By Erendy Torres |Staff Writer|
“We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like,” is a famous quote from the movie Fight Club.
We live in a generation in which we spend more money than what we make.
On Feb. 13, rapper Kanye West tweeted that he is $53 million in personal debt.
“I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt… Please pray we overcome… This is my true heart…” tweeted West.
West is facing a multi-million-dollar debt, yet he is still not humbling down his expenses.
West and his wife Kim Kardashian, are installing a lake-sized pool in their $20 million mansion’s backyard in Bel-Air, California.
Though West is not humbling down his investments, he has somewhat humbled down his distinguished egotistical personality.
West invited Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to invest in his creations. He also invited people to subscribe to TIDAL, a music streaming service for $19.99 a month.
“Mark Zuckerberg, invest 1 billion dollars into Kanye West ideas… Please for all music lovers. Please subscribe to TIDAL!!! I decided not to sell my album for another week. Please subscribe to TIDAL,” tweeted West.
It seems as though West, along with many other celebrities, waste money to continue to build their identity.
Perhaps they are also financially peer-pressured like the rest of us to own the best of the best—to be better than everybody else.
“We live in a society where everyone is trying to trump one another. We go on social media and we parade this lavish lifestyle that is not existent,” said student Jeffrey Garcia. “We want to personify that we are bigger than life. When in reality, we can barely afford to pay our bills.”
Most of the time, money buys identity and power.
The more money, investments and property we own, more power to us; however, we cannot compare our budgets and expenses to a millionaire.
“Comparing yourself to people whose incomes are well beyond yours is dangerous. We have to accept who we are and what we can and cannot afford,” stated senior journalist Jamie Gold in the article, “Why is the Middle Class Overspending?“
“It seems that a lot of Americans tie their spending to their identity. By driving a certain car, having a certain house, and wearing certain labels, they create an image of themselves that they have to support, and that’s hard to do when that is not really who you are,” added Gold.
West, along with many other celebrities, are often viewed as idols by many people. Their ideologies reflect upon the actions of people.
Still, we cannot let these types of influences drain our pockets.
Students and young adults are most affected by financial peer-pressure.
“One of the negative things I vividly recall about high school was peer pressure. I really believed that once I graduated… that… would go away. I sure was wrong huh? Peer pressure is worse now as an adult than it ever was as a kid. Bigger homes, ceramic tile, greener lawns, new BMWs, exotic vacations, your neighbor got a big screen TV that’s 2 inches bigger than yours…the list goes on,” stated G. Guy in the article, “Financial Peer Pressure, Stop the Influence!“
This is not a competition. We need to understand that finances and stability come first.
Just because West and Kardashian are installing a lake-sized pool in their backyard regardless of their exceeding debt, doesn’t mean we have to do the same—although it may seem tempting.
Leave a Reply