Summary Of Rachel Sherman's A Very Expensive Ordinary Life: Conflicted Consumption

People who own abundant properties still have lofty goals, like Lars Eighner, a man with sufficient income but still enjoying dumpster diving. His goal is to obtain pure and simple happiness through this interest. He even defines dumpster diving as “[an] outdoor work, often surprisingly pleasant” (“On Dumpster Diving” 421-430). Eighner can own many things in his middle-class life, but his mind is not propelled by those materials to want more. Instead, he discovers the simple but meaningful treasure hunting activity to enrich his life, which not only enables him to obtain basic necessities like clothes and food, but also elevates him to a higher mental state of caring little of money. Moreover, like what is mentioned above, Phyllis Rose, who has the ability to consume but only enjoys the shopping process, suggests that “shopping is a time of reflection, assessment, spiritual self-discipline” (“Shopping and Other Spiritual Adventures in America Today” 482-484). Additionally, she can gain social connections while shopping. When she sees some fat people dressing jeans as what she looks like, she will gain a sense of belongings, and automatically, she joins a “community.” She can be materialist, but she never is. She sticks to higher goals of immersing herself in the mentally joyful experience, to enjoy the feeling of shopping and to join in communities through

Events that unfold in a person’s life occur because of uncontrollable circumstances around them as well as their actions. This balance of power of these two forces is never the same in different people. Thus, people fall into two general categories, those at the mercy of the uncontrollable and those who exert more control over their lives than outside forces do. Francis Aloysius Phelan, in William Kennedy’s “Ironweed,” falls into this second category. Francis is a former baseball player in his younger years who know finds himself, at 58, living as a bum in Albany, New York in 1938 during the Great Depression. Francis’ life is one filled with death, destruction and general unhappiness worse than the average person living during the same time

Society is a dangerous and ruthless beast. A person’s wish to belong in society can ultimately be their demise to not only their financial stability but as well as their social status which is ironic, for the actions they take to belong only further separate them from society. These actions are particularly common amongst poor folks as they wish to be a part of society, but their poor financial decisions to spend all their earnings on exquisite items only drags them further away from society’s acceptance. In Tressie McMillan Cottom’s Reading, “The Logic of Stupid Poor People”, She describes her life as an African-American child born into a poor family who were able to manage their funds wisely and live comfortably while families similar to her’s, but to only manage to dig themselves into deep and unforgiving caverns of financial debt. I agree, for I have witnessed many cases of poverty stricken people drag themselves further into financial debt all for useless status symbols.

In a westernized society children books are often guilty of aggressively reinforcing conventional gender roles by stereotyping the physical and personal characteristics of young girls and boys. This ultimately forces children who don’t comply with these stereotypes to be more vulnerable to bullying and self esteem issues. The book ‘Makeup Mess’ by Robert Munsch details and reinforces the materialistic and conforming stereotypes of femininity and what exactly it means to be a girl in the twenty first century. I personally choose to create a resistive reading of the book in the form of a satirical cultural jam. The book ‘Makeup Mess’ proclaims that in a utopian capitalist society young girls are destined to reform to the ideal of the ‘male gaze’,

The dream of the Roaring 20’s, also known as the American Dream, characterizes ambitious men and women trying to achieve the lavish lifestyle of the rich. Society wore new styles of clothing, danced differently, and defied prohibition. Dependence on alcohol increased drastically as a result of World War I. Gatsby, along with other bootleggers, turned to the illegal producing and selling of alcohol as a way to make a living. The dream appeared to be beautiful, but was grotesquely flawed on the inside. The book presents characters who believe they have the American Dream, but in reality, the dream is an illusion. East coasters turned to immoral decisions which eventually led to destruct. Fitzgerald saw first-hand the corruption the American

“Clearly, our love for affair with our pets has gotten out of control’’ says Bilger author of “The Last Meow”. More and more money today is being spent on pets rather than welfare. Bilger disputes that Americans have spent so much money on veterinary care, food, and accessories for their pets (Bilger). I think he is right because we are wasting billions of money when we can use it on something else, something that has a cause. We can use that money for other things like funding head start programs, lift millions of families out of poverty, help sick children, and saving strays from being put to sleep. If people are going to continue to spends lot’s of money on their pets than people are going

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.

What defines Frugal? According to Webster’s dictionary, this means the behaviors reflecting the economy in the use of a resources. This chapter also includes many statistics that are very interesting to someones knowledge. One will also learn that the shopping habits people have and where they shop determines if they are well off. In the story about Johnny and his habits of life, one will learn that he is not considered a “bespoke” because he does not spend the money on customized suits. It is proven that people will buy certain pieces of clothing or a pair of shoes just to have the logo on it. One will also learn that most Americans in this generation will never become wealthy because they are wasteful. Many people do not have the discipline to stop spending money on wasteful things. Just like with a credit card, one is not considered wealthy if they own a credit card. People do not know how to properly manage money. While reading the story of Mr. Friend, one will learn that he owns a lot of valuable things but barely ever has time to enjoy those things and time with others because he is always working. People do not realize that simple little things you buy everyday will accumulate. It is shown that Mr. Friend will not be

One’s living condition is not determined by the amount of wealth acquired by that person. Having a substantial amount of wealth can depict that someone is living a satisfied life. Those without various amounts of money, are then considered inferior, because they do not have access to living a luxurious lifestyle. However, this is not always the case. In Charles Murray’s “What’s So Bad About Being Poor,” Murray explains the correlation between being poor and living in poverty. Be that as it may, people that live in poverty are not necessarily poor. Living in poverty depends on how people use their basic needs of life in order to make a living. The way in which one is able to survive shows that they can achieve happiness without being worrisome

ii. This statement expresses how people spend large amounts of money on materialistic things, such as homes, but they are really just causing harm. Instead of living simplistically, people choose extravagance and allow it to consume them.

The concept of consumerism was first brought to my awareness in First Year Writing. I admit, before this intro course, I was indeed ignorant of the negative impacts that consumption had on society. FYS opened my mind to the dangers of over-consumption, and more importantly, helped me see beyond what meets the eye. Take for example, Disney, a seemingly innocent corporation, a company’s whose name is practically synonymous with the notion of childhood innocence. Upon initial judgement, one would assume that Disney is merely harmless family entertainment. Where in fact, if one looks beneath Disney’s visage of innocence, their true intentions are shockingly cynical. Disney’s cultural pedagogy embeds the concept of consumption into young susceptible

On A&E’s popular television show, Hoarders, I evaluated the people that were starring in the particular episode called Sandi and Vivian. In this episode, Sandi is known around town as Mrs. Clause because of her extreme gift hoarding which is causing her to go bankrupt from buying so many gifts. On the other hand, Vivian is being threatened to loose custody of her grandchildren because of her hoarding addiction. After watching the opening of this television show, it really grasped my attention and made me curious to see why these people were hoarders, even when consequences were at stake.

To commonwealth, the riches are frequently advertised as uncanny extravagance. Yet whether it is displayed through the torn society in which the superficial and frivolous Kardashians abide, or in the heart of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic, The Great Gatsby, wealth comes at a price. Fitzgerald conveys through his novel that beyond luxurious attire and thirty-thousand-dollar champagne, is an underlying truth that catches a glimpse of a world not so prosper. Indicatively, his book follows the story of a young man by the name Nick Carraway, who in the midst of befriending Jay Gatsby, learns the moral decay amongst the wealthy through quixotic goals of love.

Very few books in the history of economic thought still render an accurate portrayal of society today. Written 115 years ago, Thorstein Veblen’s The Theory of the Social Class (1899) describes a materialistic society obsessed with reputation and social status, echoing a portrayal of the modern capitalistic consumer culture that defines us today. As Roger Mason (1998), professor of consumer theory states: “Consuming for status has, in fact, become a defining element of the new consumer societies” (p.vii). In his treatise, Veblen’s discusses such a society, in order to portray the ‘leisure class’, the 19th century society that characterized the upper class that formed as a consequence of the Second Industrial Revolution. Such a society uses the consumption of goods and leisure as means of climbing up the social ladder. Veblen calls such types of consumption ‘conspicuous consumption’ and ‘conspicuous leisure’.