The Super Rich Are Killing Our Democracy It was foretold by Thomas Jefferson that the downfall of a democracy is the accumulation of wealth by the rich and the lack of money for the poor. This is now happening with the Super Corporations controlling the flow of money and the flow of money controlling our politicians. Barbara Ehrenreich, in her article, “The Trouble With The Super Rich”, talks about: America being divided more and more by money. The upper class is shrinking in size, but not in wealth. Having such a small amount of people possessing such a large amount of the wealth will pull down society.
The World War I had brought America to the forefront of the global outlook. The war time excesses in production transformed into prosperity during the next decade which would watch America seek continued isolation despite the mounting global challenges. The Great War and the resulting Versailles Treaty left Europe in a rather deprived and devastated state where the Europeans continued to seek cultural and economic assistance from their cross-Atlantic neighbors. With new job opportunities, progressive ideas, an air of liberalism had developed around the American continent. This openness and jubilance was most evident in the arts, entertainment and economic sectors of the economy.
The obsession with social hierarchy drives people to be selfish and greedy- never happy with what they have. At the same time, there are many people like Gatsby today who feel they have to cheat their way to the top to be happy, like so many corporate giants who have schemed for years and stole billions of dollars from innocent, but maybe slightly naïve taxpayers. Both kinds of people have lost the sense of the American dream. Originally people just wanted a perfect but humble life: a loving, close-knit family, a steady paying job, and ultimately pure happiness. But once people see that it is possible to have much more than that, they begin to get covetous and only want more.
To what extent should the 1920’s in America be remembered as good times or bad times? After World War one and the Treaty of Versailles, America became an isolationist. This meant they isolated themselves from all the other countries and didn’t get involved in other countries problems, America decided to take care of her own problems. During the 1920’s the USA became the richest and most powerful country in the world as a massive economic boom had occurred. However in 1929 disaster struck as banks went bust and share prices hit rock bottom.The roaring twenties, the age of excess and the Jazz age.
Roosevelt had a great impact on America by changing the relationship between the national government and the people changed drastically. The government took on a greater role in the everyday social and economic lives of the people. Theodore Roosevelt had a great effect on the great depression because he happened to be the right guy at a very bad time. Roosevelt had a plan called the New Deal to help America back on its feet. The New Deal programs of FDR created a liberal political alliance made up of labor unions, blacks and other ethnic and religious minorities, intellectuals, the poor, and some farmers.
Winner-Take-All Politics; a book which defends the middle and lower class by stating that the richest 1% is getting richer because of political forces. The authors argue that the structure of our government has created economic woes and inequalities in our society, that interest groups play a big part in politics, and that those at the top of the economic ladder use their power to better themselves economically, leaving the rest the USA, the 99% struggling to maintain economic stability. The structure of the government has contributed tremendously to US economic woes and inequality. The main structures of our government that are creating these economic woes are: separation of powers, the legislative process, and federalism. Separation of
Of course, those already in power bitterly resent this; that is why there is such a strong anti-democratic streak in wealthy conservatives and business owners. They complain that democracy allows the poor to legally steal from the rich. (Liberals counter that unregulated capitalism allows the rich to exploit and therefore steal from the poor, and taxes simply correct for that.) But democracy also works in the other direction as well. If we lived in a society where everyone was paid equally, despite their different inputs, people would surely vote to create a system of incentives and rewards.
After the First World War or “the war to end all wars”, the whole world thrived with prosperity. New inventions and industries that were damaged by the war kicked off and then came the “roaring 20’s”. The 20’s brought great riches and prosperity to many. Some people developed a fortune and new life for themself. However contrary to they’re lavish lifestyle these people who acquired new wealth were seen as unworthy to the wealthy community in America (the “old rich”) and were shunned by the click of wealthy Americans who were born into they’re materialistic lifestyle.
The New Deal On November 1918, World War I ended and brought with it a feeling of elation that was translated into the early 1920’s, an era of jazz, promiscuity, and romanticized crime. After World War I, the United States emerged victorious and although Woodrow Wilson did not achieve some of his goals, such as the League of Nations, the country was in excellent shape. However, this sentiment of happiness caused people to invest more and more money. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the Great Depression began. Herbert Hoover, ill equipped to deal with the crisis was soon voted out of office and Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected.
The Great Gatsby Analysis F. Scott Fitzgerald’s creation of an immoral and corrupt American society in The Great Gatsby allows him to depict his belief that wealth can have a negative influence over people limiting their judgement of what is right and what is wrong. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s his transformation from a poor army soldier into a wealthy bootlegger trying to impress Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s old love before he was sent to war who marries a wealthy man, Tom Buchanan. It is theorized that Fitzgerald wrote this story as a tribute to the American Dream of the 1920’s that anyone could gain wealth, status in society, and obtain material possessions to improve their lives, but it has since been expressed that he in fact intended the opposite. Fitzgerald condemns the American Dream of