Reading Comprehension Writing Assignment I
Ramya Prajwala Tatikonda
Trine University
What is the author’s main claim?
The author’s main claim in the article Lethal consumption: Death-denying materialism is how terror management theory help us to understand human kind’s insatiable desire for money and conspicuous consumption of goods and services and how this is a masked mechanism of death denial.
What are the reasons the author gives for his/her main claim?
Conspicuous consumption is a direct result of the uniquely human awareness of mortality and the pursuit of self-worth and death transcendence that this awareness engenders. The author says that the underlying motive for accumulating money is to prolong life and achieve immortality. Money has always been used to buy and sell spiritual absolution and has been first and foremost a sacred value, and only secondarily a secure medium of exchange.
In the last century, the pursuit of money has become the primary immortality ideology for the average American; but now people are unencumbered by a sense of responsibility to the community and unrestricted by moral edicts against massive wealth. It has come to the point where not consuming goods has
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Gold, once an ignored material, became much valuable as it got associated with life giving powers and the sun. Becker (1975) observed that “the great economist Keynes noted that the special attraction of gold… was due to its symbolic identification with the sun….” (p. 78) or that which gives life. The author discusses the Egyptian practice of wearing a golden amulet to prolong life to support the claim of using materials as means to achieve immortality. He also mentions the similar practices in India to further present the point that the value of gold has primarily increased due to presumed capability to increase
Many Americans love shopping, especially during the holidays, with its captivating discounts and sales, which lead to uncontrollable splurges on irrelevant things. According to Quindlen, this is an example of America’s crazed consumerism and it is absolutely absurd. In her article, “Honestly, You Shouldn’t Have”, she states that there is currently an assumption that purchasing American merchandises symbolize an act of patriotism and at the same time, build a strong economy. She also states that we, as Americans, need to acknowledge important spiritual values such as friends and family rather than material goods.
William Hazlitt, a renowned 19th century author, highlights in his famous text “On the Want of Money” his ideas on money and how it plays a part in how a person lives their life. Hazlitt presents the case that money cannot buy happiness as it superficial, but yet life without money will ultimately end in sorrow and “to be scrutinized by strangers, and neglected by friends.” By his extreme control over rhetorical strategies such as diction, syntax, and imagery Hazlitt was able to accurately portray his beliefs on the effect of money on people. The most potent strategy in Hazlitt’s delivery is his diction; he uses this to stress the importance of wealth.
“The article argues on ideas of fairness and freedom as a part of contemporary America’s public morality, Topics discussed include pleasures of giving and exercising one’s faculties in a market economy, extent and intensity of competition in a mature capitalist society and distribution of income and individual inheritance of wealth” (Scialabba). Many capitalists often do what they want because they have money to do so. Many capitalists are to a degree, selfish. It is justified, however many worked hard to
In Rachel Sherman’s “A Very Expensive Ordinary Life: Conflicted Consumption,” the argument centres around the “legitimization” of wealth by the New York’s upper class in order to be seen as not only rich, but morally worthy. The possession of great wealth alongside their less fortunate peers could be uncomfortable also for those that hold the city’s riches. Hence, New York’s affluent has “legitimized” their wealth and consumption, or on a more macro level, the inequality between the social classes in the city in order to feel more comfortable in their spending, and to manage the impression of the wealthy in the eyes of the greater public in the much morally contested behaviour of lavish spending in an unequal society. This is supported throughout the reading by the justification of excessive spending and consumption by the claim that the rich live an “ordinary” life. The need that they feel towards justifying their spending comes to show that their amount of spending is excessive in the eyes of the ordinary person, in which they also acknowledge themselves as well.
William T Cavanaugh (2008), wrote Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire which is a philosophical book, which focus on four (4) economic life matters that addresses the consumer culture within society. These four economic life matters are free market, consumerism, globalization and economic scarcity. In order for this topic to be discussed on a theological point of view, the author draws the reader’s attention to human life, the ends of life in God. The key question in every process is whether or not the transaction contributes to the flourishing of each person involved. In order to address these questions the author points to concrete examples of alternative economic practices in which Christians participate-: business, co-operatives, credit union, practices of consumption which marks the vision for Christian economic life.
Notably a lot of are behavior for shiny new objects is fueled from what is seen in everyday existence. The extravagant life style of the upper class which is on constant display across many media broadcasting outlets around the world for everyone to see and desire. Prompting individuals impulsive reaction to make purchases for what they see; even though they know otherwise they can not afford it. The textbook gives numerous accounts to why America has become a nation of mass consumption and what triggers people impulse to spend in relation to material possession and the American Dream.
It can be left to the families of the descendents; or it can be bequeathed for public purposes; or, finally, it can be administered by its possessors during their lives….The first is the most injudicious. Why should men leave great fortunes to their children? If this is done from affection, is it not misguided affection?….As to the second mode, that of leaving wealth at death for public uses, why should a man wait until he is dead before he becomes of much good in the world?.... Men who leave vast sums in this way may fairly be thought men who would not have left it at all
It’s from this addiction to happiness that results in consuming greater than I may need to feel more involved. When I feel intimidated I need happiness, to cheer me up and my way out of it is to consume, for some people its cigarettes to deal with stress, for me its consume to be pleased. Therefore, we consumers all share a common view about consumerism which is work, bring in money, and consequently, spend money. We all have an addiction to consume to bring us what we think is our happiness, occasionally this addiction even consumes us entirely and we have nothing left.
According to the article, The Allure of Gold, gold is used to make medals for great athletes. The article also says gold is a symbol of wealth and being rich. Gold is a valuable substance. Gold has been used to make jewelry for thousands of years.
In Anna Quindlen’s essay, Stuff is Not Salvation, she argues that one cannot determine how “better off” they are, by the amount of belongings they possess. Quindlen states that Americans have, “an addiction to consumption, so out of control that it qualifies as a sickness.” However, she is not just referring to an addiction to buying meaningless items, but the idea that people are purchasing items when they have no money. Quindlen validates her argument with the tragedy of a walmart employee that as trampled to death on Black Friday, and the concept that many people have lost their sense of appreciation and gratefulness. She also argues that there are indeed things we need, however, a large majority of people’s perception of want and need are obscured.
The American society is a materialistic system, causing self-destruction, depression, and health problems. Materialism means placing a higher value on objects. This has usually considered objects, which has more value than experiences, personal relationships and beliefs. In American society, people have been trained to think that; they are “required” to have more material things in order to be happy. According to Tim Kasser, “The more materialistic
Commentary Essay on Shopping and Other Spiritual Adventures in America Today The American people are focusing more on materialistic items, people are shopping for pleasure more than necessity. This article comments on how people are shopping to release stress or to gain pleasure. Even though the article was written in 1984, it is still pertinent to modern time. In Shopping and Other Spiritual Adventures in America Today by Phyllis Rose, varied sentence length, different point of views, and anaphora are utilized to prove that society is becoming consumed in materialism.
Retrieved February 28, 2018, from Huffington Post: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/psychology-of-wealth_n_4531905.html Persaud, W. D. (2007). Luther's small and large catechisms: Defining and confessing Christian faith from the centre in a religiously plural world. Dialog, 46(4), 355-362. Rosner, B. (2007). Greed as Idolatry:
Veblen calls such types of consumption ‘conspicuous consumption’ and ‘conspicuous leisure’. A thorough summary of Veblen’s fourth chapter ‘Conspicuous Consumption’ will first be given. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines ‘conspicuous consumption’ as a “…the practice by consumers of using goods of a higher quality or in greater quantity than might be considered necessary in practical terms” (Phillips, 2014). The aim of such a practice is to advance, establish or maintain one’s reputation in order to achieve a higher social status or prove that you belong in one.
In 21st century America, it is important to understand these aspects of commodity fetishism that creates the problem of distorted consumerist practices that have become common in the marketplace. Sociologically, the “magical” process of abstracting the value of a product is critical to understanding why many Americans blindly follow a consumerist culture in this form of capitalist economy. Commodity fetishism describes many of the key problems with the valuation of products that trick Americans into over-consuming in a Marxist