Lanham “Stuff and Fluff” Article
Reading Response #1

The article focuses on how rhetoric and attention influence the modern-day economy. The connections between the importance of “fluff” (like creative jobs) in an economy that previously was focused on “stuff” (like technical jobs) shows that the world is changing. I found the article to be innovative in pointing out that the artistic jobs of the world are just as important in contributing to the economy as the industrial jobs. The author talks about how we have an economy that is now more focused on attention–ending with a story about how people were more motivated to give money to celebrities or those who were well-known in the economy–and I found this idea of attention as a main focus of the economy to be supported by modern economic practices. Businesses that make the most money and have a fighting chance in the economy are often famous and have the most attention, such as with brands like Nike or Starbucks. The “fluff” that gets the most attention leads to making money (“stuff”) in the modern economy.
The article caught my attention as early on as the second page, when mentioning that “like a race care” (2) we walk around with advertisements for different brands on our clothes. This made me think of the Nike shoes I own, and other examples of brand merchandise in my closet that are meant to show status in ownership or conformity in being on trend with peers. The article discusses consumerism and our relationship as consumers with the brands we purchase from. In reality, we as consumers are essentially promoting brands and acting as advertisers for the brands, without compensation, but rather paying the brands to wear their products. 
I was also drawn to the concept that information is apart of nature (4,5). We have created a society that has grown past just basic survival. So, the article explains that although science explains the natural world, it doesn’t explain the concept of information as a trait of modern society. I found this concept interesting as it shows the impact the media has on our society—you have to have information about almost everything in order to understand what’s going on in daily life and to hold conversations with other people. 
The article shows the artistic integrity in majoring in something like English–in the past, engineering was more necessary, as the Industrial Revolution caused the world to be based on making goods. In our new economy of fluff, people crave the creative value of their goods. The article discusses the importance of design and careers in design in this modern era. I found this viewpoint refreshing, as it argues that all majors in college are equally important and ultimately have equal impact. Contrast to popular belief, all majors are turning into what the article describes as stuff rather than fluff—all creative ventures have value to society, in the same amount as physical man-made ventures. The beauty of the world is just as important as how it works. 
The argument about the importance of rhetoric stood out to me, as comparisons were drawn from rhetoric in Ancient Greek times to the present day. I was interested that the concept of rhetoric is still so important today as it was back then. The tales of Odysseus were used as past motivation for the importance of rhetoric. Presently, politicians use rhetoric to influence society. This ties back to the earlier concept of the arts and artistic careers being just as important as industrial pursuits. The article points out that rhetoric, although used to inform, uses acting as a main component for persuasion. Acting is an artistic pursuit, and the article proves that it still has great value in modern society, not just for entertainment but for professional value.