Mary Arguelles Money For Mortality

The people of America have adapted to the idea of everything being handed to them. That behavior shows what type of ethics the American people have. In the two articles, “Money for Mortality” and “A Modest Proposal to Destroy Western Civilization as We Know It: The $100 Christmas”, it is explained how Americans have such expectations. In Mary Arguelles’ article, “Money for Mortality”, she mentions the famous question that everyone tends to ask. That question is, “What’s in it for me?” (Arguelles par. 3) She also brings about a point that achievements should not be rewarded. In Bill McKibben’s article, he has the idea to change the Christmas season back to the traditional ways. (McKibben 53-55) Both of these articles are about getting away from the usual consequence of commercialism. There is a golden question that comes along with asking for favors. “What is in it for me?” Interpreting that question would break it down to …show more content…
He proposes to his people to try and stay under the $100 spending mark for their families and friends for the holidays. McKibben says that all the advertising makes it hard for the children to understand why they are not receiving elaborate gifts for the holidays. However, replacing those elaborate gifts with traditions such as tree cutting and decorating can help them grasp the idea of a real Christmas and still keep the excitement going. In his article, he says, “ If you believe that our consumer addiction represents our deepest problem—the force that keeps us from reaching out to others, from building a fair society, the force that drives so much of our environmental degradation—then Christmas is the nadir.” ( McKibben par. 5) To sum up that quote, he is basically saying that Christmas is not the real thing people care about. It is all the gift giving a receiving, which shows how the American people have fallen to unreal