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Introduction to the meaning of life
Essays on middle class people
Emily Dickinson writing
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Recommended: Introduction to the meaning of life
The question most asked by philosophers and people alike is, “What is the meaning of life.” It is rightfully questioned, but ambiguously answered. This is similar to a small child questioning why the sky is blue. Sure there is a scientific explanation, but why blue? Why the color blue is called blue? Those questions are simply answered by, “Because it is.” Of course that can’t be the answer for our quest in life. People everywhere want to be remembered for who they are or something they have done. In that sense, people’s answer to the previous question is to impact society in a way it has never been impacted. Take this for example; Stephen Jobs founded the company called Apple, which is now a multi-billion dollar technology company that impacts …show more content…
The main theme of her poem is that one who seems insane may in fact be the one who has figured everything out. In this excerpt, “Demur – you’re straightway dangerous -/And handled with a Chain – “, the same person is a minority and is considered to be dangerous to the majority of society and must be held with caution. In Dickinson’s time women were held to certain duties, which consists of marrying a man, having children, taking care of the house, and cooking. This interpretation of the poem makes sense if Dickinson is speaking about herself and how she is a recluse compared to the rest of her society. She rebelled against the majority and decided not to do what was common, but instead sit inside and write poems. In return people probably did not think she was sane and treated her like a crazy person. This connects to the middle-class subject because many people think of middle-class as average and somewhat boring. Just because the majority of middle-class people work boring jobs, drive boring cars, and end up living boring lives does not mean all of them do. One can stray away from the majority and live a very interesting life without having to be higher in the social class system. This backs up that ensuing a middle-class life can be rewarding after …show more content…
According to Sachs (2011), America used to be a great middle-class country and without that strong middle-class there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Sure it would be great to take money from the rich and hand it to the poor making only a single group social class system, but that is considered socialism and is frowned upon for many good reasons. The decline of the middle-class in the United States of America has made it harder to provide health care, retirement programs, and invest in the future. (Rand 2013) Many big businesses outsource work to third world countries for cheap labor to keep prices for their product lower. This hurts the middle-class because fewer jobs are provided for Americans, which is one of the biggest reasons why people fall into poverty. The society then suffers from lack of jobs, rising health care, and not enough savings. The middle-class copes with these symptoms through working longer in life, holding out of retirement longer, and using government handouts. According to Rand, the latest Census data shows us that the average American family has gotten poorer within the last ten years (2013). It has also been shown that the middle-class is further in debt due the real estate values have gone down. The houses that people bought years ago are worth less than today. Without money in the middle-class fewer miscellaneous products are bought, as a result the majority of the
Let's take it back to the past in regards to wealth distribution in this country. The fact is that the economy boomed from the end of WWII into the 1970's. “Incomes grew rapidly and at roughly the same rate up and down the income ladder, roughly doubling in inflation-adjusted terms between the late 1940s and early 1970s” (CBPP). Through the 70's economic growth slowed, and the wealth gap widened. Middle-class families were now considered lower class. People relied on the government to help them out with welfare programs. The middle-class class was weakened and the gap grew and grew. There were periods of positive fluctuation, however the middle-class simply never regained it's status that was held in more prosperous times in the past.
Walmart, Exxon, and Apple are a few of the companies that have succumbed to globalization. As a result, there are fewer jobs in America. Fewer jobs in America leads to less money in circulation and higher wages. The middle class is at the heart of the economy, and if they are struggling then our economy will follow suit. I understand yes, education and family trust favored some people.
I consider my family and I to be in the middle class category and from being in the middle class, and the facts that are provided, the middle class is slowly declining as the time goes on. I believe that a lot of people go beyond the middle class to the upper middle class or people go below the middle class to the poor category. I’ve found a graph from Forbes that compares the rates of all classes from 1979 to 2014. From observing the graph my initial hypothesis was right. The middle class has declined by 6.8% between the years 1979-2014.
In David Wallenchinsky’s Article “Is the American Dream still possible?” he surveyed more than 2,200 Americans and 84% of them described themselves as middle class citizens. Wallenchinsky states,“ But many average Americans are struggling- squeezed by rising costs, declining wages, credit card debt and diminished benefits.” For some the American Dream is just being happy and being able to live comfortably but, now who would want to live their life struggling to pay their bills and be stressful? Most of the middle class citizens are living like this. Back then living in America wasn’t as difficult as it is now, everything was affordable, but now with the rise in minimum wages everything else goes up. Taxes go up, prices for things go up, it is a never ending cycle. Now trying to get a job even with a college degree is very hard to
ou’ve probably heard the news that the celebrated post-WW II beating heart of America known as the middle class has gone from “burdened,” to “squeezed” to “dying.” But you might have heard less about what exactly is emerging in its place.
In the poem “We dream - it is good we are dreaming” (531), Dickinson uses dreams, or the imagination, to prod the mysteries of death. The speaker says, “we are playing”, using repetition and language to show that the players are only dreaming, but they begin to feel paranoid that the performance may truly involve dying; “Lest the Phantasm - prove the mistake." Dickinson equates this dream state with imagination and acting, explaining, "It would hurt us - were we awake -." Dickinson changes the "Phantasm" into "livid Surprise” in the end of the same stanza, as the dream turns into reality, and all that remains of the actors are "Shafts of Granite - / With just an age - and name." The speaker concludes that “It’s prudenter – to dream —” than
The largest group in America is facing extinction. We are talking of course about the American middle class. In 1971 the American middle class population was 36% higher than the population of the lower class. However, today the middle class population is now only 22% higher than the lower class (McDill). This is only a 14% drop spread over 44 years. The major issue here is that while the middle class shrinks, the upper and lower classes are growing. Financial experts believe that soon the middle class will become nonexistent and America will be divided into two extremes, poverty and wealth. This issue has become so severe that the United States government has stepped in and created a “middle class task force” passed as part of the government “stimulus package” of 2009. However most experts including Kent McDill of the millionaires’ corner, Doyle McManus of the LA Times, Erik Kain of Forbes magazine believe that the government’s program is putting a knife in the middle class. They believe this because the government is taxing businesses until they are forced to leave America and go overseas. This, along with the rise of mechanical workers and ignorance of the issues facing the middle class led to the decreasing job market. Jobs in America will soon be split into either very high paying upper class jobs or very low paying jobs. This makes the job market a hit or miss in America. It is predicted that America will soon be either very rich or very poor with no middle ground.
The most often cited cause of the decline of the middle class in the United States is stagnant wages. Between 1955 and 1970, real wages adjusted and inflation rose by an average of 2.5 percent per year. Between 1971 and 1994, the average growth of real wages was 0.3 percent a year. The stagnation of wages has been especially noticeable to middle-class people, who rely very much on the money they make at their jobs. Recessions seem to hit higher income households much harder, which sends them down to the middle class. Middle-income households may or may not be more likely than higher-income households to qualify for unemployment compensation when jobs are scarce. But those who do are more likely than high-income households to receive benefits that replace a greater share of their regular wages, which helps them maintai...
Emily Dickinson had an interesting life, and is a profound woman in the history of America and literature. Emily wrote many poems. Some are titled, and many are given chronological numbers instead of headlining the main theme. I am interpreting Poem #315.
“There is a wide belief that Americans are less class conscious than Europeans” (Vanneman). Because the United States consumes more than any other country, the global economy relies on our consumption. “The middle class is an ambiguous social classification, broadly reflecting the ability to lead a comfortable life” (Kharas). During the industrial revolution, there were aristocrat traditions in royalty, class, and rank in Europe. In America, the industrial revolution was coming of a wealthy nation. The United States is has a two party system, Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats wanted more people in the middle class, mainly blacks and immigrants. The Republicans wanted to protect the people who were already in the middle class, whites, and successful working people. The middle class in America is sometimes threatened by its own success. “The definition of the middle class is the people of generic roots like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Robert Johnson, and Sam Walton can become billionaires” (Hockenberry). Not everyone who is in the middle class can become a billionaire and using their stories as an example is the death of the American
America’s upper class has been getting richer since the past three decades, and we have still not found a way to stop this. We have been unable to find a way to distribute America’s wealth equally, so we can have a decent lower class and a good middle class. Inequality has caused many people to struggle in various ways, but their is alway another side to the story.
Krugman challenges us to think about one question, “Why should we care about high and rising inequality?” (Krugman, 586) Some of the reasons inequality is a problem is the standards of living and the lack of progress in the economy for the middle and lower class families (Krugman, 586). These show that the distribution of wealth in the United States is not equal at all. There is also the damage that the inequality does to the society and the government. Thomas Jefferson once said, “The small landholders are the most precious part of a state.” Today that would mean that the middle class is the most important part of our society, however, the farther we move into the future the weaker the middle class becomes (Krugman, 587). The America that we live in is both unequal in income and social aspects. The rich do not live the same lives as those that are less fortunate and the less fortunate do not get to enjoy the perks that come with lives of the rich people. The inequality does not mean that it is unfair that the majority of the population
America 's economy is dependent on the middle class. Slowly, the middle class is beginning to decrease. Soon enough there will be only the wealthy and the poor. Economic inequality is the gap between the upper class and the lower class. It is a problem that is growing everyday. Technology, education, race, gender, and globalization are the main causes of economic inequality. Each one of these causes contributes to the vicious cycle of economic inequality. The battle for our country 's financial wellbeing is upon us.
Is there a meaning to life? First, to clear up any misunderstandings in the next few paragraphs you are about to read, I shall explain a few things. I am not talking about the individual people in our lives, that mean so much to us, or individual lives. That is a whole other matter. What I mean by the "meaning of life", is the greater picture. There are people all over the world, doing their own thing, living their own lives, in their own areas. Is there a point to this? The people themselves, benefit from learning and having experiences while they're alive, but then they die, and all they have accomplished, ends. Then the process begins all over again with the next generation. So one purpose for life is established. We are here to reproduce. It has been genetically coded into us, and with little prompting, we continue to produce tiny versions of ourselves. But, is there a POINT to this? Well, I solemnly believe not. Some people say the point of life, is to have fun and make others happy. Righto then. Sure, that's a good thing to do, I don't disagree with that. But in terms of the big picture, what does it exactly accomplish? A person lives their life, has fun, and perhaps has the knack of making lots of other people happy in the process, then that person dies. And so eventually, do all the other people they brought happiness to. And through different generations come people who have the same philosophy....same thing, just happening later in time, with different people. Nothing has been accomplished...So, this obviously cannot be the point of life, unless it's inventor has the same intellect as that of pond scum. I would like to think otherwise, so I am interested in finding another answer. Other people belie...
”I dwell in Possibility” was actually a poem about Emily Dickinson, at the time she was alive, she didn’t really fit in. She didn’t have a husband or kids, and just wanted to live life her way, so she began poetry. The point is, Emily didn’t write ”I dwell in Possibility” for the sole purpose of writing poetry, she wanted to challenge the narrow-minded society around her. Emily wasn’t down to Earth with puritanical values, and society. So, she wrote a poem that embraces one's ability, and showed how her voice was distinctly American. Referring back to the Declaration of Independence, of course, to which all men are created equal, and have equal opportunities.