Modern Consumerism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Modern Consumerism - Essay Example When one need is fulfilled, there is always going to be another need that pops up requiring attention. That is just the way humans are made. Not necessarily just physical needs need to be met—but rather, the accoutrement of things which humans seem to accumulate over the years one has spent living is a perfect example of this, especially in more developed countries. Consumption is so puzzling to Campbell especially because this insatiability for things is considered an ethnocentric phenomenon, in his view.2 For example, it is considered anathema in some cultures to want things outside of what one already has—not to mention blasphemous to try to attain things for the self. Any kind of achievements that are related to one â€Å"getting ahead† in life is not the norm in small communities. Rather, it is the importance of community that encapsulates one’s decisions—not the self-promotion and self-egotistical self-centeredness that is so evident in many W estern cultures. This self-centeredness is puzzling not only because one knows one can â€Å"never have enough,† but this incessant search in the quest for one’s self-fulfillment—demonstrated in Western culture—is tantamount to blasphemy. In a small town somewhere off the beaten path, this kind of behavior would never be tolerated. This is because, in essence, in the cultures of many nations that are less-developed or not developed at all, community is a big part of who people are. These humble people who grew up with small beginnings are not willing to sell out their communities for fame. It is just not in their natures. What is in human nature, however—which apparently shows up more in Western cultures than not—is this idea of instant gratification and the search for self-actualization that is not found in many places that are rural where the people have less education and

Merchant Trade Around the World During World Colonization Research Paper - 2

Merchant Trade Around the World During World Colonization - Research Paper Example The movement’s â€Å"diversification and lack of centralized leadership† strengthened their ability to survive whenever they were persecuted (King, Bays and Foster xv-xvi). Leonard Howell, who is known to establish the Pinnacle, a commune where his followers lived, forming a community, was just one of the first preachers of Rastafari, who returned to Jamaica in the midst of an upsurge of Revivalism after being discharged from Panama to join the U.S. Army Transport Service as a cook was a defiant anticolonialist. â€Å"He is said to have encouraged or threatened peasants not to pay taxes† (Chevannes 121-122). In 1932, he encouraged Jamaicans to reject the authority of the King of England and to give their loyalties to the new emperor of Ethiopia, selling pictures of Haile Selassie as future passports to Ethiopia. He was arrested, together with his deputy for breaking Jamaica’s sedition laws and sentenced to two years of hard labour, and his deputy to one ye ar(King, Bays and Foster xv-xvi). According to Ennis B. Edmonds and Michelle A. Gonzalez, â€Å"the rise of a new generation of Rastafarian artists †¦ Artists†¦have focused the critical eye of Rastafari on continued inequities and exploitation in Jamaican society†¦ It has grown from small beginnings to become a religion known and embraced around the world.† The movement spread to other countries because people, particularly students from other places such as the Caribbean islands who study in Jamaica brought Rastafari to their own countries while Jamaican students who study in other countries like Barbados, Trinidad, Cuba and other countries shared their belief and convictions, together with their reggae music.