Restless In The Midst Of Prosperity Analysis

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The American individual leads a life in a society that prides itself upon an equality that never existed, but fuels a highly prosperous country. In America opportunity is constantly open, and while these opportunities lead to competition, this immense amount of competition propels the countries advancements. The American man is one of a strong and independent country, built off of, and created for the unheard and the mistreated. This country was built for progress and that is exactly what Americans to this day strive for. Americans set their sights on improving themselves and their country. The reason America was founded was to allow men to work freely for themselves, so that they could control their own future. Michel Crevecoeur wrote a …show more content…

Competition can be expressed in many different ways, however Alexis de Tocqueville, who wrote two volume studies called Democracy in America, notes in one chapter, “Why the Americans are so Restless in the Midst of their Prosperity,” that people are surrounded by prosperity; yet, in the midst of it they seemed to be serious and tormented. He mentions that, “It is possible to conceive of men arrived at a degree of freedom that should completely content them, they would then enjoy their independence without anxiety and without impatience. But men will never establish any equality with which they can be contented” (Tocqueville, 2). In this quote, Tocqueville plays with the idea that even when Americans are surrounded with freedom, or rather, money in this case, they can not enjoy their prosperity, they must constantly envy and impatiently await for more. They see equality and freedom in money and the ability to posses certain amounts of it, thereby, they must compete among themselves to rise to the top, to be the best, and, most importantly, to be the richest. Little known fact, in present day America the ratio of a CEO’s pay to a workers is 354:1 dollars. America holds the fourth largest gap between the rich and the poor, this is pretty unequal if I do say so myself. This large gap affirms the inequality that thrives in America, but, at the same time, shows that competition in America is vast and spread out among many

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