Secondary Source Integration “Money Talks” is a single episode of NPR’s Hidden Brain series and was published on November 28th, 2017. The episode consists of a discussion that takes place between the narrator, Shankar Vedantam and Neeru Paharia. The conversation involves the narrator and Neeru discussing the many ways we humans use money, and other status symbols to flaunt wealth, power, and our political views. Both the narrator and the guest are reliable and unbiased, the narrator is merely a host who seems well prepared for the topic, while the guest is a professor of marketing at Georgetown University. Among many other things, the discussion focuses on how there is an underlying motive of our every move to somehow display our status, and our political and ethical views. This can range from what type of coffee one decides to purchase or how a company decides to operate it’s factories. …show more content…
This is highlighted by the fact that the words status and money are used in tandem more than thirty times through the episode. The narrators insist that people will spend money on something more expensive despite there being no logical reasoning behind the purchase. “So then the question is why are people spending so much money on these shiny rocks that have no intrinsic value?” (NPR: Money Talks). This is part of a logos argument that is being made to the reader in the context in which this quote is found, Neeru is questioning the reasoning behind buying diamonds. The reader is supposed to question themselves here and see if they are buying things because of their intrinsic value, or what that purchase would show about their societal status. This is a very engrossing appeal to the audience to use their logical sense, and see if spending money on unnecessarily extravagant things actually makes any sense, when cheaper alternatives are readily
Kenneth Vogel’s Big Money explores the invasion of money into our political system. In the novel, Vogel explains one of the most important important events that is currently happening in today’s elections: donors. This, according to Vogel, has been brought on by a ruling in the case Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. The result of this case destroyed finance restrictions, giving Corporations and Unions the same laws of freedom of speech as individual Americans. The novel opens in February of 2012 where Vogel sneaks into a donor banquet. As our current president, Barack Obama, gives his speech, Vogel makes a note of the President’s words. In particular, Vogel focuses on one line “You now have the potential
money.In the line “To be made of it !” Gioia uses a hyperbole by referring to rich people as being
"The Logic of Stupid Poor People" is the idea of purchasing high dollar items to make them feel like they are a part of the higher class. Tressie McMillan Cottom, the author of this blog post, feels that most of the lower class is stupid because they make bad financial decisions. In Cottom's essay, she discusses how she grew up with a family that was poor and it was difficult to "make ends meet"; moreover, helping others. Cottom's thesis says, "If you are poor, why do you spend money on useless luxuries rather than trying to survive". The argument that she is trying to get across is that the more responsible way to spend your money could be towards the next electric bill, groceries, or even into the bank in case of an emergency. Cottom mentions that her mother used to spend her money on clothing and accessories for herself as "investments", but it was for her mother's way to show others that she has extra cash to blow, even though she does not. Cottom has the evidence from her own personal experiences; ways that her family made money was taking advantage of welfare, collecting from insurance policies, and extra military payments. The author is making a point why the act of spending
Throughout Saunders’ stories: “ Pastoralia”, "Brad Carrigan, American”, “Jon”, and "In Persuasion Nation"; are themes of violence, dependence, and fate. With these themes Saunders is relaying how money and power are reflected in everyone unconscious mindset: from the higher ups to the “people at the bottom of the heap”. Saunders points out that with that type of mindset is how America is declining not just economically, but as people of morals. We may be trying to “keep positive/think positive” but maybe money is the reason why we’re sinking so low into idleness, impatience, selfishness, and whatnot (Saunders).
Throughout society, the contrast between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots, the elites and the ordinary, have been a constant source of discussion and philosophy. In Chipped Beef, by comparing fantasies of wealth with truths of reality, David Sedaris argues that the intrinsic values of relationships vastly outweigh the extrinsic value of material things.
Money, money, money, money, money. People just care about the Benjamins, the moolah, the cash, the dough— but is it really essential to the human existence, or does society just accept the systematic oppression that comes with the dog-eat-dog nature of our economic system since it benefits the people on top? Monetary gains are all well and good; however, when does it commence to overtake our lives and when does it become our end goal? Instead of relying on money for food, shelter and our overall well-being, society views it as a tool that gives them power over other people, thus putting one’s economic status on a pedestal and making life a difficult competition. So yes, it is a dog-eat-dog world, but that’s not exactly a healthy perspective
“Proper society did not think about making money, only about spending it.”, said Barbara W. Tuchman. This quote shows our real world, and the people that spend money, but they forget about the value of money. Nowadays people want more that they have. They forget how many things they have, and how much money they spend. Most people when they see other people having something better, and in that moment they want to have it also. Also, people forget how hard they got that money, but how easily and quickly they spend it. In the article “The treadmill of consumption” by Roberts, he says that people are willing to go into debt to buy certain products and brands. That is right that people can do crazy things to buy certain goods.
Aldrich, Nelson W., Jr. Old Money: The Mythology of America’s Upper Class. New York: Vintage, 1989.
The book I chose to review for this course is titled, “The Millionaire Next Door”, by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D., and William D. Danko, Ph.D. After learning that it was published in 1996, prior to the widespread availability of the internet, and subsequent ebusiness boom, I was slightly sceptical that the information held within might not be relevant for someone like myself trying to thrive in today’s chaotic economy. Fortunately, I was wrong. The Millionaire Next Door is full of concepts and principles that put into perspective how we view money and status in our society, and also debunks the myth that America’s wealthy are the ones doing most of the spending while living elaborate and carefree lives. There are several ‘takeaway’ principles that are presented to the reader. I will be focusing on the five concepts and ideas that impacted me the most.
Society today is split in many different ways: the smart and the dumb, the pretty and the ugly, the popular and the awkward, and of course the rich and the poor. This key difference has led to many areas of conflict among the population. The rich and the poor often have different views on issues, and have different problems within their lives. Moral decay and materialism are two issues prevalent among the wealthy, while things such as socio-economic class conflict and the American dream may be more important to those without money. Ethics and responsibilities are an area of thought for both classes, with noblesse oblige leaning more towards the wealthy.
As the old saying goes, money is power. As the statistics show, some people have an insane amount of money, yet their fellow countrymen have close to nothing. In a struggling economy, unfair distribution of wealth can create real problems and unimaginable hardships for some people. For example, millions of people pay $2 for a bottle of designer water, while millions more live on less than $2 a day. If this is to one day change, wealthy people must adopt a much more magnanimous conviction towards their money.
Nicole and Daina are life long friends. As they go through life and the scenery around them changes, one scene remains the same; the small town coffee shop where they always meet to talk and catch up. On one such occasion, both girls are 24 and have all sorts of questions about their future, dreams from their past, and problems with their present. Nicole is questioning if she should stay with her job, if she will have a future with someone, and what God is doing in the midst of it all. Their waitress and the coffee shop 's long time employee, Mrs. Joan Calla, serve the two 24-year-old girls at a table stage center. Ms. Calla also entertains other customers. At the table stage right, she goes back
Money is the main source of power in the world, but in ways it can be viewed as good or bad depending on the situation. It has a negative connotation when mentioned by the word “acts”. “ Acts” means to perform a fictional role. Which shows that most things involving money are fake. Though humans associate being fake with being morally wrong,but its somehow acceptable if there is a greater power involved. Another definition for acts is to take action;do something. In this case to take an action can be either good or bad. There are many ways to come across money, but nobody cares if it is good or bad because it deals with a greater power.
I’ve loved politics since I was in 6th grade, I didn’t always have the best understanding of it all when I was younger but I was able to recognize that there were a lot of citizens who were disgruntled with their government’s progress. For example, as of August 2014, congresses’ approval rating is only 14% (Riffkin, 2014). As I’ve aged I realized that the recent Supreme Court decisions regarding corporate money and personal spending limits have made the government a less effective tool for the American citizens and that is why I’ve chosen to write on the influence of money in politics. I believe this is the most important political issue that we currently face because we are unable to pass the bills that reflect the views of the American people
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, social status is defined as “the relative rank that an individual holds, with attendant rights, duties, and lifestyle, in a social hierarchy based upon honor or prestige. Status may be ascribed—that is, assigned to individuals at birth without reference to any innate abilities—or achieved, requiring special qualities and gained through competition and individual effort. Ascribed status is typically based on sex, age, race, family relationships, or birth, while achieved status may be based on education, occupation, marital status, accomplishments, or other factors”. Social status is one of the factors that influence the conspicuous consumption. As O’Cass and Frost (2002) refer in the Journal of Product