Here's a ton of cash, why don't you have some?" Eventually FDR was able to create a Hollow Economy, a state in which the economy appears to be flourishing, but in reality, the rich are getting richer, and the poor poorer. Although the WPA and NRA both did a great job of decreasing unemployment, they also did a great job of taking our riches. So how does all of this affect us? Well, it's simple.
Analytical Essay Overall wellbeing, an extravagant lifestyle, and wealth all come to mind when I ponder the good life but what does the good life actually cost? At first glance, this seems like a loaded question that requires multiple dissertations in order to answer. I even contemplated whether or not the good life had a cost at all. Breaking the good life into separate topics relieves much of the stress when it comes to giving an answer. In terms of consumerism, the good life is damaging to the environment, places too much emphasis on money, and it dwindles the importance of non-market values.
Greed in Gatsby In this day and age, cash is a very essential resource to have. One needs to have at least enough to stay on, though excellent quantities are more suitable. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott-Fitzgerald, having a huge sum of cash is not enough. It is also the way you obtain the cash that issues. Gatsby and Tom both have a lot of cash yet Daisey choices one over the other, not because of the distinction in the quantity they have, but because of the way in which it is accomplished.
Through East Egg and West Egg, Fitzgerald reveals that the American Dream is simply an illusion for most people in society. It is portrayed as though those in East Egg simply inherit their money (this is why they are considered ``old money``), while those in West Egg have somehow earned their money by working for it (this is why they are considered the ``nouveau riche``). When Fitzgerald writes ``Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.`` (7), he is trying to say that it is much better to be morally upright when you are trying to make an honest living. In saying this, Fitzgerald makes the immorality of the wealthy seem even more unforgivable. Another important piece of evidence that shows that the American Dream is not what it appears to be is the fact that Gatsby did not earn his wealth through hard work.
As time progresses, we notice that monetary value has become a main concept in American societies. But should money be the center of our lives? Americans’ admiration for wealth has locked them in a closet of luxury and, as a result, blinded them from their morals and other values in life. In his book, Money and Class in America, Lewis Lapham states that Americans are driven by money and envision it as “the currency of the soul.” Unfortunately, we Americans do validate Lapham's statement by allowing our money to show our success and happiness, therefore granting the rights to show out ignorance. Because of our love for monetary means, Americans tend to flaunt their wealth to quite an extreme, which further proves that we have been “deflected by the pursuit of money,” according to
Jobs are something given to make money, money to buy things, the job is not usually chosen to “front the essential facts of life”. We instead are awed by careers which “yields the most sugar and most starch”. The fact remains, that in the 21st century, transcendentalism is no longer applicable in society. The idea of “not troubling yourself much to get new things” is contrary to
In the novel, The Good Earth, Pearl S Buck portrays that as Wang Lung’s wealth increases he becomes more enslaved rather than free. To be free is more of a fantasy than a reality for almost everyone in the world, and this is also true for Wang Lung. He is able to do more than he ever could and buy what he pleases, but that doesn’t necessarily make him free. As he begins to get more money, he is faced with decisions and obstacles that make him a more enslaved man. As people come into riches and their wealth increases, they are only further enslaved.
The greed that people have is one of the themes in The Devil and Tom Walker. People are willing to wage just about anything to make quick, easy, money. Back then, not a lot of people had money so it was like a treasure everyone envied. Even though in today’s society we like to say, “Money isn’t everything” we all know it’s a great proportion of everything. If we start looking toward romantic and transcendentalist ideas maybe that will change though I highly doubt it.
When I read the Great Gatsby it was about striving for equality, but more of a drive to become as rich as possible. Although not always by the best of means, the idea that Americans were portrayed to care about nothing more than to reach the top is what kept the economy and the nation for that matter going. Most of the characters in the novel are full of nothing more than hope. Hope for money, hope for love, hope for a life better than what they had in the past. As Linn wrote, life is more complex than we think.
Johnson states, “Common sense suggest that raising the incomes of the poor is more complex than passing a law requiring that wages be increased because then it would be a simply matter to make everyone extremely wealthy by requiring that everyone be paid, say $100 per hour. According to Johnson, the economic analysis of the minimum wage question has not changed much throughout the last fifty years (Johnson). Economists rarely debate the issue among themselves, and “to them the continuing debate by others reflects not the limitation of economic science…but rather indicates that what is known is comprehended by so few, and is so poorly used” (Johnson). Economic analysis suggests that wage rates are like other prices, and are therefore determined by the interaction of buyers and sellers (Johnson). For example, if buyers want to purchase more than sellers want to sell, then buyers will offer a higher price, and price increases will stop only when the price is high enough so that buyers want to purchase only that amount that is available (Johnson).