Ambition versus Aspiration…
… a Critique of Capitalism in its Dying Days
Caesar:
Let me have men about me that are fat,
sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.
— — Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2, lns. 190–195
Ambition n. a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Connotative meaning: the intention is to achieve something for personal gain.
Aspiration n. a hope or ambition of achieving something; the object of one’s hope or ambition; a goal. Connotative meaning: the intention is to achieve something for group gain.
THE VIEW FROM 30,000 FEET
In American society, with its capitalist structure adorned with entrepreneurial buzzwords, we have built an economic edifice that makes use of the tax code, the corporations codes, and an entire legal system that protects this pyramid of power at the expense of the ordinary working person. In other words, we have socialism for the wealthy, and capitalism for the poor; that is our version of capitalism.
