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Being Consumed: Economics And Christian Desire By William T. Cavanaugh

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Recommended: Consumerism in contemporary society

In Being Consumed – Economics and Christian Desire, William T. Cavanaugh sets out to provide an analysis of one of the biggest present-day issues that many Christians grapple with from time to time, namely, . That is the issue of remaining in keeping towith Christian principles in a globalized free market economy. How does a Christian know whether the economic choices one makes are in keeping with Christian principles? Should this even be an issue? Isn’t the matter of economics completely separate from one’s Christian beliefs? In providing his analysis of these issues, Cavanaugh engages with different views and looks to different sources for the answers he provides. However, a common thread that is consistent throughout Being Consumed – Economics and Christian Desire is that of the author’s use of scripture as an interpretative tool that unlocks the answers to these questions. The first chapter is titled “Freedom and Unfreedom”. Here, the author describes the characteristics of a “free market economy”. In (2008: 2) Cavanaugh provides Friedman’s the conventional understanding of a free market economy ais that of a market that is free from state intervention …show more content…

However, that would only be an environmental shift and the principles that apply would remain the same. The books concepts would have been much richer if the author attempted to explore the impact of money; greed and status in developing countries as advertisements of new product have the same effect of inducing demand of products that are introduced to the buyer to have qualities to bring happiness and fulfilment in their lives. The concepts of third world consumers having to choose from product that they need from the product that they want would have been a thoughtful concept to

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