4-4

The readings in class this week reminded me of my family. I was raised in a very small mountain town in western North Carolina. Since my town is in the so called “bible belt” a lot of decorations and items dealing with Christianity I can relate with. My grandma was the first person I though of when reading about Christian decorations and items. She is a very spiritual woman and her house has many Christian decorations. When the book was looking at these decoration, family bible, and other Christian things it made me think about if her decorated house is truly a way of worship or just to prove a point that she is a Christian. I’m a Christian but I do not believe that decorating or buying items t shows my faith. In other words I believe someone acts and lives as a Christian not on what they can purchase or decorate their house with. Some people decorate their houses with Christian items but do not live right or go to church. Other people go to church just as a social thing. It’s such a small town if someone sees you not in church what would people say or think. When living with my family and in my small hometown I never thought like this. I think I was too close to the situation. Now when I look back I can see that a lot of things they do dealing with Christian items and decorations is just a habit. A lot people where a cross around their neck as a symbolism of their faith, but many who do are not quality individuals. I believe people who are Christians should act like a Christian instead of trying to symbolize their faith with religious items you can buy at a store.

3-29

In class this week we had a good guest speaker. His topic was not interesting in my mind but he delivered it very passionately which kept my attention. It made me think on the vast hobbies and interests of different people. In my mind musicals will never be anything I will pay money or time to watch. Even if I was in New York I would still not waste the effort to get tickets to a Broadway show. Many people give hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars to see musicals. I just couldn’t waste that type of money on a show. I believe the vast differences of American opinion give this country a great selection. I love sports and would not think twice about spending a hundred dollars on a game ticket. Many people would think I was crazy for doing this but it’s my hobby and I’m very passionate about sports. I just thought it was very interesting how musicals also have a huge following. Before the presentation I always thought musicals to be a girly event. When he asked how many have seen a musical many guys in the class raised their hands. This made me think maybe guys can watch musicals too without being called a wimp or worse. I thought the presentation gave a great insight on how musicals can be enjoyed by anybody. It also gave me more respect because it takes a lot in funding and production to make a musical occur on Broadway. For an investor it’s a huge gamble but they do it for the reward of the musical not the money involved.

3-22-2010

After reading consumers republic I didn’t realize how important mass consumption was for the growth of America. After World War II many Americans were convinced to mass consume for the benefit of the country. Mass consumption meant growth in companies. With the growth of companies it started and helped secure jobs for many people because there was such a demand for goods. Some of the more popular goods were house appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions. Since mass consumption was happening at a high pace creditors started getting more involved in Americans lives. Almost over half the people who bought cars used credit to buy them. This was intrigued to me because it hasn’t changed much since that time. Most cars today are bought on credit and it still a major factor in a lot of Americans lives. Many people get into debt and can never get out of it. Credit was supposed to help people build up the country by mass consumption and instead it put a lot of people in a hard position. I believe America is till in the mind of mass consumption. Today we just don’t have the jobs and income to mass produce like the previous generations. Looking at it the state of the economy it might be a smart thing for Americans who can mass produce consume large quantities of goods. I believe this would help open up jobs for many others. Instead a lot of people with money are holding onto it and not consuming any high quality goods. In my opinion the people who are doing this are really hurting the economy.