Using El Over La for Spanish Feminine Words

Using El Over La for Spanish Feminine Words El is the singular, masculine definite article, meaning the, in Spanish and is used to define masculine nouns, while la is the feminine version. But there are a few instances where el is used with feminine nouns. Gender in Words An interesting thing about Spanish is the fact that words have gender. A word is considered male or female, depending on what the word refers to and how it ends. A general rule of thumb is if a word ends in -o, it is most likely masculine, and if a word ends in -a, it is most likely feminine. If the word is describing a female person, then the word is feminine and vice versa. Definite Articles for Nouns In most cases, el is used for masculine nouns and la is used for feminine nouns. Another rule supersedes this, and that is when the feminine noun is singular and starts with a stressed a- or ha- sound, like the words agua, meaning water, or hambre, meaning hunger. The reason the definite article becomes el is mostly a matter of how it sounds to say la agua and la hambre and the clunkiness of the double-a sounds repeating. It sounds more definitive to say el agua and el hambre. There is a similar grammar rule in English about the use of the an versus a. An English speaker would say, an apple instead of a apple. The two repeating double-a sounds are too close to each other and sound too repetitive. The English rule  states that an, which is an indefinite article modifying the noun, comes before nouns that have a vowel sound at the beginning of the word and a comes before consonant-starting nouns. Feminine Words that Use the Masculine Article Notice the substitution of el for la takes place when it comes immediately before words starting with an a sound. Feminine Nouns English Translation el agua the water el ama de casa the housewife el asma asthma el arca the ark el hambre hunger el hampa the underworld el arpa the harp el guila the eagle If the feminine noun is modified by  adjectives  that follow the noun in the sentence, the feminine noun retains the masculine article. Feminine Nouns English Translation el agua purificada purified water el arpa paraguaya the Paraguayan harp el hambre excesiva excessive hunger Reverting Back to the Feminine Article The thing to remember is that words that are feminine remain feminine. The reason why this matters is if the word becomes plural, the word goes back to using the feminine definite article. In this case, the definite article becomes las. It sounds fine to say las arcas  since the s in las breaks up the double-a sound. Another example is las amas de casa. If a word intervenes between the definite article and the noun,  la  is used. Feminine Nouns English Translation la pura agua pure water la insoportable hambre the unbearable hunger la feliz ama de casa the happy housewife la gran guila the great eagle If the accent of the noun is not on the first syllable, the definite article la is used with singular feminine nouns when they begin with a- or ha-. Feminine Nouns English Translation la habilidad the skill la audiencia the audience la asamblea the meeting The substitution of el for la does not occur before adjectives that begin with a stressed a- or ha-, the rule only applies to nouns, despite the double-a sound.   Feminine Nouns English Translation la alta muchacha the tall girl la agria experiencia the bitter experience Exceptions to the Rule There a few exceptions to the rule that el substitutes for la immediately before a noun that begins with a stressed a- or ha-. Note, the letters of the alphabet, called  letras  in Spanish, which is a feminine noun, are all feminine. Feminine Nouns English Translation la rabe the Arabic woman La Haya The Hague la a the letter A la hache the letter H la haz uncommon word for face, not to be confused with el haz,meaning shaft or beam Feminine Words Can Use the Masculine Indefinite Article Most grammarians consider it correct for feminine words to take the masculine indefinite article un instead of una under the same conditions where la is changed to el. It is for the same reason  la is changed to el, to eliminate the double-a sound of the two words together.   Feminine Nouns English Translation un guila an eagle un ama de casa a housewife Although this is widely considered correct grammar, this usage is not universal. In everyday spoken language, this rule is irrelevant, due to elision, which is the omission of sounds, especially as words flow together. In pronunciation, there is no difference between un guila and una guila.

Describing people Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Describing people - Assignment Example Be sure to describe for each one their physical appearance, demeanor and positive or negative image. The New Wife: Marc’s new wife Alice is described as dark-skinned and plump, an earthy blue eyed blond, fragile with wavy hair. She is over-indulgent and exuberant, pleased and happy with her husband and his caring attitude. She is naturally curious about her husband’s ex-wife and asks him about the reasons for the breakup, as anyone would naturally want to know. She is positive but nevertheless curious to know what the ex-wife found lacking in Marc. The Ex-Wife: Marc’s ex-wife is described as the woman in white, with dark smooth, lustrous hair and blue eyes. She appears to be a sophisticate and is hard to please, as Marc has told Alice. Alice might have found her superior for a while but can rest content in the knowledge that she is the one with Marc now, while his ex-wife dines alone. 2. Write an essay describing which of the following statements you think best d escribes the character of Alice, the second wife. Provide the number of your choice and briefly defend it. Use at least one example from the selection to support your ideas: 1. She is a thoughtful person beginning to question the wisdom of her decision. 2. She is a shallow person easily swayed by the opinions of others. 3. She is a happily married person exhibiting natural curiosity. 4. Other - Describe Alice in your own words and then defend your statement. In my opinion, (3) Alice is a happily married person exhibiting natural curiosity. She is quite respectful of her husband and a part of the story has her looking him over and wondering what made his first wife leave him†¦ â€Å"She was looking with furtive attention at her husband's face, with its good color and regular shape, at his thick hair with its occasional thread of white silk, at his small, well-cared-for hands. She felt dubious for the first time, and asked herself: "What more did she want, then?" (Colette, 1) an d â€Å"She showed overwhelming gratitude to her husband. She was immodest without knowing it and her entire person revealed over-conspicuous signs of extreme happiness.†(Colette,1). It is human nature to be curious about her spouse’s ex-wife and why they divorced and following her husband’s explanation, this makes Alice wonder why the ex-wife- ‘the woman in white’ -was so hard to please. Nevertheless, Alice would have been pleased to see that she was dining alone, as it would validate her husband’s statement. 3. List three experiences that Sasaki relates in her anecdote. After each experience, describe her reactions to the experience. Then, describe the point you think Sasaki is trying to make by relating this anecdote. One experience that Sasaki relates in ‘Another Writer’s Beginnings’ is that her sister was not as overly concerned with outward appearances as she was. In contrast, Sasaki considered herself an ugly specim en of humanity right from the very beginning. She measures her beauty according to her suitability to being a Mousketeer at age five, while her sister who is three years older than her was realistic enough to know that it is hard for a Japanese to look like a Mouseketeer anyway (Sasaki,1). Secondly, Sasaki is hugely disappointed by her school picture taken at 5 years old and even her mother who was normally a positivist let out a sigh of disdain after viewing the picture. Even she could not find any words of encouragement (Sasaki, 1). Thirdly, at times Sasaki even wished that she could be like her friend Marilyn who was cute and looked as good as Shirley Temple in pictures. She thought at least that would comfort her parents and spare them the embarrassment of having such an

Final exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Final exam - Essay Example President Obama won with a landslide because of the extreme challenges that the country was facing due to poor Republican Party leadership under former president Bush administration. Retrospective voting is a type of voting whereby people vote for officials when times are good and against them when times are bad. In this case, parties vying for the various seats compete by emphasizing on competence, the way they reflect on public goals and not by taking particular policy stands. Under retrospective voting, voters do not bother in forming preferences on complex issues, but rather vote depending on their evaluation of the past performance. This means that voters focus only on the most essential issues and it demands very little of the voters. Moreover, politicians have a strong incentive in solving problems that the public wants them solved. Retrospective voting also gives room for deliberation and experimentation of unpopular policies provided the results are pleasing to the citizens before the next elections. Its main disadvantage is the fact that it is not easy to get rid of bad political leaders unless extremely bad disasters happen. Prospective voting on the other hand refers to the type of voting that involves considering the future wellbeing of the citizens or country at large been in the voters mind. Both these two types of voting are very common in the USA. There are many complaints about the US bureaucracies though some of the most common complaints include the issue of duplication of duties as some bureaucracies are said to be too large. Some other people complain about them being too expensive to run with other arguing that they are extremely powerful. The issue of speed is also often raised whenever discussing bureaucracies whereby some people claim that they act very slowly since federal employees seem to have so much job security thus have little fear of losing their jobs because of

Apple Inc. Business Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Apple Inc. Business Analysis - Essay Example The reasons of investing as mutual fund manager in Apple are given, and the paper concludes with a summary of the business analysis. Apple Inc. Business Analysis. Company Background. Apple was incorporated in California in 1977. Apple Inc. and its subsidiaries develop, manufactures and sells its products including personal computers, media devices, mobiles, and digital music players. The Company also sells various related software, peripherals, services, networking solutions, and third party digital content and applications. Apple products and services comprise of iPod, iPhone, Mac, Apple TV, Mac, a portfolio of professional and consumer software applications, iCloud, the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings. The Company also sells and delivers digital content and applications through the App Store, iBookstore, iTunes Store, and Mac App Store. The company sells its products globally through its online stores, retail stores, and direct sales force, as well as through third-party cellular network transporters, retailers, value added resellers and wholesalers. Also, the Company sells various third-party iPod, iPhone, Mac, and iPod compatible products, including printers, application software, storage devices, headphones, speakers, and various other peripherals and accessories, through its retail and online stores. Apple sells its products to consumers, education, small and medium sized businesses, enterprise and government customers (www.apple.com). The Effects of Recent Economic Trends on Apple’s Business. The performance and operations of Apple depend significantly on global economic conditions. Uncertainty about worldwide economic conditions poses a risk as businesses and consumers postpone spending in response to unemployment, tighter credit, negative financial news and/or declines in asset values or income, which could have negative effects on demand for companies’ services and products (A ndreas, 2011). The Company usually increases prices on goods and services sold outside the United States; this is aimed to offset the effect of appreciating U.S. dollar in these markets, thus affecting the demand of Apple products. Other factors that affect the demand of Apple products and services include; conditions in the mortgage and real estate markets, increases in fuel and energy costs, labor and healthcare costs, unemployment, access to credit, and other macroeconomic factors affecting the spending behavior of consumers. Andreas (2011) notes that the global financial crisis and the debt crisis in Europe have led to new or incremental tightening of the credit market, low liquidity, and extreme volatility in fixed income, currency, credit, and equity markets. This has affected the Company’s business, including the financial instability of outsourcing trading partners or their inability to obtain credit to finance development and/or manufacture products resulting to prod uct delays. The crisis has also, has affected Apple customers, including channel partners by making them incapable to access credit to finance purchases of Apple products. Strategies of Adapting to Changing Economic Conditions. Economic recession provides opportunities to companies of starting new businesses, innovate and manufacture new products, and build and strengthen customer loyalty (Andreas, 2011). Apple operates in a highly competitive and highly volatile industry,

Guns and Teen Violence and Death Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Ess

Each year, guns end the lives of thousands of young people. Families and friends are left to cope with the loss of a life lived and to have a future overshadowed by the violence. Nearly 80% of all teenage deaths are the result of violence like homicides, suicides motor vehicle crashes and other unintentional injury( â€Å"Risk and Protective†).Teenage violence has gone up almost 300% in the last thirty years (â€Å"Teenage Violence in America†,1) and it is still rising. In 1998, among youth ages 10 to 19 in the United States, there were 2,601 homicide deaths, and homicide was the second leading cause of death for the age group (â€Å" Youth Violence Statistics†). Also in 1999, 1,763 youth under 18 were arrested for homicide in the United States ( â€Å"Youth Violence Statistics†). After reading these two statistics there is only one conclusion you could come to. Our young people today are out of control. Teenagers have our world in the palm of their hand and they are slowly destroying our wonderful communities all around the world. It is now generally believed that multiple factors combine to contribute to and shape behavior over the course of adolescent development. Studies suggest it is the confluence to certain â€Å"risk† factors that contribute to violent behavior and the existence of certain â€Å"protective† factors that create resiliency. Risk factors are generally defined as scientifically established factors or determinants for which there is strong objective evidence of causal relationship to a problem. Protective factors are those that potentially decrease the likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors. Both of these factors can influence the level of risk an indicial experience or can moderate the relationship between the risk and the outcome of behavior (â€Å"Risk and Protective Factors†). Researchers have come up with what they call The Ecological Model. In these model there are four levels of factors that they say contributes to the behavior of an individual (â€Å"Risk and Protective†). The first level is Environmental. This level plays an important role in creating conditions that can contribute to a culture of violence among a particular group of people or in given community (â€Å"Risk and Protective†). The environmental factors are those that consider larger issue such as social values and the impact of the media policy of... ...re was an interview with a man whose son was just killed. In the interview the reporter said â€Å"You know, you did everything right. Your son went to the best school. He was an athlete and a scholar. He had a scholarship for college. He was well liked by everyone and he did everything right yet he was killed.† The man then looked up and he said â€Å"I forgot to do one thing. I forgot to raise the other children† ( Prothrow, 2). After I read that I just wanted to cry. Parents are taking the blame for their children’s death when they should not be. A parent can only do so much and it is up to that child to choose how to use what their parents gave them. Every parent in America should realize that as long as they are doing their part it is not their fault. It is not a parent’s responsibility to raise the whole world. It is just their responsibility to raise their own and do a good job with that. To prevent teen violence, there are many obstacles that must be overcome. Children need to be brought up in a safe healthy environment. We need to emphasize youth and community evolvement and we need to have classes to teach out children responsibility and confidence.

Effects of Migration and Other Evolutionary Processes on Allele

Effects of migration and other evolutionary processes on allele frequency and fitness Life originated from a common ancestor and due to various mechanisms of evolution, the genotype of organisms has changed. Mutation, migration, genetic drift and selection are natural processes of evolution that affect genetic diversity. Mutations are spontaneous changes in genomic sequences (Robert, et al. , 2006); it is one of the processes that influence allele frequency. A mutation can either have a positive, negative or a neutral effect on an organism’s fitness.When organisms of the same species exhibit different phenotypes, the organism is polymorphic for that particular trait. A beneficial mutation that gives rise to polymorphic traits can improve the chance of survival. For example, the grove snail, Cepaea nemoralis, is famous for the rich polymorphism of its shell. A mutation in the locus responsible for colour produces different shell colours, ranging from yellow, pink, white and bro wn (Ozgo, 2005). Snails with brown shells are found in beechwoods where the soil is dark.Snails with brown shells are able to camouflage with the soil, thus avoiding being detected by predators (Jones, et al, 1977). As a result of avoiding predation, the frequency of alleles that code for brown shells will increase. However, according to the hitchhiking model, fixation of a beneficial mutation will decrease the diversity at linked loci (Chevin, et al. , 2008). If a new mutation increases the fitness of members of a particular species, a strong selective sweep on allele frequency will result to very few haplotypes existing in the population.The frequency of alleles that are positively selected and those that are closely linked will increase, but the other alleles will decrease. A mutation can be neutral, having neither a beneficial effect nor a negative effect. However, some mutations are lethal because they have a negative effect on fitness. The accumulation of deleterious mutations and the prevention of recombination reduce the fitness of individuals (Muller's ratchet). Experiment carried out on asexual and sexual yeast strains showed that sexually reproducing parts of the genome improved survival than asexually reproducing parts (Zeyl and Bell, 1997).Asexual strains decreased overtime because of Muller’s ratchet. On the contrary, sexual strains were able to stop the build-up of deleterious mutation due to recombination between chromosomes. Mutation in collagen-I gene is another example of lethal mutation reducing fitness. Collagen is a group of naturally occurring proteins found in animals, it is one of the major components of blood vessels. An experiment carried out on mouse embryonic stem cells showed that mutation in collagen-I gene impairs the function of collagen-I (Lohler, et al. 1984). During the experiment, 13 embryos died because a mutation in mouse collagen-I gene caused the major blood vessels to rupture. According to background selection m odel, because a deleterious mutation reduces the fitness of individuals, deleterious mutations are selected against (Innan and Stephan, 2003); this will decrease the allele frequency of a population. Genetic drift is a stochastic process that refers to the fluctuations of genotype frequencies (Maynard, 1998); alleles are either fixed or permanently lost from the population.Due to the randomness of the process, genetic drift can eliminate beneficial alleles that could have improved survival. Genetic drift can also eliminate lethal alleles from a population and therefore improve survival rate. Genetic drift has larger effect on small populations than a large population (Maynard, 1998); this is because the rate of allele fixation or elimination is faster in a small population compared to a large population. Moreover, population bottleneck is an evolutionary process that increases the effect of genetic drift; it involves random events that prevent species from reproducing (van-Heerwaard en, et al. 2008). Population bottleneck decreases allele frequency and it reduces a population’s ability to adapt to new environmental pressures. For example, the current cheetah populations have low genetic diversity caused by a demographic bottleneck that occurred 10,000 years ago (Charruau, et al. , 2011). The surviving cheetah populations are not representative of the original cheetah population because they have less variation (founder effect). Due to low genetic diversity and less adaptation skills, the modern cheetah population is close to extinction. Natural selection is another evolutionary process that changes allele frequency.Organisms with advantageous alleles survive and reproduce, increasing the frequency of the advantageous alleles. Individuals with disadvantageous alleles do not survive or reproduce and therefore the frequency of the disadvantageous alleles is reduced or eliminated from the population (William and Michael, 2003). Biston betularia (peppered mot hs) is a common example used to demonstrated natural selection (Saccheri, et al. , 2008). Before the industrial revolution, non-melanic peppered moths avoided predators by camouflaging with lichen-covered trees.Their ability to camouflage improved the rate of survival which increased the frequency of non-melanic alleles. Melanic peppered moths were not able to camouflage with the lichen trees, as a result, melanic moths were detected and predated by the song thrushes. This decreased the frequency of alleles that gave rise to melanic peppered moths. However, during the industrial revolution period, symbiotic lichens living on trees were killed because smog and soot were released when coal and other materials were burnt.As a consequence of the tree trunks becoming more visible, non-melanic peppered moths were more susceptible to predation because they were unable to camouflage with the trees. The ability to camouflage helped melanic moths to survive and reproduce, changing the populat ion allele frequency from mostly non-melanic alleles to mostly melanic alleles (Saccheri, et al. , 2008). Migration of species from one place to another can increase the rate of gene flow. Gene flow is the transfer of gene from one population to another (William and Michael, 2003); it changes the allele frequency of a population.The effect of migration on the gene pool of a population depends on the rate of migration. Various studies have shown that migration rate is not the same for all species (Tajima, 1990). Species with low migration rate will have less DNA polymorphism and species with high migration rate will have more polymorphic alleles (Tajima, 1990). The benefit of plant migration, which increases the chance of hybridization between plant species, can be demonstrated by examining the adaptation skills of Iris species. Iris nelsonii is a species of hybrid origin, with traces of I. fulva, I. hexagona and I. revicaulis. I. nelsonii picked up characteristics that are not prese nt in the parent population. For example, I. nelsnii can grow in sunny wet conditions whereas the parents can either grow in sunny dry conditions or wet and shady conditions (Taylor, et al, 2011). Given that I. nelsonii can survive in challenging environments, the allele frequency of the advantageous traits will increase. Furthermore, another benefit of gene flow through means of hybridization can be demonstrated by analyzing the genetic variation of Tragopogan species. Hybridization between T. dubious and T. pratensis produces T. iscellus, an allotetraploid that has multiple enzymes needed for various biochemical pathways (Tate, et al. , 2006). Hybridisation enabled T. miscellus and T. pratensis to survive because they were able to exploit the gene pool of both parents. However, migration can also have negative effects on survival. Given that I. nelsonii will exist in niches that parents cannot live in, gene flow between the hybrid and its progenitors will be reduced. If I. nelsoni i does not have alleles that can resists infection caused by parasites, an outbreak of a pathogenic disease can wipe out the entire I. nelsonii species.Although some evolutionary processes eliminate alleles from a population, multiple alleles can be maintained through frequency-dependent balancing selection (Matessi and Schneider, 2009). In negative frequency-dependent selection, the fitness of a phenotype increases as it becomes less common. An example of negative frequency-dependent selection is in the case of Cepaea nemoralis. C. nemoralis are regularly predated by song thrush birds called Turdus philomelos. These birds have a search pattern whereby it persists in targeting the most abundant morph, even if other morphs are available (Bond, 2007).If snails with yellow shells are common, then these snails will be eaten by song thrushes. As a result, the frequency of alleles that code for yellow shells will decrease. The fitness of other morphs such as pink, white and brown shells w ill increase because song thrushes would not search for rare coloured morphs. In conclusion, the four fundamental processes of evolution, mutation, genetic drift, natural selection and migration (gene flow), alters allele frequencies in populations. The consequences on survival fluctuate. Occasionally, altering allele frequency gives rise to traits that increases fitness.However, changing allele frequencies can also give rise to phenotypes that reduce fitness. Word count: 1390 Grade: A- My essay is easy to read and follow. I have given evidences and interpreted them where possible. I also gave examples from animals and plants to show that I have done outside reading. All of the points that were made are relevant as they ultimately answer4 the question e. g. whether the evolutionary processes increase of decrease allele frequency and fitness References Bond, AB, 2007. The evolution of color polymorphism: crypticity searching images, and apostatic selection.Annual Review Of Ecology Ev olution And Systemic, 38, pp. 489-514. Charruau, P. , Fernandes, C. , Orozco-ter Wengel, P. , Peters, J. , Hunter, L. , Ziaie, H. , Jourabchian, A. , Jowkar, H. , Schaller, G. , Ostrowski, S. , Vercammen, P. , Grange, T. , Schlotterer, C. , Kotze, A. , Geigl, EM. , Walzer, C. and Burger, PA. (2011). Phylogeography, genetic structure and population divergence time of cheetahs in Africa and Asia: evidence for long-term geographic isolates. Molecular Ecology, 20, pp. 706-724. Chevin, LM. , Billiard, S. and Hospital, F. (2008).Hitchhiking both ways: Effect of two interfering selective sweeps on linked neutral variation. Genetics, 180, pp. 301-316. Innan, H. and Stephan, W. (2003). Distinguishing the Hitchhiking and Background Selection Models. Genetics, 165, pp. 2307-2312. Jones, J. S. , Leith, B. N. and Rawlings, P. (1977). Polymorphism in cepaea: a problem with too many solutions. Annual Reviews In Ecology And Systematics, 8, pp. 109–14. Lohler, J. , Timpl, R. and Jaenisch, R. (1984). Embronic lethal mutation in mouse collagen-I gene causes rupture of blood-vessels and is associated with erythropoietic and mesenchymal cell-death.Cell, 38, pp. 597-607. Matessi, C. and Schneider, KA. (2009). Optimization under frequency-dependent selection. Theoretical Population Biology, 76, pp. 1-12. Maynard, S. J. (1998). Evolutionary genetics. 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press. Ozgo, M. (2005). Cepaea nemoralis (L. ) in southeastern Poland: Association of morph frequencies with habitat. Journal Of Molluscan Studies, 71, pp. 93-103. Saccheri, IJ. , Rousset, F. , Watts, PC. , Brakefield, PM. and Cook, LM. (2008). Selection and gene flow on a diminishing cline of melanic peppered moths.Proceedings Of The National Academy Of sciences Of The United States Of America, 105, pp. 16212-16217. Tajima, F. (1990). Relationship between migration and DNA polymorphism in a local-population. Genetics, 126, pp. 231-234. Tate, JA. , Ni, ZF. , Scheen, AC. , Koh, J. , Gilbert, CA. , Lefkowitz, D. , Chen, ZJ. , Soltis, PS. , Soltis, DE. (2006). Evolution and expression of homeologous loci in Tragopogon miscellus (Asteraceae), a recent and reciprocally formed allopolyploid. Genetics, 173, pp. 1599-1611. Taylor, SJ. , Willard, RW. , Shaw, JP. , Dobson, MC. and Martin, NH. (2011).Differential response of the homoploid hybrid species iris nelsonii (iridaceae) and its progenitors to abiotic habitat conditions. American Journal Of Botany, 98, pp. 1309-1316. van Heerwaarden, B. , Willi, Y. , Kristensen, TN. and Hoffmann, AA. (2008). Population bottlenecks increase additive genetic variance but do not break a selection limit in rain forest Drosophila. Genetics, 179, pp. 2135-2146. William, S. K. and Michael, R. C. (2003). Concepts of genetics. 7th edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education Limited. Zeyl, C. and Bell, G. (1997). The advantage of sex in evolving yeast populations. Nature, 388, pp. 465-468.

Consumer Ethics -- Considerations in a Global Market

Many people around the world work to consider consumer ethics and  make ethical consumer choices in their everyday lives. They do this in response to the troubling conditions that plague global supply chains and the human-made climate crisis. Approaching these issues from a sociological standpoint, we can see that our consumer choices matter because they have sweeping economic, social, environmental, and political implications that reach far beyond the context of our everyday lives. In this sense, what we choose to consume matters very much, and it is possible to be a conscientious, ethical consumer. However, is it necessarily this simple? When we broaden the critical lens through which we examine consumption, we see a more complicated picture. In this view, global capitalism and consumerism have created crises of ethics that make it very difficult to frame any form of consumption as ethical. Key Takeaways: Ethical Consumerism What we buy is often related to our cultural and educational capital, and consumption patterns can reinforce existing social hierarchies.One perspective suggests that consumerism may be at odds with ethical behavior, as consumerism seems to bring about a self-centered mentality.Although the choices we make as consumers do matter, a better strategy may be to strive for ethical citizenship rather than merely ethical consumption. Consumption and the Politics of Class At the center of this problem is that consumption is tangled up in the politics of class in some troubling ways. In his study of consumer culture in France, Pierre Bourdieu found that consumer habits tend to reflect the amount of cultural and educational capital one has and also the economic class position of one’s family. This would be a neutral outcome if the resulting consumer practices were not slotted into a hierarchy of tastes, with wealthy, formally educated people at the top, and the poor and not formally educated at the bottom. However, Bourdieu’s findings suggest that consumer habits both reflect and reproduce the class-based system of inequality that courses through industrial and post-industrial societies. As an example of how consumerism is tied to social class, think about the impression you might form of a person who frequents the opera, has a membership to an art museum, and enjoys collecting wine.  You probably imagined that this person is relatively wealthy and well-educated, even though these things weren’t explicitly stated. Another French sociologist, Jean Baudrillard, argued in For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign, that consumer goods have a â€Å"sign value† because they exist within the system of all goods. Within this system of goods/signs, the symbolic value of each good is determined primarily by how it is viewed in relation to others. So, cheap and knock-off goods exist in relation to mainstream and luxury goods, and business attire exists in relation to casual clothing and urban wear, for example. A hierarchy of goods, defined by quality, design, aesthetics, availability, and even ethics, begets a hierarchy of consumers. Those who can afford the goods at the top of the status pyramid are viewed in higher standing than their peers of lower economic classes and marginalized cultural backgrounds. You might be thinking, â€Å"So what? People buy what they can afford, and some people can afford more expensive things. What’s the big deal?† From a sociological standpoint, the big deal is the collection  of assumptions we make about people based on what they consume. Consider, for instance, how two hypothetical people might be perceived differently as they move through the world. A man in his sixties with clean cut hair, wearing a smart sport coat, pressed slacks and collared shirt, and a pair of shiny mahogany colored loafers drives a Mercedes sedan, frequents upscale bistros, and shops at fine stores like Neiman Marcus and Brooks Brothers. Those he encounters on a daily basis are likely to assume him smart, distinguished, accomplished, cultured, well-educated, and moneyed. He is likely to be treated with dignity and respect, unless he does something egregious to warrant otherwise. By contrast, a 17 year-old boy, wearing disheveled thrift store attire, drives his used truck to fast food restaurants and convenience stores, and shops at discount outlets and cheap  chain stores. It is likely that those he encounters will assume him to be poor and undereducated. He may experience disrespect and disregard on a daily basis, despite how he behaves toward others. Ethical Consumerism and Cultural Capital In a system of consumer signs, those who make the ethical choice to purchase fair trade, organic, locally grown, sweat-free, and sustainable goods are also often seen as morally superior to those who don’t know, or don’t care,  to make these kinds of purchases. In the landscape of consumer goods, being an ethical consumer awards one with heightened cultural capital and a higher social status in relation to other consumers. For example, buying a hybrid vehicle signals to others that one is concerned about environmental issues, and neighbors passing by the car in the driveway might even view the car’s owner more positively. However, someone who can’t afford to replace their 20-year-old car may care about the environment just as much, but they would be unable to demonstrate this through their patterns of consumption. A sociologist would then ask, if ethical consumption reproduces problematic hierarchies of class, race, and culture, then, how ethical is it? The Problem of Ethics in a Consumer Society Beyond the hierarchy of goods and people fostered by  consumerist culture, is it even possible to be an ethical consumer? According to Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, a society of consumers thrives on and fuels rampant individualism and self-interest above all else. He argues that this stems from operating within a consumerist context in which we are obligated to consume to be the best, most desired and valued versions of ourselves. With time, this self-centered standpoint infuses all of our social relationships. In a society of consumers we are prone to be callous, selfish, and devoid of empathy and concern for others, and for the common good. Our lack of interest in the welfare of others is furthered by the waning of strong community ties in favor of fleeting, weak ties experienced only with others who share our consumer habits, like those we see at the cafà ©, the farmers market, or at a music festival. Rather than investing in communities and those within them, whether geographically rooted or otherwise, we instead operate as swarms, moving from one trend or event to the next. From a sociological standpoint, this signals a crisis of morals and ethics, because if we are not part of communities with others, we are unlikely to experience moral  solidarity with others around the shared values, beliefs, and practices that allow for cooperation and social stability. The research of Bourdieu, and the theoretical observations of Baudrillard and Bauman, raise the alarm in response to the idea that consumption can be ethical. While the choices we make as consumers do matter, practicing a truly ethical life requires going beyond just making different consumption patterns. For example, making ethical choices involves investing in strong community ties, working to be an ally to others in our community, and thinking critically and often beyond self-interest. It is difficult to do these things when navigating the world from the standpoint of a consumer. Rather, social, economic, and environmental justice follow from ethical  citizenship.