Infomercials...Really?

If I watch or listen to one more bow-flex, ab cruncher, proactive or vegetable dicer commercial I just might call into that one eight hundred number myself and give them a talking to. Infomercials are always trying to persuade you to buy their product by giving "facts" that are not always valid. Who really knows if one will have automatic smooth, clear skin or rock solid, bulging abs if they buy a certain product. The fact is, no one certain product can magically transform a part of your body and honestly, I highly doubt the cut macho-man demonstrating the equipment ONLY used the bow-flex to create his toned biceps. The same goes for food processors and other convenient supplies for your house. Sure, many of them can make tasks more efficient, but its not like the object is going to make a persons life immensely easier. Your life won't be "complete" if you buy airwick for three easy payments of $12.99. These products are romanticized to be so much better than they really are, leaving Americans with the perception that being consumers and buying a company's product will ultimately help the buyer with what they need instantly. The reality of the effects of the products is not what it is portrayed as in these commercials. Their idealistic approach of promises that are not necessarily going to be fulfilled makes the product unreliable in a sense. Will a bow-flex make you look like a  bodybuilder? Most likely not. Will you magically have diced tomatoes the instant you press a button on a kitchen appliance? Who knows. Does proactive or a weed-wacker make everything in your life suddenly make sense and bring you instant happiness? Doubtful. The point is, infomercials are a hyped up marketing technique.

Rebellion and Civil War

When reading The Wall Street Journal today, I came across an article discussing the civil unrest in Sri Lanka and the rebellions that have taken place there since the 1970s. The country has been secularized and there has been discrimination against certain groups, mainly the Tamil, that has increased tension. Currently they are working to find the "Tiger" or Tamil group leader in the jungle and end this war that has killed tens of thousands of people. Civilians are looking to the government to exert their power over the land and end this war. The civil war in Sri Lanka connects to our agency and oppression unit because of its connection to the civil war in America. When a country becomes secularized and divided, tension and aggression rises and discrimination becomes more prominent. 

Differences in opinions of large issues causes unrest...and ultimately the dire need for a solution. America was fighting over westward expansion of slavery and the ultimate idea of slavery. The south made a statement to succeed from the Union. And now, the Tamil group in Sri Lanka is making a statement to not be discriminated against. However, the tactic behind how they choose to handle the situation is with violence, and that needs to end. The "Tigers" or the Tamil group have opened fire at hospitals, bombed territories and killed innocent civilians because of deeper anger that has lasted for over a quarter of a century. This current event really goes to show that modern day societies have the many of the same deep-rooted issues that need to be solved or war and violence will break out as what they believe is an immediate answer.

An Expansion of Technology

Last night my uncle sent me a video about technology because he works for Microsoft, and I felt that it really connected to what we have been discussing about Thoreau and societal advances. The video talks about all the global issues right now, and how intelligence is on the rise. 25% of India's population with the highest IQs is greater than the total population of the United States. That is incredible in of itself. China, Japan and India are catching up to the United States, and the competition in those countries is rigorous. Then it goes on to talk about jobs and how the top ten jobs in 2010 DIDN'T EXIST in 2004. Now, people are going to school to learn for potential jobs that don't exist yet. The advancements in our society today are great, and it was truthfully really refreshing to see a positve outlook on things rather than the typical bad economy, America is going down perspective. 1 in 5 couples have met online, over 200 million people are registered on MySpace, and if MySpace were a country it would be the 5th largest in the world! This also ties back to our reliance on technology, which is a negative aspect of it. We constantly look to our computers and cell phones for what we need, and think that it is not possible to survive without it. Think about it: the fifth largest country in the world could be MySpace. Do you think there's any personal interaction through a computer? Would Thoreau or Emerson approve?

The first text message was sent in 1992. Today, the number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the total population of the planet. Thats mind blowing. We constantly depend on communication that is efficient, but loses thought and interaction. The number of google searches went from 2.7 billion to 31 billion in the last two years. We are a nation that is rapidly expanding our technology and curiosity. Are these things necessities, though? One would argue not, but come on, you have to be a little intrigued at the fact that our advancements have grown so immensely. 

There are 540,000 words in the English language, which is five times as many as during when Shakespeare lived. Thats gotta count for something, doesn't it? Our language is expanding, and using a wider variety of words will allow our minds to grow. However, with our use of technology, will these new words be put to good use? Because we are in an era of "instant gratification" and simplifying answers, why would these new words be important? You could suppose that these words are simplified versions of Shakespeares prose. Maybe, maybe not. I could just be thinking negatively. Either way, our language has become more complex and intricate and that is undoubtedly progress.

A week's worth of the New York Times has more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century. The fact that information can be spread that quickly and efficiently is incredible. We are more informed as citizens because of it. Society is able to stay current with actions by our government and what is happening in America and internationally.

By 2049, a $1000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human species. I don't need to break down this one, thats progress. Do we NEED all these advances? I wouldn't say we do, but progress is progress. It doesn't do much for simplifying your life, however. Thoreau would say these are "hinderances to mankind." For his argument that makes sense. I personally think it would be odd to not say that these things are progress, but from a transcendentalist point of view, none of it is necessary.

Michelle Obama...the symbol of a modern woman

So many magazines, editorials and newspapers have been talking about how Michelle Obama represents a woman in the 21st century; hard-working, educated, and determined for change. This message is so true because not even a hundred years ago women were suppressed and thought to only work in the house with no education. They just didn't have the "mind capacity" to "handle" the male world. They were pitied. Now that we have a black president elect who represents a younger generation of hope and change, we can look to the first lady as an icon of female progress in the past generation. The media is making it known that she is a strong black women in current society whereas in previous presidencies, the first lady was not know for this. Typically, and this isn't to stereotype, but the first lady does alot with charity organizations and aiding others. This is of course a wonderful thing and i don't want to belittle that, but Michelle Obama represents something extra-strength and an ability to change things on her own. She is in no way, shape or form a typical "housewife". She is an active political icon whose decisions are in many ways respected. She came from the south side of Chicago and rose to be an ivy-league educated lawyer. She is an example of The American Dream we as Americans hold so dear to our hearts. She helped Barrack Obama win the election. Though Zinn's article focuses on Indian Removal, he starts the chapter with a reference to women. As we learned in class, the market revolution allowed women to be in the workforce in factories instead of solely at home. However, this didn't do much for their rights. Women have been oppressed for so much of history up until the last thirty to forty years, and Michelle Obama is a political figure who will help shape what women really are-equal and determined to prove themselves.

Link to Michelle Obama Article

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Over the weekend I went to see a movie called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a story of an 8-year-old's perspective of the Holocaust. Bruno's father is a Nazi soldier, and his family ends up moving to a building not far from a concentration camp so that Bruno's father can continue his work. Bruno ends up exploring the grounds, and he befriends a boy in the camp through a barbed wire fence. He is told by his father that the camp is a farm for workers. I don't want to ruin the ending so I wont say how it continued, but by the end I was balling my eyes out, and it really made me start thinking about Emerson's History Essay and how history always repeats itself. Is that really possible in this situation? Could the absolutely horrific nature of that time period be repeated? I honestly couldn't fathom it or imagine it ever happening. I still don't understand how some people in Germany don't believe it ever happened. That's just ignorance in my opinion. 

If society is like a wave that never advances or retreats as Emerson put it, will we really learn from the mistakes in our past? Is that not our duty as citizens of the world? We talk about these utopian communities in class, and really, thats what the Germans were trying to do. The question that needs to be asked is, where do we draw the line between creating perfection and creating a genocide? The Germans killed millions of innocent people to "cleanse" their country, and how did that help anything? How did that make matters better? Sure, there was propaganda, but like hell if thats an excuse. Utopia's aren't created by wiping out all races. Utopia's aren't even possible, there will always be issues in a society.

As we always say in class, we can never really, truly learn history unless we immerse ourselves in it, and relate it to ourselves and live in it. When I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, I felt like I was living the hatred, suppression and cruel behavior that occured during every scene. I will never understand the hardship the Jews went through, but in seeing this movie, I at least got a taste, and that's better than nothing. Check out the movie though, its really amazing!

Victory for the Gay Community

Gay marriage has now been legalized in Conneticut, which, for many gays living in Conneticut, is a tremendous feat. Personally, I think that gay marriage is something that should be granted indefinitely everywhere, because based on what we have been talking about in class, everyone has a right to, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." If this is supposedly true, don't gays have the right to be happy? And to have liberty? My paper for the Constitution is about how the ideals of the Declaration of Independence were not fulfilled, and this is yet another example of how they weren't. Who knows if gays even existed in 1776, but right now it is a prevalent issue that deserves attention. In 1996, the Marriage Defense Act was passed, and it ruled that marriage was limited to a man and woman union for the purpose of federal law. This excluded gays entirely, obviously, and it angered them deeply. However, the act does not require states to abide by their rules, they can make their own on gay marriage if they choose. California declared banning gay marriage unconstitutional, making it legal. Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire have laws to acknowledge the relationship between gays and they have the rights that opposite sex marriages possess, but they are not called marriages. There are still twenty six states that do not allow gay marriage, and to me, this is really surprising. The Constitution is about equality, and this is not represented in the ban on gay marriage. It's actually quite disappointing, because America has the government that every foreign country looks up to, and for gay rights to be unattainable in some states is not a true reflection on what our country prides itself on.

Gay marriage in Conneticut Article

Gay marriage rights information 

White Supremacy? Really?

Recently on the news and in the newspaper I have seen allegations for two men being convicted of plotting to kill now President-elect Barrack Obama. To me, this really just makes me sick. In class we have been talking about the Constitution and how slavery was "put off" for twenty years, from 1776 to 1808, in the document to avoid issues with the South. Since then, slavery has been abolished and blacks have gained rights equal to white men. The African American society has come so far from where they were before, and I really feel like this happening was a major step back from the progress made because this biggot-like behavior, believe it or not, is still occuring. The fact that our new president is black is a major achievement in black history, and for this conviction of two white supremacists to happen just amazes me. I really didn't think there were people like that anymore. People I have discussed our new African American president with have said that some of their extended family did not want Obama to become president simply because he is black. This showed me that it wasn't so long ago that blacks were severely discriminated against. Our grandparents witnessed the protests and speeches of Martin Luther King...this wasn't something that happened a million years ago. On the news when Obama was elected president they talked about how teens around my age and young adults in their twenties don't see Obama as a "black man," they see him as a symbol for change and an incredibly smart, enthusiastic person. Our grandparents and even some of our parents, however, still have that identification of him. This shows progress for our country as a whole, and how prejudice is being minimized. But the allegations toward the two White Supremacists, among all this evidence of progress, had a really big impact on me. 

Oh, heres the article if you're interested