<p>BB #4 essay: Can success be disastrous?</p>
<p>Indeed, success has the full potential to be disastrous. However, it is not as direct result of the success that catastrophic repercussions arise, but it is the individuals’ own perception of his or her success, and how he or she consciously and unconsciously changes in way of thought and behavior, that determine the nature of consequences that follow success.</p>
<p>Success itself comes in a plethora of forms. One instance would be the prosperity of Minamata city in Japan, especially that of the mid-Twentieth Century, which stemmed from the financial success of the Chisso Corporation’s chemical factory based in the area. This was due to the factory having inextricable ties with the governance, economy and employment of Minamata. However, the factory was continually pumping methyl mercury, a waste product from its processes, into nearby waterways to keep disposal costs down. Consequently, at least two thousand locals have died from mercury poisoning by consuming fish and shellfish caught from waterways in the region, and these seafood had mercury bioaccumulated in them. This was the disastrous price to pay for success.</p>
<p>The price of success can also hit hard on the successful person himself. Mahatma Gandhi, as he was popularly known as, was immensely successful in rallying the support of his fellow countrymen to stage non-violent protests for their civil rights in India of the mid-Twentieth Century. His actions even contributed to India’s eventual independence from her British colonial masters. Yet, his success gained him many enemies who opposed his causes, one of whom, a Hindu radical, assassinated him on January 30, 1948.</p>
<p>Perhaps the epitome of a paradigm whereby success turned out to be disastrous would be that of Donald Trump. He was initially a shrewd investor with a knack for identifying profitable investments, and became wildly successful, building a business empire of gargantuan proportions. Yet as the unpredictable business world evolved, Trump found himself increasingly in debt, perhaps due to an overexpansion of his business due to an irrepressible craving for even more success, and so led to his own downfall in the Nineties. Success made him too greedy to continue meticulously analyzing the financial climate, resulting ultimately in disaster.</p>
<h2>As we have learnt from Gandhi, Trump and the Minamata Bay Incident, success often comes with a hefty price, but this price is avoidable if one remains scrupled in modesty, integrity and responsibility, as the glory of success passes over and one is faced again with new realities of life.</h2>
<p>Hi, please be ruthless and criticize all you want! Thank you very much. Especially my spelling, as I have been educated in British spelling since forever and am not very successful in picking up American spelling. Also, what are the implications on my marks of using such examples barely related to success as the Minamata Bay Incident, as well as introducing factual errors, especially in my account of Trump? Oops. Can’t really think of good examples with only 25 minutes, I’m a slow slow thinker =(.</p>
<p>My friend said this was only a 10 because I was severely lacking in terms of transitions and links and connecting different parts of the essay together, and particularly in relation to the question prompt.</p>
<p>THANK YOUUU!!! have a nice day boys and girls and dads and moms. :)</p>