Bob Dylan once wrote: “What is money? A man is successful if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and does what he wants in between. » (Dylan). What exactly is success? Does success mean having a lot of money, being beautiful or having wealth? According to David Brooks, author of the article “A Nation of Grinders”, success is defined by diligence and the jubilation it brings, contrary to the credo of modern American society. Society views material comfort and success as one and the same and assumes that everyone who is rich or famous has led a successful life. Brooks's assertion that success comes through the accumulation of happiness through diligence and tenacity is accurate in that modern Americans who continue to luxuriate in materialism discover that they are ultimately unhappy, that those who the media and society consider successful are no happier or more content than the average American, and despite Horatio Alger's "rags to riches" stories and the multitude of self-help books in traffic, Americans remain unhappy. In modern society, and especially in modern America, consumerism is king. Ordinary Americans find themselves trapped in a perpetual cycle of gluttony and self-indulgence, unable to stop themselves from buying more and more. Why has America been consumed by greed? It's not necessarily Americans' fault that they are trapped in a culture that values ​​greed over kindness, it's because of the myth perpetuated by the media, it's because of an idea that permeates every aspect of society: the idea that by purchasing just one more trinket or getting just one more upgrade, one will be able to achieve the ever-elusive success and invariably happiness...... in the middle paper ......pe that they might be able to capitalize on an ingenious new idea and make it happen in a big way. Although in rare cases an opportunistic person is able to achieve fame and fortune, the so-called success he achieves will never be as rewarding as that achieved through hard work and perseverance . Those who are content with their lives are bound to remain happier and more successful than those who continue to want more. Those who have not truly tasted success by earning their place in the world will become entrenched in the perpetual cycle of consumerism and will never fully realize the joy they are missing. As Emily Dickinson wrote, "success is considered sweetest by those who never succeed," meaning that those trapped by America's materialistic, gluttonous culture will continue to yearn for it. that they will never be able to reach..