Essay #1
Throughout most of my adult life I had always been intrigued and interested in Real Estate. I found myself at work playing on the internet on sites like Realtor.com looking searching for homes for no reason at all. My family had always encouraged me to get my Real Estate license and become a Real Estate agent so I can help people buy and sell houses. When I was in my twenties I decided to pursue my Real Estate license and became an agent. I found myself a year later working for a brokerage firm that specializes in million dollar listings in Collin and Dallas County. Working with high end clients at such a young age really gave me a new perspective of how the upper middle class live and the importance placed on things that others may consider materialistic. I chose the subject of Consumer Society for my exploratory essay because I have personally seen how material possessions and happiness go hand in hand for people in today’s society.
The first article I chose entitled "The Aesthetic Imperative," by Virginia Postrel claims that today’s society places more importance on the aesthetics of an object than we did before. "We expect every strip mall and city block to offer designer coffee, several different cuisines, a copy shop with do-it-yourself graphics workstations, and a nail salon for manicures on demand," (Postrel, 315, 2003). While in the past we may have settled for a basic laptop, we now expect it to come in our favorite color. Postrel also claims that, although aesthetic begins with a universal reaction, an object's effects on us are based in a personal and cultural context. Aesthetic is part of who we are, and what I believe is valuable another person may deem as materialistic and give no value to it at all. My idea of value may be completely different than another person. Postrel's data includes examples of the kinds of aesthetics we expect in our everyday lives. "We want our vacuum cleaners and mobile phones to sparkle, our bathroom...