Mr. Sam and Jay Z articles

The articles: Mr. Sam, Sam Walton, and Jay Z, just business tell two somewhat similar, but unique, versions of the American dream. Sam Walton, the man who created and ran Wal-Mart, grew up with a few unique opportunities, but was clearly driven by a desire to create the most efficient business he could. Sam had the privilege of growing up white, male, and having support from some of his family members. His relentless work ethic combined with the opportunities he was given allowed him to create one of the most successful franchises in American history. Yet the story of his American dream has a tragic ending. Sam Walton knew business, and only business. He had a clear disregard if not disdain for workers unions, and his employees worked very low paying jobs. The business he created ended up undercutting American producers, and when he moved to buy from business over seas he would simply put a big made in the USA sticker over his imported brands. The man became obsessed with money whether he admitted it or not, and even on his death bed, "nothing cheered him more than a visit from a local store manager who wanted to talk about sales figures"(pg. 105). Sam's obsession with money and his version of the American dream ended up depriving the Americans around him of higher standards of living, and his own life became more about business than it did about family.
Jay-Z experiences a somewhat similar version of the American Dream. He grew up chasing money by any means necessary. Even the violent murder of his drug supplier wouldn't deter him from aspiring to become a drug dealer if that was the most profitable thing he could do. Jay-Z eventually stopped selling drugs, met the right people, and had the right rhymes to make it big. But even when he became a star it wasn't about the music, or the art, it was about selling a product. Like Sam Walton, Jay-Z was obsessed with business and tried to make money by any means. He dumbed down his lyrics and sold his rags to riches success story through his rhymes. Ironically the money he made off of rap was by writing lyrics about making money, and people listen as if its them in the song, climbing their way to the top, all the while their really being sold a product and an unrealistic idea of what it is to be wealthy. In the end both Jay-Z and Sam Walton lived their version of the American dream and sold it to the American people; yet, in order to make it big they had to set aside moral values and turn the priorities entirely to business and the art of ripping off the American consumer.