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Haves vs Have nots

Haves vs Have nots The Enlightenment was a movement of thought and belief concerned with the interrelated ideas of God, reason, nature, and man that claimed wide assent among the intellectuals in 17th and 18th century Europe. It attacked the fundamental beliefs and practices of European society. Although the Enlightenment was diverse in emphasis and interests, those who followed it tenets were convinced that right reason could discover useful knowledge, aspiring to the conquest of mans happiness through freedom. It would affect science, religion and social thinking of society. Enlightened science contributed to society by the destruction of the wide domain of medieval errors in method. A byproduct of this was experimental reasoning, which could be used to solve all of man’s problems. In religion it would cause such division and strife that the effects of debate are still felt even today. For during this period there would arise Deism and Materialism. The notion of the essential goodness of man, Humanitarianism, and Atheism. There would arise a conflict between reason and passion. European society was grounded on the aristocratic elite. The Aristocracy possessed a wide variety of inherited legal privileges which were established by the government. It was also heavily influenced by the Catholic and Protestant churches. The medieval sense of rank and degree was still persistent and became more rigid through the course of the century. The aristocracy was intimately related to the state, and was the head of the social hierarchy. Under them was an urban labor force, and rural peasantry, both subject to high taxes and feudal dues. The most striking feature of this period was the marked contrasts in the lives and experiences of people in different social standing, which varied by country, and even by region. Each state was based on regions of smaller communities. There were no individual rights as we in the modern world perceive them now, rather a social order in which you had a certain status was maintained, and the privileges that came with that status were given by default. One of the most important privileges of eighteenth century society was land ownership. Land could be owned either as an inheritance, or as privilege granted at the pleasure of the king. Land was also the basis of the economy in eighteenth century society. Except for Britain, the quality and quantity of the harvest was the most important fact of life for the overwhelming majority of the population. It was the gravest concern to their governments. Since the aristocracy were the landowners, they either influenced or had direct control over the peasants lives. The major monarchies had no standard of uniform law, money, or weights and measures. Continental Europe had internal tolls that hampered the passage of goods. Britain however, had no such tolls, and in the eighteenth century the nobility of that country lived in the most magnificent luxury that the order had known. On the continent the nobles likewise were wealthy, but in Western Europe, where the peasants tended to prosper with the rest, the nobles were little better off than a prosperous peasant. During the time of the Restoration the “have nots”, or the poor people had a tough time. London was overcrowded and the poor lived in horrible conditions. They lived with no help from the government and even without very much help from churches or charity. Also, the poor always owed money to someone, even if they didn’t even own anything. Life was turmoil for the “have nots” of eighteenth century London. The “haves”, or the upper class, on the other hand were fairly well off. They spent most of their time dressed in frilly French clothing gossiping at the coffeehouses in London. During the Age of Enlightenment, no matter how mature and respectable the “quality society” tried to appear, they were still extremely materialistic. They spent hours getting themselves ready to go places and trying to impress others with their bright colors and lace. This was a time of carelessness among the “haves”. They would spend their spare time drinking, going to the theater or attending formal dinner parties. Today, in modern American society there are still the haves and the have nots. Largely it still depends on money as well. Most politicians in the United States today a fairly wealthy. These are the people with the power in the country. They don’t really know what it is like for the have nots of the country, even though they try to represent them. Those who have money get the advantages that come with money, such as advanced education, good doctors and exposure to cultural happenings. The “haves” means more than just money, by this, even though money is where it all begins. The cycle of the rich just continues. Since they have money they are able to pay for a good education, since they had an expensive and good education, they can get a very good, well paying job, since they make a lot of money, they can pay for their children to have a good education, etc. The Have Nots of today, do not have as difficult as those of the Restoration time. Today poor people can get government aid and some health care. Although these things are still not very good, compared to the living conditions of the eighteenth century they are luxurious. Even though the poor of today are aided by the government, they are still looked down upon by the rest of society. It is more difficult for a poor person to get a good job because of the discrimination and prejudices of the employers. There is a circle within the poor people of society too. They are on welfare, do not have enough money to finish a college education, are not able to get a high paying job, etc. However, it is possible for a have or a have not to fall out of their respective circles, it is difficult. It is becoming a little easier now to break out of the circle of the have nots with scholarships and other things like that. There have been haves and have nots since the beginning of history. There will always be haves and have nots. Some have tried to fight against it, but it always ends up backfiring into things like communism. These two groups are both major parts of any society and both need to be paid attention to. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1069