Skip to main content

A Conflict with the Current Currency /////// Isabelle Ferguson

 I always imagined what it would be like if I had all the money in the world. Growing up, I always thought I would spend my money on brand new, working things for my mom. A house with working air and heat, a car that didn’t break down every three months, and all the designer clothes she could ever want. I also imagined giving the money to people and programs. The fine arts department at my high school, my church, and all my friends. I’m sure you’ve noticed: my money would be out like a light within the first few hours of me having it. Aristotle captures this in Book IV. This is about to take a sharp turn, so hold on to your diplomas. 
I have so many questions. Why is wealth, honor, and pride (predominantly wealth) the main focus of everything?  “The poor man cannot be magnificent because he has not the means with which to spend large sums fittingly” (Book IV, paragraph 2). But if he spends all he has on the right things and refuses to take from the bad things, is he not magnificent? Why is wealth the measure of everything? If the poor man gives 75% of what he has, but the magnificent man gives 25%, why is the magnificent man still magnificent? People are out there breaking their backs at work just to get slightly ahead, and it’s infuriating.  
The person who deserves riches the most doesn’t get it. Why? Oh, yeah. He gives it all away to help those who need it more. If you give away all your riches to help others you won't be rich. Yes, he donates his money and funds certain programs, but we don’t see Jeff Bezos offering to pay off student loan debt. It explains why the people who are the wealthiest alive are “the wealthiest.” You need education to get a good job, you need a job to pay for education, you need a car to get to the job and education, but you need money for the car, and it NEVER ENDS. This is the way of life, and has been for a long time. And it sucks. I vote we change the currency to something more significant than a something shiny, green, or decorative. 
P.S. I commented on Lily Caswell's post and Jessef Leslie's post.

Comments

  1. Caroline TuckerOctober 26, 2020 at 10:47 PM

    My business brain is crying for help... it is screaming NOOO!!! However, putting business aside, I can definitely see where you are coming from. I am constantly yelling “why does everything cost so much money?” It is like the saying “nothing is free”. And that is true. Everything costs something. Whether it is time or money. To get back on track, the big question we need to ask is, Is the wealthy man happy and content? I would assume and believe that the man who gives everything away is the happy and content man.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haylee LyndOctober 26, 2020 at 11:06 PM

    It is what we give up to have an invisible hand in the free market. The market functions because of self-interest. The economy has to function off self-interest(off people working for money) because most individuals simply wouldn't do the work which needs to be done to create a product out of love for other people. Capitalism has its pros and cons.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Word Painting in Vesta—Lily Caswell

  Word painting in Weelkes’s As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending is quite interesting. And because that is a really long title, I’m calling it Vesta from now on. Word painting is basically when the melody matches up with the lyrics. So in Vesta, when it says “ascending” and “descending”, there are obviously scales going up and down. The madrigal was written for six voices to sing unaccompanied, so when they start to come together, it matches with the lyrics; so if the lyric says “two by two”, there are only two voices; “three by three” there is another voice added, and so forth. All the parts combine in exclamation before Vesta before it is left “all alone” to the highest soprano. All the way to the end of the piece, word painting continues when shouts of “Long live fair Oriana” with the bass sustaining long notes. Word painting in and of itself is a highly interesting topic because a musician takes the words of a poem or a sonnet and writes a melody line that pertains to cer...
4 comments
Read more

Welcome to Honors! (Please Read This)

     Welcome to Honors! My name is Abbie Hedden and I serve as President of Honors. Jamie Peters is our Vice President, and Caroline Tucker is our Secretary. I look forward to getting to know all of you in class during this upcoming year! There are a few things you need to know about Honors.      There are no quizzes or tests in Honors. Grades are provided based on attendance/class participation, blogs, explication papers, and the research paper. The papers will be addressed at a later date, as they aren't due until later in the semester. However, there is a blog post due every week. Bearing that in mind, here are the requirements! Criteria Blog posts are due Monday at 11:59PM , and comments are due Tuesday at 9:29AM . DO NOT BE LATE ON ASSIGNMENTS. Points WILL be deducted from late assignments! Be sure to have your name in your Blogger profile Blog posts should include at least one to two paragraphs on that week’s reading assignment.  Blog posts shoul...
Post a Comment
Read more

Topsy Turvy Day—Lily Caswell

  I cannot remember how old I was when I watched T he Hunchback of Notre Dame  but I was at least 8 or 9. I didn’t realize until probably a couple of years ago that the song  “Topsy Turvy” and the corresponding event was actually based on a real festival. The Feast of Fools was usually held on January 1 though it could have also been held on the 6 th  or the 13 th  of January. It was portrayed as a parody of Catholic feasts. Church bells were rung improperly, songs were sung out of tune, and the celebrants “wore strange garments and masks, and used puddings, sausages, and old shoes as censers.” (Seaton, p 77) In the song “Topsy Turvy”, it says “It’s the day the devil in us gets released / It’s the day we mock the prig and shock the priest / Everything is Topsy Turvy at the Feast of Fools… And it’s the day we do the things that we deplore ‘ On the other three hundred and sixty-four.”  I commented on Haylee Lynd’s and Jamie’s posts. Sources: https://www.brita...
1 comment
Read more