Sweatshops and Third World Economics

Jess Worth, the author of “Buy Now, Pay Later,” would argue that the conditions and reasons behind the multinational industry was unethical and socially irresponsible of the company in response to Johan Norberg, the author of “The Noble Feat of Nike” with regard to the claim that Nike’s presence in Vietnam has benefitted their culture. Worth would argue that, "the more positive pastime of trying to buy things that don't cause harm to people and the planet" (2). However, the Nike sweatshops may have air conditioning but employees are used only for their productivity, the more the workers make, the higher the demand, and thus the more products sold and the more profits the company makes. The company is not sincerely interested in the workers best interest which is socially and ethically irresponsible which negatively reflects upon the industry not only Nike but other Multinational industries and companies. Making "ethical sales only account for a tiny part  of the global economy" (2). Honestly, I believe Jess Worth would assert that even though, working for Nike gives workers a steady and higher wage than working on farms and Vietnam's economy has benefitted from Nike's presence there, she argue that the motives behind Nike are not to benefit the Vietnamese but to benefit and maximize their own profit selfishly and for capitalist reasons only.                              

Consumption, the environment, and ourselves...

In today's society overconsumption is encouraged by advertisers and the media. Not only is this harmful to our environment but also harmful to our perception of identity and who we are. As explained in Faustian Economics, "The idea of a limitless economy implies and requires a doctrine of general human limitlessness: all are entitled to pursue without limit whatever they conceive as desirable - a license that classifies the most exalted Christian capitalist with the lowliest pornographer" (27, 28). Therefore, we believe their is a possibility of limitless wants, wealth, natural resources, energy, and debt (27). As we know is not true in the film Advertising and the end of the world, Sut Jhally aserts that if the human race does not change their ways of consumption in 70 to 100 years life will forever be changed as we know it. Our natural resources will be depleted and we will have further contributed to the global climate change since it rests on consumer consumption. Thus, we are limited humans not limitless creatures with limitless desires and wealth because there is a limit for everything and we are rapidly reaching those limits.

Connections and Manipulation

The film Shop Til' You Drop stresses the fact that advertising has become "subliminal" and subconscious in today's society. That is scary if you think about it! Advertisers have manipulated us so much that we don't even notice anymore or at least consciously we don't realize product placement and marketing. Advertisers have used what they learned about psychology and our brains to manipulate and brain wash us into buying their products using certain fonts, layouts, pictures, and playing upon our emotions to catch our attention and capture us. As I mentioned in my previous blog in Making Connections Anthony J. Greene confirms, "we tend to remember the people and events that resonate emotionally." Therefore advertisers use our emotions to make us remember and add onto our ever growing web of connections. Then they add a story or a narrative to also help us remember what product they are advertising affirmed in the film Shop Til' You Drop. Not only do advertisers play upon our emotions they use certain psychological techniques just to capture our attention to take the time to look at their advertisements. For example, in Layouts and Illustrations that Attract the Most Readers, advertisers use certain pictures, fonts, and layouts to attract the audience. For instance, a picture that has a "high attention value is a romantic picture, such as a man carrying a woman across a rushing brook or picture of people in odd costumes." Thus, advertisers use all the technologies we have today to their advantage so that we as consumers encounter advertising everyday and everywhere wo go whether we want to or whether we realize it either. In conclusion, this causes the over-consumption of goods because of the subliminal and conscious advertising that happens everywhere.