Article Summary
“The Rich Are Good-Natured”: William Graham Sumner Defends the Wealthy
The article argues against the assumption by majority people in the society that the rich are bad people. In most cases, wealth is associated with vices such as corruption, fraud and other financial crimes but this is not always the case. There are rich people who work their way up to the economic status and they deserve to be given respect. The desire of most parents is to see their children accumulate capital and become wealthy in the future and yet they are the same people who criticize the wealthy people in the society. The children may thus lose interest in working towards becoming rich. The author suggests that most rich people are ambitious and their intentions are mostly misunderstood, yet they benefit everyone on the society. Through the innovations and creativity of the rich people, the poor benefit from the essential goods and services that are provided as well as employment. Individuals who do not understand the true meaning of the word capital write most of the articles that criticize the wealthy. Such writers do not even understand the struggle that some wealthy people experience to get to where they are. It is thus inaccurate to base one’s opinion about the wealthy based on these articles.
The good nature of the rich is depicted by the fact that even after being criticized by the society as bad people, they still help the poor when a need arises. The rich are blamed for many evil acts such as the spread of barbarism in Europe but they still have the heart to help the poor. There is a common fallacy in the society stating that the economic status of the rich is because of the hard work and industrious nature of the poor people. This is not true because everyone in the society has a chance to become rich but they must be in a position to identify the business opportunities in the environment and the most suitable strategies to fill the gaps. It is true that the poor people are requested to supply labor to the rich, but the functions they perform result from the creativity of the rich.
The population of the wealthy people is small compared to that of the poor people, making it easier to criticize the rich. For one to be rich, they must have strong decision-making skills and be able to organize the factors of production. This is not an easy task and only the rich people are able to do it, thus they reap all the rewards of factors of production. The article cites the need for the society to stop criticizing the rich because they need to have successors who will ensure that development continues, even when they die or are incapacitated. Although the author states that the rich people work hard to acquire all their property, he cites that there are cases where the wealth results from fraud. Acts such as financial crimes may hinder civilization in a nation, but they can be prevented by implementation of regulations that address the same. The article concludes by highlighting the factors that may hinder development in a nation such as ineffectiveness of public administrators including chiefs.
War Is “a Blessing Not a Curse”: The Case for Why We Must Fight.
The article is about the involvement of Americans in the European war, World War 1 that brought a lot of misery to the society but it still had a positive impact as it led to freedom and civilization. The author argues that the war was a blessing but not a curse, making it clear that the advantages of the war outweigh its demerits. Although the war resulted into loss of many lives and destruction of properties, it was not about the physical aspects but rather the struggle was between barbarism and democracy. Barbarism was characterized by various issues such as breach of treaties, lies, murders, treacheries, insults and worst of all it made the journey towards civilization unrealistic.
There was no way that the society would be civilized with that height of barbarism in the society. The author holds that for peace to be achieved, it was necessary to have the fight. The results of war in other nations such as Japan, China, and France justify the involvement of America in the European war. The civilization experienced in these nations was as a result of the pain and suffering that the people endured during war. A primary advantage of war is the fact that it brings about an end to dictatorship as observed in the Western hemisphere nations. Wars are destructive but a country such as America should not watch the other nations destroy the infrastructure that it has invested in for years. The country must fight back regardless of the religious beliefs that hold a different stand.
There are three reasons that justify the involvement of America in the European war. One of the primary reasons is that the failure of the country to get involved in war will only increase barbarism in the country. The Americans cannot hold the pain anymore in the name of maintaining good relations with its neighbors. There are adequate reasons for the nation to stop worrying much about the relations it has with the neighboring nations. The country cannot watch its citizens suffer from treason and murder by the neighboring nations in the name of maintaining good relations. Other crimes committed against the nation include burning of villages to deprive the poor of shelter. The second reason that justifies the involvement of the nation in war is the need to please the ancestors. The war will help end the suffering that the people experience and this is a way of fulfilling the wishes of the founding fathers of the nation to have a peaceful nation where liberty is upheld.
A decision to avoid involvement in the war defies the noble example set by the founding fathers to fight for good life. The nation’s founding fathers did not allow foreign spies and traitors into the nation and that is how they achieved freedom. The same should be emulated so as an effort to end barbarism. The article concludes by highlighting the third reason that justifies American’s involvement in war. The war will result into the spread of civilization into countries that have not embraced democracy yet such as Austria, thus saving millions of people from the barbaric acts of the leaders. The nation should thus get involved in the war if barbarism is to be replaced by civilization in the nations
Reel Revolutionaries: An Examination of Hollywood’s Cycle of 1960s Youth Rebellion Films
To succeed in business, companies use different strategies that appeal most to the target population. This was the case with companies in the film industry such as MGM in the 1960s. In the mid-1960s, the film industry in the United States invested in films that showed about the struggles of the youth in making campus life more conducive. The demand for the movies increased but at the same time, the impact of the movies on the society was undesirable as there were many cases of campus strikes. The young population of university students with little knowledge about politics and culture were involved in violent activities as an effect of watching the movies. Some of the activities associated with the rebellious films include the national student strike that paralyzed education in the country in 1970s and the massacre of students during the same time. As a responsible industry, companies such as MGM started producing movies that showed the negative impacts of rebellion among campus students.
As the companies changed the themes on movies, the demand for films dropped and they had to define new methods of attracting the youth. The reduction in the demand for film was a major blow to the industry since it coincided with the economic hardships in the late 1960s. To attract the young population, companies defined different mechanisms of capturing their attention. The hiring of a young president by MGM was among the strategies that were used to attract the attention of the young people. Other strategies that were put in place to reduce the negative impact of the rebellious movies included the criticism by underground writers. Some of the newspapers such as Variety advocated for sanity among the youth by criticizing the rebellious movies.
The writers suggested strategies that could be used to reduce the popularity of the films. Top in the list was putting financial pressure on the companies involved in the production and distribution of such films so as to discourage their activities. The underground writers aimed at fighting the youth rebellion by pointing out the negative influence that the films had on culture and behavior of the young people. By citing that the film industry’s main focus was to benefit financially from the film young audience, the underground writers hoped to end the production and distribution of rebellious youth films.
Although the idea of making more youth-oriented films appealed to the young population, there was a challenge in attracting good sized audience outside America. Some individuals such as Bert Obrentz as well as institutions such as the National Association of Theatre Owners were concerned about the reception of the films in the international market. In their opinion, most of the attention was directed at the youth instead of a broader audience. The theatres in America were experiencing a drop in the number of older generation going for movies, making it clear that the same situation would be experienced in the oversees countries. Even with the introduction of the other youth films in the country, the rebellious youth movies were still available in the market. However, the number of student strikes in higher learning institutions had reduced significantly by early 1970s. The youth seemed to be ready for the rebellious films but it is evident that the industry was still not ready for the same.
What’s a Modern Girl to Do? By Maureen Dowd
The modern woman is expected to act and behave in a certain manner that defines who they are. Dowd cites that the role of women in the society has changed from the traditional roles. The change in the roles played by both men and women in the society changed in the late 1960s, with most women adopting some behaviors that were not normal for ladies. The mode of dressing changed to include padded bras and unisex jeans as the perception of independence among the gender increased. The issues of gender equality were also significant at the time with majority of women acting more like men. In an effort to imitate men, women started smoking, drinking, and looking for financial freedom. They also embraced the use of contraceptive pills so that they could have sex anytime they wanted just like their male counterparts. Just like men, the women stopped wearing makeup. As an indication of their independence, the women adopted a dancing style that did not involve close contact with one’s partner. Women tried hard to imitate men in all ways but the author states that unless they had the same anatomy as men, the two genders were never going to be equal.
There were many important issues that people discussed at a national level such civil rights, equality and social issues. The debate on these issues was mainly meant to promote the welfare of the people, but this was not always the case. Some of the issues such as gender equality brought about the emergence of feminist revolution that ended up confusing women about their place in the society. In the modern world, there are many parties such as writers, philosophers, anthropologists, and therapists who have tried to explain the issues of independence and dependence of women over the years. Regardless of their arguments, the fact is that men still dominate issues that deal with the workplace as well as domestic affairs.
As a result of feminist revolution, women were convinced that it was their role to chase after a man during courtship. One did not have to wait for a man to approach them for a relationship as they had equal right to express themselves. The generation before that had a different opinion on courtship as women were expected to wait for the man to make the first move. They were expected to show a little but charming laugh as well as cross their legs during their conversations with men when courting. Although the behavior changed since the late 1960s, it is observed in modern ladies. The only difference is the environment which is characterized with information communication technology. Similar to the trends in the past, the modern women allow men make the first move.
The modern generation of women has realized that men like hunting and thus should be given a chance to initiate the relationship. Feminism revolution also influenced the reaction of women in matters relating to finance where they offered to clear half the bill with their money as a way of showing their equality with men. The modern woman does the same but the reason is not to prove their equality with men but to assess their sexuality. The plight of modern day women has been greatly influenced by the attitude of men towards professional and successful women. The article concludes that both genders are moving in opposite directions with the successful women more likely to miss out on husbands and children.
World Series Coverage Before and During the Depression
The Great Depression affected many sectors of the economy including the newspaper companies. The demand for newspapers dropped drastically due to the economic hardship that resulted from unemployment. Before the economic crisis, newspaper companies made huge profits out of advertisements paid by businesses. With the high rate of unemployment, the businesses were not making high profits due to low consumption rates, thus cutting on advertisement costs. To contain the situation the newspapers reduced the number of pages but some contents could not be reduced. One of the sections that one would expect to miss in the newspaper at such times is sports section, but this was not the case with many newspapers. During the time, the most popular sport was baseball and the readers were very interested in it. The interest that people had in sports began during the era of industrial revolution because they had a lot of leisure time.
During the twentieth century, sport journalism grew and this attracted even more readers. By 1920s, sport journalism was at the peak thus it was not possible for the newspaper companies to ignore the section. After the World War 1, the interest of people in sports increased as so did sport writing. As the interest of the society in sports grew, the people started associating the activities with heroism. To gain popularity in the community, the leaders had to be associated with sports and this made the sports section even more interesting, not only to the youth but also the older generations. Sports became a way through which people gained popularity in the society as the newspaper section served as a marketing tool. The players who appeared in the newspaper many times such as Jack Dempsey were regarded as heroes, regardless of their skills. The popularity of the sports section was driven by the relationship that developed between the media and sports. The event promoters needed the sports journalists to report about games and this drew the attention of many fans, making the events successful. Consequently, the sports journalists earned money from their work.
During the Great Depression, the society needed some social support that was facilitated by the sports section and this explains why it was not possible to cut out the section. The newspapers used the section to sponsor charitable events as well as addressing issues such as racism and ethics that affected the society at the time. Based on eight newspapers in the United States at the time, it is evident that the popularity of the sports section did not decrease with the changing economic status. The percentage of pages covering the sports sections remained the same because people did not lose interest in sports, whichaccording to them was a cultural identity. Most of the articles were about the World Series but by 1932, the trend had changed and fewer articles were written mainly due to the increase in other features such as photographs that had to be incorporated. The interest of the people in sports, the rise of baseball, sports journalism and the association of sports with culture made it impossible to exclude the sports section of the newspaper during the Great Depression
Works Cited
Bodroghkozy, Aniko. “Reel revolutionaries: An examination of Hollywood’s cycle of 1960s youth rebellion films.” Cinema journal 41.3 (2002): 38-58.
Carvalho, John. “Bad times but still swingin’: World Series coverage before and during the Depression.” NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture13.1 (2004): 81-93.
Dowd, M. (2005). What’s a modern girl to do?. New York Times, 10, 30.
Sumner, William Graham. What social classes owe to each other. New York, Harper, 1883.
The editors. “For Freedom and Democracy.” North American Review 30 Mar. 1917: 482–488. Print.