As the South rapidly changes, the Old Guard clings more and more tightly to the Lost Cause, becoming obsessed with it. This obsession seems likely to lose against the new wealthy and glamorous high class. The Carpetbaggers, Yankees, and Freedmen’s Bureau members are all people who profit off the fall of Southern civilization, as Rhett had once predicted. Scarlett is just like these people, making money selling goods at a high price to people in need. Those who resist this new wave of society are forced to remain poor out of principle.