Barbara G
History 18
13 March 2013

With each American taking their own view on how our culture pursues materialistic self-interest wither positively or negatively we see this contrast in Morris Berman’s book Why America Failed: The Roots of Imperial Decline, Frank Capra’s movie It’s a Wonderful Life and in Chuck Palahniuk’s movie Fight Club. Each of them giving us a different perspective on how they portray American‘s view on how we feel a need of materialistic items in our lives. Each piece we have looked at wither its Capra’s conflict of David vs. Goliath as his story shows us the conflict between Baily and Potter, Berman’s conflict between corporate America and its people or Palahniuk’s in your face view on how Americans due to …show more content…

But when we choose like Bailey or Durden or Berman to question capitalist and their corporations we encounter the conflict within ourselves. Like Berman said we begin to ask “what’s in it for me?” because us, poor in comparison to capitalist regard ourselves in Berman’s words as “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” rather than just people. Our conflict lies within our religious, financial, and individual ties with those that corporations want us to believe in. With both Bailey and Durden they both deal with this conflict but the conflict shows itself differently. Bailey battles with wanting to do big things and doing what is best for his community and his family. Durden battles what he feels is just the way things are to believing in bringing “economic equilibrium” to all. Each having this inner conflict of right and wrong, good and bad a conflict that they deal with or it consumes them, a conflict that any American can choose to face or let rule their life. With Americans in so much debt it makes me feel as though capitalist have won. People unwilling to face the idea of living within their means choose to let corporations fill not just their brains but their home with unneeded stuff for what?
We choose to think of ourselves instead of the greater good that can come from us choosing to do better things not just with our money but with our lives. Baily and Durden choose to do things for the greater good once