Being Consumed: Economics And Christian Desire By William T. Cavanaugh

William T. Cavanaugh the Catholic theologian in this book Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire mainly focuses on giving responses to Christians on how to go about the economic circumstances the world is currently facing. Cavanaugh touches on topics such as free market, globalization, consumerism, economic scarcity and abundance, giving recommendation to Christians and offering them theological reflections that must be grounded in the everyday of Christian existence. There is a tendency of focusing on the wrongs of the economic world but Cavanaugh argues that there are other ways of looking and solving these economic issues from a Christian perspective. The correct view of things such as what ‘freedom’ is within a free market economy.
Cavanaugh argues that individuals need to understand why they want, because failing to do so will only cause false desire. This notion of purchasing is leading people to buy so as to fulfill other kinds of emptiness and this will become a habit rather than satisfying a want. Free market economy would be ‘free’ if individuals are allowed to make their own mistakes. Cavanaugh calls the attention of Christians, and the need to be proactive in promoting socio-economic practices that will maintain close connections such as capital to enable the good to take place in the
Cavanaugh says that ‘free trade’ is a detachment from the local and a commitment to the hyper-mobility of capital. There is integration of culture, economy and politics in globalization. Cavanaugh’s argument lies on the conviction of culture and economics being autonomous spheres with no mutual effect. Economic relationships do not operate on value neutral laws, but carriers of specific convictions about the nature of the human person. Difficult cultures are virtually dissolved and human relationships become practical for the sake of efficient economic