<p>Assignment: Do changes that make our lives easier not necessarily make them better? (BB, Pg. 453)
Essay: Technological advances and other drastic changes have made are lives thousands of times easier. However, some of these changes have had negative effects on our lives. Changes that make our lives easier do not necessarily make them better. </p>
<p>For example, the discovery of electricity in the late 1800's early 1900's. This discovery was made during the Gilded Age, an age which appeared to be prosperous but was really the opposite. The discovery of electricity led to many inventions: the washing machine, light bulbs, telephones, radios and other machines that did work for us. Because electricity was so useful, people of the late 1800's and early 1900's became dependent on it. Electricity was used to to create machines that would do simple tasks in factories. Because of this, large numbers of employees last their jobs. We as modern day Americans are also "addicted" to electricity. Everyone, including myself, have a large array of electronics: TV's, iPod's, video game consoles, computers, etc. Electricity has made our lives easier and fun but has also left us addicted to its power. </p>
<p>Department stores are another example of a change that made our lives easier yet didn't improve them. Another invention of the Gilded Age, department stores were and are large stores with different "departments" that sold various products. Because department stores contained almost every product you could think of, there was no need for small speciality businesses. Man of these "mom and pop shops" went out of business due to these large department stores. This is also present in the modern world of today. Walmart, the modern day department store, has been criticized of causing large numbers of small businesses to shut down. This is shown in the movie entitled Walmart, where a small hardware store suffers economically because of Walmart opening up in the neighborhood.</p>