People care more about their own personal prestige than they used to. In the old days, people weren’t as materialistic in their values. Of course family values and such are both evident now-a-days as in the past, however the main point is that there used to be less of an emphasis of appearance of material things than there is now. A good example to show this would be looking at older versions of Cadillacs and comparing them to newer versions.
In the beginning, Cadillac cars were compact. They were considered a "luxury" vehicle company that was well known for it's reliability and quality. Beginning in the post-war era, Cadillac began to sell their cars to wealthier clients. However, Cadillac made attempts to sell to those of a lower economic bracket. In fact, the company tried to sell a car known as the Cimmaron, but it failed. After the fall, Cadillac became an icon of the wealthy because everyone knew that the company was only marketing to those of higher socioeconomic status (ex. Escalade).
With a V-8 engine (originally pioneered by Cadillac) the vehicle was monstrous and now a symbol of status for wealthier America who value what Cadillac had marketed throughout their company history: wealth and self importance. Cars that large say something about the ego of a person. Either their ego is too large, or they are overcompensating. In both cases, people use the Escalade to prove, to the world and sometimes themselves, that they are the elite in American society.
Either way Cadallic, specifically the Escalade shows how materialistic and self important America has come to be. Many people struggle to afford their mortgages but have these massive vehicles just to show-boat it around. Americans need to save themselves by ceasing to compare themselves to others, and just stop being materialistic and haughty.
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