joe
Delude you don’t.

00:18:08:22 – 00:18:09:03
Madison
Deluded.

00:18:09:04 – 00:18:10:24
Joe
I’m you’re not a liquid.

00:18:12:08 – 00:18:27:23
Madison
It looks so simple. It’s something you delude yourself by buying more stuff and thinking you’re closer to happiness than before. Even when you’re not, you remain unhappy for insensible reasons.

00:18:27:26 – 00:18:59:22
Joe
And say, I’ll bet I can murder, but you get fooled by advertisements and hypocrisy around you. You stop using your senses and remove your wallet without a second thought. You become desperately poor, not because you don’t have enough, but because you develop a hunger that you can’t but can’t be satisfied. You keep demanding more, getting stuffed with selfishness and show no trace of contentment so you suffer more due to such behavior.

00:19:00:28 – 00:19:24:05
Joe
You feel grateful for nothing. You stop, appreciate eating what you already have because it’s not as good as what you want. Therefore, you’re busy chasing the next shiny thing you crave. External appreciation and wait to be noticed by others. You put your efforts to impressing towards impressing others even when it doesn’t serve a purpose.

00:19:24:05 – 00:19:55:20
Madison
You keep feeling incomplete, unsuccessful and dissatisfied, and you carry the same feelings with you till the end. Disturb your well-being through your attachment to your bank account, you become too dependent on your possessions as you try to define yourself through them, which arouses mental, animate and emotional instability. You fall prey to negative feelings such as greed, jealousy and hatred as you often see others, as you often see others as a part of your race and you don’t want them to win.

00:19:56:07 – 00:20:00:09
Madison
You know, the whole it’s not a competition almost winning thing.

00:20:00:17 – 00:20:04:23
Joe
You’re saying, and materialistic because of it. It just means I’m competitive.

00:20:04:23 – 00:20:24:28
Madison
I don’t know. It just sounds it just sounds way too similar to that. You compromise your values and principles for gains. Soon the gap between right and wrong starts to fade you for you. You lose your true identity. Then you try to become what others want you to become, not what you hoped to become.

00:20:26:24 – 00:20:56:02
Joe
You spend your resources on temporary pleasures and lose the opportunity of making a change in your own and others lives. So you neglect the bigger picture. You become blind to the qualities of people and judge them based on their earnings and financial status. This only makes you look pompous and arrogant. You limit your perception to the monetary side of life, after which you stop seeing all other ways to happiness and success.

00:20:57:08 – 00:21:29:08
Joe
You see no other way to prove yourself or to estimate your success and therefore cling to the path you’re already on. You unknowingly manipulate your own emotions and hence gather regrets and pains. As time passes, you trapped yourself within the life you choose and only find nothingness, despair and meaningless when you end in meaninglessness. When you look back, it can be miserable when you have almost no memories.

00:21:29:08 – 00:21:33:17
Joe
So that that sounds pretty bleak there. I mean, that’s that’s some dark stuff.

00:21:33:17 – 00:21:38:12
Madison
Yeah. Way more dark than I remembered being when I typed it up.

00:21:38:12 – 00:21:49:09
Joe
Yeah. Do you feel any of that based on the materialistic tendencies that we’ve already discussed that you and I both have?

00:21:49:26 – 00:22:17:08
Madison
Well, let’s go down the list real quick. So you define your value in terms of the objects you own. We kind of both specified. We don’t really do that. And it’s really just for the comfort level, right? So I don’t think either of us are to that extent of it. You get stuck in a never ending comparison. I mean, never really I never really compare myself and what I have to others other than like, oh my God, they have a cool SpongeBob thing or something, right?

00:22:17:08 – 00:22:17:29
Madison
Like, what about you?

00:22:17:29 – 00:22:37:26
Joe
I used to as a kid because having nothing and having a friend whose parents bought him everything, it it tends to wear on you as a kid, as an adult. Not so much anymore, you know? And I’m the type of person that if I want something, I go buy it. Then I figure out how to pay for it.

00:22:38:15 – 00:22:41:14
Joe
So as an adult, you can make that mistake.

00:22:41:22 – 00:23:02:01
Madison
Okay, then we have your self-esteem shattered when you don’t meet your own unrealistic expectations. This has nothing to do with my materialism. It just happens that I have that. That’s not exactly I don’t think that’s a fault of my materialism. Yeah, it’s just I have my own unrealistic expectations that if I don’t meet them, I crushed myself over it.

00:23:02:11 – 00:23:03:03
Joe
By then it.

00:23:03:28 – 00:23:09:25
Madison
Then we have you delude yourself by buying more stuff and thinking you’re closer to happiness than before, even when you’re not.

00:23:10:27 – 00:23:20:09
Joe
Yeah. See, I never really gain happiness from the things that I buy. Usually the things that I buy, I buy for comfort or I buy for utility.

00:23:20:17 – 00:23:31:17
Madison
Yeah. And yeah, half the time I’m like already stressed when I buy stuff because it’s like, Oh my God, am I going to ever use this? Am I just going to completely forget about it? Is it worth.

00:23:31:17 – 00:23:46:22
Joe
It? Yeah. You tend to be much more discriminating in the things that you buy. So I don’t think either of us really fall into most of these categories. Is there any categories that you feel you fall into?

00:23:46:22 – 00:24:13:19
Madison
Um, again, really just the category again being technically more miserly with my money, I’m not as materialistic. I certainly hold value like here’s the thing. So I, I definitely know I’m materials stick, but not in the ways that most people would assume being materialistic is. I’m not the type of kid that would go up and like ask you to buy me something.

00:24:13:19 – 00:24:23:22
Madison
If anything, I have my own money and I go buy it and I ask you if I can buy something, right? It’s kind of a reverse of what like the normal psychology is.

00:24:23:23 – 00:24:24:20
Joe
That’s true.

00:24:24:20 – 00:24:40:07
Madison
And I also have kind of realized that the way that I connect with people or things that I hold dear are physical possessions from people. So I know I’m materialist, sick in the sense that it’s quote unquote my love language, even though he hasn’t been talked about that yet. So I.

00:24:40:11 – 00:24:41:00
Joe
Spoilers.

00:24:42:00 – 00:24:44:29
Madison
I don’t even know when we’re going to get to that future podcast.

00:24:44:29 – 00:24:45:18
Joe
We’ll get through it.

00:24:46:05 – 00:25:09:24
Madison
So yeah, I know it’s kind of similar. I know like I have that kind of form where it’s like I definitely value like I get my, oh, I can buy my own stuff. But when other people get like stuff for me or give me small little trinkets, I value them a lot more because like I have an entire thing on my desk that’s dedicated to little trinkets all my friends have given me, like a little.

00:25:10:00 – 00:25:16:06
Joe
Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. Do you feel grateful for the things that you have right now?

00:25:16:15 – 00:25:17:11
Madison
Definitely.

00:25:17:27 – 00:25:24:14
Joe
And do you crave external appreciation to be noticed by and want to be noticed by others?

00:25:24:14 – 00:25:34:06
Madison
Honestly, not really. I don’t like buy stuff because I want other people to think I’m cool. I buy stuff because I think the stuff is cool.

00:25:34:06 – 00:25:45:00
Joe
Okay. And I don’t second that. I think that you’re right on the money there and I don’t do it because I don’t like other people playing with my toys.

00:25:45:00 – 00:25:49:04
Madison
So yeah, you don’t always seek other people’s approval. No kisses.

00:25:50:12 – 00:26:08:12
Joe
How about neglecting the bigger picture? Do you think your materialism makes you neglect the bigger picture where you don’t really understand why you have the things or the impact it takes to acquire those things? Do you think you’re missing the bigger picture?

00:26:08:22 – 00:26:32:13
Madison
I mean, I know that like I know that I definitely understand the consequences of buying certain things and then, like, maybe your money could be better spent elsewhere, yada, yada. And a lot of that, it like really goes into my mind system when I’m going to buy something, it’s like I’ll normally sound around, I don’t know, find whenever we’re at like conventions, I don’t normally find stuff for my interest.

00:26:32:19 – 00:26:41:18
Madison
When I do, it’s like, do I really want to spend my money on this? And like I have an internal debate for a decent amount of time before I determine if I’m going to buy it or not.

00:26:42:11 – 00:27:11:03
Joe
It’s interesting you mentioned the conventions because I think that’s really a great way to highlight this. We go to conventions not as frequently as we’re used to, things to covered, but we’re getting back into the swing of things. And the primary reason that I go to these conventions is to peruse the vendor tables and to buy stuff. I don’t go for guest appearances or getting signatures or any any of the other stuff that conventions do.

00:27:11:03 – 00:27:14:04
Joe
I mean, we’ll sit in on panels from now on, from time to time.

00:27:14:10 – 00:27:14:20
Madison
Yeah.

00:27:15:14 – 00:27:42:11
Joe
But what I take away from those conventions is less the things that I buy because I’ll go to a tank conventions and buy something, get to what I take away from it is that experience, you know. And that’s that’s the rewarding thing for me. If I happen to pick a couple of things up, that’s great. The last three things that we went to, I don’t think I bought stuff, but it was stuff for other people.

00:27:42:13 – 00:27:42:26
Madison
Yeah.

00:27:43:18 – 00:28:07:14
Joe
You know, the last one, the one toy show, the Antiques Roadshow we went through, I bought three things there and gave everything away. So it’s almost for me, it’s a those it’s the joy of haggling, but it’s really that experience of going to a show or going to a a convention with my family and enjoying that time and picking up something here and there.

00:28:07:14 – 00:28:16:08
Joe
So I don’t think that’s a reflection of materialism as much as it’s a reflection of my appreciation for family time.

00:28:16:16 – 00:28:50:06
Madison
Yeah. And I know conventions can certainly seem like it’s very materialist. There’s people that will go there and strictly buy stuff and not really take too much of the atmosphere. And however these conventions are like great places because you get to see like geek culture or some obscure, obscure culture being like shown and being like very appreciated and, and, and like in the past, that kind of stuff was supposed to be nerdy.

00:28:50:06 – 00:29:09:18
Madison
You made fun of people because they liked it. And now you have such a huge extent of people who are such geeks that like, it’s, like, amazing to see, like all these people. It’s I find it really cool to see some of the really cool costumes. Yeah. Some of the background setups that they have for photos. It’s like really fun to go and see that atmosphere of it.

00:29:09:19 – 00:29:33:16
Joe
Absolutely. Ultimately, what it comes down to and this is the last question and then we’ll we’ll take a quick break. Do you trap yourself within the life you choose and find only nothingness, despair and meaninglessness? Meaning I still can’t say meaninglessness. Thank you. Do you find that that’s the situation that you’re in?

00:29:34:16 – 00:29:41:08
Madison
Not really, actually. Like, I mean, I feel that in other senses, but when it comes to materialism.

00:29:41:25 – 00:29:43:07
Joe
We’ll have podcasts on those later.

00:29:43:07 – 00:29:43:18
Madison
Yeah.

00:29:44:09 – 00:29:49:02
Joe
So, so my advice to people is if you do feel that you probably want to get some help.

00:29:49:09 – 00:29:56:21
Madison
Yeah. If you’re really in like a really bad pit when it comes to that, always get like some form of medical help.

00:29:57:03 – 00:30:02:20
Joe
Yes. And we’re going to take a quick break and come back and we’re going to talk about some of that help that you actually can get.

00:30:02:24 – 00:30:03:06
Madison
All right.

00:30:03:07 – 00:30:04:04
Joe
So good segue way there.

00:30:04:15 – 00:30:04:25
Madison
I know.

00:30:05:04 – 00:30:14:06
Joe
We’ll be right back.

00:30:14:06 – 00:30:45:09
Michelle
Insights into entertainment, a podcast series taking a deeper look into entertainment and media. Our husband and wife team of pop culture fanatics are exploring all things from music and movies to television and fandom. We’ll look at the interesting and obscure entertainment news of the week. We’ll talk about theme park and pop culture news. We’ll give you the latest and greatest on pop culture conventions.

00:30:46:07 – 00:31:16:15
Michelle
We’ll give you a deep dove into Disney, Star Wars and much more. Check out our video episodes at YouTube.com. Backslash Insights into things are audio episodes at podcast insights into entertainment dot com or check us out on the web at Insights into things icon.

00:31:16:15 – 00:31:31:02
Madison
Welcome back to Insights Into Teens. Today, we’re talking about teens and materialism. And now we’re going to talk about how to get help, know how to help a teen dealing with materialism. I really should read from the script occasionally.

00:31:31:02 – 00:31:33:05
Joe
That’s a good idea. That’s what we write it for.

00:31:33:06 – 00:32:06:00
Madison
Yeah. And this comes to us from middle earth and George, they say it’s difficult to keep teens out of the materialistic trap because of our society’s increasing culture of buying more. The targeted advertising to teens and young adults and young adults and teens desire to fit in with their peers. However, their spending habits are not fully formed. Parents and other adults have the ability to shape their thoughts and decisions on materialism before they get themselves into debt or in other trouble.

00:32:06:00 – 00:32:10:11
Madison
Following some ideas and raising teenagers to have a following.

00:32:11:07 – 00:32:14:27
Joe
Use all the words. That’s what they’re there for. They don’t cost extra.

00:32:14:27 – 00:32:17:21
Madison
My apologies. You still can say meaninglessness.

00:32:18:06 – 00:32:19:03
Joe
And so can.

00:32:20:02 – 00:32:31:26
Madison
Following are some ideas for raising teenagers to avoid the material ism trap. The first they have is moral simplicity. Children are more likely to and.

00:32:33:09 – 00:32:33:27
Joe
Imitate.

00:32:33:29 – 00:32:34:16
Madison
Thank you.

00:32:35:18 – 00:32:36:23
Joe
It’s meaninglessness.

00:32:36:24 – 00:33:05:21
Madison
This is imitate what they see than what they hear. The best way to reach your teen on this subject is to model for them the joys and benefits of intentionally living with less. Clean out your closets, don’t run out and purchase the newest gadget. Explain your decision making to your teen as you carefully choose your possessions. Next up is to encourage idealism.

00:33:05:26 – 00:33:31:18
Madison
Many teenagers desire to find a cause that can change the world, but their ideas can be quickly dismissed by adults, no matter how far out or naive the idea. Encourage your teen. Allow teenagers to dream bigger to dream bigger dreams than the mansion. Fancy wardrobe and sports car. If they say they want to feed all the starving in Africa.

00:33:31:21 – 00:33:45:20
Madison
Listen to their ideas without inserting too much reality, and then volunteer with them at the local food bank. If they grow up thinking about making a difference in other’s lives, then they would be more likely to act on those ideas as an adult and feel good about themselves.

00:33:46:23 – 00:34:16:12
Joe
Volunteer as a family, invest your energies into helping other people. Shifting your focus onto the needs of others can encourage gratitude for what you have replaced. Materialism leave your family to offer your time in the community by working in a local food bank or other organization that serves the underprivileged. Watch less television. Boy, if that’s solid advice, that’s mostly lost I think we’ve ever given around here.

00:34:17:18 – 00:34:49:18
Joe
This serves a dual purpose. First, it limits the amount of advertising your teen sees, which has a major impact on their spending habits. Second, it allows them to spend more time thinking about being creative, identify ad messages. Even if you limit your TV time, advertisements can never be completely avoided. So teacher teenager to read behind the marketing message ask questions like, What are they really trying to sell you with this advertisement?

00:34:50:07 – 00:35:16:08
Joe
Do you think that product will deliver on its promise? You should also discourage entitlement. Clearly, parents must provide their children the basic necessities in life, food, shelter, clothing and so forth. And of course, parents should take joy in giving their teens nice gifts on their birthdays and holidays. However many parents feel compelled to provide kids with their every whim and want.

00:35:17:10 – 00:35:41:03
Joe
Instead, we should just do two things. One, demonstrate the truth of responsibility, showing that it’s hard work to maintain our possessions, cleaning houses, repairing cars, etc., and to require your teen to purchase expensive items with their own money, which will provide them more fulfillment and a better understanding of the relationship between work and money.

00:35:41:27 – 00:35:55:05
Madison
Expose them to the less fortunate our world has wide ranging economies exposure teens to the lives of other people who live off of sustainability. This is sustainable bully.

00:35:55:05 – 00:35:56:15
Joe
What substantially.

00:35:56:24 – 00:35:57:15
Madison
Substantial.

00:35:57:15 – 00:35:59:22
Joe
Is that one pretty good.

00:35:59:22 – 00:36:00:14
Madison
Yeah, I know.

00:36:00:17 – 00:36:01:19
Joe
Meaninglessness doesn’t.

00:36:02:20 – 00:36:30:00
Madison
Substantially lower incomes than Americans, but in many ways seem happier. Obviously it would be great to travel to poor countries to see it firsthand, but for most people that is not feasible. You could still rent a documentary or research information online, establish goals and challenges. Many people will try to use possessions to fill a void within themselves. The problem is that can’t do that.

00:36:30:11 – 00:36:49:29
Madison
Teach your teen to establish their own personal goals and challenges so that they can base their self-worth on their actions rather than their possessions or the added admiration of their friends. You should also avoid the status game. Be sure to model inclusiveness into your teen. Is that good?

00:36:50:01 – 00:36:51:13
Joe
That would be bam. Right on.

00:36:51:25 – 00:37:22:02
Madison
Cool. Seek friends from all social classes and make sure you do not insinuate that you consider one person more worthy than another based on their money or profession. And finally, you should be supportive. A recent study found that teenagers with supportive parents and friends have higher self-esteem, which makes them less materialistic. Kind of what we said earlier, children with lower self-esteem valued possessions, significantly more than children with higher self-esteem.

00:37:22:13 – 00:37:30:10
Madison
So parents, be supportive of your children. And like even not just for the whole materialistic thing, you should really just be supportive of your kids and matter what. But, you know.

00:37:30:15 – 00:38:05:10
Joe
They meant to that. Ultimately, it’s important for parents to teach teenagers that what matters most is who they are, not what they own. Value your teen’s character dreams, talents so that they can see their happiness is not by their possessions. Teach them to pursue their greater the greater things in life. And, you know, I think the one thing that that is a recurring theme with this topic is materialism.

00:38:05:10 – 00:38:20:29
Joe
Often it’s like a logically is a replacement for self-esteem. So kids that have low self-esteem tend to be more materialistic. The problem necessarily, the materialism. It’s the low self-esteem.

00:38:21:00 – 00:38:21:13
Madison
Yeah.

00:38:21:25 – 00:38:48:24
Joe
So you don’t need to attack necessarily the materialism to solve the problem. Find out why their self-esteem is low and help them with that. Because low, as we’ve talked about several times on this podcast, there are a lot of other things that can come out of low self-esteem. Materialism, obviously, is one of them. So if you’re if your teen is experiencing low self-esteem, that’s where they need to get help and that’s where they need support from their parents.

00:38:49:02 – 00:39:03:26
Madison
Yeah. And like you and I have kind of demonstrated here. Materialism isn’t always bad. People can still be somewhat materialistic, but not in negative ways that are caused due to low self-esteem.

00:39:04:11 – 00:39:32:05
Joe
Yeah, and there’s two really good examples that we have here fairly recently. So one was a school trip. Okay, so so not a school trip, but a trip overseas that’s being sponsored by someone from your school and you showed interest in going. Now it’s, you know, a trip to Japan and it’s not cheap. You got a few years to save for it and get it paid off and stuff like that.

00:39:33:12 – 00:39:43:08
Joe
Tell us about that. What was the arrangement that we came to with that that we wanted you to kind of get a lesson from?

00:39:44:19 – 00:40:08:16
Madison
So basically, in order to help pay off the price for the trip, I had to pay a certain amount that I’m not going to specify on here. A month from the pay that you guys normally give me for chores that would amount to a certain part. To a certain extent, of the amount that you guys had to pay for Japan.

00:40:08:16 – 00:40:18:09
Madison
In order for me to learn how to gain my own money, in order to, you know, ultimately learn a lesson of earning the trip.

00:40:18:15 – 00:40:48:01
Joe
Right. So essentially, you’re you’re covering 25% of the cost of the trip and mommy and daddy are going to cover the rest, not because we couldn’t afford to do it, but because it’s something that you wanted. And in earning that money, the pay for it gives you a new appreciation for that experience you’re going to, rather than just attend and be a body there, you’re going to be, you know, part of that experience now.

00:40:49:03 – 00:41:09:16
Joe
So it was it was for your benefit. The other one was more recent. So we you and I just upgraded our phones. So the deal was, you know, your phone was several versions behind and you had a choice to make whether you were going to put money out for it or not. Talk about that one real quick.

00:41:09:27 – 00:41:23:21
Madison
Basically, it’s supposed to be for the different versions. I don’t exactly remember what, but it was basically you got the regular version of the phone, you get it, and then you get slightly better versions of the phone. And like there’s two different forms of each.

00:41:23:29 – 00:41:35:24
Joe
Right. So the idea was that if you just one of the base upgrade phone from what you had because all you have is the base phone before I’d cover the cost. I mean, Daddy would cover the cost.

00:41:35:24 – 00:41:39:17
Madison
Yeah. And then if I wanted anything extra, I’d pay the extra cost.

00:41:39:18 – 00:41:55:19
Joe
Right. So if you wanted more memory, if you wanted the bigger screen, if you wanted the plus model or whatever it was, you just had to pay the difference. And I’d still cover the costs. We would still cover the cost of the base model. You elected not to do that because you were perfectly fine with the base model.

00:41:55:25 – 00:41:56:05
Madison
Yeah.

00:41:56:13 – 00:42:27:20
Joe
I bring up the phones because nowadays your cell phone in today’s society is very much used as a status symbol. Yeah, everybody wants the latest and greatest. They want the biggest phone. They want the flip phone. They want the one that jumps up and down and walks around and, makes your coffee and all that stuff. And whoever has that, people feel as though that makes them important or makes them special or other people want to be like them and it’s like due to the phone.

00:42:28:06 – 00:42:41:09
Madison
Yeah. Like the main purpose of the phone was really just so that you had contact with people. I mean, the only reason the main reason you guys got me a phone when I was younger was because I ended up getting lost. And you wanted to make sure I had a contact.

00:42:41:12 – 00:42:45:09
Joe
Right. Yes. Thank you for reminding us about how bad appearance we were.

00:42:45:10 – 00:42:52:15
Madison
Oh, okay. It is not that bad. It wasn’t necessarily our fault anyway.

00:42:52:15 – 00:43:15:28
Joe
So I think the message to walk away from here is materialism is not necessarily the problem. It’s a symptom of the problem. Yes. So if you feel that your teen is materialistic, take a look at what their self esteem is. Take a look at what kind of friends they’re hanging out with. Take a look at yourself as the parent.

00:43:16:06 – 00:43:34:22
Joe
Yeah, because it might be you who’s having that influence on them unintentionally, and you may be completely unaware of it, but a lot of times our kids emulate our own actions, and a lot of times parents have bad habits. Yeah, we can pass them on to our teens.

00:43:35:10 – 00:43:54:27
Madison
Yeah. Much like how they ended up talking about earlier. How adults don’t tend to listen to kids because kids seem to have these extreme views a lot of and like we’ve also talked about, there’s also the phrase of always like the parents always, right. Or something.

00:43:55:11 – 00:43:57:13
Joe
That’s never the case around here with me.

00:43:58:07 – 00:44:12:18
Madison
And then it’s like, well, or just like adults have this bias to kids because they think that they’re right because they’re older and quote unquote, more mature. Yes. No, that is not the case in a lot of.

00:44:12:21 – 00:44:17:14
Joe
I wasn’t saying yes it was true or saying yes, that is the case. That’s the perception that a lot of people have.

00:44:17:15 – 00:44:26:19
Madison
Yeah, that’s the perception that a lot of people have. And while it can be true in certain instances, adults also have a lot of problems that they go unchecked with.

00:44:26:21 – 00:44:32:29
Joe
Absolutely. But that’s not what this podcast is about. Because it would be endless if it was.

00:44:33:02 – 00:44:38:06
Madison
Yeah. It’d be interesting if we did reverse on that new podcast idea. Maybe.

00:44:39:28 – 00:44:47:12
Joe
So I think that’s all we had today. We’re going to take a quick break, come back, get your closing remarks and finish up the business of the podcast.

00:44:47:13 – 00:44:47:28
Madison
All right.

00:44:54:13 – 00:45:23:06
Madison
All right. So just to reiterate some facts that we stated, materialism, while it can certainly seem like a problem, is really just a symptom of a much larger issue that we’ve talked about in the podcast and should also really be resolved. A lot of the causes really just initially stem from low self-esteem. And if low self-esteem can be fixed, then maybe materialism can also be fixed.

00:45:23:06 – 00:45:38:14
Madison
While there are definitely individual stuff that can be helped with materialism, also know that materialism isn’t all that bad when it’s given the right balance. Much like everything in life, it can be it can be pretty beneficial.

00:45:38:26 – 00:46:05:04
Joe
All right. Well said. Thank you. Before we do go, I want to once again implore our listening and viewing audience to subscribe to the podcast if you’re not already subscribed to it. You can find audio versions of this podcast. Listeners Insights in the teens. Audio and visual versions of this podcast can be found listed as insights in the things and you can find us anywhere you get a podcast.

00:46:05:11 – 00:46:30:17
Joe
Pandora Castro, Stitcher Pod Bean. I would also invite you to write in and give us your feedback, give us your suggestions for topics you’d like us to talk about. You can email us your comments and insights into things. Com. You can hit us up on Twitter at insights, underscore things. You can also find high res versions of all our videos on YouTube at YouTube.com, slash insights and the things we do.

00:46:30:17 – 00:46:51:05
Joe
Stream five days a week on Twitch at Twitch talk TV slash insights into things. You can also find us on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash insight into things podcast or you can find links to all those and more in our official website at WW that insights into things dot com and you.

00:46:51:12 – 00:46:57:19
Madison
And don’t forget to check out our other two podcast inside an entertainment I assume is still being hosted by you and Mommy.

00:46:57:19 – 00:46:58:23
Joe
At some point in time.

00:46:58:29 – 00:47:08:25
Madison
At some point in time. We’re still taking a break from that, I assume. And of course I would not really monthly podcast because it’s been a while. Hosted by you and I think my brother Sam still.

00:47:08:26 – 00:47:11:04
Joe
Thinks that pretty much somewhere in there.

00:47:11:09 – 00:47:11:24
Madison
All right.

00:47:12:03 – 00:47:15:13
Joe
Anyway, that’s it, folks. Thanks for listening. Another one of the books.

00:47:15:13 – 00:47:16:08
Madison
By everyone.

00:47:16:11 – 00:47:42:22
Joe
By.

Published by Insights Into Things

A podcast network. Insightful Podcasts by Informative Hosts