Don't forget, your first editorial/op-ed is due by class time Monday to TurnItIn.com.
We also are beginning our second discussion. This one concerns Consumerism, and the first reading is a 55-minute Frontline episode entitled "The Merchants of Cool." (If you have trouble watching this, you might be able to find it in parts on YouTube.) After watching, your homework is similar to what you did with the Frankfurt interview:
a) give a short specific response to one of Rushkoff's assertions in a They Say / I Say format (or something similar; the ideas are more important than the exact phrasing):
"At 2:38 in chapter 2 of the episode, R states that __________ . That seems (choose your adjective) to me. For example, in the recent presidential election, Mitt Romney said ________ , which was a subtle attempt to ____________ ."
b) find at least one comment in this section with which to take issue. (If you are one of the first few here, you might have to come back a little later for this part.) Identify to whom you are responding, and be clear about with what you are disagreeing and why.
One other thing to note: This was produced in 2001. Do you think these ideas are obsolete? Are there more contemporary examples of these ideas? Has the world changed that much in the last 12 years?