The Myth of Consumerism Essay Example For Students

The Myth of Consumerism Essay Every society has mythology. In some societies, its religion. Our religion is consumerism. Ellen Weis, San Franciscos Museum of Modern Mythology Consumerism fuels the capitalist fire. In a capitalist society, the goal is to make money, by whatever means possible, exploiting whichever potential weakness that might exist. The human race is one with a wild imagination, and this wild imagination, though a great strength, can, like all great strengths, serve as a potential weakness. We will write a custom essay on The Myth of Consumerism specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now It is our imaginations that advertising exploits, and it is our imaginations that religion and myth traditionally played the role of satiating, telling stories that have morals to them, lessons to be learned. Now consumerism fulfills this role. The consumer ideology serves as the golden rule, advertising serves as sermons, products serve as our idoltry, and just as religion instills faith at an early age, so too does consumerism. Ellen Weis (qtd. in Advertising Characters 1997) speaks from the perspective of one who is an authority on mythology. Her analogy between religion and consumerism is an accurate one. Undoubtedly, shes referring to this role that consumerism is playing in stimulating our imaginations. It does this by telling us a story, with us playing the lead role, painting a picture of life as being better with the products being sold to us. Our imaginations are carried away by these stories. We want to believe them because they make sense of the world. We want to believe that all it takes to be happy is a trip to the store. This making sense of the world and simplifying to such a triviality is exactly the reason why myths are created. For example, nearly every cigerette ad features a picture of an ideal person smoking their brand, ideal at least by the standards of most people who long to be accepted. For women, the smoker typically has long blonde hair, a beautiful smile, and perfect, white teeth. The ads that best demonstrates this are those for Virginia Slims. For men you have Marlboro with the infamous Marlboro man, who is a rugged, handsome loner out in the countryside with his horse and campfire. The ads seem to say, this could be you. All it takes is a trip to the store and a couple of bucks for a pack. Like all myths, the stories these ads tell have a moral to them. The lesson they teach is: your life can be better with these products or, put another way, you can be a better person with these products. This is the consumer ideology and, just like every religion has some golden rule that pervades all of its lessons, consumerism too has its own golden rule, the consumer ideology. All of its lessons seem to be based upon this underlying assumption that more is better, that we need the things were being sold, and that somehow buying them will make us happier and better people. Of course the medium for these lessons are the ads themselves. Advertising nearly always has some emotional appeal to them. Instead of catering to our intellect and giving us rational reasons why we should consume the products they flaunt, rather they cater to our emotions. What better way to stimulate our imaginations? This is almost directly analogous to the emotional appeal traditionally found in sermons. Especially before our society has become so secular and scientific, sermons were heavily driven by emotion. One heavy emotion that were susceptible to is fear. Fear tactics are used in advertising just as they are in sermons. For example, the Dial soap ads use the slogan, arent you glad you use Dial? Dont you wish everyone did? This slogan seems to assume that the consumer already uses their product which cant possibly be the case because if it were, why would they need to advertise? Thus they seem to be implying that if you arent using Dial, youd sure better redeem yourself quickly before they find out! Similar fear tactics are also used in religious sermons. One extreme example of such sermons are those presented by Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), like Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, in which he says, for example, that sinners deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice . The Myth Of Consumerism Essay Example For Students The Myth Of Consumerism Essay Every society has mythology. In some societies, its religion. Our religion is consumerism.Ellen Weis, San Franciscos Museum of Modern MythologyConsumerism fuels the capitalist fire. In a capitalist society, the goal is to make money, by whatever means possible, exploiting whichever potential weakness that might exist. The human race is one with a wild imagination, and this wild imagination, though a great strength, can, like all great strengths, serve as a potential weakness.It is our imaginations that advertising exploits, and it is our imaginations that religion and myth traditionally played the role of satiating, telling stories that have morals to them, lessons to be learned. Now consumerism fulfills this role. The consumer ideology serves as the golden rule, advertising serves as sermons, products serve as our idoltry, and just as religion instills faith at an early age, so too does consumerism.Ellen Weis (qtd. in Advertising Characters 1997) speaks from the perspective of one who is an authority on mythology. We will write a custom essay on The Myth Of Consumerism specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Her analogy between religion and consumerism is an accurate one. Undoubtedly, shes referring to this role that consumerism is playing in stimulating our imaginations. It does this by telling us a story, with us playing the lead role, painting a picture of life as being better with the products being sold to us. Our imaginations are carried away by these stories. We want to believe them because they make sense of the world. We want to believe that all it takes to be happy is a trip to the store. This making sense of the world and simplifying to such a triviality is exactly the reason why myths are created.For example, nearly every cigerette ad features a picture of an ideal person smoking their brand, ideal at least by the standards of most people who long to be accepted. For women, the smoker typically has long blonde hair, a beautiful smile, and perfect, white teeth. The ads that best demonstrates this are those for Virginia Slims. For men you have Marlboro with the infamous ;Marlboro man,; who is a rugged, handsome loner out in the countryside with his horse and campfire. The ads seem to say, ;this could be you. ; All it takes is a trip to the store and a couple of bucks for a pack.Like all myths, the stories these ads tell have a moral to them. The lesson they teach is: your life can be better with these products or, put another way, you can be a better person with these products. This is the consumer ideology and, just like every religion has some ;golden rule; that pervades all of its lessons, consumerism too has its own golden rule, the consumer ideology. All of its lessons seem to be based upon this underlying assumption that more is better, that we need the things were being sold, and that somehow buying them will make us happier and better people.Of course the medium for these lessons are the ads themselves. Advertising nearly always has some emotional appeal to them. Instead of catering to our intellect and giving us rational reasons why we should consume the products they flaunt, rather they cater to our emotions. What better way to stimulate our imaginations? This is almost directly analogous to the emotional appeal traditionally found in sermons. Especially before our society has become so secular and scientific, sermons were heavily driven by emotion.One heavy emotion that were susceptible to is fear. Fear tactics are used in advertising just as they are in sermons. For example, the Dial soap ads use the slogan, ;arent you glad you use Dial? Dont you wish everyone did?; This slogan seems to assume that the consumer already uses their product which cant possibly be the case because if it were, why would they need to advertise? Thus they seem to be implying that if you arent using Dial, youd sure better redeem yourself quickly before they find out! Similar fear tactics are also used in religious sermons. One extreme example of such sermons are those presented by Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), like Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, in which he says, for example, that sinners deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice .

ESL Beginner Reading Comprehension Cooking Dialogue

ESL Beginner Reading Comprehension Cooking Dialogue In this dialogue, you will practice speaking about daily routines by focusing on cooking. Notice that the present simple is used to speak about daily routines. Adverbs of frequency tell us how often we do something and include usually, sometimes, never, etc.. Practice the dialogue with your partner and then interview each other about how you do certain tasks you enjoy. Cooking (At a friends house) Carol: This is a lovely house!Martha: Thank you. Carol, we call it home. Carol: Its very close to work, isnt it?Martha: Yes, it is. I always walk to work - even when it rains! Carol: I usually take the bus. It takes so long!Martha: How long does it take? Carol: Oh, it takes about 20 minutes.Martha: That is a long time. Well, have some cake. Carol: (taking a bite of some cake) this is delicious! Do you bake all of your own cakes?Martha: Yes, I usually bake something at the weekend. I like having sweets in the house. Carol: Youre a wonderful cook!Martha: Thank you, its nothing really. Carol: I never cook. Im just hopeless. My husband, David, usually does all the cooking.Martha: Do you often go out to eat? Carol: Yes, when he doesnt have time to cook, we go out to eat somewhere.Martha: There are some wonderful restaurants in the city. Carol: Too many! You can eat at a different restaurant every day. Monday - Chinese, Tuesday - Italian, Wednesday - Mexican, on and on ... Check your understanding with this multiple choice comprehension quiz. More Dialogue Practice - Includes level and target structures/language functions for each dialogue.

Personal Response Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response - Personal Statement Example Study proposal is playing a vital role in the success of learning procedure and this scenario is supportive for the public. This is preferred by the educational experts to manage study proposal to provide a shining and satisfactory environment for the learners. This condition is admirable because this is an apt source to produce affirmative consequences with rapidness and success. In other side, those people who are careless in preparation of study proposals are unable to make educational programs effective and efficient for achievement of specific aims and objectives. So, people should use study proposal in their education programs and they should manage these programs with the support of professional persons that are capable to design the relevant scenarios with effectiveness. In the same way, the study proposal should be monitored strictly to attain shining and winning consequences in the social and commercial way of life. Designing of study proposal is essential to make it elegant and charming to attain magnetism of the public highly. For this purpose, adequate designing of building and preparation is essential because this is helpful to create a satisfactory environment which is efficient to manage educational matters with success and accomplishment. Proper decoration of buildings is also essential because this is linked with the public attraction and satisfaction; it is necessary to procure the educational programs with sensation and accomplishment. In the same way, attainment of services of professionals in this matter is also preferred as it is an apt source to make study proposals attractive and shining without any reservation and misgiving in the community. So, it can be stated that study proposal is a likable matter which is admired in the society with proper designing and decoration. Thus, relevant people should take proper interest in it and they should prepare new buildings in proper and ef fective

Flexible Budgets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Flexible Budgets - Essay Example This paper will outline the difference between the two methods of budgeting. Flexible budget records and outlines different information than static budget since it records the daily activities of budgeting and accommodates the accountings entries and activities that are new to the budget system. Unlike static budget which is prepared before the beginning of accounting period, flexible budget is prepared daily and continues till the end of the period (Mowen, 2012). Static budget ensures comparison and variance analysis is done due to presence of actual budget and estimated budget while the flexible budget does not involve comparison of budgets as there is only one budget. A flexible budget is not always better as it does not involve many activities like variance analysis to evaluate the performance of the company. Static budget is usually preferred where a business estimates the budget and wants to compare the difference between the estimated budget and actual budget (Mowen,

Parliamentary Sovereignty Essay Example for Free

Parliamentary Sovereignty Essay With reference to relevant domestic case law outline the â€Å"mechanisms† adopted by the British Courts to maintain the Doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty in the context of applying European Law. Particular reference should be made to the cases of Bulmer v Bollinger and Factortame. Parliamentary sovereignty is a fundamental principle in the constitution of the United Kingdom. It is where the Parliament is the supreme legal authority, which has the power to create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass a law that a future Parliament cannot change. In the British constitution, a statute is generally regarded as the highest form of the law, therefore Parliament is seen as the sovereign law maker. However the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty has been altered and limited by the UK decision to become a member of the European Community in 1973 when the European Communities Act 1972 came into force. Parliament must now legislate consistently with European Community Law. The terms of the European treaties as interpreted by the European Court of Justice require member states to limit their sovereignty, by Parliament giving direct effect and primacy to EU Law. The European Court of Justice states that European Community Law should be enforceable in the courts of member states and that EU law prevails domestic law of member state, which includes the United Kingdom. The ECJ, as the judicial institution of the Community, is the backbone of that system of safeguards. It is responsible for interpreting questions of EC law and provision is made in the Treaty for references to the ECJ by national courts. Decisions of the ECJ, upon a reference, are reached by majority vote and are binding on all domestic courts of all Member States. Under Article 234 the ECJ has achieved the principle of supremacy and its uniform application in all Member States when Community law may be in conflict with domestic legislation. The ECH, as the guardian of legality and instrument of cohesion within the Community, has from the start been in a strong position to define the status of Community law and to gibe it precedence when in conflict with the national legal systems of the various Member states. The first case where the Court made a statement on the nature of European law is the famous case of Van Gend en Loos dealing with the principle of direct effect of EC Treaty provisions and the degree to which individuals can rely on such terms to hallenge measures of national law. It was in a second important case, two years later, however, that the ECJ expanded on its constitutional theory of the Community, declaring again that the states had created a sovereign Community by limiting their own sovereign rights. The case was Costa v Enel, the Court basically decided that community law had supremacy over national law. To this day the judgement is the bedrock of the importance of Community law in all Member States of the European Union. Without this decision Community law would have remained merely international law. Not until the doctrine of supremacy did Community law become truly ‘supranational’ as intended in the European treaties. It was in Bulmer v Bollinger that Lord Denning stated: â€Å"The Treaty of Rome is like an incoming tide. It flows into the estuaries and up the rivers. It cannot be held back. † The early generous and realistic approach was seen in the case of Macarthys v Smith (1981) where Lord Denning discussed the feature between mere inconsistencies and deliberate derogation. Where the incompatibility is inadvertent, he suggested that English Courts should apply EC law, on the assumption that Parliament anticipated to perform its treaty obligations. On the other hand, where the incompatibility was deliberate, he was of the belief that English law should triumph. In this case Lord Denning asserted that â€Å"it has priority. It is not supplanting English law. It is part of our law which overrides any other part which is inconsistent with it. † However, it was not until the Factortame litigation that the true implication on parliamentary sovereignty became noticeable. The cases of R v Secretary of State for Transport Ex Parte Factortame (1989), changed Lord Dennings principle. In this case the UK courts applied for an Article 177 reference. Due to the extensive time it take to respond to reference, the UK applied for an additional ruling asking if they could in the meantime still apply the Act as it conflicted with Articles 52 and 221 of the Treaty of Rome. The ECJ ordered the UK to temporarily suspend the 1988 Act, which the UK parliament had not done before. Therefore, this relentlessly undermined the supremacy of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty.

Chinese Cuisine - The Food of China Essay examples -- essays research

Chinese Cuisine - The Food of China   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China’s food is very unique and traditional. Grains are the main food in China. Rice is the favorite grain among the people in the South. In the north, people prefer wheat, which they make in to bread and noodles. Corn millet, and sorghum are also eaten. Vegetables, especially cabbage and Tofu rank second in Chinese diet. Roasted sweet potatoes are a popular snack eaten by the Chinese. Pork and poultry are the favorite meats in China. The people also like eggs, fish, fruit, and shellfish.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chop Suey originated in China. Chop sticks and soup spoons are served as the only utensils at a Chinese meal. Tea is the traditional Chinese beverage. Ice-cream has gained popularity in China. Food from the East and Southeast coastal areas includes fi...

Hunter-gather to settled community Essay

Growth of existing trade routes –Silk Roads, Mediterranean Sea, Trans-Saharan, Indian Ocean—due to innovations and technology (caravans, compass, larger ships, credit) The rise of new trade routes centering on Mesoamerica and the Andes Commercial growth due to new trading organizations (Hanseatic League), and state practices (minting of coins, paper money) and state-sponsored commercial infrastructures such as the Grand Canal of China Trans-Eurasian trade as a result of the expansion of empire (china, Byzantine Empire, Muslim caliphates, Mongols) Cross- Cultural exchanges through existing or new networks of trade and communication. The diffusion of cultural, scientific and technological traditions and new food crops, agricultural techniques, and epidemic diseases (including the Black Death) along Eastern Hemisphere trade routes Byzantine Empire, Chinese dynasties, Islamic states, Mongol Khanates, and feudalism in Europe and Japan The expansion of state systems in the Americas: Mayan city states, Mexica (â€Å"Aztecs†), Inca Technological and cultural transfer between states and empires, including tang China and the Abbasids, across the Mongol Empires,  and during the Crusades Increased agricultural and industrial production in many regions due to technological innovations (such as Chinmpa(floating plants in the water) field systems) the expansions of textile, porcelain, iron and exports from china, Persia and India Revival of urban centers, the rise of commerce and warmer temperatures between 800 and 1300; rising agricultural productivity and population, and the greater availability of labor. Varying forms of labor organization: free peasant agriculture, guild organization, several forms of coerced and unfree labor (serfdom, mit’a, slavery) The spread and diffusion of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Neoconfucianism, and corresponding changes in gender relations and family structure. Intensification of existing regional trade networks, bringing prosperity and economic disruption ot the trading regions of the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Sahara, and overland Eurasia. European synthesis of technological developments based on knowledge developed in the classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds – resulting in new tools, ship designs, and understanding of global wind and current patterns. New transoceanic maritime reconnaissance: Zheng He in the Indian Ocean, Portuguese in West Africa, Spanish voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific, European searches for multiple routes to Asia across the North Atlantic A new global circulation of goods driven by mercantilist European monarchies, with worldwide circulation of silver from the Americas, colonial joint-stock companies, and the use of free and unfree laborers mixing African, American, and European cultures and peoples The Columbian Exchange of diseases, foods, and domesticated animals between Eastern and Western hemispheres, with subsequent population increase in Afro-Eurasia but indigenous population loss, deforestation, and soil depletion in the Americas Worldwide innovations in visual and performing arts, such as the Renaissance in Europe (with its accompanying expansion of literacy) A growing global demand for raw materials and finished products, resulting within Africa and the export of slaves to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and the Americas; and a range of coerced labor in American colonial economies (indentured servitude, encomienda system) The formation of new political and economic elites as a result of imperial conquests and widening global economic opportunities, such as the Manchus in China and creole elites in Spanish America Fluctuating power of existing elites such as the nobility in Europe and daimyo in Japan, as a reult of increasingly powerful monarchs and leaders Gender and family restructuring: demographic changes in Arica resulting from the slave trades, the trade relationships of Southeast Asian women and European men, and the smaller size of European families Massive demographic changes in the Americas resulting in new ethnic and racial classifications (mestizo, mulatto, creole) Use of a variety of methods by rulers to legitimize, consolidate, and centralize power – including monumental architecture, urban design, religious ideas (European divine right, Aztec human sacrifice, Songhay promotion of Islam), differential treatment of ethnic and religious groups (Ottoman treatment of non-Muslims), recruitment of bureaucratic elites and military professionals (Ottoman devshirme, Chinese examination system, samurai), tribute collection, and tax farming Increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to establish large  empires in both hemispheres: European trading- post empires in Africa and Asia; land empires in China, India, the Middle East, and Eurasia (Manchus, Mughals, Ottomans, Russians) Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and British maritime empires in the Americas Competition over trade routes (Caribbean piracy), state rivalries (Thirty Years War), and local resistance (samurai revolts) challenged state consolidation and expansion