a follow up to the poverty post
A continuation of the conversation below…
Isaiah: poverty is caused by Scarcity. it can only be alleviated by an increase in the division of labor and the accumulation of capital. anything that facilitates this process will combat poverty
Josh: you should post anon. and say that
Isaiah: anything that prevents it will increase poverty. this is a priori fact and not ideological in any form or fashion
Josh. agreed. however, there is an awful lot of ideological going on in the comments.
Isaiah: people are far too focused on superficial things like political methods of combating poverty. when they should be concerned with the actual mechanisms by which wealth are created. I have a lot of contempt for blaming people for being unable to help themselves, because conditions certainly exist that prevent people from aquiring even the most basic necessities
Josh: amen. that is my hidden agenda
Isaiah: but those conditions are normally caused by human agency rather than actual material scarcity. and that’s what keeps me up at night
Josh: also agreed. and i do think the western world has caused those conditions at times…as has every other govt in the world. but we’re top dog for the moment, so i criticize us a bit more harshly
Isaiah: imperialism always causes these conditions
Josh: i wish you would say that on there. haha
Isaiah: oh well, maybe i will later. post this chatlog in the comments if you want
(emphasis added)
“Growing Up Cult”
This week is “Fall at the Book” on campus. So far, my favorite reading has been Jayanti Tamm’s, from her book “Cartwheels in a Sari” (a book I now plan to pick up as soon as I see it in my normal price range of five dollars or less. oh well).
I just saw this editorial she wrote for the Washington Post on the current 60s nostalgia and thought I’d recommend it. It’s perspective is certainly authentic, and yet not as unique as we might want to think: Cultural historians today portray the ’60s as a unique time. I hope they are right. That is, I hope that the cast of corrupt opportunists — gurus, prophets and messiahs — who profited from others’ naiive belief is indeed a unique ’60s phenomenon, safely encapsulated in those glossy anniversary books. Youch! Yeah, about that…
While I know people who have gotten involved in religious organizations that border all-too-close on cult-like tendencies, it would seem to be another thing altogether to be born believing that you’re the pre-ordained disciple of the avatar of God himself. (then again, Calvinists…?) Regardless, I am amazed at her story and those of other people who are taught one way to think their entire life and then choose another.
I am grateful that in my life, when I questioned things, my family (and often my community at large) was often right there questioning along with me…or at the least, encouraging my questions and not ever shoving blind faith/obedience on me.
Poverty.
This past week, a good friend restated to me his belief that poverty is caused almost solely by the choices of individuals. He credited the wealth of America to the biblical principles espoused by its forefathers. He acknowledged that it’s hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you have nothing, but pointed out that his parents once survived on 15k a year with a growing family–and they pulled themselves up.
What would you say to him?
I think this is one of the most pervasive myths of capitalism, and like all true myths, has elements of factual reality in it. However, the more I travel the world,the more people I meet, the more history I read, the more I think there are huge errors with this way of thinking.
My friend is not alone in his viewpoint. I have read numerous religious-based texts that openly espouse such a worldview and history books that imply it. Many, if not most of my friends probably believe the sentiments my friend shared are reality.
Do you?
I am looking forward to watching this movie and considering its claims. Is it vile socialist propaganda, or does it have some accurate observations to share?
What do you think?
therein lies the challenge!
“Everything written with vitality expresses that vitality; there are no dull subjects, only dull minds.”
“In everything that can be called art there is a quality of redemption.”
…Raymond Chandler, in his essay “The Simple Art of Murder” (1950)
it’s only rock and roll!
So yesterday Apple had one of their big tech conferences. You know, the ones that geek follow online in real time, feverishly hitting the refresh button on the browser to follow someone’s twittering…all the while salivating for some awesome new product they can lust after.
So what did yesterday’s big event entail? Radically new ipods? A cheaper macbook? The long awaited touch tablet?
No, just some new ipod games and a few ipod hardware tweaks. And then in the perfect coup de grâce for an event titled “It’s only rock and roll,” they invited Norah Jones to come out and close the evening with a song. Yep, nothing says badass rock like Norah Jones crooning into a mike.
Thanks for inviting me to that online event, Scott.
(Image courtesy of engadget)
a rant about classrooms
So, last night one of my graduate classes met for the first time for well over three hours in a basement room of a hideous building. The ceiling was ripped out, so the narrow room had this increasingly claustrophobic affect, with all of the exposed air ducts, hanging wires, and flickering fluorescent lights. In a word, it was hellish. If I hadn’t already been on campus for ten hours, I probably would have appreciated the Brazilian aspects of it more.
But I’ve been thinking. What the heck is up with college classrooms? Maybe I’m just a victim of big institutions, but they overwhelming, vast majority of classrooms I’ve ever been in are frickin’ butt ugly. Especially for those of us that they keep patting on the head and telling us we’re here to “become better artists” (note: aka, no job prep), I think we deserve better. I’m not demanding the Louvre, but surely some aesthetic appreciation is warranted. Is it that impossibly hard to have even a starbucks-like workspace, rather than a Folsom Prison atmosphere? I’d buy coffee for every class if they gave me a nice chair and some color to look at (let alone a window).
And I don’t drink coffee.
Is everyone else just numb to the horrors of their learning environment after years of mind-numbing lines of concrete, drop ceilings, and flickering lights? If so, chalk one up for homeschooling. My “school room” had art on the walls and windows to look out.
Or is it an inherent flaw only in “higher” education, due to the clamor for multi-use workspace? If so, I think it’s a flawed model, at least for the humanities. Why can’t we have dedicated workspace? Why can’t my classroom look like the offices of my professors? Bookshelves at least would be an improvement over the rat-like subterranean warren of cells and halls where I’ve spent the better part of four (going on five) years.
And for those of you that went to mundo-expensive, small, liberal arts colleges and lounged around in oak chairs while staring out leaded-glass windows, fingering the pipe in your pocket…I don’t want to hear from you.
After all, suffering is supposed to produce better artists, so my book is going to be better than yours.
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