Government and Economy

Angela Carroll
Dr. Wilson
COM 360


We are a capitalist and democratic society in America. In our democratic government system, we are given certain freedoms which are not allowed to people of other countries. Further, we have many choices of what to buy as our economic system allows people, typically within large corporations, to create new products and to compete for our consumption.

Americans consume many, many different forms of product. We consume information, both digital and hard copy, food, clothing, music, art, jewelry, energy, water...and more. There are even entire groups formed around the objects we consume.

Doctor Who, for example, is something I consume. There are books, comics, t-shirts, toys, lunch boxes, costumes, toothbrushes, trash cans, pillowcases, trading cards, video games...well, you get the point.

In fact, corporations count on this sort of near worship of the product. The people behind the product want you and your family to be hooked, for whatever reason, to what they sell you. They want it to become a part of your identity.

This was something that was brought up in a sociology course I had last semester, the idea that the things we consume help define us more than the things that we do and the people we choose to be our friends and even spouses.

For example, my obsession with Doctor Who is certainly odd by many people's standards; however, consider the entire sports culture of America, namely football.

The football stadiums and the team themselves take a lot of money to upkeep (all the water required to keep the field green, the equipment...etc.), yet more money is spent by the millions of people who enjoy it. People buy t-shirts, lunch boxes, video games, car decals, flags; watch numerous sports' channels, and the like, all to show their love for their favorite team.

It becomes a defining part of a person's personality. A person might label themselves with one teams' stuff.

Imagine, for a moment, one person who likes Doctor Who, and another who likes sports. The two might never become close because of their different interests.

I know, from personal experience, when listening to someone talking about football plays, my eyes glaze over from both boredom and confusion. I've also recognized the concerned looks by others when I start talking about Doctor Who to a person who's never seen the show.

Now, don't get me wrong here. There are other things that make up a person's identity (home life, work, school). I like Doctor Who, for example, but I also like playing sports, writing, drawing, or just sitting outside.

But it seems as though objects of our consumption are becoming objects which defines us.

America is, at large, a consumer culture, one with infinite needs that requires more and more resources to continue (Miller 60). The system is expanded by reaching out across oceans and country lines to reach what we need be it labor, water, oil, wood, and even new consumers.

This demand for materials certainly affect what sort of policies the people in the American government have followed in the past and follow now in the present. Just one example can be found in the back and forth admittance of workers from other countries, including from Mexico.

Currently, in America, there is a huge demand for people who are willing to work long and grueling hours on farms. Farm workers exploit the needs of the migrant workers, often from places such as Mexico and Guatemala, to save money (Miller 61).

In the past, the American government has repeatedly welcomed people from Mexico to be laborers, only to force them to return when times are tough. During the Second World War, the United States government actually passed programs to contract workers, or braceros, from over the border to work on farms in place of many of the men who were fighting overseas (Schafer 241).

In times of economic turmoil, such as in the Great Depression, problems facing society can be blamed on minorities. For Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal, this means being targeted unfairly.

In 1954, to stop illegal immigration, President Eisenhower commenced a program, titled “Operation Wetback” that had been vetoed previously in 1952 by President Truman on the

grounds that the program was immoral (García 2009).

The overt purpose of the policy was to stop all illegal immigration, however, as evidenced by the derogatory name of the operation, the project itself focused mainly on all Mexican people and those of Mexican descent.

Legal Mexican immigrants or even people who seemed to be Mexican, were apprehended and interrogated while illegal Mexican immigrants and their families, including some legal immigrants, were repatriated, or sent back to Mexico (Schafer 240).

President Eisenhower's program was stopped, however, since then, there have been other policies performed by both the national goverment and the state. There is concern that these programs organized to control the border actually cause more illegal immigration due to legal immigration becoming more difficult (Schafer 240).

The freedom given to us through the economy and in government gives many of us a relatively comfortable life. Yet, we must be aware that this comfortable life is also made by exploiting others.

Works Cited

Garcia, J.(2008). In J. H. Moore (Ed.). "Operation Wetback". Encyclopedia of Race and Racism (Vol. 2, pp. 385-388). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from Gale U.S.A History in Context database.

Miller, Barbara D. (2010). Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World. 2nd Edition. Prentice Hall.

Schaefer, R. T. (2010). Racial and ethnic groups. (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.