HW 52 - Third Third of the COTD Book

The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford

Precis: Has it become too expensive to die? The funeral industry has gone through some pretty drastic changes, including the forming of centralizing funeral services, such as embalming and body storage. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has weakly tried to address the over pricing issues that the funeral industry forces on the general public, but they are very resistant. In England they don't have the same marketing campaigns for people who are dying. They also have a much higher cremation rate. They say that England is 50 years behind us, but is that such a bad thing? They still have their green pastures that aren't covered in cheap looking mausoleums. Although we are taking steps to fix what is happening in our funeral industry, it can't be said that we can yet die without being a little scared for how it will be payed for.

Quotes:

• "Borrowing from the successful techniques of McDonald's, where SCI first buys up a carefully chosen selection of funeral homes, cemeteries, flower shops, and crematoria in a given metropolitan area." (P 191)
• "The Americans pioneered a fast-food, hard-sell approach to death. It is not the British way. Sarah Bosely and Peter Godwin investigate creeping disneyfication--and soaring prices--in the British funeral industry." (P 224)
• "To hear the funeral men complain about the bad press they get, one might think they are the target or a huge newspaper and magazine conspiracy to defame and slander them, to tease them and laugh at them, and eventually to ruin them. Actually, they have not fared too bad." (P 237)
• "On which one of Neptune's top salespeople explained, in an expensive mood, that the law requires a casket (cost: $400), while in practice, bodies are cremated in a shroud. The avid seller likewise explained that an urn is required by law (cost: $75), whereas a $2 cardboard box is used." (P 259-260)

Analysis: As someone relatively new to the "weird" aspect of normality, i think that it would be safe to say that the practices in the food industry, the birth industry and the health care industry are very similar to those of the funeral industry. I have noticed as a general consensus, that these industries will lie and cheat to make the most money. They all cut corners to save time at either a physical or economic risk to the patron all to have a slightly higher profit. In The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford, the funeral directors lie about the necessary process that needs to happen to a dead body, and even about the laws that set the standards for their practices so that they can make the either grieving or preparing families pay more. In Food Inc by Paul Roberts addresses similar topics of industry leaders skirting by the laws and lying about their products so they can have a higher profit. Even if it means selling bad meat to schools or slaughtering animals in an inhumane way. The "Normal" aspect of society is quickly becoming how fast we can dehumanize an industry and make the most profit with the least work. Thats at least what i have learned so far.