Immoral Materialism The desire to be rich is part of every American’s dream, but does one change when one becomes rich? Can one be happy and wealthy? Just as the characters in the novel The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, people believe that money will buy them a happy life. In the almanacks of Poor Richard, quite a different approach at happiness is presented. Poor Richard writes about money as just a supplement to a wise man, that being knowledgeable and having a trade are far more respectable that inheriting money from a relative. Contrary to Poor Richard’s works, the prevalent aspirations of modern Americans are better represented in Fiztgerald’s work The Great Gastby, which shows the ignorance of the rich, the adulterous morality of people, and the correct way to pursue happiness. Today’s society believes that money can buy happiness. Jordan, a character of The Great Gastby, explains this theme when she says, “Gastby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay'; (79). Gatsby Himself later states “She only married you because I was poor…It was a terrible mistake.'; (131). These quotes explain Gastby’s belief, that if he becomes rich, he will be able to obtain love from Daisy. This is quite contrary to the ideas of Ben Franklin represented in this quote “Content makes poor men rich; Discontent makes rich men poor';, this quote explains that life itself is the reward, not the things that money can bring to it. Many wealthy people assume that it is their right to have others listen to and follow their own wishes, or thoughts. The character, Tom Buchanan is the model superficial rich person. Who attempts to force his poorly thought-out, stolen theories to all those around him. This is shown in the indication of his tone when he states “ ‘Civilization’s is going to pieces,’ broke out Tom violently'; (13). Tom’s use of non-formal English, such as “I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things'; (13) cause him to stand out from his wife and the other Characters. This view of superiority by white males that have inherited wealth is not uncommon today. Contradicting the stated opinion, Franklin feels that a man that gains his wealth deserves more respect that one who inherited it though family ties when he writes “A Ploughman on his Legs is higher than a Gentleman on his Knees.
Initially, while Tom Buchanan may seem like a wealthy, educated individual through his comments about racial hierarchy and social supremacy, it is gradually revealed that Tom is a victim of the carelessness that wealth can breed. His wealth provides him with an excuse for the poor decisions he makes and so, Tom is able to live life without a single thought about consequences. For instance,
One more way that F. Scott Fitzgerald describes Daisy as materialistic is when Gatsby said, “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me!”(130). When Gatsby says that Daisy only married Tom because she was tired of waiting for him and that he was poor, makes the reader think that she chose money over true love. In the novel, women’s in the 1920s only cared about having fun and spending money. They did not care about being independent; they just married a wealthy man because they loved money more than anything.
For some, simply having infinite wealth and popularity is enough for them to be happy. For others, they need something that money can’t buy. Two books that express these qualities are: The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both of these books describe the life of a wealthy man but each of them have different ideas of the American dream. Examples from these books will show how the American dream differs from person to person.
Tom Buchanan represents the brutality and moral carelessness of the established rich. He believes he is an intellectual with logical philosophies about the society. "Have you read 'The Rise of the Coloured Empires' by this man Goddard?…'Well it's a fine book and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be-will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it's been proved." (Fitzgerald 17) However, Tom is extremely injudicious and lacks intelligence. His concern for preserving the social status quo and the grammatical errors in his speech reveal his ignorance. He lacks integrity and idealism. Daisy Buchanan, silly and self-indulgent, drifts aimlessly through a world created by her wealth. Fay, her maiden name, suggests her ethereal insubstantial quality. Daisy knows about ...
Locke first outlined his view of personal identity in Chapter XXVII of book II in ‘An Essay concerning Human Understanding’ however faced a number of criticisms. This essay will assess how convincing John Locke’s account of personal identity is, whilst analyzing Reid and Berkeley’s criticisms of his view. Locke’s psychological account of personal identity is not a persuasive one due to the inconsistencies that are highlighted by Reid and Berkeley and I will defend this view in this essay. Locke’s account of personal identity leads to a number of contradictions which he attempts to respond to, however whilst barely addressing the criticisms he faces, his responses are also unsuccessful as both Reid and Berkeley counter each response further.
The acquisition of material wealth is often equated with happiness in this country. This is true today, and it was true during the 1920's, the setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. That the majority of Americans believe that wealth and happiness are the same is a result of our market economy that encourages consumption and conditions us to think that we need material possessions to be happy. According to Andrew Bard Schmookler, "Wealth and human fulfillment have become equated in the predominant ideology of liberal society, even though the great spiritual teachers of humanity have all taught otherwise." (17)
Money has always been something people have wanted, from the beginning when America was settled to now. Everyone always wants to work hard to get the money or marry into it, like Daisy. “She wanted her life now, immediately – and the decision must be made by some force – of love, of money – that was close at hand (Fitzgerald 96).” In this part of the book Daisy was in love with Gatsby still but she knew he wasn’t rich. She wanted to start her life already with someone who can give her what she wanted. She American dream was to have someone who can provide a better life for her. She met that someone in Tom. Money is usually paired with ownership and security in this situation. Now in days people have identified their American dream as ownership and security (Kadlec 1). Now people just want to feel like their lives are being taken care of from the beginning. They do not want to have to worry about being in debt or financial problems. So they try to solve that problem by making it the most important goal of their life, their American dream. Ano...
Lying is justified when it can be used to protect and cares for others. For example Anne Frank survived as long as she did because those sheltering her lyed to the Naziz army. What I mean by this is that if they didn't lie they would have been dead. This shows that lying saved them that day. In addition, the french resistance during world war 1 couldn't have operated without deception. Another way to say this is, that they lied to keep the army safe. This is important because, if they had said the truth we wouldn't be here. So saving somebodys life by lying is worth it.
Hume believes that there is no concept of self. That each moment we are a new being since nothing is constant from one moment to the next. There is no continuous “I” that is unchanging from one moment to the next. That self is a bundle of perceptions and emotions there is nothing that forms a self-impression which is essential to have an idea of one self. The mind is made up of a processions of perceptions.
Personal identity is a very controversial aspect of life. Who are we? What defines us? According to John Locke, psychological continuity is what defines our personal identity. Locke discusses the case of the prince and the cobbler to help shape his theory. However, I absolutely disagree with Locke’s theory. Locke’s theory of personal identity creates many problems, such as the duplication problem. By reformulating Locke’s theory of personal identity, we still come across these problems that prove Locke’s theory false.
Personal identity or the identity of self is defined as the conditions under which a person can be considered to be the same at two different times. Locke bases personal identity or the idea of self squarely on consciousness...
Fifty years ago, the typical American family included a mother, father and their children. However today, “One in every four children in the United States are being raised by a single parent. Experts point to a variety of factors to explain the high US figure including a cultural shift toward greater acceptance of single parent rearing.”(Armario). As these numbers continue to rise due to modern day ideas and the increasing divorce rate, the children of single parents struggle. “Today 41% of all births were to unmarried women.”(Hymowitz). Single parent families have a detrimental effect on the psychological development of children because single parent families lack financial stability and quality parenting, in addition to lacking a stress free environment.
28% of kids in America lived with one parent in 2013 (“Single Parenthood”). Adolescents in these homes have a higher chance of showing behavior issues, being in poverty, and having a lack of food (Link). They are also more likely to take drugs, have sex earlier than their peers, and be abused (Lauer, 2012). Though, it should be well-noted that these are extreme cases that do not apply to many single-parent kids. Personally, I cannot relate to the severe challenges of other children in my situation, but through my mom, I can relate to the challenges of single parents. She has had the hard luck of raising me on her own for eighteen years without child support, and I have seen her suffer through the three kinds of overload, sometimes all at once. Due to her willingness to be strong, we persevered through our harsh times, and I hope to someday repay her back for all she has given
In the article, Lying is Good For You, Lacey Rose says, "We lie to avoid awkwardness or punishment. We lie to maintain relationships and please others. And, of course, most of all we lie to please ourselves." These are all reasons lying is acceptable. Anyone can better maintain a relationship based on the fact that they compliment each other where compliments aren't due or that the person didn't eat the last cookie to protect from getting in trouble but they really did eat the cookie. A great way to effectively lie is to take the blame for someone you know someone else did. That can help your relationship with that person by creating a sense of trust and appreciation. Lying about things that may please the other person in your relationship will cause a stronger relationship and protect the feelings of
Hume is skeptical of personal identity. He’s skeptical of rationalism, of the ability of causes and effects to be known through our experiences, and argues that we don’t get knowledge of matters of fact through experience. He says that we are bundles of impressions. These impressions change as we have new experiences and perceptions, and are constantly changing. Hume doesn’t think that we have an enduring self. He doesn’t actually think that we can find necessary connections between ideas through logic or rationality alone,