ADAM SMITH’S “Of the Natural Progress Opulence” Rhetorical Analysis

According to a social study, diverse celebrities amass varying quantities of money from the behaviors that they engage in. Various authors have made considerable attempts to account for the production of capital in society and the distribution of taxes in a given area. Among those who have speculated the development of riches in different nations is Adam Smith, who compiled an important essay, “Of the Natural Progress of Opulence,” to better understand the economic statuses of societal members at particular periods. This essay examines how Smith employs linguistic techniques to explain the financial positions of different group members. According to Smith, opulence in the countries that have pieces of land for agricultural activities result from the sale of farm produce to the urban dwellers. The assumption that Smith makes in the argument above is that the societies with agricultural lands often cultivate their farms to generate incomes thus leading to the accumulation of wealth. Therefore, the cultivation of crops and sale to the urban dwellers is a primary source of opulence among the society members. In the claim that agriculture leads to the creation of wealth, Smith applies the strategy of the slippery slope, which entails the demonstration of how one activity leads to the other. In particular, Smith postulates that the ownership of an agricultural land leads to farming and sale of farm products hence the creation of wealth. The argument that Smith applies in the analysis of the sources of opulence is logical and helps in accounting for the economic statuses of various personalities in the society. However, Smith’s argument has a flaw because it capitalizes on the assumption that owners of land are commercial agriculturalists, which is not applicable in some situations. The use of slippery slope is important in improving the comprehension of the reader of the text that Smith compiled concerning opulence.

Smith also associates the opulence in the society to the relationships that people develop in the course of their daily operations. In particular, farmers depend on the services of other personalities such as the blacksmiths, masons, and carpenters among others to conduct the production processes, and in turn, the agriculturalists pay for the services thus leading to the circulation of wealth among the society members. The assumption that Smith applies in the argument above is that people usually spend the incomes that they receive to acquire other products. The rhetorical strategy Smith uses in the argument above is the catalog - a list of things that belong to a larger category and helps in the reinforcement of an individual’s claims. For instance, the claim that various personalities use their incomes to acquire other products is an indication of how figures gain wealth. Smith’s argument concerning the circulation of incomes and opulence is relevant and suits the current affairs in the society. The use of catalog aids in explaining to the reader how the occurrence of various events in the community contributes to wealth creation.

To conclude, the opulence in the society results from the activities that people undertake at a particular time in the community. As evident in this essay, Smith utilized the rhetorical strategies such as catalog and slippery slope to help account for the wealth accumulation property in a nation. In reality, the strategies mentioned above have played a critical role in enhancing the readers’ comprehension of opulence in the society.