PRACTICA 2 THE ROYAL EXHANGE Essays - Capitalism,

PRACTICA 2: THE ROYAL EXHANGE Jourlanism. 1) Consider the satisfaction which Adisson takes in The royal Exchange. Why does he love so much to visit it? Are you persuaded that his pleasure comes from being a great Lover of Mankind or is wealth itself what stimulates it? -Hume and Locke. -Vanity -All this products not exist in England. 2) The Royal Exchange, in the heart of the City (financial district) of London, was not only a hub for business and shopping but also a symbol of "globalization" : the increasing importance of international commerce to the British economy. Addison's idyllic picture of the Exchange, written in 1711, celebrates the way in which the whole world seems to revolve around the blessings of trade. But many English people also worried that foreign luxuries might sap the national spirit of independence and self-sufficient. Addison's essay on the Royal Exchange of London highlights some of the changes occurring in England in the eighteenth century. Among such changes is the influx of foreign trade, and foreign people, to London. Addison sees great prospects in the influx of foreigners, the world seems near perfect in its recent mixture of populations. He writes that nature, in disseminating "her blessings" throughout the world has created a population "united together by their common interest." To prove his point of perfection, Addison goes on to describe the situation in England. In doing so, though, Addison seems to come down hard against his mother country. To his eyes, England is a remote, infertile island: "Nature indeed furnishes us with the bare necessities of life." He speaks of "the trash of our own country," as opposed to the delights that arrive from overseas. It is interesting to think of Addison's England in contrast to "Paradise Lost." England seems to represent the epicenter of humanity's fall from grace, with its barren soil and lack of resources. At the same time, the rest of the world seems to be Addison's Eden, replete with spices, fruits, and other delicacies. This view, possibly widespread at the time, explains much of English exploration and globalization. The need to seek out greener pastures, purer resources and perhaps purer people appears as a major motivation in the English colonialism that would follow Addison's writing. The trade market is more than just a place to get wealthy, it is a place where countries each exchange their own goods of their country for another's. As Addison points out, it creates an interchanging variety of spices, fruits, clothing, and other luxuries within each country, as they trade for one another's goods. In a extremely convincing and positive statement, Addison says that nature not only provides wonderful "blessings" from one portion of the world to the next, but creates a way through trade so that people "might have a kind of dependence upon one another and be united together by their common interest" (2479). This is great, except that this common interest seems to be materialism and greed. I say this because the trade market is basically a place to exchange for things that you don't really need, while helping you become very wealthy in the process. For example, today Americans do not necessarily need a brand new Hummer, but they'll buy it because they can and because it 's not in everyone else's driveway. This is materialism because it is something you don't need, but you want anyway. Again, supporting this interpretation of Addison's essay, he says that he is "delighted to see such a body of men... bringing into their country whatever is wanting" (2479). Key word here: wanting. Addison supports pure materialism. The sad thing is, Addison is in love with the Royal Exchange concept but only because he sees great prospects in the influx of foreigners be obsessed with wealth and with materialism. that he cannot even help himself but cry with tears of joy when he thinks about it. It's bad enough to be obsessed with wealth and making the already rich even richer, but to actually cry to tears over the joy it brings, just really crosses the line. Although Addison does give some good point about bringing different cultures together, I don't see an emphasis placed on it. He does mention how wonderful it is seeing