The above video shockingly displays the wealth disparity within the US. The video largely depends on logic for the direct argument. The video has nuanced opinions displayed throughout, but nothing too direct. Statistics provide nearly the whole basis for the video, and for it's argument that wealth disparity in the US must be addressed, and that we live in a very different place than what we think. The video calls upon several graphs to help institute it's points, playing to the logic of the audience. There is some appeal to emotion as well, and authority. The fact that this a study conducted by Harvard business professor eases claims to legitimacy, while the slow, cacophonous piano playing in the background creates a sense of impending doom.
Just how far away wealth is from perceived reality. I had seen this video a few years ago, so I knew what was coming, but still, the fact that the graph had to be extended to account for the wealth of the top 1% was shocking.
On opposite sides, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath reveal wealth disparity in the US 1920's and 1930's, respectively. In Gatsby, the side of the disillusioned wealthy is presented, and the party vibe from that era, covering the pain and poverty from both that and the previous era, was only available to the rich, who all seem to have gained their wealth illegally, or with the help of the class they were born into. The American Dream is mentioned in the video as the acquisition of wealth, but even that did not gain Gatsby, or his fellow rich happiness, but certainly to the poor of the era, the rich would have hoped the American Dream could calm the masses just as the saying "money can't buy happiness" does today.
In Grapes, we are presented the opposite side of the isle. The extremely poor scrape by, crossing the nation in hopes of a new life, this American Dream. They too are disappointed, but for highly legitimate reasons. Conditions are awful, and migrants continue to arrive. The banks that took away their homes, however, are taking what little money they may have had, and are virtually unstoppable.
Just how far away wealth is from perceived reality. I had seen this video a few years ago, so I knew what was coming, but still, the fact that the graph had to be extended to account for the wealth of the top 1% was shocking.
On opposite sides, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath reveal wealth disparity in the US 1920's and 1930's, respectively. In Gatsby, the side of the disillusioned wealthy is presented, and the party vibe from that era, covering the pain and poverty from both that and the previous era, was only available to the rich, who all seem to have gained their wealth illegally, or with the help of the class they were born into. The American Dream is mentioned in the video as the acquisition of wealth, but even that did not gain Gatsby, or his fellow rich happiness, but certainly to the poor of the era, the rich would have hoped the American Dream could calm the masses just as the saying "money can't buy happiness" does today.
In Grapes, we are presented the opposite side of the isle. The extremely poor scrape by, crossing the nation in hopes of a new life, this American Dream. They too are disappointed, but for highly legitimate reasons. Conditions are awful, and migrants continue to arrive. The banks that took away their homes, however, are taking what little money they may have had, and are virtually unstoppable.