首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
You hear the refrain all the time: the U. S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t fed good. Why doesn’t ever-greater
You hear the refrain all the time: the U. S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t fed good. Why doesn’t ever-greater
admin
2013-01-20
52
问题
You hear the refrain all the time: the U. S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t fed good. Why doesn’t ever-greater wealth promote ever-greater happiness.’? It is a quest, ion that dales at least to the appearance in 1958 of The affluent(富裕的)Society by John Kenneth Galbraith, who died recently at 97.
The Affluent Society is a modem classic because it helped define a new moment in the human condition. For most of history," hunger, sickness, and cold" threatened nearly everyone, Galbraith wrote. "Poverty was found everywhere in that world. Obviously it is not of ours. "After World War Il, the dread of another Great Depression gave way to an economic boom. In the 1930s unemployment had averaged 18. 2 percent; in the 1950s it was 4. 5 percent.
To Galbraith, materialism had gone mad and would breed discontent. Through advertising, companies conditioned consumers to buy things they didn’t really want or need. Because so much spending was artificial, it would be unfulfilling. Meanwhile, government spending that would make everyone better off was being cut down because people instinctively-and wrongly-labeled government only as "a necessary evil".
It’s often said that only the rich are getting ahead; everyone else is standing still or falling behind. Well, there are many undeserving rich--overpaid chief executives, for instance. But over any meaningful period, most people’s incomes are increasing. From 1995 to 2004, inflation-adjusted average family income rose 14. 3 percent, to $ 43,200. People feel, "squeezed" because their rising incomes often don’t satisfy their rising wants--for bigger homes, more health care, more education, faster Internet connections.
The other great frustration is that it has not eliminated insecurity. People regard job stability as part of their standard of living. As corporate layoffs increased, that part has eroded. More workers fear they’ve be- come "the disposable American" ,as Louis Uchitelle puts it in his book by the same name.
Because so much previous suffering and social-conflict stemmed from poverty ,the arrival of widespread affluence suggested utopian(乌托邦式的)possibilities. Up to a point, affluence succeeds. There is much less physical misery than before. People are better off. Unfortunately, affluence also creates new complaints and contradictions.
Advanced societies need economic growth to satisfy the multiplying wants of their citizens. But the quest for growth lets loose new anxieties and economic conflicts that disturb the social order. Affluence liberates the individual ,promising that everyone can choose a unique way to self-fulfillment. But the promise is so extravagant that it predestines many disappointments and sometimes inspires choices that have anti-social consequences, including family breakdown and obesity (肥胖症). Statistical indicators of happiness have not risen with incomes.
Should we be surprised? Not really. We’ve simply reaffirmed an old truth: the pursuit of affluence does not always end with happiness.
According to Galbraith, people feel discontented because ______
选项
A、public spending hasn’t been cut down as expected
B、the government has proved to be a necessary evil
C、they are in fear of another Great Depression
D、materialism has run wild in modem society
答案
D
解析
本题问“Galbraith认为人们不满足的原因是什么。”第三段首句说到“To Galbraith,materialism had gone mad and would breed discontent.”意思是物质主义已经发狂并将导致民众的不满。因此D“现代社会中物质主义已经发狂”正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Bi2O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
PeopleintheUnitedStatesinthenineteenthcenturywerehauntedbytheprospectthatunprecedent-edchangeinthenation’sec
Therearethreegeneralmethodspeopleusetoexplainandunderstandtheirworld:beliefs,pseudo-science,andscience.Whata
Lastyearourschoolfootballteamwonfour____games.
Inthispart,youareaskedtowriteanessayaccordingtotheoutlinegiven.Youcompositionshouldbeabout200words.Remembe
Advertiserstendtothinkbigandperhapsthisiswhythey’realwayscominginforcriticism.Theircriticsseemtoresentthem
ScienceFictioncanprovidestudentsinterestedinthefuturewithabasicintroductiontotheconceptofthinkingaboutpossibl
Whenitcomestotheslowingeconomy,EllenSperoisn’tbitinghernailsjustyet.Butthe47-year-oldmanicuristisn’tcutting,
Ifthereisonethingscientistshavetohear,itisthatthegameisover.Raisedonthebeliefofanendlessvoyageofdiscove
Ifthereisonethingscientistshavetohear,itisthatthegameisover.Raisedonthebeliefofanendlessvoyageofdiscove
AftertheviolentearthquakethatshookLosAngelesin1994,earthquakescientistshadgoodnewstoreport;Thedamageanddeath
随机试题
特异性免疫包括:___________、___________,分别由___________、___________细胞介导。
患者,女,16岁。因上呼吸道感染,痰液黏稠,咳不出,医嘱给予超声雾化吸入。超声雾化吸入时使用下列哪种药物可以稀释痰液
患者男,65岁,慢性阻塞性肺气肿10余年,为改善通气状况,患者坚持做腹式呼吸锻炼,正确的方法是
自动喷水灭火系统施工安装时,为了保证报警阀组及其附件的安装质量和基本性能要求,报警阀组到场后要进行重点检查。其中报警阀结构检查中,要求阀体上设有放水口,且公称直径不小于()mm。
如图2所示,一热力学系统由状态a沿过程acb到达状态b时吸收了560J的热量,对外做了356J的功。如果它沿adb过程到达b时,对外做了220J的功,它吸收的热量为()。
西周以后,学校教育制度发展到比较完备的形式,建立了()的官学体系。
下列对变量的定义中,不能定义a为变体变量的是
Whatistheman’sproblem?
Thewriterseemstosuggestthatifyoudon’tknowmuchaboutfirstaid,youshould______.WhichofthefollowingisTRUEacco
Whentherightpersonisholdingtherightjobattherightmoment,thatperson’sinfluenceisgreatlyexpanded.Thatisthepos
最新回复
(
0
)