Essays on Personal Choice

Consumer culture became a popular topic for sociological studies in the 1990s as academics realized that consumption was noteworthy, independent of its connections. Consumerism is a huge part of our society, so much so that it is difficult to separate it from everyday life as a phenomenon in its own right. There are many different sociological perspectives which can be applied to consumer culture; two such viewpoints are the Functionalist Perspective, which asserts that consumerism is necessary for the good of society, and the Conflict Perspective, which argues that consumerism only serves the corporations selling the products, and not ...

Should Jim shot the Indians?

The decisions that are about to be made in the most critical situations are the hardest ones. Quite often they question the sense of morality and the way people perceive this world. The essay “Jim and Indians” is an example of an ethic dilemma, in which a traveler that had become a victim of circumstances should make a hard choice, involving murders . These murders are all potential, as well as the people who will be in charge of them. It could be Jim himself or the military men that keep the control over the village. In the first case, ...

Within the last decade, medical researchers have placed more emphasis on the dangers of smoking and the negative effect that this has on smokers and non-smokers. These researches show what many persons have come to accept and that is that smoking is a danger to those who actually smoke and those who are in close proximity to the people who smoke. The fact is that smoking has terrible effects on people’s health, physical appearance and financial well-being. Some persons develop various chronic diseases as a result of years of smoking, while others carry the unpleasant scent of tobacco ...

The social development of the current world has been influenced by the religious manifestations since the oldest times. Past and current religions have shaped societies as they are nowadays known, with religion playing a major role in establishing people’s morals, attitudes and believes about life. As religion has played such a major role in humans’ lives since it can be traced, it is no wonder that it has received considerable attention in literature. Three such literary pieces that explore the nature and the effects of religion on society are Emily Dickinson’s “She Rose to His Requirements”, Mohsin ...