ipl-logo

Critical Review: The Big Short By Michael Lewis

1078 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Democracy in american

ENRIQUEZ, Ada Claudette E.
2014-00295-MN-0
Bachelor in Political Science IV-1

CRITICAL REVIEW ESSAY:
The Big Short by Michael Lewis

As emphasized in class, Americans are said to be firm believers of democracy, a system of rule by the people rooted in three fundamental principles: popular sovereignty (the people ultimately rule), political equality (each person has an equal say in determining what the government does), and political liberty (the people are protected from government intervention.in relation to the practice or exercise of their rights). The aforementioned aspects of democracy are not only easily seen in their society today but it can also be grounded as a key player in their history. And since the Americans hold democracy near …show more content…

brokerages and investment banks, and it is also used as the collective name for the financial and investment community, which includes stock exchanges and large banks, brokerages, securities and underwriting firms, and big businesses. However, in Lewis’ book, he simplifies the idea of Wall Street as a unit that’s basic function is to allocate capital; he stated that the people who work here are the people in charge of deciding who should get it and who should not, and he also placed an importance with the concept that Wall Street is about the people who are making bigger money packaging and selling and shuffling around American’s growing debts. These types of descriptions from the author are not only a sign that supports the capitalistic ideals of Americans but it also shows the individualistic traits of their people that’s imbedded in their political …show more content…

Most often than not, this is seen when Republicans fight for the delay of welfare services that are being proposed for the people. The simplicity of it all rests on their mindset that the idea of enabling the government to provide social welfare services to the people will create a culture not only of dependence of the poor to the able but also a culture of laziness. They see that the situation becomes unfair for people who are diligently paying their taxes when they are coerced to pay their dues to the state so that the money collected will help the people who are not part of the labor force of their country or for people who are unwilling to even try and contribute to society. Though it may seem like this a distant argument for the book, when looked at through a deeper lens, it is very much appropriate. Through Lewis’ book he attributed that Wall Street investment banks were very much like Las Vegas casinos because they the one’s in-charge to set the odds where the customer are able to play zero-sum games against them and may acquire the possibility to win from time to time but never systematically, and never so spectacularly that he bankrupts the casino,

Show More
Related

Review Of Larry Schweikart's Seven Events That Made America

606 Words | 3 Pages

Schweikart has written over twenty books in his career including popular titles such as, “A Patriot’s History of the United States” and “48 Liberal Lies About American History.” This book analyzes seeming insignificant events and looks at the short and long-term effects on the United States of America. In this book, seven events are looked through in detail and their effects on American Government are explained.

Read More

What Were Robber Barons

327 Words | 2 Pages

The robber barons did everything they can to keep wealth. These men acted like they were helping the people but the truth is they were helping themselves not the society. They forced the society by charging out difficult rates, and discriminating against small businessmen. In American politics, the

Read More

Summary Of The Working Poor Invisible In America

1691 Words | 7 Pages

In the preface of the book he states that the problems faced by the working poor go beyond political boundaries. He repeats this idea in chapter 11 when he notes that it will take both political parties to reform their own ideas enough to create necessary programs. However, when he is describing how the plight of the working poor got so bad, he places emphasis on Republican policies. He says that welfare programs have been cut “thanks in large measure to rulings by conservative judges installed by Republican presidents and Senates” (CH 11). While he repeatedly states that both parties need to change their ideals to help, most of the problems caused by a decrease in help for the poor can be laid at the feet of the Republicans.

Read More

Summary Of Limits Of Power By Andrew Bacevich

1148 Words | 5 Pages

“Andrew Bacevich speaks truth to power, no matter who is in power, which may be why those of both the left and the right listen to him”, this is a phrase by Bill Moyers. It clearly indicates that, the limits of power offers an unparalleled and deep look into the political crisis that America as a country is generally facing. The book by Andrew Bacevich argues on several concepts of presidency and the democratic rights that should be followed in coming up with the right governance rules (Bacevich 11). Bacevich was an American philosopher and therefore talked of several issues that affected the political life of Americans. He is best known for the book he did on Limits of power, which addressed a number of topics.

Read More

What Donald Trump Doesn T Understand About Welfare By Brian Hanley

955 Words | 4 Pages

Hanley wrote this article in order to persuade his readers that welfare is a very crucial part of some people’s lives, and Donald Trump should not cut its funding. In order to achieve this, Hanley makes use of statistics and facts throughout the article explaining how beneficial social welfare truly is. He conducted research and credited most of his findings to historian Michael B. Katz of the University of Pennsylvania. In the article, he states that there was a 60% decline of people living in poverty between 1960 and 1980 due to social welfare. He also states that between these

Read More

Analysis Of Democracy In America By Alexis De Tocqueville

952 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout this document, Alexis De Tocqueville explained to the audience his own interpretation of Democracy in America. At some points, Tocqueville compares the American democracy to the European democracy. Tocqueville begins this document by stating that “In America, the authority exercised by the legislatures is supreme:nothing prevents them from accomplishing their wishes with celerity and with irresistible power, and they are supplied with new representatives every year. ”(Tocqueville pg 257). Tocqueville also points out that America is the country where laws last the shortest time.

Read More

What Is Hedge's Wording In The Empire Of Illusion

640 Words | 3 Pages

Humorously enough, though it designates an angering form of admittance, his wording and raw intel creates a cause for the opposer of his work to look less than on par with his easily validated rationalization of American providentals. Throughout the snippet of his book reviewed he makes a repetitive use of the phrasing “[t]he country I live in(...)” and “[t]he America I knew(...)” Which coerces the reader to believe that the man’s words they’re briefing through hold a degree of sage weight to them. However, when it comes to the support he provides, his use of references intervenes with the flow of his argument.

Read More

Michael Harington's How I Discovered The Truth About Poverty

570 Words | 3 Pages

In the article “How I Discovered the Truth about Poverty” Barbara Ehrenreich gives her view in poverty and explains why she think Michael Harington’s book “The Other American” gives a wrong view on poverty. She explained that Harrington believes that the poor thought and felt differently and what divides the poor was their different “culture of poverty.” Ehrenreich goes on to explain on how the book that became a best seller caused so many bad stereotypes on the poor that by the Reagan era poverty was seen as “bad attitudes” and “faulty lifestyles” and not by the lack of jobs or low paying jobs. And they also viewed the poor as “Dissolute, promiscuous, prone to addiction and crime, unable to “defer gratification,” or possibly even set an alarm clock.”

Read More

Thomas Paine Economic Inequality

727 Words | 3 Pages

Dissatisfaction with economic and social inequality led to a protest movement known as “Occupy Wall Street.” Paine proposes the power between poor and the rich will be balanced. After a recent economic recession, the gap between the rich and the poor widened, which sparked the Occupy Wall Street movement. Frustrated Americans protested the income inequality because the one percent of the American population controls the majority of the wealth. The income inequality contradicts Paine’s statement, as Paine states the rich will not be overpower the poor’s interest.

Read More

The Impact Of Jacksonian Democracy

1032 Words | 5 Pages

Jacksonian Democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy that gained prevalence through the American populace, becoming the nation’s dominant political view for a generation. Spanning from the beginning of Andrew Jackson’s presidency to approximately the 1940s, it placed a much greater emphasis on the “greater democracy for the common man”. The impacts of this philosophy have extended well beyond the 1940s. Andrew Jackson himself had infused the country with greater democratic ideologies and character, something seen evidently in present-day America. Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the “guardians” of the United States Constitution thought that reasoning is flawed.

Read More

Summary Of The Myth Of The Weak American State By William Novak

705 Words | 3 Pages

The American present witnesses the steady aggrandizement of” powers, while “the story of the American past, on the other hand, continues to be told in narratives that…highlight[s] a story of relative powerlessness.” This conflicting representation of American past versus present supports Novak’s claim that one cannot associate what began as a weak state to how it is formed today, indicating a falsehood to Tea Party members

Read More

The American Dream: Annotated Bibliography

517 Words | 3 Pages

Annotated Bibliography Cohen, M. (2014, April 26). The American Dream is now just that for its middle classes – a dream. The Guardian, p. 00. “The American Dream is now just that for its middle classes – a dream” by Michael Cohen explains the perception of Americans towards the decline of the middle class. The article details how the middle class was viewed before the elections of President Obama, and how it’s viewed after the creation of the Affordable Care Act.

Read More

Essay On The American Revolution

544 Words | 3 Pages

Problems in America only grew worse when democracy was being added to the mixture of already complicated politics. In Woody Holton’s book, Unruly American and the Origins of the Constitution, he stated that, “many Americans. . . were growing ‘tired of an excess of democracy,’ a ‘prevailing rage of excessive democracy. . .’ [or] ‘democratical tyranny.’” Democracy was an attempt at home rule among the colonies, but not everyone was happy with this extreme excess of colonial citizens contribution to the government.

Read More

Life Isn T Fair-Deal With It By Mike Myatt Summary

736 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story called, “The American Electoral Process,” Kubic explained to us about why he disagrees with how the Constitution and the Congress take all votes for every single state as well as being unalike in population and size in which he would tell of as

Read More

Argumentative Essay On The Civil Rights Movement

1184 Words | 5 Pages

Each belief obtained in this world is mirrored by its opposite allowing those to decide which reflection they choose to abide to. In America, one’s perspective defined what each person stood for. During the Civil Rights Movement, controversy stood at the base of the country as many chose “a side” to be on as an argument of what was deemed constitutional and unconstitutional continued. However, although many may have had their separate beliefs, the common ground consisted of the principles of democracy written in the Constitution. Although, it was a less popular belief highlighted during the Civil rights movement, the whites too faced issues with the loss of their principles of democracy as the federal government continuously abused their power.

Read More

More about Critical Review: The Big Short By Michael Lewis

Related Topics

Open Document