Mr. Sam Walton and Jay-Z

George Packer's articles on Mr. Sam Walton and Jay-Z demonstrate the possibility to succeed even when coming from underprivileged homes. Walton grew up in the Depression era in a rural Oklahoma town while Shawn Carter, Jay-Z, was raised in the Brooklyn projects in the 70s'. While these separate societies pose their differences, both Walton and Jay-Z grew up surrounded by poverty and despair. While Walton accompanied his father to foreclose the properties of farmers, Shawn witnessed shootings and drug abuse among neighbors and family members. Both figures were able to break away from these conditions through learning from their hardships and aiming to improve themselves rather than giving in to self-destruction like their peers. Both Walton and Jay-Z shaped their struggles into their careers. Walton, brought up in a time when money was scarce, made his fortune on selling products at an accesible price to low-income individuals. He also made a point to build his stores in more obscure towns, like his hometown, to promote jobs and attention to these areas. Jay-Z made himself known through his memorable lyrics expressing the struggles of living on the streets. Both individuals, in a way, pay homage to their roots in their chosen career paths. You can say that Walton and Jay-Z attained the "American Dream" with their massive fortunes and legacies, but I think Walton put it best when he said, "'If we had enough groceries, and a nice place to live, plenty of room to keep and feed my bird dogs, a place to hunt, a place to play tennis, and the means to get the kids good educations--that's rich'"(101). Sometimes, we see the powerful stories of people like Walton and Jay-Z going from rags to riches and we think that this monumental fame and fortune is the true American Dream. We forget to take note of the essentials like groceries and education, privileges less common in other areas of the world, and remember that it is the mere access to these that embody the American Dream. In the land of opportunity, anything is possible so long as we never lose faith in ourselves and strive to better ourselves in spite of animosity.