The Curse of Money
Motivated by the power of the dollar and its effect on people, William Hazlitt writes “On the Want of Money” to warn the public that the world is not controlled by people, but by money. He specifically wrote this passage for those who think they are content and in full control of their life. Not everyone can just waltz into being president or suddenly become another Bill Gates. Those who were “born with a silver spoon in their mouth” are those who seize the most power. Hazlitt thoroughly compares and contrasts between those who have hard cash and those who barely have enough to live off of.
Hazlitt is claiming that money is something that controls people all their life; it’s something you can’t get away from whether you are rich or poor. People not only need money to live, but they also like cash because it can buy them material things that will give them temporary happiness. Some of the public will wed an affluent individual for their money-packed pockets rather than the one they truly love. But in the end, you will have wasted all your life striving after expensive treasures that you will be miserable, mocked, and alone at death.
In this passage Hazlitt is implying that if you have no money you can do nothing and that you will go your whole life envying those who have more or better things than you. To those who have little cash, everyone who has spending money is better-off than they are. Envy and malice for those people spread like wild fire, and while they are polite and courteous to their face, in truth, they tell lies and rumors as soon as that person’s back is turned.
However, the wealthy have economic problems as well. Prosperous people need to continue to produce masses of cash in order to keep their exceptional possessions and maintain them at their top quality. In order to do this, most people work longer and more difficult hours and are willing to perform almost any job to get their hands on a little more change....