RESPONSE TO JULIET SCHOR
Betsy Taylor
WRITING STRATEGIES
1. In this essay, Taylor deffinately agrees with Schor's essay about consumerism.
She also adds a few of her own thoughts as well as support with statistics.
EXPLORING IDEAS
1. Taylor says that there are many "hidden costs". Some other examples where there might be hidden costs are:
A. Medications
B. Vacation packages
C. Products sold on TV
D. Products sold on the Internet
The most dangerous would probably be the medications.
IDEAS FOR WRITING
1. One of the points Taylor makes is that nearly two-thirds of the homes built now have two-car garages. I think that this is significant because not only are we taking up more living space, it also implies that we are driving more cars, and therefor polluting and using up more natural resourses.--Although doesn't state that in her essay.
I agree with this essay completely. I believe that our consumerism ways are overdoing it just a little. We are a materialistic nation. We have the highest consumerism rate in the world. Money rules our nation.
I think that one reason why we consume so much is because of the conveniances. It is so easy to just get in the car, drive a block, and get everything we need. Rather than making a home-cooked meal from scratch, we can just go to KFC and bring home an entire meal for the whole family in less than 10 minutes on the way home from work.
Because America's society is "more is better" and "the more it costs, the better it must be", we have gotten to where what we have is who we are. We are now classified into groups of "statis". If you own the nicest, newest, most expensive vehicle, or if you wear name-brand clothing and fashionable shoes, you are considered higher in society. Because of this, we have become more materialistic. The American dream is no longer the good job, with the house in the country with a family minivan. The American dream is now a good job that pays excessively with a nice condo in the middle of the city with a new Mercades Benz.
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1 comment:
Hey there,
Yeah I totally agree that people are way to concerned with money. I think though that the problem isn't necessarily that we buy too much but that we value material statue over character or love. If we had the right priorities in life, then buying new things wouldn't necessarily be a problem.
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