In “the way to wealth” Benjamin Franklin goes in great detail about the topic of wealth on how to achieve it and maintain it. During this time it was very common for the upper class to show off to their friends the amount of money they had by having the most luxurious things from the homes they lived in to the clothes they wore, it was always a competition in a sense of who had the best and who was the most extravagant. Maintaining a lifestyle of such made many go into great debt. Franklin went against the ways of the upper class and commended saving and investments. Franklins …show more content…
The Way to Wealth was written from Poor Richard’s point of view who was quoting a so-called reader of his work named Father Abraham as it is the preface for the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the Almanac. In it Franklins explains his views on how society should control their spending and maintain their wealth.
Poor Richard mocks laziness through the voice of Father Abraham, He tells his audience that laziness will lead to poverty “Laziness travels so slowly, that Poverty soon overtakes him” (12). It is obvious that Franklin believed strongly in hard work and thought that all men should work hard to succeed. he believed laziness can to be a big downfall of men and women.
Franklin also felt that too many people were focused on material things that were not necessary. Father Abraham tells his audience that going into debt is like giving control of your life over to another “think what you do when you run in Debt; You give to another Power over your Liberty”(29) . This is a very similar problem in modern society. Many people today still have the problem of going into debt to live a certain lifestyle. We have mixed up our priorities and confused necessities with extravagances. Poor Richard writes about how the audience heard what Father Abraham said, and even agreed with what he was saying. However, they ignored it and continued to spend money they didn’t