Why is There a Societal Obsession With Getting Rich?

In the UK, there definitely appears to be an obsession with getting rich, as if being wealthy will somehow solve all problems known to man. Unfortunately, it’s easy to become dissatisfied with your lot when you’re force-fed news stories about how various CEOs of failing companies award themselves millions of pounds’ worth of bonuses, whilst lower-paid workers are being laid off. Then there are those managers and executives who are paid exorbitant amounts of money using taxpayers’ money, despite often doing a poor job. When you’re struggling with your finances and working hard for very little reward, you can find yourself wanting a better life and questioning why we live in such a grossly unfair, unequal society.

That’s just the way it is, though. There is very little you can do about it when the people creating the laws are often the product of a privileged background. They often went to school with other leading figures in society – so you have politicians who are well-connected to people in the media, banking industry and in business. Politicians are hardly likely to create laws which could possibly have a detrimental impact on their ‘friends’ – the people who are likely to offer them financial and moral support. Ultimately, the rich are making laws which protect the rich and the rest of society is supposed to aspire to being rich, without being given the means to achieve such an objective.

Whenever you switch on the television or log into your computer, you come across advertisements which are trying to sell you a lifestyle. You’re told that if you own a certain car or dress a certain way, you will portray yourself as successful and wealthy, and that others will judge you more favourably for doing so. This is a materialistic society and wealth creation depends on individuals spending their money on luxury items. It keeps people in jobs and when people are in work, they can afford to spend money on products they don’t necessarily need, but that they think they want. Soon, an item that was once considered a luxury becomes an essential item, such as in the case of mobile phones.

You become convinced that if you had more money you’d be happier, because you’d be able to buy all these products and services, without having to scrimp and save. Yet, in most cases you don’t need half of the stuff you think you would like, anyway. It’s just that you’ve been conditioned into thinking you must have the best of everything. You don’t even have to work hard for it these days, as you can gamble your way to riches by playing the lottery or gambling online, or try your luck on a television talent show. Clearly, if you are unable to pay your rent or feed yourself, then, of course, it would be preferable to have more money at your disposal, but there surely has to be more to life than simply getting rich, doesn’t there?

Why is There an Obsession with Celebrity Weight Loss?

Since most of the female population seems to be on a diet, it is hardly surprising that there is a fascination, if not an obsession, with celebrity weight loss. It is because there is such a huge transformation from a fat celebrity to a thin one that so much coverage is devoted to a trivial issue, in the knowledge that this is what people want to read about. If you put a 'before' picture on the front cover of a magazine, it is guaranteed that someone is going to open it up to see what the celebrity looks in the 'after' picture.

Celebrity weight loss is therefore a rather lucrative business, helping to shift more copies of celebrity magazines and also increasing the amount of interest in the celebrity in question, especially in how they went about losing the weight. Celebrities will obviously try to capitalise on this new-found interest and so it is not unusual to see a wide range of exercise DVDs fronted by a celebrity who has lost a noticeable amount of weight. There are plenty of people who will go out and buy a celebrity-fronted exercise DVD in the hope they achieve the same results.

As far as the general public is concerned, celebrities have an easy life, so easy that they shouldn't have a problem controlling their weight. It can therefore come as a surprise to see that a celebrity has gained weight, although it usually isn't long before they've lost it all again. Yo-yo dieting can make a celebrity seem more human, as there are many women facing the same difficulties, and when a celebrity loses weight it gives ordinary women the belief that they can lose weight, too. It obviously takes more than just following an exercise DVD, though!

The obsession with celebrity weight loss is unlikely to go away any time soon, even when many of the celebrities are z-listers whose 'job' is merely to be famous, because there are so many celebrity magazines and only so much 'news' to cover. Weight loss is an issue many ordinary people are struggling to deal with and so there are plenty of individuals interested in celebrity weight loss. They continue to purchase magazines just because a slimmed-down celebrity is on the front and are prepared to try out various diet fads and fitness plans if a celebrity advocates it. Maybe one day, when people are less fixated with celebrity culture and aren't so preoccupied with their weight, this obsession will fade, but it's hard to see this happening in the near future.

Why do so Many People Have an Obsession With Weight Loss?

Losing weight has become an obsession for many people. For some people, weight loss is essential because they are carrying so much weight it is having a detrimental impact on their health. For other individuals, weight loss is about getting the perfect body so that they can wear stylish clothes in smaller sizes. In a minority of cases, weight loss really is an obsession to the extent that individuals develop eating disorders and are no longer to lead a normal life.

It is impossible to escape the issue of weight
Weight is an issue that everyone is forced to think about at some point because it is often in the news as politicians debate the effects wide-scale obesity is having on the economy and on health services. Health initiatives designed to prevent childhood obesity mean that children are being made to think about their weight at an earlier age, which only continues throughout their adolescence and adulthood. Teenage girls, in particular, are susceptible to the images of the slim, attractive celebrities they see pictures of in magazines.


The role of the weight-loss industry
The weight-loss industry is hugely profitable, which is hardly surprising when obesity is made out to be the worst thing in the world. Individuals are concerned about their health and most want to be able to conform to the slim ideal that wider society appears to possess. There are a multitude of slimming products, weight-loss plans, fitness programs and even types of surgery that can supposedly aid weight loss. People who are desperate to lose weight, but are ignorant of how to do so, end up spending vast sums of cash on diets and items that probably won’t help them manage their weight in the long term.

Fashion and the world of celebrity
In a society where the culture of celebrity dominates, individuals find themselves confronted with images of the most beautiful people in the world. The majority of these individuals are extremely slim and also attractive. Not everyone looks up to celebrities, but it is hard to ignore their presence and how good they look. They obviously have a lot of help, but individuals who are bothered by their own weight may decide to use a particular celebrity as inspiration to slim down. Celebrity magazines seem to prey on women’s insecurities and so it is no wonder that many feel pressured to take drastic measures to lose weight.

Is there too much focus on weight rather than health?
It certainly seems as if some individuals become preoccupied with becoming as slim as they can, just to prove that they can do it. Many people lose weight quickly, but soon find that they can’t keep it off and end up as heavy as they were before. Instead of losing weight in a gradual way, they become obsessed with losing weight quickly and end up with their weight continually going up and down. When they’re on a diet all they can think about is losing weight and when they come off a diet all they can think about is the next time they are going to lose weight, which is hardly a healthy way to live.