Pope Paul VI once said “All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly strive to avoid is the major building block to the person we are today”. This quote means that people who are given good lives and good money take it for granted. They don’t care about what kind of money they get and don’t care in life, yet people who don’t have much money, but work hard to get there, enjoy and admire life much more. The convincing evidence is in the article it states, “ It seems like were always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it. Maybe if we could lose our cool we could.” Although one could argue that the Socs have it hard because of lack of support, Greasers have more …show more content…
The other group can say they struggle more because of lack of support. Also they have that feeling of not able to feel anything. This quote is inaccurate because even though they have little support from friends and family they have money and they choose to pick on the Greasers. This example seems reasonable because it may be hard without support, but it isn't as difficult as they say because its their choice to distance their selves from their friends. The Socs may also have it hard because they have money they don’t know what to do with. So to them money isn't everything. Their thesis is yet not valid because for a fact they choose to pick on Greasers and they also have friends but they choose to distance themselves from them. The opposing argument is flawed because they don't have the struggles the Greasers do. My group, the Greasers, have the most struggle because they are poor and most of them are drop outs just to find work to support their family. Unlike Socs who have a chance to succeed but choose not
Gregory Mantsios presents himself as an expert in this essay because he states a lot of facts. The author uses stats, his own opinion, and my favorite thing that brought me in was the myths that he told the reality’s for later in the essay. Mantsios believes that no matter what social or economic class that you fall into, you have a fair chance at succeeding in life. I feel that the intended audience is the citizens of America or people in the workforce since they are the ones that have to deal with this situation. The thesis of this essay is “Perhaps, most importantly, the point that is missed is that inequality is persistent and structural- and it manifests itself in a multitude of cultural and social ways.” The author discussed the problems that occur from economic and social classes. The purpose of this argument is to debate on what kind of people will be successful in life. Everyone has a shot at being successful, and that they do with it is
Drawing from the eudaimonic view and from SDT, Kasser & Ryan (1993, 1996) related money and materialism to well-being. They predicted that people who place a strong value on wealth...
This is a very prideful way to view society. I believe that if a man works hard, he should be rewarded and can accumulate wealth that way. Not given money from the rich who worked hard to get wealth.
Thus giving the poor even less of a chance to receive a higher education. What is a good counterargument to the thesis of this article? I think a good counterargument would be that inequality these days is different, not very many people these days live without completely no material necessities. The ones that do are due to their own downfalls, whether they are mentally ill or have a drug problem or any other number of illnesses. The United States provides less help to the poor, but it's not no help.
He further shows us that the people of today are richer than their grandparents but are not happier in their lives (from National Statistics of social pathology). Even with these facts, people in the United States still believe if they had more money all of their problems would be solved, but once they reach that next income bracket they are not satisfied and try to reach the next one. Myers et al tells us, "even if being rich and famous is rewarding, no one ever claimed material success alone makes us happy. Other conditions like - family- friends- free time - have been shown to increase happiness" (Csikszentmihaly 145). therefore we must find balance in our own lives, and not just focus on making money. Instead we need friends, family and even free time, as aforementioned doing an activity you enjoy such as listening to music or
Living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, our culture has naturally valued prestige and luxuries. We admire fancy items and often judge other individuals by the clothes they wear, the car they drive, and the schools that they attend. The “American Dream” serves as a motivational factor for people; believing that hard work and dedication can bring “success” to ones’ life. Although this is partially true, it is difficult for individuals in the middle class and lower class.
Money is the driving force behind our society, and the severe materialism that we are experiencing is taking a toll in our persona, relationships and quality of life. People work extremely hard to have bigger houses, the newest car models, and the latest technologies. At the end, none of these things make individuals happy because they barely have time left to enjoy them. However, society keeps reminding us that we are what we own, and if we don’t have much, we are nobody. The author Carolyn Gregoire explains that “…there is no direct correlation between income and happiness. Once our basic needs are met, wealth makes very little difference to one 's overall well-being and happiness. And in fact, extremely wealthy people actually suffer from higher rates of depression.” Another interesting point relates to relationships; according to a study published in the Journal Of Couple & Marriage Therapy, materialism is actually correlated with unhappiness in marriages. Finally, materialism and consumerism affect deeply the attitude of the individual toward others. The individual becomes more self- absorbed, exhibit narcissistic traits, and is more likely to behave unethically. The article Wealthy Selfies by Maia Szalavitz argues that “…in five different experiments involving several hundred undergraduates and 100 adults recruited from online communities, the researchers found higher levels of both narcissism and
Being in America, a society encompassed by those of a wealthy nature versus those striving to obtain as much wealth as they can in their own limitations, it seems inevitable for one to pass judgment on those who choose the glamorous lifestyle over any morals they may have had prior to their riches. After reading Money and Class in America, it can be concluded that Mr. Lewis Lapham makes an intriguing point as he states that it is seemingly unintelligent to assume that one that is wealthy in pocket is also wealthy in intelligence. Everyday, greed filled Americans prove this judgment to be blatantly wrong, as they partake in the extravagant lifestyle without much thought in the immorality that comes with the lifestyle. Though some may say that
People from lower classes try to achieve success but tend to struggle depending upon their foundation. The problem that people don’t want see is that we all want to become successful, and have the capability to do so but are just restricted by the lack of income.
For example, Dally is one of the poor greasers from the east side of the city, and Bob is a very rich Soc from the west side of the city. Dally, being a greaser from the east side of the city, has very little material wealth. Ponyboy states about all the greasers, “We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class” (3). What little money Dally has he earns riding in local rodeos. He does not even own a car, but borrows Buck Merill’s when he needs one. In fact, Dally does not even have a permanent home. Ponyboy states that Dally “lived anywhere he could” (105). Therefore, Dally is an underprivileged greaser with little money and few possessions. On the contrary, Bob Sheldon is one of the extremely rich Socs from the west side of the city. Bob has no reason to work because everything he wants is handed to him by his affluent parents. Ponyboy describes the Socs, Bob’s click, as “the jet set, the West-side rich kids” (2). The Socs all seem to drive around in expensive sports cars and wear costly madras clothing, and Bob is no exception. Randy states that Bob’s parents “‘spoiled him rotten’” (116). Unlike Dally, Bob has everything he wants. Money and material things are not a concern. Clearly, financial circumstances set these two
Some people may be born into a family with wealth, and that is acceptable. Some people on the other hand, are not born into a family with wealth, and that is acceptable too. The work that families have done to get to the level they are in, are just a cushion. People should try to build their own reputation or success. Even if people work toward their goals of success, it could take years to reach, it isn’t something that happens over night usually. The way they act or present themselves in certain circumstances will determine if they succeed or fail. As much as people want to control every step toward that, there are things that are out of everyone's control. Every action they do, every decision they make, they can not control everything. There are certain things that can put a halt toward success, things many do not see coming till it happens. Oedipus had no idea that he was the one causing the sickness that was spreading through his kingdom. He was doing well as a king, but certain things can change that. His curse put on him when he was younger, was out of his control. The priest reminds Oedipus of his success depict the sickness surrounding them, “You saved us from Sphinx…”(40). Success may be the one thing you can control, but at the same time have no idea what could come
Having a good income liberates some extra stress from people’s lives. In the film, the narrator compares people with different income status, the narrator interviews these two different families in order to observe how income can influence people’s health. According to the narrator, “In some areas, people die twice, and five, even ten years sooner than in others. Cancer and heart disease are almost twice the rate in some areas as in others.” (Page 2) Unnatural Cause-the narrator observes two districts in Louisiana; one area is populated of low income working class, and the other one the contrary. The narrator is interviewing Jim Taylor a sixty year old man who is CEO of a hospital. During the interview Taylor opinions about the benefits of living in a community of effluents. Such as, having less stress, being able to exercise without being afraid of being assaulted. In contrast, to a person who lives in working class community is harder to have a healthy lifestyle because of the lack of time, security and desires. Pertaining to desire, working class people have to work long hours in factory to earn at least 20,000.00 per year, so they end their days extremely tired. Furthermore, wealthy peoples can afford a better quality of nutrition. Thus, people with a low income prefer to buy foods according to the quantity instead of quality. In fact, social stress is the more common
Many assume a low-wagers life is miserable due to not having a well-paying job. The fact is that many people think the poor are poor because they constantly spend their money unwisely, maybe even on drugs and alcohol. Looking in a low wage worker’s perspective, they see a world where people assume they are substance abuser, because their lives seem miserable, however in the wrong way. Ehrenreich claims that low-wage workers spend their money wisely especially on rent and food. She shows a low-wagers real struggle as they try to find a home: “the big pr...
Instead they rely completely on money to be happy. People often do not appreciate what they have, and they feel like they deserve better, and they complain instead of making the best of what they have. It is not necessary to be rich to enjoy life. Often those who have everything tend to live miserably. People can become too attached to money to the point that they forget about enjoying life and caring for their family. The theme of materialism is shown throughout the story of “The Rocking Horse Winner” to explain how being too attached to money can ruin people’s lives.
..., a person who earns $25,000 is happier than a person who makes $125,000 and an employee who makes $500,000 is only slightly happier than someone who makes $55,000. Lastly, there are more important things in life that and make you happy, for example, friends. They don’t come with a price tag, and if they do, you definitely need new friends. Money won’t make you happy since good times can’t be bought. You don’t need a fancy vacation to have a good time; it’s just a matter of who you spend it with. Over the years, humans have blown the value of money way out of proportion. People make it seem like if you’re not filthy rich, then you won’t live a good life but it’s not true. You can lack money and yet still live a perfect, happy life.