My junior theme and materialism

For my junior theme I have decided to explore the topic of american materialism. However, the initial proposed question, "why is american society so driven by materialistic gain?" was too broad in scope and unclearly defined. I needed to find a specific aspect of america's materialistic culture from which to approach the issue. I chose advertising. The statistics for american advertising expenditures are startling, with the spending figure rising to $131 billion in 2010. A figure such as this begs the question as to the reason for its magnitude. In exploring the reasons for such a figure, my junior theme will focus on america's consumer culture, which drives such high levels of advertisement. Other factors including americans' time spent before televisions and other forms of entertainment will be examined, but all such pastimes really fall under the scope of american materialism as well, allowing my junior theme to explore the topic extensively.

Determining my junior theme

I am currently considering two possible directions for my Junior theme. The first involves an examination of american consumerism and the USA's materialistic values. I will try to answer the following question: why is american society so motivated by materialistic gain? Though the question may need to be defined more specifically, answering this question will require examining, among other things, the history of the USA pre and post the second world war and the changes in philosophies the USA underwent. I will look at the 'american dream': the dream of rising from humble to wealthy that is supposedly the defining dream of american citizens, and examine reasons for its purely materialistic nature.

The other possibility I am considering for my Junior theme entails examining the causes of the USA's current economic crisis. Although the answer is seemingly obvious: too much was borrowed leaving the country in great debt, I will look at the government's tax policies and main areas of spending which drove it to borrow so much. In doing so I would hope to answer why the USA is in its current economic situation. The weakness of this topic as aJunior theme question is that the historical scope is small. At the end of Clinton's administration, the USA's economy had a surplus, and so the reasons for the economic crisis can be traced back only to the beginning of the Bush administration, which was for the most part responsible. One way to overcome this shortcoming for my Junior theme might be to examine the USA's history of debt and borrowing as a whole, and compare it with the actions of George Bush's administration in more recent years.

A nuclear future or not?

The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan have left over 10,000 people dead, tens of thousands injured, and a further 500,000 homeless. The figures are devastating and horrific to any who read them. However, the issues raised by these natural disasters unfortunately extend further. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor, located 150 miles north of Tokyo, had holes blown in two of its six reactors and its cooling systems blown out. Among the greatest risks posed by the nuclear crisis is that of radiation leakage, and the Japanese government's attempts to contain high level radiation are under close watch by the rest of the world. Escaped radiation is deadly and can result in fatal radiation sickness for those overexposed to it. The government has already evacuated all those living within 12 miles of the plant, and urged those within 18 miles to stay indoors. Should the radiation spread, though, much more of Japan may be affected. Such a nuclear disaster has inevitably raised great concerns throughout the world for nations developing nuclear programs of their own. Should a similar disaster befall them, they will be at the same deadly risk as Japan is now.

Recently, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez called off his nation's plans for nuclear energy development in response to Japan's crisis http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12768148. In his eyes, the risks are too high, especially considering Japan's high technological proficiency and safety measures, all of which failed to prevent the disaster. In Chile, President Sebastian Pinera nonetheless decided to proceed with nuclear development plans, despite Chile's location on a dangerous ring of seismic activity named the 'ring of fire'. Similar debates in the UK ensue, where the CEO of EDF energy, Vincent De Rivaz, has argued that the UK's nuclear development programs must go ahead whilst taking into account lessons learned from Japan's disaster. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12799322. He sees no alternative to satisfy Britain's growing energy demands.

Despite its obvious risks, one must wonder if nuclear development is an option at all. Japan's disaster was a tragedy, yet in the face of fossil fuel depletion, rising energy consumption and an increasingly mechanized world, there seems to be little choice. Alternative energy sources predominantly feature solar and wind power. Neither of these are able to provide close to the required energy output to sustain developed countries such as the USA. While these may be used to augment other solutions, a stronger base of energy production is required, currently provided by fossil fuels. But what will provide this energy base when fossil fuels, given there non-renewable nature, run out? Nuclear power is the only source as of yet able to provide an adequate energy supply in the coming future. Unfortunately, given its high risks and instability it also seems like a 'pact with the devil' so to say. Unless we wish to live on a dangerous nuclear powered planet, finding a strong and sufficient alternative energy source should be amongst the world's highest priorities.

Tokenism

This week in American studies our class focused on the issue of television tokenism. TV tokenism may be defined as the use of minority actors for supporting character roles which receive little screen time and are often relegated to sub plots. Usually these minority characters are inserted into the show to satisfy network demands for cast diversity. The main character is almost always caucasian. Cast photos from network dramas exemplify this phenomenon.

This photo is of the cast from the TV show "House", a

mature network drama following the story of a genius yet arrogant doctor whose unorthodox

ways of thinking allow him to solve challenging medical mysteries in the hospital. Among the

members of his team is a black doctor, Dr. Foreman, who worked his way up from poor origins.

Foreman's parents are strongly christian, and he is portrayed throughout the series as a resilient

and tough character. Foreman's character is depicted with the common stereotypes held of

African Americans. The cast needed diversity, and "House" fulfilled the requirement. The

leading character, House, is of course caucasian.

While House is only one example of TV tokenism, the phenomenon is common in other shows

and occasionally movies as well. However, shows are businesses. They sell us what we

consume.If television tokenism is common it is only because we as an audience demand it.

Shows are required to feature diverse casts so their audeinces do not jump to conclusions of

racism if the cast is lacks minority characters. Leading role characters are commonly caucasian

because we as an audience relate more easily to such characters and demand that this be the

case. If it were otherwise, shows would assign leading parts to minority actors. If television

tokenism is to be addressed and changed, our own attitudes must change. Businesses

strive to satisfy the customer, and if customer demands change, then so will the business.