Natasha Brown
Fullmer
English 102
04/02/07
Rough II
Sometimes when scientists and philosophers discuss human nature, they forget that they are also analyzing themselves. In Brody’s essay “Social Power of Expert Healers” he talks about how experts abuse their power by giving examples of how doctors can mess up their clients’ lives. Ewen an author of an other essay, defines how people with power are seen in our society and how those without power try to make it seem like they have power. Within their discussions of power, Brody and Ewen both analyze the nature of expert power as well as unintentionally pointing out their uses and abuses of that specific power.
Ewen in his essay “Chosen People” generalizes every individual that belongs to middle class, while Brody generalizes every expert. Do all the experts abuse their power and do all of the middle class pretend that are elite? And to which social class does Ewen thinks he belongs? Brody tries to show readers that they should not trust experts partly or at all. He says, “No expert has to own responsibility for making any value-laden judgments”(116). By using his expert power he attempts to change people’s mind.
Ewen puts people in categories which define them by what they have. He proves to us that people’s personalities and lives are explained by their belongings. This demonstrates that a person’s purpose in life is built around making money just so they can get more stuff and have higher social status. Ewen simply forgets or ignores the fact that there are many people with other values that do not revolve around money and possetions. By using the example about the Gold Card, he shows that everybody wants to be special, everybody wants to be aristocratic without mentioning that some people are happy when they have what they need, and they don’t need to prove to others that they are happy and successful.
Ewen says, “The middle class have the strongest motives for never making any parade or public complaint of their poverty. To advertise one’s self destitute, is to be without credit,”(192) This quote defines some people in poverty that try to show that they are not poor. Being in middle class is different then being in poverty. That’s why middle class does not publicly complain about their position, they have no reason to. The middle class man is the one who is comfortable in the position he is, doesn’t struggle for basic needs and has an opportunity to get higher status by working hard.
It’s hard to argue that people in general judge each other by what belongs to them, but it’s not true that everybody’s main focus is physical possessions. Ewen says, “a rise to a notion of class defined, almost exclusively, by patterns of consumption”(187) which means that Americans more and more care about their appearance then their substance. Ewen talks about the American style and the American Dream. He can’t really prove his point without giving an example of other nations to show that American way of life in fact stands out. Brody does the same by not mentioning that without doctors and their power, people would be in a very difficult situation. Everybody has their own power, and all people depend on each other in one way or another. There have to be different groups and classes of people in society. For instance, some people own a company, they give an opportunity for others to have a job like designers, engineers, genitors etc. but the owners, an engineer and a genitor cannot make the same amount of money. It’s not because one job matters less then another but because that’s just how it works in this civilization. Social classes could be compared to the animal world where poverty is at the bottom of the food chain.
Being an expert in some field makes a person see a situation only from one point of view, and the essays by Brody and Ewen demonstrate it. Just like doctors don’t always believe in magic, priests in evolution, etc. Brody and Ewen argue their point by trying to explain why some situations occur without explaining their actions of abusing of power.