Short Essay 4: Bryant Simon’s The Hamlet Fire: A Tragic
Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives
And so we come to the end of our journey. Let’s keep it simple. One of the
themes we have explored in Unit 4 has been the ideological shift to the right in
American politics since the 1970s. Conservative thought focuses on limiting the
role of government in American life, especially in the economy, and relying more
on market forces to solve problems. But everything, even greater efficiency,
comes at a price. In your essay, answer the following:
What is the “politics of cheap?” How does Simon deploy this concept to help us
explain the conditions that contributed to a fire in a North Carolina chicken plant?
What are the hidden costs of America’s addiction to “cheap?”
In your essay, avoid quotations that do little but waste space. Put your ideas in
your own words