Innocent lives

Adults corrupt innocent lives. With the use of examples and various stories; this is one of the key points in “A Measure of Restraint” written by Chet Raymo. Raymo begins the essay talking about a tragic event that occurred when two desperate men in the search of money, sold a cylinder full of cesium-137 to a junk dealer. Soon after, the junk dealer’s niece decides to rub the mysterious and enchanting powder over her body. Raymo states, “The girl is dead. Others died or became grievously sick.” The needy men killed the innocent girl and many others, only because they were searching for money. Another example is when Marie and Pierre Curie became instantly famous from their experiments, and a craze for radium began. Though many did not recognize the after effects of radium, Raymo states “Many of these women were later affected by anemia and lesions of the jawbone and mouth; a number of them died.” Marie and Pierre corrupted and killed many innocent people; just to fulfill their selfish crave to become rich, no matter what the consequences.

The desire of money is very involved when corrupting lives. This reminded me of the sweatshops in China, where young innocent children are forced to work in order to supply adults with money. In the article, “In Chinese Factories, Lost Fingers and Low Pay,” the author David Barboza states, “Chinese workers, often as young as 16, face far more serious hazards…For example, factory workers lose or break about 40,000 fingers on the job every year.” That is a piece of evidence that nobody wants to hear. People are forced through suffering to fulfill adults with money no matter if they permanently lose their fingers. A 16 year old named Xu Wenguan (with hands covered in blisters) claimed, “I work on the plastic molding machine from 6 in the morning to 6 at night,” Asked what had happened to his hands, he replied, the machines are “quite hot, so I’ve burned my hands.” No child should have to go through this pain. These statements show the power adults can have, leading only to another’s corruption. Is the yearn for money worth damaging or killing the innocent lives of others?