Here are some related links regarding wealth and class, workers and jobs, the election and political influence. Do you think Marx's critique of capitalism still holds? To what degree?
{You don't have to read all these - you can respond here to something we discussed in class, or to something else you thought of regarding Marx, address the question above regarding his critiques, and/or comment on one or more of the stories below (whatever interests you).}
* Regarding the use of technology for selling girls
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/opinion/how-pimps-use-the-web-to-sell-girls.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
* Regarding the making of (working conditions) iPhones and iPads
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/opinion/how-pimps-use-the-web-to-sell-girls.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
* Regarding Marx and the upcoming election:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/opinion/brooks-free-market-socialism-.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
* Regarding Gov. Romney's taxes:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/01/24/us/24reuters-usa-campaign-romney-taxes.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha24
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16696347
* Contemporary issues related to Marx, including a growing gap between the rich & the poor in the U.S.
Going along with the men getting layed off at work and looking at one of the articals about the income in a middle class family you can see that the women are going out and working to help supplament income this is causing the whole complex for men on women making more money. Men who are used to "bringing home the bacon" are getting alieonated because the females are working and rasing a family so they do not know what to do but society is pushing it because inorder to make a confortable income most home have to have two working parents
ReplyDeleteThis idea is particularly interesting when you look the Hispanic culture and its "machismo" roots. Which is basically the idea that men are responsible for working while women are responsible for the household. Most people see our culture as predominately male based, but is slowing progressing to equality and do not realized places like Mexico are actually decades behind. While a women in America may work the same job as a male while making less money in Mexico the women would never in fact have a chance at having that job. On a international scale, women are alienated substantially.
DeleteAs is no secret, during the current wearisome state of the United States economy, the gap between the rich and poor is consistently widening, leaving the rich with more money and causing the poor to become poorer. This economic issue, as it currently takes place, was outlined in Karl Marx's studies years ago; Marx contended that "capitalism causes alienation and exploitation." Though, as mentioned before, this issue is primarily economic, also involves social issues, which qualifies it as grounds for philosophical study. Capitalism, socially, is causing those individuals who are educated and motivated to lag behind, despite their efforts. The economy is prohibiting their success, which leads to despair and difficulty to move on. As Kelsey said above concerning the conversation we had in class about men feeling depressed if they are unable to work and provide, fulfilling their stereotypical role in the family, there is a perfect example of how the class gap is exploiting people daily. The economy has become a serious issues with detrimental factors, leading to philosophical grounds.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about pimps who are now turning to the internet as a vehicle for sex trafficking. It reminded me of some of Albert Bergmann’s views and concerns with technology. He points out that the promise of technology is to make life easier for everyone by providing relief from the laborious and monotonous tasks required of life. Technology certainly has made so many things more efficient and easier however I wonder how severe these implications will be. The very way that we behave and interact with society has completely changed with the creation of such “devices” as Facebook, Craigslist, email etc. These ideas are still relatively new for us to be able to fully understand some of their social and cultural implications. Technology is already, making it more convenient to exploit and harm people. For this exploitation to be so horrific and widespread it seems only logical that it will keep increasing exponentially.
ReplyDeleteAlbert Bormann believes we should reform technology and differentiate it from the focal things and practices. Technology certainly is not entirely bad; it’s just limited in its ability to provide us with complete fulfillment in life. In order to compensate for the aspect of our own personal happiness that technology alone cannot grant we must consciously participate in focal things and practices and carefully balance an adequate amount of each. Technology has been successful in its mission of ridding many of the monotonous aspects of life, but it has unfortunately indiscriminately gotten rid of many of the deeply rewarding and vital aspects.
We must find a way to utilize technology while preserving some of the most important and unique aspects of human life. It has become so massive in such a short amount of time that we now struggle to tame it. Protecting innocent and vulnerable people from those who choose to utilize the internet in an evil way has to become a priority.