America:

The Monetized
MADISON GOSNELL
Monetize: “to utilize (something of
value) as a source of profit”

- MERRIAM WEBSTER
 Out of this need has risen…

How is
America
Monetized?
With Capitalism comes the need for
private businesses. In America that
has turned into people being
expected to turn every hobby or
skill into a lucrative side business
while also working for corporate
businesses.

…And many more

mailchimp_t1ak.1920.webp
 Below: A banana taped to
the wall by Maurizio

Entertainment Cattelan in Perrotin

Gallery, it sold for
$120,000
The best representation of the effect of
monetization on the way we view
entertainment is through Broadway, a
place where the common theme is the
struggle of those without money and yet
it can only be regularly enjoyed by those
Above: The outside of the
who embody the rich villains in the
shows, and the art industry, which has
theater where Les Misérables, a
turned art into a pretentious rich people's
musical about the poor people
contest instead of the show of human who lead the French
emotion it usually is. Revolution, is performed.
 Artistic commentary
Bo Burnham’s song Art Is Dead
A song about how musicians and artists are more focused
on how they can make money by using people's interest
in their work. Could also look at his song Country Song.
“To think that I’m worthy … Of all of this money you
worked really hard for”
“But I get paid to indulge in my habit”
“So, people think you’re funny
How do we get those people’s money?”
“We’re rolling in dough while Carlin rolls in his grave”
Penelope Scotts’ song American Healthcare
◦ As song about the way American Healthcare is
monetized and how a doctor could go into the system
wanting to help people but falls into the greed in
healthcare.
“ It was the Government
The companies, bureaucracy
The congressmen, the lobbyists, and lies”
“Because with God as my witness
You corporate f*ing pr*ick
I did not become a doctor for this”
Human Rights: The representation for the
effect of monetization on human rights can
be both direct and indirect.
Direct are things like nonprofit organizations, which still means they run like a business and their
main focus is making money to continue the business.

Once they are doing things for money, they will start to give in places to keep their business afloat
and start ignoring some of their morals and mission. Or lying about their mission and morals so
they can continue to receive money.

Some of the most notable nonprofits are American Red Cross, which still refuses blood from
sexually active Gay men ( Because of guidelines from the FDA), and the Salvation Army, which
has a long history of discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community (
The Salvation Army's History of Anti-LGBT Discrimination,
The Salvation Army Wants You To Believe They've Changed)
Indirect effects are shown best through two
examples, the gentrification of thrift stores
and rainbow capitalism.
Thrift stores started as a place for those with less money to still be able to buy nice clothes
without have to pay the extreme prices but with the rise of TikTok and Instagram fashion trends
the amount of clothes for the direct audience is minimal at best. Trends such as ones where the
model will take a large amount of plus sized clothing from thrift stores and cut them up to make
sets at a low price and then turning around and selling them at higher prices on shops such as
Etsy or Postmark. This creates a large dip in the available clothes to the plus sized poor and
instead gives them to the people who can already afford newer clothes.
 Left: A hoodie
from Walmart
during the
Summer of
Rainbow Capitalism is 2020 that was
a name given to a eventually
specific section of an removed
overarching problem.
It gets its name from the phenomenon of
large-scale corporations celebrating gay
pride during Pride month, and only during
Pride month, and only by selling rainbow Right: A picture
items. It’s specifically when the company
of a small part of
doesn’t make any change in the way the
company runs behind the scenes but sells
the Target Pride
items that celebrate the highlighted minority Section that is full
community at that time. It was seen during of rainbows and
the Black Lives Matter marches over the short shorts.
summer of 2020 and also during Pride
month every year.

Life and death
Life and Death has been monetized
through the monetization of
healthcare and hospitals. There are
many people in America who have
died or suffered long term disability
because they could not afford to go
to the hospital or the doctor.
“One patient that comes to mind had to call out from her —
from her job that day. So she, that day, did not make any
money that she normally would have, because she didn’t
have paid time off from work.” – Corinne Lewis on Common
Wealth Fund
“High healthcare costs are causing Americans to get sicker
from delaying, avoiding, or stopping medical treatment.” –
The Guardian
“Hospital profitability has risen to its highest levels in
decades, boosted by the nation’s rebound from the Great
Recession and the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of health
coverage.” – AmericanProgress.org
“Forty-four percent of respondents said they would avoid
needed medical care if they knew their out-of-pocket costs
would exceed $500.” – Beckershospitalreveiw.com
What it means to me
I have many hobbies that are considered great side business ventures, I create art and enjoy sewing. I
have almost fallen into the pit of trying to make everything that brings me joy into a marketable idea.
Only recently have I examined the impact that had on the way I now view those hobbies and my slow
movement to hobbies that are less marketable, like playing video games and watching videos. Over the
past few years, I have also looked into the problem with the high prices of healthcare and the ways I
have experienced that. And as an LGBT person I have witnessed the way that companies will sell these
products when they know it will make them money and I’ve seen how it has not helped and has
actually worsened some of the more subtle homophobia that the community experiences.
All sources
"Bo Burnham – ART IS DEAD." Genius. Web. 29 May 2021.

Banana on wall picture: Cascone, Sarah. "How the Unhinged Reaction to Maurizio Cattelan's Banana Revealed the Thin Line Between the Art World and Total
Anarchy." Artnet News. Artnet News, 15 Dec. 2019. Web. 29 May 2021.

Target pride section picture: Dvorak, Petula. "Perspective | At Target and Walmart, Pride Is Profitable. The Supreme Court Ought to Drop By." The Washington
Post. WP Company, 07 June 2018. Web. 29 May 2021.

Etsy Logo: "Etsy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 May 2021. Web. 29 May 2021.

Facebook Marketplace Logo: "Facebook Marketplace." Brand Resource Center. Web. 29 May 2021.

Redbubble Logo: "File:Redbubble Logo.svg." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 29 May 2021.

Les Miserables Picture: "Les Miserables Marquee 2006." Close Encounters of the Theatrical Kind. 22 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 May 2021.

Mailchimp Logo: "Mailchimp." Drupal.org. 24 Dec. 2020. Web. 29 May 2021.

"Penelope Scott – American Healthcare." Genius. Web. 29 May 2021.

Black Lives Matter Walmart Hoodie Picture: Taylor, Kate. "Walmart Pulls 'Black Lives Matter' Shirt after Police Accuse Retailer of 'profiting from Racial
Division'." Business Insider. Business Insider, 21 Dec. 2016. Web. 29 May 2021.
Sources Cont.
Gee, Emily. "The High Price of Hospital Care." Center for American Progress. Web. 29 May 2021.

Gooch, Kelly. "64% of Americans Avoid or Delay Treatment Due to Cost of Medical Care: 5 Survey
Insights." Becker's Hospital Review. Web. 29 May 2021.

"It's Harder for People Living in Poverty to Get Health Care." It's Harder for People Living in Poverty
to Get Health Care | Commonwealth Fund. Web. 29 May 2021.

"The Americans Dying Because They Can't Afford Medical Care." The Guardian. Guardian News and
Media, 07 Jan. 2020. Web. 29 May 2021.