The Triviality of Time in Chicago's Song Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is?

Despite the nation’s increase in wealth through urbanization and the façade of a prospering people, the fraudulency of the Gilded Age crippled the masses in their rise to security. The competiveness amongst laborers, a battle for control of

John McTaggart in his essay “Time” presents a radical argument that claims time is unreal. While the argument is interesting and has attracted much attention for his arguments, I remain unconvinced of the argument he makes. This paper will lay out McTaggart’s argument that time in unreal, critically analyze why I believe McTaggart’s argument fails and present an alternative idea about time, utilizing aspects of McTaggart’s argument.

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”

The “rags to riches” story is a term of reverence respecting the few in society who sacrificed the little they had and emerged successful. These doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and other professionals inspire people of all socioeconomic levels by transforming nothing into something. Jay-Z, George Soros, Steve Jobs – these are names culture holds with great respect. One “rags to riches” story not many Americans have heard of pushes the limits of mental capacity. This man followed the poor-to-rich path and succeeded to such high degree that he, in turn, defined the very essence of this characteristic. Once a poor boy, Andrew Carnegie transformed the limited resources available to him into tools that aided his journey in becoming one of the richest, most successful men in all of history. Carnegie began his journey as an immigrant to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from Scotland. His family sought work, as their former weaving business had been destroyed by the Industrial Revolution (“Andrew Carnegie” American Experience). This experience as a poor worker created the drive that led him to become one of the wealthiest men of all time through his massive steel company, the Carnegie Steel Company. In conjunction with his economic success, the tycoon used the fruits of his leadership in the steel industry to become the “father of American philanthropy” (“Meet Andrew Carnegie”). As accomplished the man became, the

Andrew Carnegie was believed by many to have stolen his immense fortune by underpaying workers while others believed he worked his way to get where he was, and deserved every last penny he received. Controversial figures like the one described caused a copious amount of issues while many tried to decide whether they believed these industrialists were robber barons or captains of industry during the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. The Gilded Age was an important time is United States history that witnessed many concerning issues such as corruption, unemployment, and poverty. Because of the expansion westward and rapid pace of industrialization, many believed the United States had reached a “new golden age.” Relating to the term Gilded, the United States was looked upon as an unbelievably successful area, but had underlying elitists manipulating how the United States was viewed. The wealthy industrialists of the late 19th century were social darwinists involved in many unnecessary actions such as putting their employees in poor working conditions, underpaying their workers, and supporting children and women in the labor force.

Accurately established by many historians, the capitalists who shaped post-Civil War industrial America were regarded as corrupt “robber barons”. In a society in which there was a severe imbalance in the dynamics of the economy, these selfish individuals viewed this as an opportunity to advance in their financial status. Thus, they acquired fortunes for themselves while purposely overseeing the struggles of the people around them. Presented in Document A, “as liveried carriage appear; so do barefooted children”, proved to be a true description of life during the 19th century. In hopes of rebuilding America, the capitalists’ hunger for wealth only widened the gap between the rich and poor.

Have you ever felt like time was running past you? That the world kept spinning while you just stood still? Time is a central theme in many of Kenneth Slessor’s poems, however it is primarily explored through ‘Out of time’ and ‘Five Bells’. Slessor has made it obvious that he is aware that time continues whether we want it to or not and this is what allows us to put into perspective the notion of humanity’s dominance.

During the rise of industrialization, the United States had just ended the Civil War and was starting to move on. People had an aspiration at this time to make a more than decent living for themselves, and the economy was at the right spot for this to be possible. This time period in American History is referred to as the Gilded Age, termed by the famous author Mark Twain, which simply means covered in gold; however, Twain did not necessarily mean this in a good way. He believed right under the surface of this gold plating was still problems with the American society that didn’t look so appealing. This essay will discuss how practices during the rise of industrialization during the Gilded Age shaped the American work and labor force.

Throughout the history of mankind, money has always been the prime motivator for people. Its possession meant higher placement in society; with money you could virtually get away with anything. During the 1930’s especially, the need for money was universal due to the Great Depression, which was hovering over the economical balance in the United States. Greed created a cycle of corruption within the society, where if one had money, they could pay the money to the ‘right’ people who were in need of it to find a way that the wealthy could get away with their crimes, which was exactly what others were chasing. Raymond Chandler challenges and reflects upon these beliefs in his novel, “The Big Sleep”. In a society where greed is developed in

Throughout American industrialization, large industries were run by some of the richest men in history. These men got the nickname “robber barons” due to their creation of large monopolies by making questionable business and government activities, and by taking advantage of their workers to succeed. But in The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton W. Folsom, he argues against these claims, and he takes a deeper look into some of America’s richest and most successful men. By specifically looking at Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, James J. Hill, the Scranton family and many more, Folsom believed that these so-called robber barons were actually entrepreneurs with a drive to succeed, leading to an improvement in American lives.

The man in the picture has a fat belly to indicate that capitalist practices are geared toward wealth accumulation, just like individuals who consume large amounts of foods to grow fat bellies. An examination of the man's face indicated that he is furious and determined to achieve his goal. His clenched fist and wide walking pace portrays an individual ready to fight for a particular reason. In a capitalism market, investors normally tend to consider every possible strategy that can be employed to ensure maximum profit generation. The whole illustration draws a picture of an aggressive, ambitious and profit-driven Gilded Age capitalist.

“Miller sees many people’s lives being poisoned by their desire to be successful. People like the Lomans are doomed to try for success but fail, with all the resulting guilt that such failure brings. Others like Ben and Howard display an ability to make money that deems them successful but at the cost of their own moral integrity.” (Abbotson, 317)

The song, “Time” by the band Pink Floyd, is a deep song that has several of hidden meanings. Pink Floyd is known for the meanings behind their songs, and this is one that falls in that category. While when you first look and try to decipher these lyrics, nearly everyone gets the same result, don’t waste time. However,this song is a tragic story of someone who didn’t live life to the fullest and ended up unhappy with the outcome.

Oh my! Where has the time gone, and who are the keepers of time? Have they absconded with it, along with our dreams, our realities, our nightmares? Will they return with it, or shall we just sit here awaiting the end like two fishermen waiting for a nibble in a dried up lake? The question remains unanswered just like many others, but wait we must, because we are still at the end of a long line and our number isn't up yet, and this is one line where line-jumpers are more than welcome.

“Time is gone the song is over”, now what? In life humanity craves more time. Time is the one fixation we cannot get enough of. Since humanity is required to age, time seems to slip away. We don’t comprehend how time is synthesized. Society knows it goes on forever, regardless of what happens in life. Pink Floyd’s album, Dark Side Of The Moon, had immense success. It was recorded in the summer of 1972 on Capital records. The song Time was written by Roger Waters and recorded in the progressive era of rock and roll. The song is important because it demonstrates how people don’t realize that time slips away. The song displays this by means of engineering, instruments, lyrics, and arrangement. Therefore, taking us into how this song fits the historical context of the progressive era of rock and roll.