[4] Are people never satisfied with what they have?

      It is said that people are never satisfied with what they have; they always want something more or something different. Unfortunately, this statement is a bit of truth to it in today's soceity. Individuals are constantly drived to have the best, the brightest, and the newest. With the increasing influence of western cunsumerism, almost every country has become a cunsumer culture, including China.

      There is no street you can walk down in downtown Shanghai that does not have advertisement, trying to sell you somenthing.  Wherever you go, there is a new product calling to you. Individuals in society today believe that others would not appreciate them if they do not spend exorbitant amounts of money on luxuries, from cas, to fancy mobile telephones, to expensive, named brand clothing. 

     This idea does not only relate to consumer goods. However, if a person strats a new job, for the fisrt period of time, it is very exciting. Eventually, when he/she hear about orthers taking more salary with less working time, the appeal wears of with current work. He/she craves something new, something different. Anything, as long as it is better than what they are current doing.

        It is good to have pursuit, but it does not mean we need to become uncomfortable with our current position. On the contrary, i think there is no reason why we should cater to the adviertising industry, and constantly buy new and better products, when the ones we current have work fine. This is not to say that we should never have new, nice things. what i try to maintain is that if people could learn to live without such frivolities, they could live a much happier life overall.

生词本

* western consumerism  西方消费主义

* exorbitant.   If you describe sth. such as a price or fee exorbitant, you are emphasizing that it is much great than it should be. 

* frivolity.  If you refer to an activity as a frivolity, you think that it is amusing and rather silly, rather than serious and sensible.