The American Dream Ruined The American dream was originally supposed to be prosperity, success, having a family, and being able to provide for that family without worry. Money was acquired through hard work and honesty, but The Great Gatsby presents an entirely different perspective on this dream. One example from the book is the way Gatsby gets his money--through bootlegging. He steped completely out of the guidelines of the American Dream. The American Dream was not meant to be corrupt, but during the 1920s, people like Gatsby used organized crime and other immorally wrong ways to gain their wealth.
JDR- Business Technique. Much as one might like to see John D. Rockefeller as the arch capitalist crushing competitors as he gained monopolistic power, it's not so (at least according to the biography I read). He did indeed control much of the oil in the United States but he was fair in the prices he offered competitors he wanted to buy out and he was modest in his personal expenses and generous in his charitable contributions all his life. How he gain control He was able to price his product so low that competitors couldn't compete. They would then go out of business and/or sell to JDR.
It is basically a win for the U.S because we take advantage of people, by promoting investments we know thecountry will never be able to pay back; because of the interest and the amount of the loan.It is amazing how a group of individuals can make so much influence and cheat countries around the globe, and funnel money from the world bank in order to do so. It sadden me how they can damage a country, and how they are taking peoples dignity and culture as well as their lands. This clearly shows how economic growth and development doesn’t benefit everyone in a country, for example the indigenous tribes that were being forced of their land for oil.It seems that governments, big business and the banks will stop at nothing to get what they want. They get away with it because we all live in a state of ignorance. I wonder when we will say enough and demand that these institutions conduct their business with honesty, integrity and complete transparency.It’s no wonder that these countries hate the United States so passionately.
While these ideals have coincided with numerous overthrows, however they never really had the needed effect until business interests came in to play. It’s not difficult to see that the American government has been considered as a proverbial hit man for American business, while the American public continues to assume that our international interventions were just simple ideals of supplying freedom and democracy in to “savage” societies. This blatant step in the push of American ideology deviated from the Monroe Doctrine’s ideal of isolation, to the insistent aggressive push of the later 20th century started with the plot of missionaries turned business men in the coup to take over the Hawaiian Monarchy. The businessmen wanted to annex Hawaii in to the US, with the help of the military they attempted to gain better access to the sugar markets that were abundant within Hawaii at the time (Kinzer, 2006, p.24). Nonetheless, the troop landing to assist Lorrin Thurston’s conspiracy was not the first to happen in Hawaii, it was preceded by an earlier endeavor by the Hawaiians king using 150 US Marines as his personal
While his practices were eventually made illegal in many cases, it is undeniable that his domination of the oil industry increased its efficiency, safety, and stabilized its market price. In my opinion, because of the many companies that were eliminated by Rockefellers practices, laws like the Sherman Act in many ways did serve the public good. While on some levels I respect his business acumen, it was certainly not good for a a you company to make the backroom deals that unfairly drove many entrepreneurs to ruin. Undoubtedly, one must also take into consideration the fact that the growth of industry taking place was unprecedented in human history. Never before had technology, transportation, and communications come together to allow for such exponential growth on a global scale.
But, he knew achieving perfection was impossible, yet he believed trying to achieve moral perfection is what the true American Dream is all about. Gatsby says, “…I carry a little business on the side…you might pick up a nice bit of money. It happens to be a rather confidential sort of thing.” (Fitzgerald, 83) This passage indicates how Gatsby does not earn his money the proper way. His “side-business” refers to his unknown occupation of bootlegging. The reason for Gatsby to participate in this business was to earn a nice amount of cash quickly to purchase glamorous riches, which was all done to attract the attention of Daisy.
Even though there were some trusts which were effective, still there were so many corrupted companies. With his urge, congress established the department of commerce and labor to eliminate monopolies. Roosevelt also encouraged congress to pass the “Hepburn Act” which gave the power to the Interstate Commerce Commission. “… giving the ICC power to examine railroads’ business records and to set reasonable rates, a significant step in the development of federal intervention in the corporate economy” (Liberty, 706). So he could have power to control the railroad business which was one of the biggest industries and corrupted business.
Aside from that, he had promised to pay back the money he had stolen and believed he would. He was stealing the money because he wanted people to like him and he thought this was the way to do it. 4. The framed T-shirt tells me that he really wanted to have things and needed the money to have the things he wanted. The lifestyle red flags that could have tipped off the company to the possibility of fraud would be the new expensive cars, the expensive clothes, the houses that his income would not have been able to support.
The New Deal was a complex strategy to help the American economy get back on its feet. This plan consisted of many Alphabetical Agencies. These were various economic program to boost the economy and provide for the "forgotten man". Controversially to Hoover's ideas, Roosevelt did not believe the "trickle down" theory, which declared that if the big businessmen get rich, it will eventually trickle down to the lower classes, was effective. "he long-range
A lot of times, this leads to a lot of corruption within the U.S. Such as the case of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. Both were very smart and clever business men, but to obtain this wealth, each man committed corrupt actions. Both men turned their businesses into monopolies. A monopoly is when one company makes a good, product, service, etc.