"One percent of the population owns 48 percent of the total net financial wealth. The top 10 percent owns 86 percent of the wealth, while the top 20 percent owns 94 percent of the wealth. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the population is experiencing stagnating and declining wages" (211). When I read these statistics it really opened my eyes to the democratic world as we know it today. Cornell West exemplifies the importance of our moral thoughts and actions. In today's society what makes people "happy" is materialistic items such as cars, jewelry, clothes, etc. No matter how you get these things that is what will make most happy. But are they really happy? Is is true to say that someone with no family and noone to love, but had as much money as Bill Gates, would be happier than a poor married man with a family who he loves and adores?
What I am trying to say is that you can't buy happiness. What we need to do as a society is begin to change our ways. Because democracy is solely threatened by economic decline, "it is not identical to moral and cultural decay, it is inseparable from it" (212). To live in a larger democratic society, everyone's main focus is involved with their quality of life and a constant fear of "the mean and cold heartedness of social life." It has nothing to do with how we treat others. After reading Cornell West "The Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society" I now understand that the main focus is ME ME ME. "If I am able to live lavishly than nothing else matters."
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