Candide has received a lot of knowledge as he advances from place to place. His arrival to El Dorado taught him one of the most valuable lessons he has learned so far. It might not have been so important for Candide but in our society it definitely is. Money is what buys most people happiness these days. If you are poor but have some values, you might wonder how nice it must be to be rich. If you are rich you might not have values. The point is that people are rarely happy. We are never satisfied with what we have. Upon his arrival to El Dorado Candide realizes “how perishable are the riches of this world. There is nothing solid but virtue” (85). This statement summarizes the whole idea of materialism and the effect it has on our society.
In the New York Times article “We Don’t Surrender Until We Have To” a man is forced to learn these truths. It can many times take an accident or a near death experience to make us realize how we are wasting what we have. Why do we hold such a great importance to material things? Maybe it is because we like to look good. It is a common thought that if I wear the latest clothes and drive the newest car people will like me. What this attitude proves is that we are not content having most things if we are missing a little. Many people then resent the one that has what they don’t. The rich person knows that a person with fewer resources can be as happy as he is and the poorer person believes that if he had what the richer one has he would be much happier. It is a vicious circle that must stop; although how to stop it remains a mystery to me.
"Although" should be followed by a comma. That said your grammar has improved greatly from just a few months ago.
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