Both the lecture by Richard Wolff and the article by Elliot Currie both had the same basic principles included in them. They both went over the history of the United States in reference to class, how the economy has changed and wages have not changed enough to comply with them.
I liked the lecture, probably because it was right in my face with emotion, arms flying, different tones or volume in speech to really emphasis certain points, however I liked the article a bit more because of the particular to general style of it.
I also liked his structure in the lecture because of the history of the working class vs. the "big businesses" approach Dr. Wolff has in his lecture. It seems to put everything we've been talking about with the media into real perspective along with many things we have been talking about social class, and the seperation between the working, middle, and high classes.
The Currie article showed how the minority races have been oppressed since the very begining of a capitalist company. It really brought to light the historical background to the inequality today in the workplace and how/why it still exists today in a society in which everyone thinks is equal. Towards the middle to end of this article it brings the working class as a whole together in working against the monopolies of businesses. Throughout this text the author gives a lot of exact dates, companies, and statistics, making it a much more realistic piece.
In addition to this, Currie also ties in the aspect of drug use among the poor in relation to this oppression / inequality towards the working class. This helps explain and understand why the poorer communities have drug issues, and why it is difficult to stop them. The poor have nothing to work towards because they do not see a brighter light, drugs are available, and bring something different to the lives that make them miserable. It is all very interesting and heart breaking at the same time.
Both of these pieces go over why the economy and the country is in the state that it is in, with a growing gap between the poor and wealthy, or even decreasing gap between the poor class and the shrinking middle class. They both have information that should be read or heard and both have ideas that could help or actually change this country and make it a better place for everyone, not just those that can afford it.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Media Magic Response
While reflecting on my own culture, although at this point I do not know exactly what that is, this article is truely putting what we see in the media into text. It truly does not expose those who use the media as sources of reference to the homeless or even the working class.
The first time I ever saw, or rather noticed, a homeless person was in Boston on my way to Fenway for a Red Sox game my father had won tickets to. I wasn't too young to understand that some people didn't have a home, but for some reason it was still shocking. I was blind to the real world that I was a part of. I realized it existed but had never been exposed to it.
Mantios does a good job at relating the amount of media people intake in a given week and how little we realize is going on. The idea of the "upper" class is at least somewhat maliscious in some sense is also something i have been thinking of lately, that is now justified by the article. It feels like someone needs to take advantage of another human, somehow, to be successfull. If you have millions of dollars, why not share hat with employees, charities, or just people that they see need it in general.
Some ending questions I have coming from this reading:
Is the middle class decreasing out of existance in America?
Would the media ever show our poor in any light other than negative such as how resourcful or how they are the victim that this society has produced?
Will our country become like the major industial countries such as China with its poor work laws and low wages if the rich just keep taking money and the poor are left to divide what is left?
The first time I ever saw, or rather noticed, a homeless person was in Boston on my way to Fenway for a Red Sox game my father had won tickets to. I wasn't too young to understand that some people didn't have a home, but for some reason it was still shocking. I was blind to the real world that I was a part of. I realized it existed but had never been exposed to it.
Mantios does a good job at relating the amount of media people intake in a given week and how little we realize is going on. The idea of the "upper" class is at least somewhat maliscious in some sense is also something i have been thinking of lately, that is now justified by the article. It feels like someone needs to take advantage of another human, somehow, to be successfull. If you have millions of dollars, why not share hat with employees, charities, or just people that they see need it in general.
Some ending questions I have coming from this reading:
Is the middle class decreasing out of existance in America?
Would the media ever show our poor in any light other than negative such as how resourcful or how they are the victim that this society has produced?
Will our country become like the major industial countries such as China with its poor work laws and low wages if the rich just keep taking money and the poor are left to divide what is left?
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Kozol
This article was really amazing. Well written, easy to follow and truly moving. While everyone knows the stigma on "The Bronx" in New York, I had no real knowledge of what life was like in one of the worst living conditions in America.
When Kozol described his walk with the seven year old boy, Cliffe, it seemed almost like a story from a movie. The erie feeling of "burning bodies" and thought of needles, possibly infected with AIDS or other diseases, being ready available for children to play with was overwhelming.
The other stories about the bears in the trees, David's mother, who doesn't want to go the hospital because she could be locked up or infected with TB, and more so the idea that this woman didn't qualify for government assistance because she wasn't sick enough with cancer is heart wrenching.
This author does a good job however, at not making the reader feel sympathetic over this misfortune, but angry. Angry with the state of New York for making assistance so difficult to obtain, angry at those who believe the quote he begins, and rewrites in his article about the poor being basically unmotivated. Angry that his has happened to a set group of people, Blacks and Hispanics, rather than an equal group of all different ethnicity's of people.
It clearly shows the social structural injustices that promote further and further inequalities in the world. The way this system plays back into itself, like the three letters she would need to get the assistance, that the hospital is understaffed, and that the state is constantly making their neighborhood poorer and poorer by putting unwanted and undesirable businesses and structures in it.
An upside to this article is that you see people bannign together, like those who go the the church that hte author is interviewing in. Also, that those who are addicted to drugs or prosituting to making money for food and support their children are given clean needles and condoms. Promoting the drug use isn't good, however these people will do it with or without clean needles, so it is beneficial that sterile ones available.
When Kozol described his walk with the seven year old boy, Cliffe, it seemed almost like a story from a movie. The erie feeling of "burning bodies" and thought of needles, possibly infected with AIDS or other diseases, being ready available for children to play with was overwhelming.
The other stories about the bears in the trees, David's mother, who doesn't want to go the hospital because she could be locked up or infected with TB, and more so the idea that this woman didn't qualify for government assistance because she wasn't sick enough with cancer is heart wrenching.
This author does a good job however, at not making the reader feel sympathetic over this misfortune, but angry. Angry with the state of New York for making assistance so difficult to obtain, angry at those who believe the quote he begins, and rewrites in his article about the poor being basically unmotivated. Angry that his has happened to a set group of people, Blacks and Hispanics, rather than an equal group of all different ethnicity's of people.
It clearly shows the social structural injustices that promote further and further inequalities in the world. The way this system plays back into itself, like the three letters she would need to get the assistance, that the hospital is understaffed, and that the state is constantly making their neighborhood poorer and poorer by putting unwanted and undesirable businesses and structures in it.
An upside to this article is that you see people bannign together, like those who go the the church that hte author is interviewing in. Also, that those who are addicted to drugs or prosituting to making money for food and support their children are given clean needles and condoms. Promoting the drug use isn't good, however these people will do it with or without clean needles, so it is beneficial that sterile ones available.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
a little about me
A little about myself.
I am an anthropology major with a history minor in my senior year. I transfered from Roger Williams University after only attending for 5 days as an engineering major. I found anthropology and the good it can do for the world, letting the human race know about various cultures that I hadn't ever even heard of, working with the public and governments to make lives better, and discover new features about past cultures.
I grew up relatively higher working class. Our family never seemed to struggle up until the ninething grade. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, leaving our home to a one income household, and various medical bills to pay. Although we never had a lot of extra, it was still difficult to have to wear my sister's hand-me-downs, and be constantly reminded that my hard work in high school would pay off in scholoarships to college. Which then would lead me to a "better" life than what my parents had.
Although now, my bother and boyfriend are both college professors and fairly well off, I always feel that paying full price, and "dumbing down" to be more liked are over rated, and clearance items and fuurthering my knowledge of the world will always be better for me.
I am an anthropology major with a history minor in my senior year. I transfered from Roger Williams University after only attending for 5 days as an engineering major. I found anthropology and the good it can do for the world, letting the human race know about various cultures that I hadn't ever even heard of, working with the public and governments to make lives better, and discover new features about past cultures.
I grew up relatively higher working class. Our family never seemed to struggle up until the ninething grade. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, leaving our home to a one income household, and various medical bills to pay. Although we never had a lot of extra, it was still difficult to have to wear my sister's hand-me-downs, and be constantly reminded that my hard work in high school would pay off in scholoarships to college. Which then would lead me to a "better" life than what my parents had.
Although now, my bother and boyfriend are both college professors and fairly well off, I always feel that paying full price, and "dumbing down" to be more liked are over rated, and clearance items and fuurthering my knowledge of the world will always be better for me.
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