GRE Issue Topic 128

Sample 1:

The job market is highly competitive. Many college graduates have failed to find work in their chosen careers, and many have even returned home to live with their parents. The demand for practitioners in some careers has risen while the demand for others has fallen. Presuming that students who study for jobs in lucrative careers will have more luck finding employment may be shortsighted. Considering the vagaries of today's workplace, students should pursue courses of study for careers they will find rewarding in ways other than just financially.

Literature is replete with tales that warn us of the dire consequences attached to the pursuit of money. Charles Dickens gave us the character, Ebenezer Scrooge, as a morality lesson to demonstrate how focusing on the acquisition of wealth leads to loneliness and bitterness. In Greek mythology, one finds King Midas who was able to turn everything he touched to gold. His downfall came when he touched his beloved daughter, also turning her to a lifeless statue made of gold. Readers of such tales are meant to infer that relationships are more important than any amount of money.

It has been said, "Do what you love, and the money will follow." Choosing a career one loves will make it easy to go to work each day. A small business owner who sells a product he loves will convey that affection to his customers. They will enjoy shopping with him and recommend his store to their friends and family. As his customer base expands, he will sell more products and make more money. In contrast, the shop owner who works only for the money may resent spending his days doing something he doesn't enjoy, and his attitude may be reflected in his treatment of customers. His pursuit of money alone may lead to the opposite result as his customers desert him for more pleasant experiences elsewhere.

Over time, demand for practitioners in various careers ebbs and wanes. At one time, teachers were in short supply, so high school graduates went to college to become teachers. In a short span of time, there was a surplus of newly–minted educators, many of whom could not find jobs in their chosen careers. The practice of law promises great financial rewards. More people have trained for that route to riches than there are positions to be filled, and many lawyers now occupy places in graduate schools to learn a new skill.

Adopting this policy not only leads to a glut of people trained for lucrative careers but leads to a shortage of people trained to fill lower–paying but, nonetheless, important positions. If people seek only lucrative jobs, institutions will lack custodians to clean and maintain their facilities. Small–town police and fire departments will lack sufficient personnel to ensure the safety of their communities.

Following a career path for any reason other than love of the work involved with it will certainly lead to dissatisfaction and unhappiness. The young woman who wants nothing more than to dance all day long will be happier working for union scale in a dance troupe than seeking a management position in a bank.

Just yesterday, Pope Francis repeated the biblical warning; the love of money is the root of all evil. Encouraging students to seek only money rather than intangible rewards leads to the downfall of individuals or large groups of people. The Ponzi scheme created by Bernie Madoff is a prime example. He convinced people to invest their life savings in his company which was nothing but a house of cards. When it collapsed, ordinary people lost everything; Madoff, himself, went to prison, and his son committed suicide.

In order to function, the world needs people to fill a wide variety of jobs. Not all are lucrative, but they ensure the safety of the world’s citizens by protecting them from crime, disease, and disasters. These occupations produce rewards that cannot be purchased with any amount of money.