Cost of the Good Life Essay Example for Free

Cost of the Good Life Essay Overall wellbeing, an extravagant lifestyle, and wealth all come to mind when I ponder the good life but what does the good life actually cost? At first glance, this seems like a loaded question that requires multiple dissertations in order to answer. I even contemplated whether or not the good life had a cost at all. Breaking the good life into separate topics relieves much of the stress when it comes to giving an answer. In terms of consumerism, the good life is damaging to the environment, places too much emphasis on money, and it dwindles the importance of non-market values. According to Annie Leonard’s â€Å"The Story of Stuff†, our current materials economy is a commodity chain in which goods go from extraction, to production, to distribution, to consumption, and finally to disposal. The system sounds stable but it is actually in crisis. Anyone with a simple understanding of mathematics can tell you that you cannot run a linear system on a finite planet in the real world. In order for us, the consumers, to get all of our fancy products and up-to-date technologies, a process that we turn a blind eye to takes place. At the source of the process, there is natural resource exploitation. â€Å"We chop down the trees, blow up mountains to get the metals inside, use up all the water, and wipe out all the animals.† As consumers, we are running out of resources because we have too much stuff! In the past three decades alone, one third of the planet’s natural resource space has been consumed. We are undermining the planets very ability for people to live here. In the United States, less than four percent of our original forests are left and forty percent of the waterways have become unsanitary. When the resources start to deplete, we do the same thing to third world or lesser developed nations. The erosion of the local environments of these nations and economies ensures a constant flow of natives that rely on the little money they can earn while working in factories. We have become a nation of consumers largely due to planned and perceived obsolescence. Planned obsolescence is the art of designing products that don’t last a long time but last long enough for someone to buy the product again. Perceived obsolescence is changing the design of things to follow trends and keep up with the times. The number one example that people can relate to is the iPhone. If you don’t have the newest and  greatest iPhone, you are a social outcast. While this might be a tad over exaggerated, it’s not too far from the truth. In all actuality, polls show that our national happiness is declining even though we have more stuff than ever before. This is because we have less time for the things that truly make us happy like friends, family, and leisure time. At the cost of our planet and environment, are we really even living the good life? Fritjof Capra of â€Å"Qualitative Growth† said that â€Å"human needs are finite, but human greed is not. The major problems of our time cannot be understood in isolation; they are all interconnected and interdependent.† In our current economy, we have put currency on a pedestal that is far too high for us to reach anymore. Most of the goods that are produced and sold are often unneeded and therefore are essentially waste. Even still, demographic pressure and poverty form a vicious circle that lead to fewer jobs and wider poverty gaps. These are the costs of the good life. Our current global economy is a system striving for unlimited quantitative growth and is manifestly unsustainable as previously stated. Looking again from an ecological standpoint, the bad growth resulting from this system leads to externalizing social and environmental costs, is based on fossil fuels, involves toxic substances, depletes our natural resources, and degrades the Earth’s ecosystems. Harvard professor Michael Sandel adds what I believe to be the most interesting cost of the good life when it comes to affluenza. He argues that over the last three decades, we have drifted from having a market economy to becoming a market society. Although these two seem to be synonymous, they are actually quite different. A market economy is a valuable and effective tool for organizing productive activity while a market society is a place where almost everything is up for sale. By doing this, we have created a way of life in which market values â€Å"seep into almost every sphere of life and sometimes crowd out or corrode important, non-market values.† One of the examples that professor Sandel uses is congressional hearings in Washington D.C.. Lobbyists want to attend these hearings and because the seats are limited, line-standing companies have arisen. Line-standing companies hire homeless people and pay them an hourly rate in order to wait in line just  before the hearing. According to the professor, this is wrong for two reasons. â€Å"In a democratic society, everyone should have equal access to representative government. The other reason it’s wrong is that it demeans representative government.† When it comes to the point where almost everything in our public life is sold off to the highest bidder, something is lost. Money matters more and more in our society. And against the background of rising inequality, money takes a toll on the commonality of our civic life. In other words, we lose a part of ourselves. Do we go so far that we are cheapening important social goods and civic goods that are worth caring about? Society will eventually become a place of narcissistic opportunism where people will be buying their way into and out of positive and negative situations. What is the good life worth? I’ve been struggling with this question a great deal lately. You may or may not be familiar with the term first world problems. They are frustrations and complaints that are only experienced by privileged individuals, typically used as a comedic device to make light of trivial inconveniences. Not having the latest gadget and the newest clothes from a particular store are just a few examples. When I bought something, I failed to realize what I was actually paying. I now know that these consumer goods cost natural resources, valuable money, and so much more. The simplest way I can put it is that the cost of the good life: priceless.

It’s Time to Redefine Morality :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

It’s Time to Redefine Morality When looking at society, and seeing the constant hypocrisies, the inconsistencies, the lies, a person can be inclined only towards two mindsets. They will go along with what they see, they will believe what they are told, they will find it awkward that anyone could challenge things the way they are. Or, they will see the outrightly absurd nature of things, they will see the lies, they will see the propaganda, they will see the inconsistency, and they will refuse to believe it. They will cry out for anything but this society -- they will seek out reason, logic, truth. Anything that is well-reasoned will sooth their heart, anything that is logically demonstrated will be at peace with their mind. Their life will be transformed into a journey, ceaselessly looking for the truth, wherever it is, whatever it tells us, no matter what must be sacrificed to discover it. In our society, we find that there are two people. Those who will accept what they are told, will obey authority, will exist in the way that television and radio has commanded them to exist. And there are those who will condemn the way things are, will resist authority, will point out all the inconsistencies and lies given to us. In generations to come, they will be called heroes. In our own time, they will be called instigators. Historians will regard them as the cause to a change in society. Rationalists will treat them as the finest examples of intelligent people. But what is it that they can truly be called? Searching through the expanse of human language, what name can rightly apply to someone who uses their mind? A person without shackles on their mind, without a blindfold on their eyes, without bondage on their heart, without lies in their mind... may be called a Freethinker. The theory which may be questioned most by any Freethinker, is the theory of the modern morality. By this, I mean the theory of monogamy, that a person ought to only have one sexual partner at one time. But this theory is more than just that. Not only is it a one-sexual-partner ideal, but it covers other ideas. Those who are promiscuous with their bodies are treated as heartless and brutal. A modern moralist will paint a picture of a slut, and every vice will be given to them.

Peter Skrzynecki (Ancestors)

stanza 1 the figures have a nightmarish quality which is developed through simple but evocative visual imagery they ‘hang over you’ and stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ which makes them threatening in number and intimidating in stance the sibilance within the last line augments the tenor of disquiet created by the poet’s reference to these nameless and ‘faceless’ men no reference is made to women which also increases the veiled threat implied by shadowy figures. ne possible interpretation of this might be that male ancestors have greater impact on his cultural and social identity stanza 2 the darkness becomes tinged with urgency as his sleep is broken by whispered secrets. nothing is distinct or clear, developing an atmosphere of uneasiness. it is a scene we can identify with, those disturbing dreams and nightmares that can come to us all in the middle of the night reference is made to the ever-open eyes of these figures. we wonder what are t hey looking at or for, and wether their appearance is a negative or positive omen. t also leads us to wonder whether their visions are insightful or apocalyptic stanza 3 the ring they form around the poet is both encircling and yet directional, their pointing fingers and footprints leading elsewhere to undetermined places. the term ‘ring’ generates a certain feeling of alarm, as if the sleeping figure is being entrapped by these figures from the past directions are unclear, mirroring the indistinct quality of dreams. it also raises the level of uncertainty and apprehension felt by the dreamer stanza 4 hese nocturnal visitors are given a natural backdrop, simply described as a mountain, river, plains, grasses and sand simple, sensory imagery describes the ‘sound of a river’ and a ‘moonlit plain’ giving some semblance of place but not enough to get any real bearings or location it is still a dream-liek landscape; ill-defined but evocative and dis quitening stanza 5 we ponder what these speechless, watchful and hovering figures ‘wait’ for and question their purpose urgency is created by the use of hyphen which creates a pregnant pause in the middle of the question being asked. his involves the reader in the questioning process, challenging us to respond from a personal perspective it appears that these dead ancestors form the past are awaiting new members to join their host, adding resonance to the death theme developed earlier Stanza 6 the nightmarish quality is not relieved by wakefulness which brings limited relief disquiet remains, for consciousness ironically makes their faces disappear just as they ‘became clearer’.They remain metaphorically out of reach the visual intensity of the simile ‘dry/as cake mud’ emphasises the negative impact of this ancestral visitation which neither soothes nor appeases the dreamer stanza 7 this is the only stanza with three lines instead of four; the brevity adds to the discordant images of un-stirring sand, grass and wind which ‘tastes of blood’. the inversion of typical senses jars our expectations the reference to the taste of ‘blood’ refers again to the death theme and adds to the reader’s sense of nightmarish disorientation. mirroring that felt by the disturbed sleeper by the disturbed sleeper.

My Family Essay examples - 622 Words

I was born into a â€Å"happy† family that was actually a web of lies, which unfolded itself through a divorce. My parents’ marriage was based on the fact that my father needed a permanent residency card to stay in the United States. Some people may view this as a devastating event; however I have chosen to embrace being an American and a Ghanaian. Coming from two different backgrounds was a challenge, because of the different values and morals each share. These challenges have left me to understand my true purpose concerning my two cultures. I feel fortunate enough to grow up with two different aspects on life itself. Throughout life I was considered to be the â€Å"one† on both sides of my families. I was the one who was supposed to accomplish†¦show more content†¦Such as attending a public college or becoming President of the United States. Education has therefore played an important role in my life and has been highly valued in my family. While the expectations of my American and Ghanaian family members were so high, their affirmation was not always there. As a child of divorced parents, my mother raised and supported me. My father was always there mentally, emotionally, and physically, but I was financially fully dependent on my mother. Although she had an education, we still struggled. Sometimes we didn’t know where our next meal was coming from and had to rely on others. We moved several times while I was growing up and at times, I would be left at a relative’s house because of my mother’s need to get us financially stable. Things improved, I remained committed to working hard in school, and the expectations never changed. Education has brought me, given me, and gifted me with empowerment, leadership, confidence; greater understanding of social issues and tools to work towards social justice. As many educators say, education is the key to success. I believe that not only is it the key to succe ss, but it’s also the key to happiness. College will help me meet my high education and career expectations that I have for myself which is to ultimately get my Professional degree, and make a global difference. It will also help to meet my families as well. College will help meShow MoreRelatedMy Family Of The Family1312 Words   |  6 Pages Because my parents’ families are so different, there are few strengths common to all three family sculptures. One strength that applies in most cases is that children near each other in age tend to have close relationships. My family of origin was broken down into pairs: Steven and Daniel, Julia and Michael, Alyssa and Natalie, and Matthew and Emily. All of these paired relationships were generally healthy, and it was within these pairs that we were assigned roles within the family. 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