Nickle and Dimed by Babara Ehrenreich

Compared to the other essays and excerpts I have read and blogged about, Babara Ehrenreich's writing style was by far the most unique. Although there were certain parts of the essay I would've preferred to skip over like the comparisons of sh*t; there were also very well put together phrases that really made me think. Perhaps the most interesting concept that I got from her writing was that "the working poor...are in fact the major philanthropists of our society", the idea that the less fortunate and working class are here to ensure that the rich and well off are comfortable, their children are cared for, and their houses are in pristine condition, is a very interesting and sad thing. Eventhough, it is true that in order to provide for their family, it often meant sacrificing the limited amount of time they had, it's still sad to think about. Ehenreich's writing style was truly unique, and this essay was meant to envoke a feeling of shame rather than guilt as she stated in one of the last paragraphs. Although some may see this essay as hostile and in your face, I find it resonable, considering that she related herself as a social critic to people like Upton Sinclair and Jacob Riis.

How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis

Jacob Riis' "How the Other Half Lives" (1890) is very similar to the conditions in which homeless and needy people live in America today. As time has changed, so have the wage gapes in America, and in most cases the living conditions of people living under the poverty line are still reflected in the writings of Riis. Jacob Riis' writings were effective for the time period, but as described in the pretext he went for shock value as opposed to empathy. In today's society I'm not too sure people would feel as compelled to take a stand against poverty and blindly help the needy as they were in the time of Riis. I feel this way because people now-a-days are too concerned with their own household, how much they can save, and don;t take as much time to think of how lucky they are in comparison to others. We are more willing to fight poverty in other countries than to acknowledge our own poverty stricken citizens.

A Reaction to Glenn Beck's 'History of Unions in America' broadcast

As always Glenn Beck was entertaining as he tried to defend an argument by claiming that the real issues were Socialism, Marxism, and government conspiracy; this episode really made me think he was delusional. Beck actually said that unions were a way of trying to take down the class system, which honestly doesn't make sense because if everyone in the company was equal (managers, CEOs, presidents), and they all made the same amount of money there would be no point in trying to make progress, no reason to introduce new ideas or incorporate new technology because there would ultimately be no gain. Beck tried to make an argument that the unions in America were of more destructive power and require more attention than the national debt, which is just absurd. In any case, I feel sorry for any people that actually listen to any of his rants without questioning a single thing he says; just because he has (had) a television show does not make him an expert on anything.

Sadie Pfeifer and Making Human Junk

I recently read the section pertaining to Lewis Hine in the American Protest Literature (Trodd) book, and struggled with a way to write this post. Considering that it doesn't have much in common with my previous posts, I was finding it hard to write about. But then I remembered the concepts of equality, oppression, and justice and realized how this entry of the book was important to American history and the forming of it's future. It is sad to think that the idea of child labor used to be commonly accepted and freely practiced, not only in the U.S. but in many other places in the world. Comparing the conditions children were working in, the lack of safety, and the extremely low wages, I am glad that someone like Lewis Hine took the time to shed light on the situation. His photograph of the children helped the people in those times create an emotional connection to the issue, although the progress of this children's movement seemed somewhat slow, it was much needed.

Common Sense

Upon reading this document, and drawing comparisons to the Declaration of Independence which was the focus of the previous post this document has been extremely influential to the formation of the country. It is a well constructed document that in a lot of ways sums up the way many if not most of the colonists felt, regarding ill treatment from British rule. This document also stated that the purpose of the struggle and the revolution as a way to obtain independence and democracy for for the colonist. In my opinion this document was much more effective in rallying people around the idea of independence than the actual Declaration of Independence was, Paine addressed many of the same points but they were written in a much more personal level than the declaration was. One thing I found as strange after reading both documents is that both pretext descriptions of the documents (referring to page 5) have mentions of original sin. The Declaration of Independence's original sin was slavery and the act of ignoring it in the final draft, and in Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' it refers to the king uses the idea of "divine law" (pg 5 Trodd). Although I found this document very interesting, I still think its strange that people at that time period could be so inspired to fight for independence while remaining in a culture that denied others the right to be free (slaves).

Declaration of Independence

Although the Declaration of Independence is perhaps one of the most important documents in our Nation's history. I can't help but feel that even though the document demands independence and equality for the citizens of America, it continues to neglect as James Madison called it America's  "original sin" pg 15 (Trodd). I feel that this was a great opportunity to finally put slavery to an end in in U.S. but it wasn't given a second thought once the final document was created. To me it seems hypocritical to request equality and separation from British rule, while carrying out an even greater oppression on people in your own nation. I understand that its difficult to make such immense changes in the social dynamic overnight and that slavery was not going to be easy to live without. However, in a time where things in America were changing for the better, this would've been the opportune time to take a stand against slavery instead of allowing it to drag on and ultimately get out of hand when the Civil War came around.