I chose to read about Jack Culberg for a few reasons. I saw that he was a CEO and thought it would be interesting to see the views of a man who was financially stable and who could possible have had experience interacting with big-name people of the century. I also thought it would be interesting to hear the story of a man who was older and had many life experiences.
When I first read about Jack Culberg I initially predicted that he would be biased in favor of the upper class and feel little to no sympathy for the average worked. However I was wrong and Culberg seemed to not only have sympathy towards those in the middle and lower classes but showed distaste for men and women who live their lives with money as a top priority. Culberg expressed his disapproval of money-hungry workers when he added to saying that various important businessman rarely had time to talk by following up with saying, “I could be nasty and say, “Unless they can make a buck out of it”--- but I wont.” This shows how he believes that money should not be a top priority for people and that relationships and friendships are much more important. This also brings forth the concept that greed and love of money are problematic and can lead to negative events.
Also while discussing the topic of the economy and money, Jack Culberg expressed his concerns regarding the changing shifts of power in the business world. Culberg discussed how now there are more big corporations such as Target and Wal-Mart, and as a result less people in powerful positions. Jack Culberg then talked about how those men had the power to fire or lay off large amounts of people and how the competitive world today often results in people being forced to retire early or being fired. Culberg expressed this thought when he said, “The jungle has become worse. You can smell the insecurity and fear all over the place” Culberg expressed the difficulties of trying to make it in the world financially today and also brought forth the concept that people and constantly nervous and in fear of losing their jobs today, which of course is a problem.
The story of Jack Culberg connects to our class because we learned about the various changes in the business world such as the industrial revolution and the invention of the cotton gin. We also learned about various famous businessmen and their tactics such as Rockefeller and Carnegie.
I read about Larry Heinemann because he was a Vietnam War veteran, which connects to our current unit in class, the Vietnam War. A lot of Larry Heinemann ‘s opinions about the war connected to the views of other veterans, their families and politicians that we read about or heard from in class. For example Heinemann expressed disapproval of the reason for going to the war. He emphasized this when he said, “It was clear from the first day that it was a bunch of bullshit…Why are we fighting in Vietnam?”. Heinemann, just like many others at the time, did not support the war and questioned the decision to go to war in Vietnam. It is concerning that the just cause for the war was not understood by the American people as a whole.
Heinemann discussed his post-war life and the lasting impact that the war had on him. He shows his struggle after the war when he explains, “I was going through classic symptoms of what is now called delayed stress”. Heinemann explained how the war impacted him and affected his life even after it ended. Heinemann struggled not only coping with his own experiences but also hearing about what happened to his friends after he left. The tragedies of the war bothered him mentally long after the war ended.
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