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Rhetoric Analysis on A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things by Patel and Moore
The world has changed a great deal since the evolution of human beings started. By the need to make the world a better place, capitalism was born to make people the controllers of their fate. As a result, capitalism has influenced competition, corruption, greed, climatic changes, and many other problems that are facing human beings. The world has become the slogan of only the strong survives. In the History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Patel and Moore explore how capitalism has changed the world into the modern world and the current state of things. Besides, they show how the contemporary world has been made through seven cheap things: nature, food, work energy, money, care, and lives (Patel and Moore 3). As a result, this article offers a rhetorical analysis of how Patel and Moore use various categories of value to support their arguments on the cheap nature of things.
First of all, Patel and Moore use economic value to argue about the importance of cheap nature over the value of colonial subjects. For instance, they say that “today’s birds are the result of post-world war II efforts drawing on genetic material sourced freely from Asian jungles” (p.3). By today’s birds, the authors refer to today’s chickens that are sold in fast food merchandise. As a result of capitalism, technology improved, making people’s lives easier and cheaper. Patel and Moore are arguing that chickens can be genetically modified to grow so fast to make more profits quickly. Besides, the authors also say that chicken meat has become “popular meat in the United States” (p.4). However, despite this, poultry workers are paid 5 cents for every dollar spent on fast chicken food, while poultry workers obtain cheap labor from prison and pay 25 cents. The authors describe this as cheap work.
Secondly, the authors also use ecological value to show how the world has changed. According to the authors, people value money so much, forgetting about the environmental impacts of their actions. The authors argue that cheap food fills people’s bellies, but “you can’t have low-cost chicken without abundant propane” (p.4). In this case, the authors are arguing that people need to be responsible. Responsible because even though cheap is always considered, the consequences may be severe to the environment or the surrounding. For instance, propane is a chemical gas that can cause more significant damage to people and their surroundings.
Moral value has also been used in the article to show the nature of cheap things. For instance, devaluation is also another thing, which, according to the authors, contribute to the issue of cheap things. According to the authors, “persistent and frequent acts of chauvinism against categories of animal and human life— such as women, the colonized, the poor, people of color, and immigrants—have made each of these six cheap things possible” (p.5). In the United States, immigrants, the poor, and other minority groups are devalued and are often employed in sweatshops industries (Wachtel, 190). This explains that even though capitalism is right, greed has led to the devaluation of people. To support the use of cheap labor, the authors argue that poultry workers only receive 5 cents for every dollar spent on fast food. Human devaluation began during the colonial periods that was also characterized by slavery African Americans in the United States (Wachtel 187).
The article also explores how the need for these cheap things has led to the geological changes that we experience in the modern world. As a result, of capitalism, the climate has changed severely to what we witness today. According to Peter and Moore, ancient human activities were supported by a better environment that facilitated agricultural operations and other social events. However, the current situation is different because the “climate is becoming less stable; average temperatures are increasing, causing what we now call global warming.
Besides, the economic value of these seven things has led to some of the contemporary issues facing the world. As a result, they are posing the question of how cheap these things are in nature. In this case, the argument is that craving for cheap ideas is the root cause of our modern problems. According to the authors, “Some humans are currently killing everything, from megafauna to microbiota, at speeds one hundred times higher than the background rate” (p.3). As a result, life has been altered and tampered with; as a result of capitalism, that the authors call capitalocene (p.3).
The authors also use political value to explain how political significance has contributed to the problems the modern world is experiencing. As a result, of international trade, countries can import and export products from other countries (Wachtel 192). Because of cheap resources and access to land, trading on these chicken has made it easy. For instance, Soy feed for chicken can be imported from other countries, mainly China, Brazil, and the United States” (p.4).
Finally, the seven things Patel and Moore have outlined here are the basic things that have led to capitalism. However, incompetent people have resulted in dubious means disrupt the natural world and cause problems such as death caused by atomic bombs, climate change, corruption, devaluation of human life, and other severe consequences. As a result, the authors are cautioning that sometimes cheap may not be what we think. Thus, we need responsible beings for capitalism to yield maximum benefits.
Works Cited
Patel, R., & Moore, J. W. (2017). A history of the world in seven cheap things: A guide to capitalism, nature, and the future of the planet. University of California Press.
Wachtel, H. M. (1972). Capitalism and poverty in America: Paradox or contradiction?. The American Economic Review, 62(1/2), 187-194.