The Past And The Future - 1802 Words

The Present The past and the future are constantly battling over ownership of the present. The influences of tradition and culture keep current times rooted in history, while technological breakthroughs and the hope of improvement keep humanity looking to the future. This same struggle stretches to the realm of societal morality, where the past insists upon the existence of God, while the future demands that civilization exist without the influence of divinity. In Friedrich Nietzsche’s book, The Gay Science, one of the characters argues that the purity of traditional morality has given way to the imperfect and immoral ideals of human nature and societal progression. Friedrich Nietzsche lived from 1844 to 1900 in the country that was†¦show more content†¦When the American colonies separated from the British Empire in 1776, United States citizens were filled with an ardor for nationalism, freedom and self ­sufficiency that has remained in the hearts of Americans to this day. One of the fundamental policies adopted due to this appreciation for self ­rule and liberty is the economic system known as capitalism. And although the United States government set out on a mission to spread propaganda in the 1940s in order to highlight the superiority of capitalism over socialism, our beloved laissez ­faire system has a major dark ­side (Picture). â€Å"According to the United States Department of Labor, over 50% of U.S. garment factories are sweatshops.10 ­12 hour days, six to seven days a week are the regular hours that garment workers toil in the United States† (Homeworkers Under the Fair Labor Standards Act 1). Capitalism runs o n self ­interest, and encourages the exploitation of the people who are the most vulnerable – women, children and migrant workers (Mayday). Under the capitalistic form of economy, powerful individuals are encouraged to take advantage of their workers in order to gain profit for themselves. This system puts the disenfranchised at the mercy of the controlling