Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Exploration 7 Courtney Shaffer: "Luxury is Just Another Weakness"

I read the article, "Luxury is Just Another Weakness". This was about how people do not need luxury's, they are unnecessary things in our lives. He compares them to drugs, and how occasionally it is fun to indulge in, but to constantly be charging luxury's and borrowing money for them is insane. Luxury's do not help us in life, they often make things worse and do not make sense when you think about what's going on behind them. One of his example's is how he is sitting outside on the porch of his luxurious house, on his luxurious laptop, after his breakfast. How nice? Not actually. He is getting used to the luxury. "When you really look at this fancy picture, I’m sitting around on my ass, consuming stuff. This seated position is bad for my bones and organs. My muscles are atrophying away as the body takes the hint that they are no longer needed. The typing is straining my wrists and nibbling away at the joints, trying to lay the foundation of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The laptop is wearing out and depreciating and the luxury home is tying up close to half a million dollars of precious capital." None of this is actually good for our bodies. The article shares a larger picture of how we do not need luxuries in our lives to be happy.

One strength is how the author compares luxury's to drugs. Common drugs such as alcohol, coffee, Ibuprofen, and marijuana. These are things that all people reading this would know of. I think it's such a strength because it makes you realize how he is right, and how luxury's behave in the same way. The author states, " But the key to all drugs is that they come with a balance of positive and negative effects. So only a fool would overdose on any of them in a breathless pursuit of their positives, while ignoring the well-documented negatives". People don't think of luxury's in this way, they think of them being positive things all the time. Most people don't purchase a luxurious item and think of all the negatives.

Another strength in this article is how he gives a personal experience. I think personal experiences are vital in an argument because if you do not have an example then how are people supposed to believe you, or follow what you are trying to say. Readers want to know that their authors are educated on what they are saying. He uses a personal experience about his use of luxury's and then continues to tell us how it's unnecessary. Here's one example from his experience. "I remember taking a big hit of it on a business trip a while back. I stepped off the plane in an exotic destination and smelled the warm air off the sea as I watched the palm trees and flowers blowing in the wind. A black Lincoln was waiting right at the curb to pick me up. I threw my backpack into the back seat and climbed in, noting the contrast between my sandals and shorts and the black leather seats of this business-oriented car. The driver zoomed me through the city to the luxury hotel while I casually flicked through emails on my phone and watched the skyscrapers roll past." This is his experience. He then goes on to tell us how in that big car, with the V8 engine wastes huge amounts of gas, and how the leather in the seats are strips from sliced up cows, etc. These are examples that people can relate to, a lot of people. 

I think that this kind of blog is understandable, but not everyone wants to think in this way. I could see how it would alarm some people, because people enjoy purchasing luxury's and they make people happy. Everyone has different ways of finding their happiness and luxury's could be one of them. The author is sharing his opinion. It could also be popular though, because a majority of people in this world would agree with him, luxury's are not needed. The type of people that would follow this blog would be people who are trying to save money, and find his experiences and opinions valuable. For me, I could go both ways honestly. I enjoy luxury's, especially purchasing them for myself, it makes me feel accomplished. But I also don't think that I need these things. I could save money without purchasing these things. I could also be saving other people's time as well. I will probably not read more of this blog just for the fact that I am not in the position were I need to be worrying too much about money right now. The author is a very opinionated person.

3 comments:

  1. Really good job writing a lot. I was unaware that you had to write this much so I didnt do that myself. Honestly very interesting review and I was eager to continue reading. I liked your opinions throughout the review.

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  2. I enjoyed reading your review, I found myself disagreeing and agreeing with what MMM was saying in many cases; we could save a lot of money without purchasing luxuries that we don't need but I also find it therapeutic to shop for things we don't always need, and I think it's a luxury in itself to even be shopping for what we call luxuries.

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  3. I really enjoyed reading your summary to the blog you chose. I agree that personal experiences were a great thing to include in his writing, as it let readers know what hes been through and not seem like a hypocrite. Great job!

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