Five Economic Principles You Can Learn from Gone with the Wind

1. Property Ownership. In the movie, the wealthy family in question is the Ohara family. The point of this movie is that one does not possess true wealth without property rights. Terra means 'land' or 'earth' in Latin. Tera is the source of pride for the Ohara family, it is the status symbol par excellence because property ownership was the mark of true wealth. In the South, property also meant having slaves. But this is topic for a different article.

2. The importance of gold. In one of the most important scenes of the movie, the prostitute friend of Rhett Butler acts as a messenger, and delivers the gift of gold to a beleaguered hospital in the South. The other women are disgusted, but Scarlett, in her wisdom, realizes that a gift is a gift, from wherever it comes. She is also impressed that the money comes in the form of 'real gold', not that southern money. It is a lesson to all, that in the times of war and economic hardship, gold stands as the ultimate form of payment for goods and services. It is honest money, even from the hands of a whore.

3. Marriage is almost always tied to money. Most of this movie is about the relationship of Scarlett Ohara and Ashley Wilkes. It's a confusing relationship because Scarlett herself is confused by love or money. Rhett Butler represents wealth. Scarlett is a woman who lov his facees both. But she is not alone. Scarlett is constantly torn between her love for love and her love of money, but most women have to make this choice in their minds. Men too have to make decisions. Rhett Butler is torn between loving someone whom he knows loves another and his own pride. Yet he will make the compromise for someone as tempting as Scarlett. It's a compromise that they both settle on until the end, when Rhett decides he would much rather hold on to his dignity and frankly 'not give a damn'.

4. Long wars will ultimately cripple any nation's economy. There is no question the wars ruin economies. Long wars prove to be devastating. The Civil war was supposed to end rather quickly, according to the superiority complex-egos of the South. But this was far from the truth. The South gets ravaged and destroyed, and there is not much left but empty homes and land to rebuild. The pride of the South is destroyed, and most are reduced to poverty, even the wealthiest.

5. Argument for the right to bear arms. Bearing arms is essential to protection of life and wealth. In exciting scene where Scarlett returns to her war torn home, she finds herself the sole protector of the home, while her poor father withers away. In an act of desperation, Scarlett finds herself shooting and killing a Yankee who is about to attack her. She finds gold in his pockets and a means of sustenance for the time being.

The civil war was a major turning point for America. It was the destruction of the South as we knew it, and the beginning of a new America. Gone With Wind tells the story of a family who endures the ravages of death and war and lives to see another day. In struggle to live, the audience are taught not only the realities of war but the meaning of true wealth.