Economists argue that people are always motivated to maximize profits but this is not always true. Sometimes, there is more motivation for economic practices rather than economic profits. Two ethnographies, “Interest in Cattle” by E.E. Evans-Pritchard and “Fashion Obsession” by Shakima Swain, both show that social status can be of more significance than economic status.
In “Interest in Cattle” Evans-Pritchard explains that cattle is very important in the daily lives of the Nuer people. Their cattle are used for everything including food, clothing, and fuel. The Nuer define themselves in terms of cattle; they gain personhood only once they have started tethering cattle. They are even named after their cattle. The Nuer have such a deep bond with their cattle that they refuse to make profits from their cattle; they become aggressive when their cattle is threatened. When the opportunity to produce cotton rose, they refused to give up their cattle. It may seem that the Nuer were not thinking rationally when they turned down the offer to make more money. However, to the Nuer, they did the right thing by putting their cattle first because they value the cattle for the social status that comes with it more than anything.…show more content… Swain explains that she feels the need to dress expensively to not look poor. She has this idea that looking poor is the worst possible thing ever; she explains feeling poor as “rock bottom”. Swain could put her money to better use by saving up or buying more important things but she willingly chooses not to: “Sometimes I wish Steve would use his money and buy my mother a car rather than buy ‘gator shoes,” (p.7). Swain’s social status comes from her clothes, and to her that holds more importance than
