PartB

The Embarrassment of Riches

The meaning of wealth today is usually defined as the amount of money and material goods that one has accumulated and the ability to purchase more goods at an ever-increasing rate. A wealthy person possesses so much money that it would be difficult for him to spend it all in his lifetime without being wasteful and extravagant.

Speaking from a strictly practical point of view, the trouble with wealth is not that it arouses envy in the hearts of others but that it weighs very heavily upon the resources of its owner. Those who have never tasted luxury imagine that a new Porsche, a Picasso in the drawing room, an apartment in the Trump Tower, will bring them ease and happiness. If that were true, owners of the Porsches, Picassos, and Trumps of the world would all be happy souls. One glance at history tells you they are not.

The problem is not simply that owning goods feeds upon itself, generating desires to possess more and to outdo other owners in a competitive madness. It's that goods themselves are an endless responsibility. They must be not only paid for but also stored, insured, and publicly admired. All of those cost not just money but personal freedom. As James Boswell, the famous British biographer, once wrote in his diary, "If a man with a fortune cannot make himself easier and freer than those who are not, he gains nothing. Nothing except glittering baggage that must be attended to."

In some Oriental countries poverty has never been such a disgrace as it is in the "get-rich-quick" zone. Wise men from these lands often remark on the tyranny of goods. According to an old Persian proverb, "The larger a man's roof, the more snow it collects." And in his discussion of "Houses", a Lebanese poet and philosopher compares the lust for comfort to a "stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master."

The same sentiment is also expressed here in America by the great philosopher Ralph Emerson, who scorns the acquisitiveness of his day with the famous line "Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind."

Questions:

1. Which of the following best defines the meaning of wealth today?

2. Why does the speaker mention a Porsche, a Picasso, and an apartment in the Trump Tower?

3. What would owning expensive goods do to wealthy people?

4. What does the speaker mean by "owning goods feeds upon itself"?

5. Which of the following views would the speaker most probably agree with?

6. What is the main idea of the passage?

PartC

Additional Listenings

Perspectives

One day a father took his young son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip to their fine house the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"Very good, Dad!" answered the son.

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Yeah!"

"And what did you learn?" the father asked, thinking he had fulfilled his purpose.

To his astonishment, the son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden, they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, but they have a whole horizon."

When the little boy finished, his father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are!"

Isn't it true that whether you are rich or poor depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude toward life, you've got everything! You can't buy any of those things. You can have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc., but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing.

Questions:

1. What was the father's purpose for the trip?

2. Why did the son thank his father?

3. Why do the father and son have such different views on poverty and wealth?

4. According to the story, what kind of people are poor?

5. Which of the following can be inferred from the story?

The Story of a Multimillionaire

John Paul DeJoria has come a long way from the early days of growing up in the concrete jungles of East Los Angeles, to overcoming homelessness, to becoming CEO and co-founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, a hair care empire with sales approaching $200 million per year.

Over the years DeJoria has had his taste of poverty. His parents were divorced before he was two years old. To survive, he had sold Christmas cards, delivered newspapers, and collected Coke bottles.

In 1964, DeJoria was fresh out of the Navy with aspirations to attend dental school. However, it was financially out of reach for him, so he decided he would go to work mastering his sales skills selling encyclopedias. This led him into sales of copying machines, then insurance, and eventually, he became circulation manager for Time, Inc. It was in 1971 that he met his calling when he went to work for Redken Laboratories, the leading professional salon product company in the U.S. at the time.

In 1980, ripe for a change, DeJoria joined forces with one of America's most influential hair designers and his friend of eight years, Paul Mitchell. Together they introduced a revolutionary hair setting and styling method, as part of their professional hair care system. They bankrolled the company with just $700, some of it borrowed, and they have never had to borrow since. Mitchell did hair shows and DeJoria did sales, marketing, administration and everything else.

So what is the secret of this tremendous success? DeJoria thinks that the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do a lot of the things that unsuccessful people don't want to do. Like when the door is slammed in your face ten times. You go to door number 11 with just as much enthusiasm. It is during the toughest times that you do what others will say, oh my God, this is too tough.

John Paul believes that fewer people can do more. At his company, there is no middle management. Although they probably should have five or six hundred employees, they only have 87 worldwide. The staff is paid more than others in the industry, but they do a lot more also.

DeJoria regards it his duty to donate to charity. His motto is, "Success unshared is failure." He has made contributions to dozens of worthwhile projects and causes, including those that help make our environment a better place. He says, "If every human being left this planet knowing they did something to make the planet a better place to live for generations to come in the future, they're going to live high as a kite."

1. Who is John Paul DeJoria?

2. What does his company produce?

3. How successful is the company?4. What major event happened in DeJoria's life in 1980?