As you can see by my picture, i'm a pretty wierd guy. In actuality, the picture is from a music video that my friends and I made over the last few summers. I'm including a link to it, and I'm hoping maybe people will respond and let me know what they think. Watch these in order for it to make sense.
Journey- Ask the Lonely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx281VhR71M
Journey- Stone in Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyzQl1msfnU
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Reading for the week of Jan. 28th
This week, we are concentrating on the work of Allen Johnson and his book "Privilege, Power and Difference". Since my groups presentation is on chapter 2, I will be concentrating on chapter 3, entitled "Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination". Johnson tries to convince his readers that privilege is basically controlled by capitalism, and still fuels the fire today. What people can sell or buy really depends on their status in society and what privilege they hold. He explains how capitalism works and its relation to class. He also states that "the richest 10 percent of the U.S. population holds more than two-thirds of all the wealth". This widens the gap between rich and poor, and making us even segregated than we first thought.
Some of the things Johnson talks about are history of race and gender in the relation to capitalism. Slavery was one of the glairing examples of capitalism in history, with the enslavement of millions. He goes on to talk about the manifest destiny that occured later in the move westward and its obvious connection to capitalism. Not only that, women have been held down in our capitalistic economy, often giving the excuse of paying them less and making women work secretarial jobs.
One question that I want to ask is why, in 2007, is this still happening? Women are still, on average, paid less than men for the same work and capitalism only benefits the people with the most money in their pockets. Those born without the silver spoon, which happen to mostly be minority, have a difficult time rising out of the situation they are in because of the low paying jobs available and the lack of opportunity. If we live in a land of freedom and opportunity, why are the wealthy the only ones that can afford it?
My reaction to the reading solidified my thoughts on capitalism and what is and is not fair for people. Economically speaking, it would be more efficient to have everyone working than having poverty and unemployment rate of 5%. The more people working with satisfying income will benefit the economy more. I'm not saying that communism is the right answer, far from it, but I believe the only way that we can have equality is to make sure everyone has a job that is fair pay throughout that field of industry.
Some of the things Johnson talks about are history of race and gender in the relation to capitalism. Slavery was one of the glairing examples of capitalism in history, with the enslavement of millions. He goes on to talk about the manifest destiny that occured later in the move westward and its obvious connection to capitalism. Not only that, women have been held down in our capitalistic economy, often giving the excuse of paying them less and making women work secretarial jobs.
One question that I want to ask is why, in 2007, is this still happening? Women are still, on average, paid less than men for the same work and capitalism only benefits the people with the most money in their pockets. Those born without the silver spoon, which happen to mostly be minority, have a difficult time rising out of the situation they are in because of the low paying jobs available and the lack of opportunity. If we live in a land of freedom and opportunity, why are the wealthy the only ones that can afford it?
My reaction to the reading solidified my thoughts on capitalism and what is and is not fair for people. Economically speaking, it would be more efficient to have everyone working than having poverty and unemployment rate of 5%. The more people working with satisfying income will benefit the economy more. I'm not saying that communism is the right answer, far from it, but I believe the only way that we can have equality is to make sure everyone has a job that is fair pay throughout that field of industry.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Reading for the week of Jan. 21, 2007
The reading for this week is by Ronald Takaki entitled " The Tempest in the Wilderness". The main idea behind the article is the viewpoint of the English, and their view of the "Savages" that were the Irish and Indians. He relate those two groups of people to the Shakespeare work called "The Tempest". In this play, the character Caliban is an Indian in the New World, and he becomes victim to English conquest. It was a common thing in that day to talk about the pride of English conquest, and Shakespeare was no different.
One of the main questions I have about this reading is why the English did not find brotherhood with the country of Ireland and surrounding countries of that time? Why would the English find Irish people to be incompetent savages, other than the pure fact that they were nomadic. It was also a problem with Scotland at the time, where the English found themselves to be far superior than their counterparts. It would be more profitable to view the Indians and Irish as an equal and work with them to find a better way of producing agriculture and other necessities.
I
felt very taken back by the reading, being of Irish decent. I was not raised with the idea that the Irish were savages or nomadic. Maybe I was raised in a way to show the pride in my heritage and not the rough times, but at the same time I never knew of the battles between Ireland and English.
One of the main questions I have about this reading is why the English did not find brotherhood with the country of Ireland and surrounding countries of that time? Why would the English find Irish people to be incompetent savages, other than the pure fact that they were nomadic. It was also a problem with Scotland at the time, where the English found themselves to be far superior than their counterparts. It would be more profitable to view the Indians and Irish as an equal and work with them to find a better way of producing agriculture and other necessities.
I
felt very taken back by the reading, being of Irish decent. I was not raised with the idea that the Irish were savages or nomadic. Maybe I was raised in a way to show the pride in my heritage and not the rough times, but at the same time I never knew of the battles between Ireland and English.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Reading for Jan. 17th, 2007
The topic for today's reading is one that can lead people to their own conclusions on right and wrong. It deals with the sensitive subject matter of correct nomenclature for certain racial groups and sexual orientations. It also deals with the type of outlook people have in this subject matter, the two types being essentialist and constructionist. All of these things have a very significant part in how we determine ethnicity's and other types of class, sex, and so on.
One of the paragraphs talk about the reaction of an African American man to the question "which do you prefer to be called, black or African American"? His response was one of anger, mainly because of the ignorance of the person asking it. In the black man's eyes, he feels he should be treated as a person not a color or race. For the white interviewer, his outlook is that there are different races and colors, and you fall into that classification. This can easily be conveyed in the context of essentialism and constructionism. The white man is an essentialist, who believes there is clear cut answer to the question he asked. He believes that the master statuses determine who we are. On the other hand, the black man can be viewed as a constructionist. He believes that there are different views that can be taken about who he is besides his color or race. He believes that he is a person, just the same as if he were Indian, Hispanic or white. These two people obviously differ greatly on their outlook on life.
Another aspect is the way we as a society view certain lifestyle choices. In the case of homosexuals, people believe that there are two different ways a person can become homosexual. The first is that it is a choice by the individual to become "gay", where in the reading a person is condemned by his family and almost sent to castration to make him straight again. The other choice is that the person is born homosexual and cannot help the fact that he or she is that way. Many studies conducted recently show this to be possible. In the case of the same person in the reading, the parents ask for forgiveness when they learn it was possible for him to be born gay.
In conclusion, there are many ways that people can be viewed by others. By race, sexual orientation, class, gender and so on, we tend to separate ourselves from each other in an attempt to make ourselves look better. There are different types of people; essentialist and constructionist that believe two totally different things, neither being the right point of view. In the end, it is a persons right to view people as they see fit to be viewed.
One of the paragraphs talk about the reaction of an African American man to the question "which do you prefer to be called, black or African American"? His response was one of anger, mainly because of the ignorance of the person asking it. In the black man's eyes, he feels he should be treated as a person not a color or race. For the white interviewer, his outlook is that there are different races and colors, and you fall into that classification. This can easily be conveyed in the context of essentialism and constructionism. The white man is an essentialist, who believes there is clear cut answer to the question he asked. He believes that the master statuses determine who we are. On the other hand, the black man can be viewed as a constructionist. He believes that there are different views that can be taken about who he is besides his color or race. He believes that he is a person, just the same as if he were Indian, Hispanic or white. These two people obviously differ greatly on their outlook on life.
Another aspect is the way we as a society view certain lifestyle choices. In the case of homosexuals, people believe that there are two different ways a person can become homosexual. The first is that it is a choice by the individual to become "gay", where in the reading a person is condemned by his family and almost sent to castration to make him straight again. The other choice is that the person is born homosexual and cannot help the fact that he or she is that way. Many studies conducted recently show this to be possible. In the case of the same person in the reading, the parents ask for forgiveness when they learn it was possible for him to be born gay.
In conclusion, there are many ways that people can be viewed by others. By race, sexual orientation, class, gender and so on, we tend to separate ourselves from each other in an attempt to make ourselves look better. There are different types of people; essentialist and constructionist that believe two totally different things, neither being the right point of view. In the end, it is a persons right to view people as they see fit to be viewed.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Reading for Wednesday, Jan. 10th
The reading assigned on January 10th was an exerpt out of a book written by Howard Zinn. It described Christopher Columbus and his cruel treatment of natives in the Carribean Islands. He used these people as slaves and pawns to get gold and repay his debt to the countless people he owed. It is stated that the natives of these islands were very willing to share and would do anything for their guests within reason. However, the feelings were not mutual because Columbus and the other passengers that set sail in 1492 felt that these people were "Savages" and animals, bearing no shame for their naked appearance.
About me
I am Mike Lagnese and i'm a sophomore at Bowling Green State University. I am majoring in Supply Chain Management and plan to graduate in 2009. I'm originally from Twinsburg, Ohio which is a suburb of Cleveland. One of the things I hope to gain from taking this class is knowledge of other ethnicities besides my own.
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