America has a culture of greed, selfishness and a system that rewards those characteristics. Success at any means necessary is the real American value the one that governs how people live, work and view the world. This frame of mind makes it ok to put other people down to build yourself up and measures success as the number of digits on a paycheck. All of this built upon greed, reinforced by incentive system that rewards a lack of humility, all of which leads to a society that has a few on top crushing the people below them. The American life is a life of greed, it is a life where no amount of money is enough, where happiness can only be found by earning more and more money. This system is exemplified in America’s world of business. America’s …show more content…
All the while innocent people around the world pay the highest of price as they watch loved ones and possessions be destroyed by record breaking weather phenomenon. Again all in pursuit of making some of the wealthiest people in the world even more wealthy. Even after atrocities are committed in pursuit of ever increasing wealth for a small number of people, the American people never care enough to do something about it. Instead they continually vote for politicians who will continue to let atrocities be committed in the name of profit. They do this because secretly and even overtly the American people envy these captain of industries as success stories that the wish to become just like. The most recent example of the culture of greed in America ruining the lives of millions of innocent human beings was the 2008 financial crisis. Bankers, hedge fund managers will the help of friendly politicians, single handedly destroyed the world economy. The did this by first removing regulation of derivatives and the bank 's ability to use leverage. Then the bankers risked their own firms as well as millions of homeowners livelihoods, simply to get a larger bonus for themselves. Then after the …show more content…
Again the frame of mind that you have to be and are better than everyone else makes American leaders and citizens commit actual crimes against humanity. When America invaded Iraq without United Nations approval that was a violation of international law but according to America it was ok because they were America. Then while America was in Iraq they had little discretion for civilians and in the end hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children were killed in that war. Wikileaks showed that we killed civilians as a sport. The United States of America committed war crimes all because our culture has destroyed our value for human life, as long as we further our goals then human life does not matter. The American people then praised the American Sniper a movie based on a person who called all afghans savages and enjoyed killing children. America should be ashamed of itself and should pay the consequences for committing war crimes and violating international law with no care in the
...at the American culture places economic success at the pinnacle of social desirability, without listing legitimate ways for attaining the desired goal (Merton 672-682). Today, the American Dream no longer reflects the dream Adams had, but instead, the idea that one can only call themselves truly successful if they have become rich, regardless of the way they got there. The American Dream does not guarantee happiness, but rather the pursuit of it, but with the media strongly persuading people that money guarantees happiness, people are encouraged to do whatever it takes, even it means disregarding their morals, so that they achieve ‘success.’ The inability to achieve this goal often leads people to destructive, and ultimately life-threatening criminal behavior as their feelings of anxiety and frustration over this vision of the “American Dream” get the best of them.
... that these powerful businessmen ruined the attractive ideology that America had envisioned for itself, these men paradoxically created jobs for thousands of families and laid the foundation for the economy of America. By paving the ways for inventive, modern day companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft, the emerging American economy has expanded beyond its geographical boundaries. Other countries have sought to emulate the dominant businesses in America in an attempt to obtain wealth and an increased quality of life for their countries and their workers. The American Dream is a combination of many varied dreams, and it is not limited nor defined by one’s wealth. So, listen up all you aspiring businessmen and businesswomen: Rockefeller and Carnegie have set a standard in showing you a way to create businesses and philosophical practices that will help us all.
Greed is the selfish desire to have more of something and taking any possible measures to obtain it. To this day, greed still exist in ourselves as citizens of the United States and therefore, in our government as well. It’s undeniable that we all contain at least a bit of greed within us; after all, greed is what keeps us motivated to work harder and help the world progress. But there are also some downsides to letting greed take control. Like the huge inequality gap America has between the rich and the poor. Not saying we should completely vanish greed from the United States(because it’s essential to progress in the country), but we should learn how to keep greed from taking over American society, because that will essentially break society
A large part of this problem is that many Americans buy into the ploys of capitalism, sacrificing happiness for material gain. “Americans have voluntarily created, and voluntarily maintained, a society which increasingly frustrates and aggravates” them (8). Society’s uncontrolled development results in an artificial sense of scarcity which ensures “a steady flow of output” (78).
Greed and incentives are two terms that each play a role in the other. Incentives are sometimes rewarding and sometimes punishing. Greed is intense and selfish, but is it really bad? By looking at it from an economical perspective, one can see how forms of greed and incentives play a crucial role in the free market society.
"Money and Success: The Myth of Individual Opportunity." Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle, Boston: Bedford / St. Martins, 2001.295-297.
In “The Great Dictator” Charlie Chaplin said “In this world there is room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls.” What is greed? Greed is an excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth. As a citizen of the United States, many have heard of the term the “American Dream”. James Truslow Adams, in his book “The Epic of America”, which was written in 1931, stated that the American dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” (Adams p.214-215). It’s according to this dream that many people acquire this goal of becoming successful at all cost in America. At all cost, meaning they would do anything to gain success. The U.S even though it is based on opportunity has fallen to greed. The U.S citizens have fallen to greed because of selfish desires, wanting to maximize profit, and a strong fixation towards self-growth.
All of this dates back to how America was first “discovered” by Christopher Columbus. In reality, he simply stumbled upon it while he was trying to sail to Asia and then took advantage of the natives in order for the new colonies to survive. Once he learned all that he needed in order to make a living there from those already inhabiting the area, Columbus murdered and raped their people and then stole their land out of pure greed. Further, Capitalism, and its ancestor Mercantilism, is based on the idea of taking risks, or loans, in order to generate profit. This system requires there to be an imbalance in wealth. That is to say that some need to be on the poorer end of the spectrum while others get to be much more wealthy. This correlates to how those wealthier are those who become more successful in life, which is more than likely due to their safety net of funds provided to them by the risks taken by their parents or other elders. "I'm the first to admit that I am very competitive and that I'll do nearly anything within legal bounds to win. Sometimes, part of making a deal is denigrating your competition" (Trump). This is all the more exemplified in William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies wherein is another instance of greed; “Jack shouted above the noise. ‘You go away, Ralph. You keep to your end. This is my
Americans just seek for them own interest they don’t care about other people. There is no equality in America or justice, because they tend to received but not give. Americans are very selfish and greedy they don’t share with others want they have, they want everything for them. Americans is just about capitalism and power. The way Americans should practice their beliefs should be how they treat other people. Everyone must see them self as part of earth not see ourselves as enemy because in the eye of nature and God we are all same and part of God. We have to take care of nature and we have play part of earth by not destroying our environment if we have a better earth we will have a better environment. We need to help those individuals that needs our help and respect each other so that we can have a peaceful world because all humans being are the same no matter if we don’t look
One would expect that social equality would just be the norm in society today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Three similar stories of how inequality and the hard reality of how America’s society and workforce is ran shows a bigger picture of the problems American’s have trying to make an honest living in today’s world. When someone thinks about the American dream, is this the way they pictured it? Is this what was envisioned for American’s when thinking about what the future held? The three authors in these articles don’t believe so, and they are pretty sure American’s didn’t either. Bob Herbert in his article “Hiding from Reality” probably makes the most honest and correct statement, “We’re in denial about the extent of the rot in the system, and the effort that would be required to turn things around” (564).
The notorious and capable Al Capone once commented, “This American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you will, gives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.” “This American system,” as referred to by Capone, is not simply one idea alone but a conglomerate of all ideals held to represent the American culture: capitalism, freedom, and opportunity. These ideals go hand in hand with each other; freedom allows for capitalism to flourish and, in turn, allows equal opportunity for every citizen. However, the key to success in the American system is not simply available by going through the motions of life, but rather requires determination, will, and an urge to succeed and capitalize on every opportunity provided to us. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, the poverty-stricken army officer turned eccentric millionaire, proves that the American system is one that does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, or by creed, or even by race, but allows for equal opportunity for all, supporting those with ambition and drive, while punishing those who lack purpose and initiative, one where everyone has a chance for greatness if they have the drive and initiative to seize that opportunity and “make the most of it” and that the resulting success derived from that motivation erases the significance of one’s background.
In today’s society, it does not take astronomical efforts to see the prevalence of greed. The greed for money, power and fame. Within the corporate world, we hear of companies resorting to underhand means to attain more money, more power and when they attain it, the vicious cycle repeats itself. However, their fa...
people take it to far like corporations that employ kids for pennies a day overseas. Greed should inspire
In Oliver Stone's classic Wall Street, which came out in 1987, there is a monologue that will transcend time, and be forever associated with Wall Street and the ultra-wealthy. “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.” This dramatic speech was given by Gordon Gekko (played by Micheal Douglas) a wealthy businessman, who through this speech is trying to convey the message that greed leads to overall personal, and economic growth. However, many wonder if this is true, can greed ever really be good? Also, is the director Oliver Stone trying to make a statement about corporate America and the ultra wealthy?
Human greed has been happening for hundreds of millions of years. Since humanity began really. Greed has been around even longer, since the beginning of time. Greed is everything not just about money as everyone seems to believe but instead its about everything that can be desired, everybody desires something. Greed is not a healthy thing but it is expressed by all humans because people can be greedy for things besides money, people like to believe they aren’t greedy but they are, everybody has greed for one thing or another, what is greed though is it a trait we are born with or aa trait we are taught?