Roberta Hanesworth, a family counselor in Buffalo, New York, stated, "The cost of living is not that higher, it's that people want to live higher." Americans are in more debt than ever before. The average American household is in at least $10,000 dollars of credit card debt. Last semester I attended a current trends class, which stated many facts like the one above. The mass consumption of goods is also making many Americans overweight. Over 30% of Americans are overweight; there is no other country in the entire world, which will ever be able to compete. We consume more goods and produce more waste than any other country globally. .
American views of the traditional family have also greatly changed throughout the last decade. Many Americans have become very individualistic. It almost seems that it's the individual versus the family. People want things for themselves these days. Everyone wants to achieve his or her goals and monetary reward seems to be the answer. Americans are in search of primarily three things, which all seem to lead to a very individualistic theme: power, greed, and control. Times have changed from spending time with the family to networking with strangers over the World Wide Web. This sense of individualism is good to a certain degree, but how far can it go. Today's traditional American family is no longer a reality. Everyone in the household has a separate agenda throughout the entire day. American families have become so divided that having dinner at home may even be a trend of the past. I believe that this sense of individualism is creating many American families to split up. The traditional American point of view is that the male figure should be the sole family provider. In today's society women are taking a stronghold. American women are striving to take control, and creating an entirely new view of the traditional American family. The problem is that men are having a tough time dealing with the subject.
