Gilded Age DBQ

But then when they see others who are wealthier, or better educated, or better placed socially, they immediately feel envious and competitive toward them” (733). These negative feelings prevent us from seeing the positive in people and we put them in a “snob” category, without even speaking to these people. This blinds us from the fact that just like us, whether rich or poor, educated or

“It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people – with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe.” Said Nick (Gatsby page 78). Many people will argue that money is the root of all people, however, that isn't one-hundred percent accurate. Can money be the root of all evil? Yes, is it always? No.

The Gilded Age was an age of rapid economic growth. Railroads, factories, and mines were slowly popping up across the country, creating a variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurs and laborers alike. These new inventions and opportunities created “...an unprecedented accumulation of wealth” (GML, 601). But the transition of America from a small farming based nation to a powerful industrial one created a huge rift between social classes. Most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor, with workers being the latter.

Although its complete absence brings misery, possessing it is no guarantee of happiness. ”(Diener and Myers 3) Both of these quotes are examples that even the wealthy can be troubled with their life, no matter how much money and power they possess, they can be let down by other things in their lives.

Being married to a career often allows one to acquire a great deal of money. Most people are able to make a decent living by thriving off of their routine-esque job, yet the people who thrive off of change are the ones who seem to make the most amount of money. Whether it be out of jealousy or legitimate concern for how such mass amounts of money was acquired, money and wealth in general seems to have a negative connotation in most fables. Money often is viewed as a corrupter, with avarice being one of the seven deadly sins. Though greed is often associated with the upper class, Steinbeck points out that the greed is not exclusive to it.

Many people are under the impression that being wealthy does not have a negative impact on their lives; in fact, they believe that it can get them anything they want. In order to accumulate a substantial amount of money, they often end up making immoral decisions that have an unfavorable outcome in their lives as well as in the lives of others. This situation is presented to readers in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in which he utilizes characters such as Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson who all have the ideal belief that money is the answer to all their problems. Fitzgerald demonstrates that having such values and such a strong desire for money can result in the blurring of what is right and what is wrong leading to irreversible consequences.

The two themes that I saw in this week’s chapters were neighborhood identity and the power of money. Throughout the chapters I realized that all of the people who lived in Tremont were loyal to Tremont, but Boy George especially. As discussed in class we spoke about how Boy George had so much money, but still decided to stay in Tremont where poverty, abuse, and drugs were everywhere. His loyalty to Tremont came from loyal customers, a lot of business, and loyal employees. I have seen this in my own city where one of my friends dads was one of the most well known drug dealers.

Wealth bring out the worst in people. I think that because that 's why gold fever exist. Gold fevers when people go crazy for the gold, and wealth. Gold fevers happened a lot during the 1980 's. People would drag there family from North America to northern Canada for gold. Walt was shot at protecting the gold from stampeders.

The world stereotypes rich people as rude, stuck up and selfish. Ever wonder why? Studies from Yale, The New York Times, TED and more have concluded, money changes everything. Whether it’s attitude, morals or values, money can affect and change all aspects of someone’s life. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, has a theme showing this claim clearly.

The wealthy have so much power because of the money they possess. They have the power to change the economy through production of goods and services which the less wealthy tend to live on. If they stop producing these goods or services, the less wealthy will collapse. Hunger Games touches on this issue. The more wealthy districts have more money to train, and have more of a probability to win the Hunger Games.

Andy Mulligan has made a very clear and bold statement about the inequalities and injustices that exist in our world today through his novel Trash. He uses his novel to explore these issues by focusing on key themes such as Poverty/Wealth and Justice/Injustice. The theme Poverty/Wealth conveys Mulligan’s statement about the inequalities of our world by using real-world examples of poverty and prosperity situations in his novel. Additionally, by exploring justice/injustice we see that Mulligan elaborates on a distinct and definite line between fair and unfair actions and their outcomes throughout his novel Trash. Therefore, the injustices and inequalities of our world today are clearly communicated and observed through Andy Mulligan’s novel.

Corrupt regimes are seen abusing their power to control and instill fear into the population. abusing of power is seen as a way to retain onto their power and stay ahead. The wealthy abuse their power for their own gain, Gatsby explains how powerful individuals are able to get away from their own mess and leave it for others, “I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 136-145), Tom and Daisy have enormous wealth which

Once a person earns more money, They start to care more about their money than anyone else. They don’t care about others feelings, just their money. It’s like a child, it needs to taken care of. Piff also said “Wealthy people are more likely to lie in negotiation to endorse unethical behavior” (Piff).

Although money can create a better life for people with more resources and opportunity, it can have a negative effect when it is valued too highly. Our American wealth driven and materialistic culture inhibits the pursuit of happiness because it prioritizes wealth and material possessions, which are all external markers of success, at the cost of our character development. This ultimately makes us less satisfied with ourselves because no matter how much we posses we cannot expect to be happy if we are not at peace with ourselves. Happiness is much more than the fleeting feeling of joy or euphoria we experience when something goes well in our lives. This simplistic view of happiness would mean that happiness would be out of our reach for

Which I believe is a cliché that rots young people’s minds, and does not allow them to depict their own picture of being rich or even success. Being rich is not always about having the most money. Being rich in my eyes is having enough money to buy things that would sustain my happiness. Things like having a big house, nice car, and may other items. My thought of being rich may be different than others, but does not mean to have a boat load of money.