Fiche The Idea of progress

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Fiche sur le thème The Idea of Progress en anglais pour le baccalauréat!

The Idea of Progress is the theory that the different advances in technology, science, and social organization can improve the human condition. In fact, people can become happier in terms of quality of life, with social progress, through economic development with modernization, and the application of science and technology, the scientific progress. We are confronted changes that evolved in the last 50 years than our ancestors did in over 200 years. Indeed developments even if it have good aspects, question this progress. However, a lot of debates show negative aspects of some progresses. We will study in particular the consumer society which is a society in which people often buy new goods, especially goods that they do not need, and in which a high value is placed on owning many things.
Can consumerism be considered as a progress ?
First we'll see what it consists in, next the consequences in the society and at the end the alternatives solutions.

Extraits

[...] The article of Jessica Beuker about the illustrator Steve Cutts from « Plaid Zebra », an unconventional lifestyle magazine allows us to understand today's world. She defines today's world as buying thing we don't really need, because the society told us to, in order to feel happy. She add « Over stimulated, yet bored out of our minds ». It illustrates the notion of progress and defines the consumer society and show what are its characteristics. Indeed, the consumerism can be considered as a progress. [...]

[...] We will see the alternatives solution now. The alternative solutions In fact, through the solution we could make to ameliorate the situation, there is the second hand articles that could bring an alternative to not buy new thing but to exchange old things all around the world, as an article on eBay illustrate it. Too, there are sect that are developing themselves as the one that is called Freegan, a combination of free and vegan, that propose an alternative which is sharing everything with everyone and to not make difference between riches and poor because money don't bring happiness. [...]

[...] At the end, it asks political/ethical questions. Indeed, work chain and exploitation of people is a real problem as we can see in another picture from Steve Cutts in which we see Santa Claus that is threatening people to produce faster for labels like sonny, samsung . It shows how the consumer society do to make products : they threat people in order to produce more. We saw the consequences environmental, socials and ethicals this consumer society brought. In this perspective, the statute of progress is called into question because it bring too disabling consequences that not necessarily make people and earth happier. [...]

[...] Indeed developments even if it have good aspects, question this progress. However, a lot of debates show negative aspects of some progresses. We will study in particular the consumer society which is a ​society in which ​people often ​buy new ​goods, ​especially ​goods that they do not need, and in which a high ​value is ​placed on ​owning many things. Can consumerism be considered as a progress ? First we'll see what it consists in, next the consequences in the society and at the end the alternatives solutions. [...]

[...] But this way of life asks questions. We will now study what are the consequences of this consumer society The consequences of the consumer society Next, we could say that they are environmental consequences. It's clear that this consumer society trigger pollution, more people consume more things are created, and more the environment pay the price of it. We studied a sound document in which a man says that the way we live now, accumulating staff like that this is not supportable for the planet. [...]