Kellan McEachen
Mr. Wood
Classics of American Literature
May 22, 2015
Fighting Capitalism In America Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That's the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system (Martin Luther King Jr.). Our society is ridiculously materialistic. Social classes are based on what a person has, not who they are or what they stand for. Chris McCandless realized this with his stubborn, workaholic parents. They constantly preached him about school and work, which made him realize that the capitalistic society that we live in lessens a persons’ quality of life. Into The Wild shows that to be an American, one must conform and suffer under this capitalistic society we live in. Chris demonstrates how America’s capitalistic system is deteriorating the United States; McCandless crosses paths with others that have already fell under America’s economic trap, and how Chris took a stand against this flawed system in America. The book Into The Wild demonstrates that America’s capitalistic society is worsening this great country. Christopher McCandless really brings this issue to light through his journey around North America. He believed that United States citizens are too materialistic, and all they care about is money. There is a top tier of people who are wealthy and not needing to work. However, that leaves the majority of the countries population that needs to work extremely hard just to make ends meet. The reason for all of this hard work is to buy material objects, the pride and joy of most Americans. What gets these people all of this money, which Chris thinks is unnecessary, is their job. Trying to stay away from this capitalistic society we live in, McCandless believed that, “careers are a 20th century invention and I don't want one” (Krakauer 46). Chris was trying to stay away from money, the object that makes people who they are in this flawed country. Since having a lot of money is what it means to be an American in capitalist America, then Chris had no desire to be a part of this society. Many individuals follow the American dream like a bible. Americans have been trained to think that the only socially acceptable way to live is to get a college education, a career, to have stability. Chris was not one to allude to the white picket fence lifestyle; he realized that there is more to life than a job. McCandless discovered that when Americans are not happy, they do the opposite of what they should do, they go back to their ordinary life, when what they really need is adventure. It is ridicules that, “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism” (Chris McCandless). Chris knows that citizens need to branch out, and be original, and make their own path. This needs to happen soon or societies need for money and conformity will define what it means to be an American, an obedient society where money and stability controls people’s happiness, not what really matters. Furthermore, there were many people in Into The Wild that show what it means to be an American; overly conformed to this capitalistic society. The main people who demonstrate this are Chris’s parents. Billie and Walt struggled to make enough money for a long time, but survived perfectly fine. However, out capitalistic society promotes people spending money instead of saving it, so the economy doesn’t collapse. So, because they bought into this way of life unlike their son, when their income increased, they had to keep working instead of sitting back and enjoying life. Their business took off and, “[Walt and Billie] eventually started making bunches of money, but they worked all
For the past 20 years the private corrections industry has continued to grow. With more than 2 million Americans incarcerated in prisons in the Unites States, local governments and states cannot possibly hope to keep up with the high rates of incarceration. They must choose between overcrowding, releasing inmates, or contracting for outsourcing of inmate housing. More agencies are choosing to outsource their inmates. There are many reasons why agencies choose to outsource and I will discuss a few…
Private prisons By Cristopher Cruz Private prisons they have been around for a while now but when did they first open up for business? Private prisons opened up in 1984 in America. Private prisons are really never spoken about but the few people that now about then know that the people that run them just do it for the money not to keep our country safe. Private prisons violate the bills of right number eight to be more specific. I don’t like what these private funded prisons have done to…
accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Professional Conduct (2002) the pseudonym Betty Smith will be used to refer to the patient. Informed consent was sought from the community nursing team and verbal consent from the patient. 2. Definitions The meaning and significance of community varies enormously and how one defines this is important because it influences how community representatives may be identified and communicated with (Williams and Wright, 1998). Turton and Orr (1993)…
Notes on Shelby’s Chp. 5 Race, Culture, and Politics While this chapter is in some respects straightforward it is hard to see how this fits into Shelby’s overarching project. Basically, while Shelby things that 1) black culture is important and 2) it should be pursued, he doesn’t think that it should be part of a nationalist public agenda. There are several reasons for this. First, if blacks should pursue a national black public philosophy and black cultural autonomy should be a part of this agenda…
Segmentation and Target Market La Monica Austin MKT/571 Dr. Harry Caldwell 5/25/2015 Segmentation and Target Market 2 Segmentation and Target Market Many years ago men ruled the market, not giving women any opportunities to become independent business owners. Women were mainly stay at home mothers while their husbands went out to provide. In the present times there…
What is and how do we make sense of the ‘prison industrial complex? The United States has the highest prison rate in the world, incarcerating 743 people per 100,000 of their national population (Fulcher, 2011). The U.S makes up five percent of the worlds population, but incarcerates twenty five percent of the worlds prisoners; Since 1978 the number of prisoners in the US has tripled (Schlosser, 1998). The increase of incarceration can be traced back to the abolition of slavery. The development…
Christian Uwagwuna How the Macroeconomic Environment of the Airline Industry Affects the Strategic Decision of Boing Vs Airbus A Case Study Document Nr. V170506 http://www.grin.com/ ISBN 978-3-640-89394-2 9 783640 893942 ‘Case Study – How the Macroeconomic Environment of the Airlines Industry Affects the Strategic Decision of Boeing Vs Airbus’ By Christian Uwagwuna Course: Strategic Management 27 January 2011 Executive Summary This paper discusses the external economic…