Does money always have a positive effect on society ?

I'm going to talk about the notion: places and forms of power. First of all, I'd like to
give a definition of this notion. In politics and social science, power is the ability to influence people's behavior. In order to live together successfully, members of a community must accept rules, regulations and laws. This helps to create social cohesion but can also sometimes lead to conflicts and tensions. Even when the authority seems absolute, there are always counter-powers which question it, trying to limit its excesses and ultimately resisting it. When you talk about power, we tend to think about money. But does money always have a positive effect on society? First, I'll speak about gambling and its consequences. Then, I'll speak about people who don't have much money but who want their opinion to be heard regardless.

Take, for example, Eva Longoria. She is famous for all the movies in which she has acted
and for her philanthropic work too. She gave a lot of money to different associations in order to help children in need. For example, she helped the charity "Padres", an organisation which helps children who are suffering from cancer. By giving away to charities, she is becoming more influential than other people who don't give. However, the money she donated comes largely from her gambling winnings. Gambling can be very dangerous, often cauing people to get into debt or becoming isolated from the rest of society. But Eva Longoria gambles with the aim to help children, and that's something good. But most people who gamble do it to get money to be more influential than their friends or family. In this case, money has a negative effect on people, as opposed to those similar to Eva Longoria. Therefore, money is a source of power, and a way for people to be more influential. Some people will work more to earn more and others will go to casinos or others such places, risking their life savings in the process. Clearly, then, the effect of money is mostly bad in society.

"50% of world wealth is held by 1% of the world's population". This sentence is the source of many demonstrations in different places, most of them in New York, USA. I classified the wealthiest people in two categories: the first category contains those who give money, and help countries or charities as Bill Gates and Eva Longoria have done, as aforementioned. The other category consists of the people who think they are superior to others. These people, including many footballers around the world, don't pay their taxes, don't respect the rules of the road, and live their lives disobeying societies' rules. The other 99% of the world's populations carry out demonstrations to denounce that, but often with little effect. The wealthiest people are, alongside political people, the most influential people in the world. For instance, Bill Gates is known for his company Microsoft, but also for his many charitable actions, such as those in Haiti. In our society, money is power. And his places are in the bigger financial centres around the globe, like on Wall Street, London and Paris ... all the place who have thriving stock markets. If you have money, you become much more important as a result. In the document we studied in class we can see people who are demonstrating against this outside the Wall Street Center. Around we can see the workers, the businessmen who work as if nothing were happening. They aren't influential, so the 1% doesn't listen to them.

To conclude, there are many forms of power, but the first and most important one is money. As we have seen, money is a symbol of social condition, and subsequently of social advantages. When you have money, you are able to discuss with other people, and to be heard by the higher ranks of the population. Power has a top position in big financial places such as Wall Street, Paris and London. But should we consider a person differently based on whether she has money or not?