Optimistic Believer

Wealth gives not as fortunate people the allusion that the wealthy are happy because they are able to do whatever they want to. It imprisons a person because people do have that mindset and don’t always think that they can use their money for good.

Lauren Greenfield’s 2012 documentary The Queen of Versailles offers an entertaining and thought provoking look at what subjects a documentary can cover as the film follows billionaires David and Jacqueline Siegel and their family as they navigate the 2008 economic crisis and attempt to build a mansion inspired by Versailles. Though the premise of the film is fairly straightforward, on a deeper level the film touches upon such ideas as the unattainability of the “American Dream,” the correlation between wealth and happiness, and family perseverance in the face of adversity. However, one key theme of the film serves to discredit the outside assumption that wealthy individuals lead flawless happy lives, and are in someway elevated beyond typical humanity, not experiencing hardships in the same manner as middle class society. In reality, as the film demonstrates, the wealthy are as flawed and as deeply human as any other class, capable of experiencing hardships and unhappiness regardless of material wealth. To further explore how the film achieves its theme, one must first have a firm understanding of the documentary form and how certain events in the film highlight the theme, which is explored in the following paragraphs .

This film made me think about how relevant this theme is to the society we live in today as it is hard for poorer people to have the same opportunities and experiences as wealthier people because they can't afford it. Instead of everyone being equal, there is still imbalance within our society as money separates us. John Key, who is the New Zealand prime minister is a good example of this as he only caters to the needs of the wealthy people which he instead should be catering to the needs of poorer people. Poverty is a huge issue in New Zealand, which can be a result of not having enough money to buy food. Children go to school hungry and don't have the brain food to focus and work to the best of their abilities. Because of this they are likely to get a lower paid job and it is like a circle like in the film of the rich people staying rich and the poor people staying poor. John Key recently invested 26 million

All i’ve heard from others is that money is everything. That its all you need to survive. That's not true, you don't need wealth. There's people with wealth or people without wealth. That's where people rate you or how you're famous or known out there because you have you have money. Well none of that matters because we were all born to be equal nothing more, nothing less. You might think thats how its suppose to be, where someone's on top or on bottom but everyone should be treated the same.

By Kenneth Feinberg he speaks about how the system values the rich over the poor or just people who make less in general. “The law required that I give more money to the stockbroker, the bond trader and the banker than to the waiter, the policeman, the fireman and the soldier at the Pentagon” (Feinberg). It can be hopeless to the families of many who have lost someone tragically to know that they are not seen as valuable or worthy. Many people do come out of these negative experiences with a very cynical and pessimistic look on life. It can be hard to feel like there is hope in circumstances like

Everywhere you look at the United States you can find economic stratification. From the kind of vehicle you drive, to the kind of house you live in, to the kind of restaurants you eat at the most you will find economic stratification. Some might ask, does any of that truly matter today? Yes, unfortunately, it does. An important goal for most people is what’s referred to as The American Dream. Whether it is to attend a good college, get a respectable job, purchase the perfect house, and have a small family or maybe just to start your own business; that dream starts with wealth. People with more money will have an easier time with achieving the dream than a lower income person would. With wealth comes power and prestige as well. People with more money have better life chances because they can afford better healthcare, education, healthier food, and safer neighborhoods just to name a few things.

We all have our own problems. Affluenza or poorluenza can affect any of us. There is much worse sicknesses than affluenza. Which questions how being from a rich family you can avoid jail yet if you are depressed or anything else you don’t get the same results. We are no different than anyone else. Everyone has their own problems. Affluenza can affect any of us. How is it that being rich can keep you out of jail yet any other sickness cant? There are worse sicknesses out there. Affluenza isn’t as crazy as it sounds. It’s not a good enough reason to be able to avoid jail, while there are others in so much worse

Supposedly, both the individuals with ascribed statuses with hereditary wealth and the poor and homeless have equal chances to become successful although, Orestes Bronwnson in The Laboring Classes, pointed out that this is not true. “Do the young man inheriting ten thousand pounds and the one whose inheritance is merely the gutter, start even?” (219). As a result, the harsh separation of the rich and the poor, where capitalism thrives and,” the division of the community into two classes, one which owns the funds…the other provides the labor” (216). The inhumane apprehension of a capitalist society that keeps its workers “in a permanent system, [has] given preference to the slave system” (214) says a lot about the evils of capitalism corresponding with the false American Dream. An outcome of capitalism is the frustrating rivalry between the poor. “There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining the country. The competition is maddening”

I am only thinking about myself and have been conditioned by society that the poor are beneath me. Just as hooks states in her book, “Society is telling them that poverty and nihilism are one and the same. If they cannot escape poverty, then they have no choice but to drown in the image of a life that is valueless” (hooks, 198), we have been taught by society to believe that poverty and nihilism are synonymous, but this is not true. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, I believe it takes a nation to resolve the issue of poverty. Our society needs to dig deep to reignite the morals that generations in the past taught us; sharing our resources, whether monetarily or charitably, through understanding, kindness and generosity to those less fortunate. We all have to be ready to share liberally and recognize the fact that there are those who struggle and deserve attention paid to their struggles. By helping others who have not, we keep our humanity intact and maintain our ability to empathize and show compassion towards others. Our culture is based on working together and helping our neighbors. We need to stop considering the poor invisible and instead take personal steps to keep our communities thriving via good will towards others, and lending a helping hand. The poor, just as our environment, are our responsibility, and the sharing of resources is crucial to bringing an individual from poverty to a more

It can be said that money is power in the United States, and this is brought out in the essay, “Class in America---2012” written by Gregory Mantsios. He says that even though many Americans do not like to discuss class, “it can determine where people live, who their friends are, how well they are educated, and what they do for a living” (Mantsios). Many Americans do not speak about class type, and most find it unacceptable (Mantsios). Unfortunately, we can see that there are laws that are built to help and better the wealthy, while it cripples the rest of us. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “The richest twenty percent of Americans hold nearly ninety percent of the total household wealth in this county” (Institute) Gregory Mantsios without reserve describes the majority of people are at a disadvantage in their social class, while the upper class is compensated.

It seems to most that those who have money have it all. They should buy all the unnecessary “junk” that one might find pleasure in owning, take everything for granted and view lower-class individuals as a group of wanna-bes. Think again. S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, very important propositions are portrayed through the writing techniques which link to another piece of writing “Poverty and Wealth” written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Just because you have everything, doesn’t mean you understand it's worth. Different classes have different experiences, allowing elaboration on the different characters.

Have you ever wondered what life is like for people in specific social classes and all the baggage that comes with being wealthy? In the article “Amber Waves of Green”, author Jon Ronson has sit downs with hard working americans making a income of $200 a week all the way up to $625,000 a week. In another writing titled “The Mansion”, written by Michael Lewis, allows the reader to get insight on what life is like as a middle class individual taking on a higher style of living. Within the two articles the reader can point out that both Jon Ronson and Michael Lewis disagree on living styles, what wealth can do for you, and how it can affect the people around you.

To some, being poor is embarrassing and shameful, but to a select group of people; being poor is something they’re grateful to be. They embrace it and use it to their advantage to achieve better lives

In chapter sixteen, “Social Class and Inequality” the essays show different cases in which being rich, poor, smart or middle class can affect a person. In the writings of Angela Locke in “Born Poor and Smart” (338-339) Angela summarizes her life of what it was like growing up with a poor, yet smart mother. However, in “When Shelter Feels like a Prison” (374-376) Charmion Browne writes about being poor, and living in homeless shelters. Somethings in life, are no more than learning experiences, and only you can change it.

The essence of gratitude is acknowledging and appreciating the good in your life and doing so surfaces endless benefits that contribute to well-being. While this hypothesis seems rather indisputable there is evidence and research to further convince the sceptics. Emmons and McCullough garnered their conclusions through an experiment in which different groups documented their lives in different manners. Through daily and weekly journals the participants were asked to record negative occurrences, neutral events, or things they were grateful for respectively. The findings were conclusive; the group that kept tabs on things they were grateful for consistently reported a greater sense of well-being (Sansone and Sansone, 18-22). The methods Emmons and McCullough used to conduct this experiment were very professional and free of any bias. By tailoring the experiment to allow for as much participant control as possible there is little room for influence on their part. Additional research from Froh and Sefick in partnership with Emmons echoes these sentiments. The trio conducted a study in which 221 adolescents were tracked and those who routinely counted their blessings experienced enhanced life satisfaction and overall well-being. (Froh, J., Sefick, W. J., & Emmons, R. A. 2008). In a very in depth study conducted at the University of California, Riverside by psychologists Sonja Lyubomirsky, Rene