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.

Mr. Sam and Just Business

Packer's articles about Sam Walton and Jay-Z are similar in the sense that both are stories about successful men who have come from lower class backgrounds. Jay-Z had the hope of becoming successful so people would stop looking down on him. In a sense, he wanted to show that he was better than everyone else. Sam Walton's story was a similar case. In his quest to become a successful entrepreneur, he watched what his competitors were doing and always tried to do it better. The main difference between the two was that Jay-Z didn't only want to be on top of the world, he wanted to show people that he came from the bottom. He wanted people to not only acknowledge his success, but he also wanted them to relate to him. Sam Walton however, was shown to be quite the cheapskate. Despite his millions, he did little to give back to the people. At his "five-dollar haircuts," he wouldn't even leave a tip. Both men came from similar backgrounds and had similar success stories. The difference is, the world saw them for who they were in different lights.

Jay Z and Mr. Sam

The two stories, “Just Business:Jay-Z” and “Mr.Sam: Sam Walton” are similar in a few ways. The Jay-Z article is about how Jay-Z was living in poverty and selling drugs yet, he used rap to escape that but in his eyes hustling will not ever go away. But, eventually he got in contact with well-known rap artist around his town and kicked off, Jay- Z wanted to take over the world and not just live in it. He did everything he could to get to the stop and he had to be real and aggressive about it. In the other article involving the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam, his life was more of being involved in everything and knowing what other people are doing so he can do it better. Like, Jay-Z he was addicted to the “hustle” he too wanted to be on top.The American Dream to both these entrepuners meant being on top and trying one’s best to get what they need to get that dream done. Both entrpuners took over the world in a different way, changing how America functions. 

Mr. Sam: Sam Walton/ Just Business: Jay-Z

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, did achieve his own American Dream as he came from an area in Oklahoma where "people were cheap." The same thing occurred to the world famous rapper and producer, Jay-Z, rising from a "Marcy kid no one ever noticed before, in the middle of the crowd, rhyming..." Both Walton and Jay-Z are similar in a way that they barely survived in economic condition that each family had to struggle in the past, but then they made their way through success with stood-out talents and opportunities.

In Packer's article "Mr. Sam: Sam Walton," taken from The Unwinding: An Inner Story of The New America, he describes Walton as someone who's willing to keep on growing and working. He had this cautious attitude toward money, which was the way he was brought up; he was just plain cheap. Regarding parents' role in the two men's childhood, Jay-Z's parents had a million records stacked in the milk crates, as Packer claims in another article titled "Just Business: Jay-Z." Shawn would sang and spun around the room with his sisters singing backup while listening to the music.

As they grew up, Packer states that the two men started to show their interests in different areas that lead them toward their career when they became big. Living in a tough suburban area made things tight for Shawn when he was a kid, but he never loses his passion in rhyming. He wrote them down in a spiral notebook until they filled up. "It gave me an unbelievable rush to play it [recorded rhyming] back, to hear that voice," as he recalled. Sam Walton also found out pretty young that he could sell things. He started off in high school by delivering newspapers and selling subscriptions door-to-door, working in J.C Penney retail store, until he started to buy franchise goods. He would wander over and spend hours studying how the competition did things, which then became his lifelong habit.

The places that Sam Walton and Jay-Z originated from played a big role in each person's success in becoming few of the richest men in America. Packer argues in his article that Walton had seen people in his area struggled to fulfill their daily needs that he tried to buy low, sell cheap, high volume, and fast turn. "He [Walton] was so cheap that he kept the sign to as few letters as possible: the new store was called 'Wal-Mart.' It promised 'everyday low prices.'" On the other hand, Jay-Z spent years on the streets that took him further away from the notebooks, so he learned to memorize longer rhymes without writing them down. He was trying to live to the limit. The hardships that he experienced from meeting new people and trying to prove his skills had brought him 'selfishness,' that others called materialist; in fact, that was a rational to the reality he faced.

Sam Walton and Hova

Reading Packers two articles, I see similarities and differences between two very well known men in the world, Sam Walton and Jay-Z.

If the objective is to compare the two of them then the most notable thing that I saw while reading was that these two came from "humble" beginnings. They were both from family's that were getting by (they weren't middle-class status though nor were they homeless). The two worked very hard to get to where they are today (in Walton's case, where he was). They spent a lot of time focusing on their respective careers to amount to the wealth that exists for them now. They are both well known men and to sum it all up, that is what makes the two of them similar.

But there are definitely difference between them. To start it off, they are from completely different areas of America, thus having completely different upbringings to each other. They are also born in different time periods and that would contribute to the difference as well. Sam Walton is a man who doesn't like fame at all and believes that if he had a big enough house for his family and a good education with them, he'd consider that rich enough while Jay-Z firmly believed that he had to get to the top. True they were both competitive men who strove to win but other than that, they had different ideas for lifestyles. Jay-Z was extravagant, going to buy the best of everything he can get while, Walton was a very cheap man. Walton also abode to the law, doing everything he did legally while Hova was completely different. He enthuastically believes that to make it to the top, you have to break the rules and live a life of danger.

All in all, these men are similar in the sense of their past (to a certain degree) and the wealth they managed to amass but other than that, these men are completely different. 

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.

Jay-Z vs Sam Walton

Packer’s Articles are similar in the sense that they both were able to have a huge significance in America even though they were raised in the lower class of society. They both had dreams of making something out of themselves and making money. Sam Walton was a cheep man who ended up becoming the richest man in America after he founded Wal-Mart from scratch. Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) imagined himself becoming a rapper at a young age. “I could just feel that stink and shame of being broke lifting off of me..”(253). He wanted to become wealthy and come out of poverty so that people would not look down on him anymore. They both worked hard and did whatever it took to make their dreams come true. On the other hand, Jay-Z made sure that the public could relate to him and therefore support him. This is why he did what all the typical celebrities did. Sam Walton did not care what people thought. He sat on 2.8 billion dollars and did not leave tip when he got his five-dollar hair cut. He barely gave any of the Wal-Mart profit to charity.