How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
How does it all come to be, that's what he wants to know, not just the how but the why of all this stuff. Only in America, apparently. Only America could take such a product-intensive sport and grow it into the civic necessity it is today.
He's not sure what he's just seen in here, but it seems to have made him sick. (XXL.102)
Billy's commenting on the fact that American marketers have a way of making you feel like it's your patriotic duty to buy their products. Why is football seen as a kind of civic duty? Because it's been marketed that way. Why has it been marketed that way? Because it's effective. And that means more profits.
Quote #8
"Why should I watch myself?"
"Because in case you haven't noticed this is a highly partisan country we live in, Billy. Those guys are smart, they know who the enemy is. They aren't fooled by a couple of bulls*** war medals."
Billy glances at his chest, considering his medals in this possibly sinister light.
"I'm not the enemy."
"Oh hooooo, you don't think? They decide, not you. They're the deciders when it comes to who's a real American, dude." (Everything.106-110)
Um, are there "fake" Americans? Ponder that one for a moment, folks.
Quote #9
"This is everything there is, you know what I'm sayin'? I'm not like that guy who goes around saying greed is good, but it can sure as heck be a force for good. Self-interest is a powerful motivator in human affairs, and to me that's the beauty of the capitalist system, it makes a virtue out of an innate human flaw. It's why you're gonna live better than your parents, and your kids are gonna live better than you, and their kids better than them and so on, because thanks to our system we're going to keep on finding more ways, easier and better ways, to solve the problems of living and accomplish so many things we never even dreamed of."
Billy nods. America has never made so much sense to him as at this moment. (Everything.235)
Is Billy nodding because he agrees with Hawey, or is he nodding because it's like someone just finally put his finger on the thing that's made Billy feel so uncomfortable lately? Do you think this analysis is right? Do you think capitalism always makes a virtue out of self-interest? Or are there times when it turns that self-interest into something even worse? Like a war?