Jenna Freeman
AP English
Mrs.Hsu
4th Period B day
November 13, 2012 In today’s society it is almost inevitable that money is associated with power and status, more so now than in the past. Because we, as a society, place money on such a pedestal, it is not surprising that to many people money and status have become a priority. Ema S, a student at Reagan High School, says, “People are blinded by the power of money”. It is fair to say that this holds to be true in society especially the one we live in today, where materialism and power have become of utmost importance. Materialism is always thought of with a negative connotation, when this is not necessarily true. Unfortunately we seem to have a faith in materialism and money, two things with which faith should not be placed. “Against the faith in money, other men in other times and places have raised up countervailing faiths in family, honor, religion, intellect, and social class”. (Lapham) These are the things in which faith should be placed, these are the things that should have utmost importance in our lives and should have priority over money and materialistic things. It is understandable why one would place their faith in money though, for with money comes respect, status, pleasure, and comfort all of which most people find desirable. However, can one not achieve respect, status, pleasure and comfort also by placing faith in family, religion, or intellect? The power of money can consume our lives and hinder our morality and better judgment by placing our faith with it, rather than with family, religion or intellect. Everyone dreams of becoming successful, and with success there always seems to be money. With success and money, there can be detrimental consequences, such as those in “The Company Man” by Ellen Goodman. “He was a perfect type A, a workaholic” (Goodman). Phil would go to work every day, more days than were even necessary in order to make it to the top. In doing this he sacrificed relationships, his health, and eventually his life. Obviously this story was exaggerated to prove a point but one worth proving at that, why being successful at what you do is important, so are other aspects of your life that are not associated with money, such as family. Many people today, such as Phil, get so caught up in making money that they forget who they are, making it for. It’s the reason behind the money that is more important than the money itself which is something we tend to have a trouble seeing. Money seems to be so irresistible because with money comes pleasure, or so it seems. The more money, the happier one will be. “Americans currently spend $48 billion a year on