In another well-crafted exposé, Eric Schlosser delves into drugs, cheap labor, and sex in the American black market in the book Reefer Madness. Written and researched in a style similar to his bestseller Fast Food Nation, Schlosser provides a unique insight into these controversial industries.
Despite being written in the early 2000s, the issues discussed in the book are still relevant in America today. All of the industries involved have been subject to intense government scrutiny for years, but still managed to thrive anyways. Through his extensive research, Schlosser provides an in-depth look at the issues and the history behind them. Starting with marijuana, an issue still making its way through the government today, he retells the origins
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While some may not want to read the book simply because they do not agree with how Schlosser represents his subject matter, other may be utterly repulsed by the subject. In the section on the sex industry, he often provides interesting details of the world of pornography. When discussing the rise of pornographic videos, Schlosser delves into their subject matter, as shown here: “There are gay videos and straight videos, bondage videos and spanking videos, tickling videos, interracial videos, and videos like Count Footula, for people whose fetish is feet” (Schlosser 169). While the other sections are much tamer, this section of the book may turn readers away since sex is still such a taboo topic in our society …show more content…
He includes statistics to prove the reality of his topics in America, such as in the chapter on migrant workers: “The commission estimated that 40 percent of the migrants in the United States - at least 400,000 people - were illegal immigrants” (99). Along with this, he interviewed a number of people to get information from people experienced with the subject at hand. All of his sources are listed in the book’s appendix and anyone can easily check them to see their credibility. He also appeals to pathos in his portrayal of the migrant farm workers. Schlosser describes their living conditions in the section, and even goes to visit some of the places where the workers live. In the book, he interviewed a work named Francisco who seemed to nothing but work. “His days were spent at the farm, his nights at the encampment. He picked strawberries six days a week, sometimes seven, for ten or twelve hours a day” (106). Most readers could not even imagine having to work like this and will feel sorry for Francisco having to live a life this
Reefer Madness Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market was an eye opening book. It addressed topics that are rarely addresses in today’s society. Furthermore, it provided extensive historical context behind each topic. It seemed as if I was learning something new on every page I read. One of the first thing I learned that id did not previously know was the Massive size of the black market.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser is a nonfiction book that examines the effects of fast food on society and this mind map attempts to illustrate the important details. This media mind map was created by hand with construction paper, paint, printed words, and actual packaging from various McDonald's products. The font of the words is simple as the novel raises serious issues that require a level of professionalism. The colours I chose are like the ones you find in a McDonald’s restaurant to engage the audience and make them feel as if fast food is really in front of them. The overall goal of the layout and colour scheme was to replicate what would be seen on a tray from a popular McDonalds combo with a burger, fries, and a drink.
To begin with, this paper is a review of the book “Fast Food Nation.” Initially, the book describes the unknown dangers of numerous fast food restaurants and its suppliers. Amazingly, the information in this book will shock people and will hopefully make people think twice before grabbing any fast food at McDonalds. Eric Schlosser’s novel is a modern take on Upton Sinclair’s
The All-American meal takes more out of Americans to make then at first glance. Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation delves deep into the intricate workings of the fast food industry to expose mistreatment and cruelty towards workers in the business, just as Upton Sinclair had done in the early 1900’s regarding the meat packing industry. Schlosser is able to bring light to the darkness behind the All-American meal through extensive research and personal confrontations of which he has high regards for.
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, is a stark and unrelenting look into the fast food industry that has ingrained itself in not only American culture, but in culture around the world. There is almost no place on earth that the golden arches has not entered. Aside from Antarctica, there is a McDonalds on every continent, and the number of countries that have fast food restaurants is growing on a daily basis. Schlosser describes in detail what happens behind the scenes, before the hamburger and fries come wrapped in environmentally safe paper and are consumed by millions of people daily
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print. While I was looking at the cover of the book, I noticed that it included the words “All American Meal”, and I wondered what that meant. For me when I hear those word I picture a McDonald’s, or any other fast food restaurant. Why is that? Is it because the United States comes in at 12th for the most obese country, with 35% of the population in overweight (Worldatlas). Or is it because we have made a name for ourselves, by being the country that consumes the most fast food (Economist)? In the first chapter of the book The American Way, Schlosser is disscussing various fast foods we eat such as McDonald 's, Domino 's, and describes how fast food has impacted American lives, such as obesity in all age groups due to the appeals to younger children. He talks about the McDonald brothers and Carl Karcher and how they established McDonald 's and Carl 's Jr.
Fast Food Nation: The Darker Side of the All-American Meal is very interesting and stimulating. The author, Eric Schlosser, makes excellent points in all his chapters, for example in the epilogue he describes how we can make a difference and that is by not buying fast food and by going somewhere else to eat. Also is chapter ten, he explains how the fast food industry is like a circus. However, not every chapter is as critical for people to read as chapter one. Chapter one is the most important chapter because it describes how fast food originated (the founding fathers), the chapter shows how corrupt and back-stabbing the fast food industry has become, and how gullible Americans can be.
Knowing what is in your fast food might make you think twice the next time you devour it. As the rise of the fast food nation in America has increased to an all-time high, so has the weight and waists of Americans all around the country. Not only has the United States grown to love the acquired taste of greasy golden fries and juicy burgers, it has also grown ignorant to the way their food is prepared. In the novel, “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal”(2002), by Eric Schlosser, he makes compelling points in his position against the fast food industry.
“Fast food is popular because it's convenient, it's cheap, and it tastes good. But the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu.” – Eric Schlosser --
The story of the fast food industry and its effect on the world is well told in the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. Schlosser makes the claim that, what started out as a special treat for the kids eventually ended up defining a way of life. During a brief period of time, the fast food industry has helped transform not only the American diet, but also our countryside, economy, workforce, and popular culture. The book thoroughly describes how important the two factors of money and power are in today's society. The book clearly establishes the broader thesis that as consumers, we should know what we eat even if it makes us uncomfortable by the knowledge.
After so many years, America still finds itself fighting a well-known and highly demonized "enemy". The enemy is not terrorism. It's an "enemy" that many Americans have dealt with face to face. This enemy is illegal drugs, marijuana in particular. Marijuana is the most widely used and criminalized drug in the United States. This highly sought after resource yields a black market price tag that creates a street economy all its' own. This is Marijuana by itself, it and all the other illegal drugs together combine to form the third largest economy in the world. This is because the demand for illegal drugs is so high. There can be benefits to a legalized drug trade that is certain. The following paper will defend that some uses of
In this essay, I will be talking about an article I recently looked at. I will be telling you why I disagree with its way of getting its audience attention. I choose this topic because I am very familiar with it. Even though I know about many things that are on the local news website ( www.newsnet5.com ) this stuck out because I have never talked about it on a school assignment which means that my opinions and thoughts about this topic may attract my audience in a good way.
A current ongoing problem in the United States is the continuous use of drugs and alcohol. There isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t see in the paper or on the internet that someone overdosed on drugs and passed away. Currently the United States is narrowing in on the legalization of one drug in particular, which is marijuana. Just over 130 years ago there were no laws against drug use, until the 20th century when the fight against drug use began. Harry Anslinger is man who began the probation of marijuana. Anslinger set the tone for the American attitudes towards drugs, specifically marijuana beginning in the 20th century.
Marijuana has been used for both medicinal and recreational use for thousands of years, but only became common in the United States in the early twentieth century. It came during the Mexican Revolution, with an influx of immigrants who smoked it for the effects. Because of where it came from, marijuana was mostly used by low-class Americans, including blacks and immigrants from various places. Higher-class Americans, especially law enforcement officers, disliked the drug because of who smoked it, which largely contributes to why it is so overcriminalized in today’s society. Over the next several decades, marijuana use became more widespread throughout all income classes. By the 60s, marijuana had become the most popular illegal drug, and the government wanted better regulation.
The marijuana industry is unique due to the fact that it has the ability to help people escape the grip of big pharma, however it has recently shown evidence of caring more about profit than the health of its patients. In addition to this, with legalization of the industry taking place across the nation, minorities are finding themselves once again alienated and unable to participate as a result of institutionalized racism. This racism can be regarded as a result of the War on Drugs and the prison industrial complex. Now is the best time to implement changes to the marijuana industry, as it is just beginning. From an analytical Marxist & critical race perspective, it is clear that the marijuana industry is growing dangerously close to becoming just another avaricious industry built on the systematic oppression of minorities. If this issue is left to due course of time, the industry will become just another problem too big to tackle due to its structural complexity.