AOW November 11

     This article entitled “Americans, Thou Shalt Shop and Spend for the Planet” by James Livingston argues against the idea that consumer culture is bad for the environment and the economy.  Economist, journalists and  politicians make people believe that buying desired things  is “turning the earth into a landfill,” “wrecking the economy” and leading to a “vapid, empty life” (1).  However there are positives to shopping, contrary to what those authorities believe.  For example, consumers have been the first to demand alternatives to environmental problems like fossil fuels. Forty years ago, consumers switched to Japanese cars as they cost less, lasted longer and got better mileage.  The same switch has been made for American hybrid cars.  Consumer spending has also attributed to the growth to the growth of the economy, not private investments which is what many economists believe is the difference.  Though it is said that shopping leads to an empty life, it’s what you do in your free time when you’re not working.  
    James Livingston is the author of Against Thrift: Why Consumer Culture Is Good for the Economy, the Environment, and Your Soul.  In addition to being an author of four books and a contributor to History News Network, he is a Professor of History at Rutgers University.
    This article was written in response to his new book Against Thrift coming out this month.  Also, this is the time of year when people are shopping for holiday gifts, they don’t want to feel guilty about purchases. 
    The purpose of this article was to explain that economists, politicians and journalists are wrong in many ways for saying consumer spending in bad for the earth, economy and self worth. As stated in the summary, he argues against their claims and proves that people should be enjoying the holiday season.  Therefore, people should enjoy themselves, as Livingston states: “Happy holidays. Get to the mall and knock yourself out” (2).
    The intended audience for this article is readers of Wired magazine and anyone who no longer wants to feel guilty about spending extra cash for materialistic things.
    Rhetorical devices used include: parallel structure and an appeal to ethos, pathos and logos. Livingston uses parallel structure as the base of his introduction.  He uses “you feel”, “you want”, “you know” as the first part of every sentence.  This works to form a connection to the reader and is a strong appeal to pathos.  He writes, “You’ve been conditioned to feel ashamed of excess. You know that you consume too many global resources, that you save too little. You know that when equipped with credit cards or home equity, you can’t delay the immediate gratification of your desires” (3).  He appeals to ethos, again with that introduction.  He’s basically saying that he understands what you’re going through and it’s easy to control impulses based on what many people are saying.  Livingston establishes credibility with this and then goes into argument.  Logos is used in his argument with statistics and facts.   He uses “you” throughout the entire article, making himself seem relatable and more convincing.
    Livingston does achieve his purpose.  He probably could have used a few more facts for those more doubtful people.  However, I think he poses a very interesting argument and many people will be intrigued. 

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/st_essay_consumers/