Monday, January 30, 2012
Our "gilded" America - Extra Credit
I can't put my finger on an example at the moment, but I know that writers have been comparing modern America to the late 1800s, especially with regards to our economy and its effects on different groups of people. See if you can find an article, reference or direct comparison. Tell us about its thesis and supporting evidence. If possible, please provide a link to the source itself.
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http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,793896,00.html
ReplyDeleteThe article I found is in relation to the Occupy Wall Street Movement. This article compares the idea of the "99%" to the Gilded Age of the 1800s. The article calls modern day America an oligarchy, which means that a small group of people rule the country. In the 1800s, this small group was the big-business owners (J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie) who dominated both the economy and government. The idea is that because they have so much money they have a large say in the government. In comparison to modern day, it seems as though the "1%" are the business owners in the eyes of the protesters. Wall Street Protesters think that the majority of the American population is underrepresented in the government because of their lack of money.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/the-emerging-gilded-age/?scp=1&sq=gilded%20age&st=cse
ReplyDeleteIn this article the International Herald Tribune is comparing our society today to a guided age due to all the new technology. They believe the wealthy are starting to rule because they are the ones benefitting the most from this economic transition. indeed, this is pushing more people to the middle class and for some into poverty.
http://www.heritage.org/research/commentary/2011/09/understanding-poverty-in-the-us
ReplyDeleteIn the article I found, it talks about how in the U.S today one in seven people are living in poverty. But the main point of the article is that there is basically a "new" kind of poverty in america and it's not the kind we are used to seeing. Usually when we think of someone who is impoverished we think of someone with old raggedy clothes and no home to live in. But that is not the case. Families that are being considered poor not only have a place to live, but they also have a car, air conditioning, electronics for entertainment and also in the kitchen. So I believe that we are still gilded by the fact that although everybody or most people seem like they have nice things, that does not mean they have the income or money to actually sustain it. This of course should not exclude the significant amount of people that are actually homeless especially in big cities like New York and Detroit but it should open our eyes and make us realize that just because people have nice things on the outside does not mean they have money in their wallets or bank accounts.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/23/the-new-gilded-age-who-will-benefit/
ReplyDeleteThe article I found off the New York Times website describes how the world's economy is transforming and the result is creating a new Gilded Age. The transformation is also creating what is known as the 1% or the plutocracy. The middle class are the ones who are suffering the most, and are the ones left behind the 1% in the new Gilded Age.