“Markets and Morals” by Michael Sandel
One. Why does Sandel give us a litany of things we can buy?
Here’s the list: prison cell upgrade, car pool lane fast track, surrogate mother, citizenship, killing endangered animals, doctor’s cell phone.
Here’s the list of things we can sell: forehead ad space, body for experiments, mercenary in war-torn country, read a book, not watch TV, lose fourteen pounds in 4 months, life insurance of the near dead so you can collect their policy.
Sandel’s point is that market creep has wrapped its tentacles around us so that we don’t even know that buying and selling—consumerism—is the dominant feature of our lives.
If we grew up wrapped in the consumer cocoon, then we think it’s our normal. It is our normal, but it’s crazy. Why? Because in such a world there are no boundaries. Buying and selling becomes our religion. It is the only religion. It is the “Era of Market Triumphalism.”
In Market Triumphalism, we equate greed with "strong moral character." We say to the most ruthless successful person, "You are a hard worker. You must be mature, disciplined, focused, and strong. You are the kind of person I want to be."
In Market Triumphalism, we're just worshipping money and power for their own sake.
Two. What were the forces that led to Market Triumphalism?
The early 1980s ushered Reagan and Margaret Thatcher’s conviction of free markets with no regulation. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair continued the legacy.
But in 2008 the Great Recession hit us and now Market Triumphalism has been replaced with doubt.
Three. What more than greed fueled Market Triumphalism?
Growing markets obliterated boundaries between moral and sacred spheres on one hand and market spheres on the other. When the spheres intersected, we entered into a protracted moral crisis.
We mixed the Sacred with the Profane:
Having a baby is a sacred act. Turing it into a business is a human degradation.
Proposing to your girlfriend is a sacred act. Having her post it on Twitter and Facebook for the ad revenue before you’ve even put the ring on her finger is a human degradation.
Putting people into prison is a form of societal punishment. Letting business run prison takes the moral component out of it and makes profit motive the thing that drives the agenda. That is a compromise of a society’s morality.
Pharmaceutical companies want to make money and this incentive clashes with promoting good health.
Health care is a business in our country when other countries say it should not be.
This expansion of the market into all parts of our lives is harmful for two reasons:
It fosters inequality and corruption.
Money buys political influence, medical care, education, safe neighborhoods, and healthy food, to name some.
Markets are also corrupt. For example, if prison and policing are a profit-incentive businesses, then there is incentive to arrest and imprison a quota of people regardless of crime rates.
College is too much of a business in this country and it's geared to the rich as we read here.
And more recently, we see Market Triumphalism in the essay "Why We Should Fear University, Inc."
"Our Baby, Her Womb" by Arlie Russell Hoschild
One. What is a typical surrogate mom situation?
A woman hits about 40 because she's worked during that time, she has a lot of financial resources, and she realizes she's too old to bear a child, so she seeks a younger, less financially endowed woman.
The dynamic of power is someone with money buying someone's body and that body belongs to a someone of modest financial means.
An aside: Just like the documentary we saw on temporary work, whenever we're short on financial resources we find ourselves vulnerable to sacrificing our bodies to survive.
I'd rather be a surrogate mother than work in a chicken farm.
The total cost is $80,000, and this includes psychological evaluations. However, in India, the total cost is $10,000.
Two. What are the typical steps at attempting pregnancy?
First, the husband and wife have a doctor implant their embryo in a surrogate's womb.
If step one doesn't work, step two is combining the husband's sperm with a surrogate's egg (a donor egg) and implanting into another surrogate's womb.
In the case of Dr. Patel, she increases the chances of success by implanting "about five embryos at at time, aborting fetuses if they numbered more than two."
Essay Prompt:
In a 4-page typed, double-spaced essay with 3 sources in your MLA Works Cited page, develop a thesis that explains how "Market Triumphalism," discussed in Michael Sandel's "Markets and Morals," helps explain the moral bankruptcy in Arlie Russell Hochschild's "Our Baby, Her Womb."
Sample Thesis:
Michael Sandel's "Markets and Morals" explains the moral bankruptcy in Russell Hochschild's "Our Baby, Her Womb" evidenced by _________________, __________________, ___________________, and ___________________.
Some Points to Consider:
Market Triumphilism makes consumerism the apotheosis (highest point) of human existence resulting in the loss of moral concerns.
Market Triumphalism creates markets that cater to consumers who want to make exchanges that are disconnected from moral concerns.
Market Triumphalism confuses the sacred with the profane.
Market Triumphalism changes us from a market economy to a market society. We become saturated with consumerism resulting in blindness to moral concerns.
Thesis checklist from Purdue Owl
Your thesis is the one sentence in your essay that announces your argument to your reader.
Your thesis is your essay's central argument that can demonstrated with evidence and logic.
Your thesis is often debatable and allows you to address opposing views.
Your thesis is more than a general statement about your main idea. It needs to establish a clear position you will support with balanced proofs (logos, pathos, ethos). Use the checklist below to help you create a thesis.
Thesis Examples
Thesis That Supports Accepting Syrian Refugees
Americans should accept Syrian refugees because the intangible benefits outweigh the tangible risks.
The tangible risks are a lack of assimilation and financial burden on American tax payer and that some are ISIS recruits. However, to turn our backs on a humanitarian crisis makes us morally ugly and moral ugliness is not a legacy we want to pass down to our children. Moral ugliness is a disease that spreads evil. For two examples, America stood by during the Armenian genocide and stood by when European Jews were sent back to Europe as their ships waited for entry on America's coastline. Refugees from Honduras and El Salvador are being sent back to gang-ruled societies where children are forced to be foot soldiers for gang leaders.
Morally ugly societies rank low on the Happiness Index.
Another thesis example:
Even though we give lip service to having moral integrity, we find that none of us truly has moral integrity because our self-interest always compromises it evidenced by every day circumstances (cheating on a college test if you knew you could get away with it; finding millions of dollars of stolen money if you knew you would never get caught; finding a wallet, etc.)
The following section is adapted from Writing with a Thesis: A Rhetoric Reader by David Skwire and Sarah Skwire:
Make sure you avoid the following when creating your thesis:
- A thesis is not a title: Homes and schools (title) vs. Parents ought to participate more in the education of their children (good thesis).
- A thesis is not an announcement of the subject: My subject is the incompetence of the Supreme Court vs. The Supreme Court made a mistake when it ruled in favor of George W. Bush in the 2000 election.
- A thesis is not a statement of absolute fact: Jane Austen is the author of Pride and Prejudice.
- A thesis is not the whole essay: A thesis is your main idea/claim/refutation/problem-solution expressed in a single sentence or a combination of sentences.
- Please note that according to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Seventh Edition, "A thesis statement is a single sentence that formulates both your topic and your point of view" (Gibaldi 42). However, if your paper is more complex and requires a thesis statement, your thesis may require a combination of sentences.
Quick Checklist for Your Thesis Statement:
_____ The thesis/claim follows the guidelines outlined above
_____ The thesis/claim matches the requirements and goals of the assignment
_____ The thesis/claim is clear and easily recognizable
_____ The thesis/claim seems supportable by good reasoning/data, emotional appeal
Successful Thesis Template Examples
McMahon's argument that we should embrace Syrian refugees is flawed evidenced by ____________, ______________, ______________, and ___________________.
McMahon's contention that as a general principle we do not have moral integrity is form of cheap cynicism that collapses under the weight of various fallacies, which include ______________, _____________, ____________, and __________________.
The New Jim Crow is a failed/successful analogy to the original Jim Crow because __________________, ________________, _____________________, and __________________.
While Alexander makes a compelling critique of the mass incarceration system, her analogy between Jim Crow and incarceration as "The New Jim Crow" collapses when we consider ______________, ______________, ___________, and ______________.
While through Alexander's own admission the analogy between Jim Crow and mass incarceration as "The New Jim Crow" is not a perfect one, we can make the case that those who would dismiss her analogy entirely are in grave error when we consider these major flaws in their thinking, which include ___________, ___________, _____________, and _______________.
Michelle Alexander has written a brilliant critique of mass incarceration in which she points out its moral bankruptcy in ways that are beyond dispute. However, her book is a failure because she squandered the opportunity to point out the real causes of this moral bankruptcy, which include __________, ___________, __________, and ____________.
The assertion that Alexander's book falls short because it fails to address the deeper problems caused by free market capitalism collapses when we consider ___________, __________, ___________, and ________________.
While Alexander's book is hardly perfect and contains some serious flaws, her overall argument is compelling when we consider ____________, ____________, __________, and _______________.
Avoid an Either/Or Thesis
Going to college is in your best interests because ___________, _____________, ______________, and ________________.
Use stipulation (show conditions or requirements) and nuance (showing subtle distinctions) to inform your thesis and give it appropriate sophistication for a complicated topic:
If you keep your costs down and major in something that utilizes your passions and has strong market value, getting a college degree, while not guaranteeing financial success, is your best play for entering the job market.
Use concession clause
While majors in the humanities would probably not be in your best financial interests, marketable majors such as finance, accounting, computer science, and engineering should give you upward economic mobility if you can keep your costs down.
While the job market is declining and while college costs continue to skyrocket, going to college is still your best play for upward economic mobility unless you are a tech or sales whiz.
Use refutation thesis
The argument of going to college or not is a false argument since there is overwhelming evidence that compels us to conclude that going to college is our best financial play. The real argument is WHAT kind of major do we pursue and at WHAT cost? In other words, the argument should focus on the ratio of financial potential to college costs.
The question isn't going to college or not; the real question is do I major in a "safe bet" and approach my career like a soulless mercenary or do I choose my major based on my passions and say the hell with making money?
We should not either major in a "safe bet" or a passion-based guarantee of lifelong poverty; rather, we should seek a balance.
Study the Templates of Argumentation
While the author’s arguments for meaning are convincing, she fails to consider . . .
While the authors' supports make convincing arguments, they must also consider . . .
These arguments, rather than being convincing, instead prove . . .
While these authors agree with Writer A on point X, in my opinion . . .
Although it is often true that . . .
While I concede that my opponents make a compelling case for point X, their main argument collapses underneath a barrage of . . .
While I see many good points in my opponent’s essay, I am underwhelmed by his . . .
While my opponent makes some cogent points regarding A, B, and C, his overall argument fails to convince when we consider X, Y, and Z.
My opponent makes many provocative and intriguing points. However, his arguments must be dismissed as fallacious when we take into account W, X, Y, and Z.
While the author’s points first appear glib and fatuous, a closer look at his polemic reveals a convincing argument that . . .
Sample Thesis:
The payment of women to borrow their bodies during a pregnancy is morally bankrupt when we consider ______________, _______________, ________________, and ___________________.
Sample Refutation of the Above Thesis
While in an ideal world I would be opposed to the surrogate womb business, in the real world surrogate motherhood is the lesser of two evils for poor women because ____________, ___________, ______________, and _______________.
Possible Supports for the Above
Paternalistic do-gooders shouldn't be able to tell the poor what they can and can not do with their bodies.
Payment for a womb rental may help a woman feed her starving family.
Payment for a womb rental may help a woman get an education and break free from her cycle of poverty.
Signal Phrases with present tense verb
Using Signal Phrases for putting citations in your essay.
Sentence Fragments
No subject
Marie Antoinette spent huge sums of money on herself and her favorites. And helped to bring on the French Revolution.
No complete verb
The aluminum boat sitting on its trailer.
Beginning with a subordinating word
We returned to the drugstore. Where we waited for our buddies.
A sentence fragment is part of a sentence that is written as if it were a complete sentence. Reading your draft out loud, backwards, sentence by sentence, will help you spot sentence fragments.
Sentence Fragment Exercises
After each sentence, write C for complete or F for fragment sentence. If the sentence is a fragment, correct it so that it is a complete sentence.
One. While hovering over the complexity of a formidable math problem and wondering if he had time to solve the problem before his girlfriend called him to complain about the horrible birthday present he bought her.
Two. In spite of the boyfriend’s growing discontent for his girlfriend, a churlish woman prone to tantrums and grand bouts of petulance.
Three. My BMW 5 series, a serious entry into the luxury car market.
Four. Overcome with nausea from eating ten bowls of angel hair pasta slathered in pine nut garlic pesto.
Five. Winding quickly but safely up the treacherous Palos Verdes hills in the shrouded mist of a lazy June morning, I realized that my BMW gave me feelings of completeness and fulfillment.
Six. To attempt to grasp the profound ignorance of those who deny the compelling truths of science in favor of their pseudo-intellectual ideas about “dangerous” vaccines and the “myths” of global warming.
Seven. The girlfriend whom I lavished with exotic gifts from afar.
Eight. When my cravings for pesto pizza, babaganoush, and triple chocolate cake overcome me during my bouts of acute anxiety.
Nine. Inclined to stop watching sports in the face of my girlfriend’s insistence that I pay more attention to her, I am throwing away my TV.
Ten. At the dance club where I espy my girlfriend flirting with a stranger by the soda machine festooned with party balloons and tinsel.
Eleven. The BMW speeding ahead of me and winding into the misty hills.
Twelve. Before you convert to the religion of veganism in order to impress your vegan girlfriend.
Thirteen. Summoning all my strength to resist the giant chocolate fudge cake sweating on the plate before me.
Essay Prompt:
In a 4-page typed, double-spaced essay with 3 sources in your MLA Works Cited page, develop a thesis that explains how "Market Triumphalism," discussed in Michael Sandel's "Markets and Morals," helps explain the moral bankruptcy in Arlie Russell Hochschild's "Our Baby, Her Womb."
Sample Thesis:
Michael Sandel's "Markets and Morals" explains the moral bankruptcy in Russell Hochschild's "Our Baby, Her Womb" evidenced by _________________, __________________, ___________________, and ___________________.
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