Econ 160 Term Paper Part 2

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Econ 160

Spring 2014

Introduction.

The capitalist class consists of individuals or households earning incomes of between $350,000 to $500,000 per year. They are often politicians, successful business owners, athletes, and executives. Such individuals are usually self-made because in the United States, 90% of the wealth is not inherited. Having a look at the income of households in the United States, it is observed that the capitalist class represent over 0.9% of income. Sometimes referred to as the super rich, people who belong to the capitalist class earn annual incomes of between $350,000 to $500,000, which would need several million dollars; in terms of assets to generate. Since it is already made clear that over 90% of wealth in America is not inherited, it brings in the question of how the men and women in the capitalist class accumulated the wealth to get to the point where they are at present. “How to Get Rich in a Capitalist Society”, provides a step by step guide for the new investors in revealing the secrets of people in the capitalist class. It also tries to reveal whatever they do in a different way that make them build wealth and the philosophies that enable them reach a point of becoming financially independent to the point of spending good time with their families and traveling all over the world.

The Frackers: “The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters by Gregory Zuckerman”.

This book talks about individuals who used an opportunity that looked impossible to rise above the rest, amass wealth and joined the capitalist class of the United States. They took the opportunity at a time when everybody thought it was crazy trying to extract natural gas and oil deep below the ground. The few reckless wildcatters used the opportunity to prove everybody wrong by risking their careers. It was in 2006 when everything looked grim for the United States since there was a deep decline in oil production and it was also hard to find natural gas. The war in Iraq also threatened the country’s tenuous relations with Middle East. Other challenges include the fact that China was fast industrializing and thereby posing serious competition for resources. Major oil companies were almost giving up on discovering any oil source in the U.S soil and an energy crisis was likely. It was at that time when a handful of men had the believe that everything was possible and thus used the opportunity to rise and belong to the capitalist social class.

Among the men who turned the face of America to the outside world include Aubrey McClendon, Mark Papa, Harold Hamm, George Mitchell, Tom Ward, and Charif Souki had the determination to tap gas and massive oil deposits that had been dismissed by Chevron, Exxon, and other giants as a waste of time. The wildcatters began the revolution by experimenting with a hydraulic fracturing by use of extremely dense shale. This was a process that is presently known as fracking. Within a few years, the wildcatters were able to solve the problem of oil in the United States, thereby triggering global environmental controversy. The wildcatters were a people who were not easy to understand in terms of their personalities, ambitions, foibles, and methods of operation. This made the Gregory Zuckerman, who is the Wall Street Journal reporter to get close to them learn the source of their motivation and how the managed to transform the their nation and the whole world.

The frackers were faced with serious opposition at some point such as the activists who argued that the new sources of energy were causing more harm to the waters and threatening the environment. They unleashed they the level of angry opposition they went through because of the revolution and how fracking come sometimes become dangerous. Due to the determination and the opportunity they explored to venture into an area that was less attractive to other individuals, they managed to transform the world in terms of environmental, geographical, and economic dimensions. They managed to accumulate wealth without inheriting from anybody and they are presently using their wealth and the power that come about due to the wealth to influence education, sports, entertainment, politics, and other various fields. This implies that they rose through the ranks to be among individuals belonging to the capitalist society in the United States.

Section 1

Section 2

Conclusion