A conflict theorist, a functionalist, and a symbolic interactionist would all have different perspective on Sam Polk’s article on wealth addiction as well as different explanations for his experience.
Conflict theorists might say that the groups of rich and poor compete for the same resource- money- which creates conflict because the rich have much greater wealth and power than the poor do. Sam Polk saw the disparity between the rich and the poor at a young age as he explains in the article that his family lived paycheck to paycheck. His feeling powerless as a child also plays a part due to the conflict between those who have a lot of money and those who don’t have much money. His poor childhood may also have increased his need to feel that…
Therefore, society rewarded his prowess by giving him a higher paycheck. Functionalists would say that his work is valuable to keeping society as a whole stable and functioning so he deserved the money he earned. On the other hand, functionalists may also see that the broken economic system of America created this imbalance in wealth distribution leading to other uncured social ills such as racism, mass incarceration, and sexual assault in the “body” of society. Since one part of society is not functioning well, functionalists may suggest that this leads Sam Polk to call for change in the system through donation of funds and creation of wealth addiction…
I feel that we, as a society, need more people like him who are able to denounce the injustices in our current economic system. I agree with his interpretation that our culture promotes wealth addiction by implying that more money is good without giving limits to how much money is actually beneficial. I think it was very brave for him to say what he did in the article; being transparent is helpful to readers, while people who work on Wall Street may be appalled by their own behavior, or perhaps more likely, enraged by the criticism Polk gives. I think this spirit of competitiveness and selfishness by looking out only for our own desires is ultimately detrimental to society as is indicated by the article and by the large gap between rich and poor as well as the disappearing middle class. Sam Polk’s reversal of perspective and the ensuing action he takes is inspirational in many ways because it means that people who are seen as being at the top of the social, or at least economic, hierarchy can be disillusioned to the ills of the system and can create change for the better. I liked the note he ended on, suggesting a concrete step that can be taken to solve the problem he addresses. Based on my background as a Christian, I know that the 10% tithe can also help address this problem. If everyone gave up 10% of their income to help the poor and the needy, we can increase the living standards of many who desperately need it,…
