In the following essay I will address the issue of self-worth in a Western Cultural context (the New Zealand context). The essay will proceed in three parts. The first part will be an exploration of what self-worth in a Western (New Zealand) cultural context looks like. It will endeavour to define what self-worth is exactly, how it differs from self-esteem, and how self-worth is defined in New Zealand. The first section will also explore what some of the markers of being ‘worthy’ are, the things that people pursue to tell themselves they are ‘worthy of taking up space in the world.’ It will also look at some of the negative effects of a life that is spent pursuing these things, highlighting why this issue is so significant in New Zealand.
The second part of the essay will explore the idea of self-worth from a grounding in the Gospel narrative. It will engage with questions of definition — how does our story define …show more content…
The story of consumerism gives a focus, and end point for our inbuilt need to desire something. It tells us that the good life is within our grasp, it gives us a vision to aim for, something to pursue for a lifetime, something to love deeply. Often when we are asked why we act in a certain way, why we have to have a certain product, we cannot articulate a reasonable response. It has simply tapped in to the deepest part of our being, the driving force of our lives.
One of the questions that we are constantly asking ourselves is, “Who am I?” Unfortunately the narrative of consumerism does very little to answer this in a satisfactory way. It tells us that we are the things that we can consume. We are who we are in relation to the things around us, it is them that give us our identity and our worth (Williams,
The second part of the essay will explore the idea of self-worth from a grounding in the Gospel narrative. It will engage with questions of definition — how does our story define …show more content…
The story of consumerism gives a focus, and end point for our inbuilt need to desire something. It tells us that the good life is within our grasp, it gives us a vision to aim for, something to pursue for a lifetime, something to love deeply. Often when we are asked why we act in a certain way, why we have to have a certain product, we cannot articulate a reasonable response. It has simply tapped in to the deepest part of our being, the driving force of our lives.
One of the questions that we are constantly asking ourselves is, “Who am I?” Unfortunately the narrative of consumerism does very little to answer this in a satisfactory way. It tells us that we are the things that we can consume. We are who we are in relation to the things around us, it is them that give us our identity and our worth (Williams,