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
Envy has become a drive wheel of our modern world. It is the passion that governs our economic life. Modern capitalism relies on
Envy has become a drive wheel of our modern world. It is the passion that governs our economic life. Modern capitalism relies on
admin
2019-06-10
51
问题
Envy has become a drive wheel of our modern world. It is the passion that governs our economic life. Modern capitalism relies on its ability to create and increase scarcity and it therefore depends largely on the omnipresence of envy. In affluent societies the availability of material goods increases the demand for positional goods based on social scarcity. Most often it is " envy, emulation, or pride" creating this kind of scarcity, in which "satisfaction is derived from relative position alone, being in front, or from being behind." As long as people desire what others desire scarcity will be the never-ending condition of our lives that keeps our economy running. Through envy nearly any object can turn into a desirable commodity promising unending happiness.
Modern advertising is the best example to illustrate the importance of envy to keep our economy going. Advertising uses envy to make commodities desirable. Posters, announcements and TV-spots show us enviable people who have those things and goods we lack but nonetheless need to gain happiness. Advertisement sells products with the help of envious contagion. Most of the time envy itself remains hidden and is not directly mentioned in commercials. But even this may no longer be true. Envy seems to lose its traditional bad reputation. More and more commercials directly refer to envy to make their commodities more desirable. The most well known example of an open reference to envy is a perfume produced by the Italian company Gucci with the brand name "Envy" promising that you will not only be envied for some external object that belongs to you but for your very self embodied in a seductive fragrance.
Those of you familiar with traditional definitions of envy and emulation may, however, question my thesis that our modern economy is driven by envy. Is it really envy that governs our economy or would not emulation be a more appropriate and less moralizing term? There is an easy answer to this question. In parallel with the emergence of our modern world and the rise of capitalism the traditional distinction between bad envy and good emulation has slowly lost its meaning. Where Immanuel Kant, for instance, refers to the passions nature uses to turn a sheepish, idle and inactive Arcadia into a prosperous culture he refers to an " enviously competitive vanity" that no longer allows a neat distinction between envy and emulation but mentions a form of human desire comprising both these traditionally distinguished emotions.
What is the essence of envy that keeps economy going?
选项
A、The pursuit of vanity.
B、The wish of the prosperity of products.
C、The creativity of advertisements.
D、The fulfillment of ambition.
答案
A
解析
本题是推理题,要求考生理解促进经济发展的嫉妒本质,即只要人们想得到别人想要的东西(虚荣心),我们生活中稀缺的商品就永远没有止境,这就推动了经济的发展。关键点:…As long as people desire what others desire scarcity will be the never-ending condition of our lives that keeps our economy running…。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/VlUO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
TheaccidentleftTomnotsomuchincapacitatedas______:hewasleftweak,butthedoctorsgavehimreasontoexpect______.
RobbArmstrong’sJumpStartfillsavoidinthecartoonindustry,namely,a______ofcomicstripsrepresentAfricanAmericans.
ManypaintingsoftheAmericanSouthwestconveyafeelingofisolationandlonelinessthatmirrorsthe______landscapetheydepic
Thiscoursefocusesonthe______ofeconomicanalysistotheproblemsofinflation,unemployment,thebalanceofpaymentsande
ThegeologyoftheEarth’ssurfaceisdominatedbytheparticularpropertiesofwater.PresentonEarthinsolid,liquid,andga
ThegeologyoftheEarth’ssurfaceisdominatedbytheparticularpropertiesofwater.PresentonEarthinsolid,liquid,andga
TheEconomistIntelligenceUnit(EIU)earnestlyattemptstomeasurewhichcountrywillprovidethebestopportunitiesforahealth
Ishallmentiontwoorthreemattersinwhichtheneedforcooperationbetweenphilosophyandscienceisespeciallyintimate.【T
Hedidnotrelishappealingamongsthisfriendsand______oftheircriticismorcensure.
Itisreportedthattheworstpedestrianjaminthiscityoccursaroundthiscrossroads.
随机试题
积分=________.
在Excel2010中插入自选图形,绘制矩形时,同时按住_________键不放,可以绘制出一个正方形。
判定的敛散性.
该企业进行清算时,清算所得为( )万元。该企业清算所得应缴纳企业所得税( )万元。
幼儿在词汇的发展上一般先掌握实词,然后掌握虚词,实词中最先掌握的是()
(复旦大学2014)确定一国外部均衡目标的主要衡量标准是什么?请分析近年来中国的国际收支情况是否符合外部均衡的要求?并谈谈你对其成因及未来演变趋势的看法。
设函数f(x)满足xf’(x)一2f(x)=一x,且由曲线y=f(x),x=1及x轴(x≥0)所围成的平面图形为D.若D绕x轴旋转一周所得旋转体体积最小,求:曲线y=f(x);
America’smostpopularnewspaperwebsitetodayannouncedthattheeraoffreeonlinejournalismisdrawingtoaclose.TheNewY
假设邮件服务器的地址是email.bj163.com,则用户正确的电子邮箱地址的格式是()。
【B1】【B10】
最新回复
(
0
)