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Greed vs materialism
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“In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women,” a quote said by the infamous Tony Montana in Scarface. Fancy cars, big houses, fur coats, and diamond studded everything seems to attract almost everyone. Movies and TV shows do a great job of showing that this appealing type of life comes with a price, and all that you have to pay to live it. Although these movies are entertaining, they argue that too much greed and materialism can be your downfall. Greed is one of the most selfish desires anyone could have. Greed eventually turns into arrogance and pride, and Scarface is a good portrayal of these emotions. The movie Scarface argues that along with greed, egotism will get you nowhere. Scarface is the critically acclaimed film where Al Pacino plays the role of Tony Montana, a notorious kingpin from Miami, Florida with an acquisitive personality. Montana is a Cuban ex-con who wants the world at his feet and doesn’t care what he has to do to get it. At one point he kills his boss and...
Greed Economics: The uplifting or debilitating effect of the excessive desire of gain on the production, consumption and distribution of goods and services.
Organized crime has developed a stigma regarding its power and influence, especially during its hay day in the 1930’s. The mob has always been viewed as a powerful “family-like” organization. In Scarface, Hawkes brings the mafia into a seemingly more realistic light. By overturning Lovo’s position of power, Tony represents the idea of “every man for himself,” within a supposed organized group. The viewer steps into a cut-throat world of power hungry men, all trying to get rich quick. In this world, Hawkes asks, how can you organize men towards any goal if they all seek personal gain?
Al Capone, America’s most prominent Mafia figure in the 1920’s, also known as “Scarface” for a scar running down his left cheek. Capone didn’t hide in the shadows like most figures in such a shady occupation. He didn’t shy away from the camera, more like he welcomed it, and aimed to be seen by the public as a respectable businessman and a pillar of the community. Surprisingly, Capone wasn’t from a distinctly poor community, his father earned a living as a barber. Capone was introduced to the gang life by a friend and from there it all went downhill and into the life of a gangster.
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.
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
Russian realistic literature thrived in the second half of the nineteenth century under the political and social problems that shadowed the country. In the early nineteenth century, Czars had unconditional power and paid no attention to the needs of the people, especially the serfs who were defined and treated as slaves. Revolts began to spread, however, and the serfs were eventually emancipated in 1861. This reform gave the Serfs equal rights and opportunities as free citizens, including the right to marry and own property. With exception to house serfs, all others received a small plot of land from the government. Most were unable to pay the unfair taxes that they were subject to and most ended up renting land from landlords that had once contacted serfs. This issue and many others during the time sparked an arrival of literary works that chronicled the era and emphasized new ideas concerning the meaning of life and happiness. Anton Chekhov, who was the grandson of a serf, and Leo Tolstoy who descended from aristocrats, came from completely opposite backgrounds in Russian society, but expressed similar beliefs in their literary works. “The Bet” and “How Much Land Does A Man Need?” both use character, irony, and symbolism to demonstrate the overall theme of human stupidity.
If we take time and observe our surroundings, we see people are more concerned about the amount of Louis Vuttons or Michael Kors bags does one purchase than being aware of the person well being because this world today is all about objects than people. The author of the case of consumer society has presented the modern society in such a way that if we stop and think and look around how are generation today has become, making our world a world of materialism. According to karl marx, our world today is a world of objects as mentioned in the case that we have started given priotity more to our purchases than to people around us for example in a gathering of teens, half of them you will notice will be on their gadgets rather than communicating with the people around. This materialism according to marx is due to the rise of capitalism, where people are easily manipulated into making choices which benefit the economy and most of the time we do not even realize it. The whole concept of Shopping malls we see nowdays is a tool of manipulation, have been made the place of goods, acitivies and leisure for the consumers that they become entangled in the shadows of the capitalists.People nowdays go to shopping malls , hangout and do some window shopping and come back stating that it was an outing rather than having any interaction with other people , we chose to interaction with objects to fulfil our desire. Even the way producrts are arranged are not coincidental but a technique of manipulation for example if the product is arranged in a attractive way, consumers automatically get attracted to it rather then the product which is arranged in a disorganize way.This proves what Marx says that consumers in the capitalist society donot have any so...
The male American dream is most often interpreted as moving your family up in society by increasing your wealth. With this comes the need to purchase items that are on par with one’s income level and therefore showing off wealth and status. This need for items is not particularly because of usefulness or practicality but to distinguish oneself in society as a part of a particular class level, coming from the pressure to keep up with one’s peers. This film shows that society has taken over the definition of our needs and men no longer think for themselves but rather turn to see what others have and from that interpret what society sees as acceptable and standard. The male American dream can be interpreted as a never-ending cycle to prove oneself to others and appear to the standards that others define. According to Tyler Durden, “Advertising has us chasi...
Scarface shows how the fast life is not the best life to take. The illegal drug business will always end in negative ending resulting in death or being imprisoned. This movie showcased what the public in the area of Miami had to go through including the law. The 1980s was a major time for the break of cocaine. Tony Montana gained so much power with the distribution of cocaine. This movie came together so well because of the time frame. The break of cocaine caused a lot of crime to rise in Miami, Florida. An estimated 70% of all marijuana and cocaine imported into the U.S. passes through South Florida. Drug smuggling could be the region’s major industry, worth anywhere from $7 billion to $12 billion a year. (Rivers, 1996) This movie correlated with the immigration of the Cuban community in America. Since the spring of 1980, when Cuban President Fidel Castro opened the port of Mariel to those who wanted to leave, about 125,000 “Marielitos” have landed in South Florida. In addition, 25,000 refugees have arrived from Haiti; boatloads of half-starved Haitians are washing up on the area’s beaches every week. (Rivers, 1996) A lot of illegal immigrants rose the rate of unemployment, taxed social services, irritated racial tensions and helped send the crime rate to staggering heights. Rebellious immigrants are believed to be responsible for half of all violent crime in Miami. Tony Montana was one of those rebellious immigrants who wanted to
Hobbes’ Materialism religion is portrayed as distinctly similar to Descartes’ in the sense that there is the staunch belief of a supreme being in existence. Descartes suggested that philosophy and material substance mattered as demonstrated by motion whereby an entity’s existence was only based on motion. Descartes had the belief that the earth was formed by a supreme entity, God, who assumed his place as the creator and watched the creation thriving and running dynamically and independently without any supernatural influence (Rogers 1988).
In the film Scarface (1932) the ideological message that I personally see is the issue of power, more specifically street credibility, and how your reputation defines you in the streets to other gangsters and thugs. For one to understand the ideological message of power that this films projects one must know a thing or two about how street life was like during the time this film takes place, which is (1932). At this time in United States history, there was a large portion of these criminals who actions and methodology became to be known...
Throughout the semester we have covered many different topics during our study of contemporary American culture. We studied topics relating to our everyday lives such as, relationships, life habits, work, and school. The various readings, films, and discussions during class have helped me reflect upon my life. I would like to elaborate and focus on the aspects of this class that directly influence the way I see the world today. Before I took this course my mental image of materialism, happiness, and love were entirely different. I have been exposed to a different perception of our world today that I would have never experienced if I had not taken this course. Our course material helped me analyze how materialism affects me, and it helped me develop a more clear understanding of the meaning of love and happiness.
In this paper, I will examine the issues of individuation and identity in Descartes’ philosophy of mind-body dualism. I will begin by addressing the framework of Cartesian dualism. Then I will examine the problems of individuation and identity as they relate to Descartes. Hopefully, after explaining Descartes’ reasoning and subsequently offering my response, I can show with some degree of confidence that the issues of individuation and identity offer a challenge to the Cartesians’ premise of mind-body dualism.
Too many times in history has the government thrown aside the rights of the individual in the pursuit of their own agenda. This subsequently often led to their downfall as well. This happens far too often, even in our modern world. You would think that by now, despite all of the horrible things that came about as a result of these instances, we would have learned our lesson. But we still haven’t been able to get the message. Why? Because the power of greed is far more powerful than that of humanity. This has been visible since the dawn of man. Even though humans have a natural desire to care for one another, greed still conquers all, and that’s the sad truth of the matter. Unfortunately, governments take the greedy road far too often than they should. They get caught up in the moment and forget about what it’s all really about, which is fulfilling their side of the mutualistic relationship between them and the people. The one thing that we have in common is also the most overlooked.
All over the world the United States is recognized as a land full of opportunity but it is also recognized as one of the most materialistic countries in the world. Americans through the years have always determined their self-worth by how much stuff they have, how much money they have. Americans also tend to be the most materialistic because of where they live. They live in a country full of riches and where the standard of living is so high those are partially why Americans are materialistic the other part is that it is just human nature. We not only live in a country of riches but we are sad having about everything we need. Unlike other countries a lot of Americans are not in a bad economic state and this from the perspective of another person in a low economy country may be seen as being materialistic. Based on various accounts we can say that Americans are materialistic but they are materialistic to an extent, the U.S is a country where now we define our self-worth by how much we own.