The Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum

In the passage “The Art of Money Getting” by P.T. Barnum, the author states that money is not necessarily the root of all evil. If properly used, money has the possibility of benefiting those around us, yet at the same time has a high probability of bringing out the worst in many people. Money also has the likelihood to cause strife in political situations and could be the underlying effect of corrupt city or even federal governments. Lastly, although money is indeed the root of the GDP (gross domestic product) and without money, American citizens would not be able to feed into the growth economic cycle of our nation, many of our pockets have a sense to “have a hole” in the instant money gets placed into them. I disagree with the author that money is not necessarily the root of all evil.

Money can definitely help many people. For instance, an inner city child with only one pair of shoes could benefit from money by having a second pair. A poor pregnant mother would be able to give sustenance to her body and her child with money to buy food with. Even well off citizens could use money- which in turn you see at your local gas station- a man in a well fitted, name brand two piece suit- who is obviously on his way to his white-collar job- hurriedly scratches away at a shiny silver lottery ticket. The problem with money is that everyone would like an abundance of it, but not everyone has the opportunity to have it at their disposal. When too many people are vying for the same thing and there is not enough to go around, people start concocting ways on how to get their own share. Soon enough, crime becomes a factor and humans lose their morality and start stealing from one another; students at their local university have to look behind their backs at all times to watch out for an unsuspecting robber.

Money also can cause the backbone of a once stable political society to become spiteful and greedy. Detroit is a perfect example (although I do not believe Detroit has had a stable background in quite some time.) Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has a strong desire to lead Detroit out of its long standing deficit. Cuts are made and city owned entities are closed; city workers lose their jobs. The Mayor finds it important to make these cuts to help the city of Detroit all the while he also finds it of key necessity to own an expensive means of transportation that will only result in depreciation. I also read on a regular basis of