Week Sixteen Blog Entry: "Shift Happens"

This video makes me feel intimidated and excited about the world’s future all at once. Such statements as “by the third year of study, everything they learn in the first year of study will be outdated” make me feel utterly overwhelmed. And furthermore, I don’t believe there is anything our educational system, or any kind of system, can do to prepare us for this kind of future. It is simply too much to keep up with. Oftentimes I feel that our society is focused so much on being bigger, better and producing more and more and more, that the joys of life and the process of development, is lost on us. I feel our society has become unbalanced and addicted to consumption and focused on immediate-gratification, which is unhealthy for us, our families, our society and our surrounding environment. It is scary to me to think of a future society of sleep deprived, stressed out, wasteful and isolated individuals. I believe we have already arrived at this state, and there seems to be no limit, no stopping us now. Since we are “living in exponential times” I cannot even fathom what a future as the video suggests, will really look and feel like.

On the flip side, the video’s prediction of “100 million laptops being shipped to children in underdeveloped countries” make me feel grateful for the advances in our society and sees a benefit to certain populations for such things. Having computers with more knowledge and computing abilities than humans certainly could mean an ability to solve more of the world’s problems. But my thought is that it will only create more problems than it solves. Often times I find myself envying the lives of our ancestors; traveling in horse drawn carriage, living off the land, sleeping from dusk ‘til dawn, enjoying strong family values, consuming only the necessities of life, and taking pleasure in the simplest of things. As the pace of change continues to accelerate, I imagine things like this will be extinct in the very near future if we continue on this path.

It is difficult to see exactly where we are headed. Some social theorists believe we will soon be superseded by a postindustrial society, based on information and service rather than on manufacturing and industrialization. Perhaps this will not be as gloomy as my thoughts are currently taking me. “Information” does sound better, cleaner, and less intrusive than “industrialization.” But it will require a great shift in the way we do things as individuals, as families, as educational and work systems, and as a globalized society. The institutions and especially the culture of our society will transform entirely.

Week Fifteen Blog Entry: Urban Life

After college graduation, I moved to the city – Washington, DC, where I have resided for the past five years. I’ve seen tremendous changes in urban DC as the years pass, and I see my living experiences here reflected most accurately by the theory of urban ecology, which describe how cities grow in response to advantageous features of the environment. Washington, DC, a city established on the shore of the Potomac River, became ordered into “natural areas” through processes of competition, invasion, and succession (just like in biological ecology). I see how the expansions of suburbs like Arlington, Alexandria and Bethesda, contributed to the decay of inner city DC. Businesses and residents moved out of the central city to take advantage of lower tax rates, throwing DC into a cycle of deterioration, in which the more suburbia expands, the greater the problems faced by DC residents.

Property decayed in the District, and more of the population continued to leave. But in recent years there has been significant gentrification in the Logan Circle, H Street Corridor, NoMa, Columbia Heights and Petworth neighborhoods of DC as old vacant buildings are refurbished and put to new uses. In my Eckington (NoMa) neighborhood, a transitional neighborhood, I enjoy the sound of construction on most mornings as investors gut and renovate houses, I follow the restoration of an old firehouse down the street that will possibly be turned into a hip new restaurant, and I eagerly await a new H Street trolley which will bring people to the boutiques, restaurants, bars and businesses and revitalize the area. Wealthy people and young people are flooding into the District, seeking the arts and culture… and political careers (well, this is DC). And conversely, I see that most of my working-class work colleagues with families continue to move further and further out into the suburbs (Fredericksburg, Annapolis, Delaware) to take advantage of the lower-costs.

One of the most distinct characteristics I’ve noticed in DC, and in most large cities, is the segmentation of the neighborhoods. Just as the ecology theory describes, neighborhoods marked by close kinship and personal ties are actively created by city life. The residents of the city are able to develop connections with others who share similar backgrounds or interests. For example, my husband from Serbia, has made many new friends in DC also of Slavic background. One of his friends was from Bosnia and was a realtor here in DC. So we used him to find our new home. The neighborhood he knew the best was his own neighborhood, so he showed us the most amount of houses in that neighborhood, and we ended up buying our home in that neighborhood. Not coincidentally, a large number of Slavic people also reside in this neighborhood.

Week Fourteen Blog Entry: Who Has the Power?

I agree with the theory which describes the power elite as wielding the most power. Our text describes the power elite as a unified system of politicians, business leaders and military heads. The power elite come from white, wealthy families, have attended top-ranking universities like Harvard, Yale and Stanford, belong to the same clubs and committees, and often know one another personally, running in the same social circles. And they have a monopoly on power, making policy decisions in closed settings, thus, blocking interest groups and the mass population from having any real influence on how the country is run. It is rare to see anyone from the powerless ranks rise to the top level of power because the choices available to voters in presidential and congressional elections are so small that there is little effect or significance in who is actually chosen. This is especially disturbing since the social backgrounds of these leaders are unrepresentative of the United States population. The decisions being made are likely not the decisions the majority of the population would choose. With this structure, our country is seemingly more and more like a monarchy, leaving citizens with little reason to participate politically. We see this in the political morale of citizens who often wonder what difference it makes to vote.

Week Thirteen Blog Entry: Is Walmart Good For America?

As depicted in the PBS Special “Is Walmart Good for America?,” Walmart is a leader in logistics and a great efficiency machine – they understand the power of information and use barcodes to keep the right mix of products in the store. They have driven the shift from push production to pull production, and have led global retailers to become the most powerful companies in the global economy. We watch in the film as hundreds of millions of American shoppers stream into their stores every weekend, lured by the low prices. Walmart thrives on keeping their prices as low as possible to provide the customer with value and still make a profit on high volume and fast turnover.

But how do they keep their prices so low? Walmart has driven down the cost of goods to unreasonable lows, dropping products and denying shelf space to manufacturers who don’t bid at their lowest price points. They have taken their business entirely to Asia, where they can take advantage of low cost models. Their strategy - “low costs and go global.” Although the U.S. Government has struck a permanent trade agreement with the Chinese, most people have been losers from this trade. We saw in the PBS film how we are exporting approximately 3 billion dollars in raw goods to Asia, yet importing 36 billion dollars in material goods. And this was only at the Long Beach port, only a fraction of the entire picture. This strategy has destroyed competition from U.S. manufacturers, putting millions of Americans out of work.

Yes, Walmart produces things Americans want to buy. But Americans are also workers who need to earn a decent standard of living. Walmart has cut the ability of workers, Americans and non-Americans alike, to earn decent wages. Walmart has lowered our standard of living. This way of business is not good for America.

Week Twelve Blog Entry: Domestic Division of Labor

I am the one who takes care of the large majority of household tasks (cooking and meal prep, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, planning, organizing and tidying, gift and holiday purchases, car maintenance, etc.) But I usually reason with myself that it only feels uneven, and that although my husbands’ tasks (financial investments, paying the bills, taxes, home construction, repairs and maintenance, gardening, etc ) are fewer and further between, his tasks - are bigger in scope and effort, therefore, equaling the effort of my many smaller tasks. However, after filling out the family duties chart, I was shocked to see and really realize the profound inequality.

My family (my husband and myself – no kids yet) provides me with love, companionship and comfort, but I see with this exercise that my husband benefits more from this family structure, the male breadwinner model with male spheres of work and female spheres of work, than I do. Even more interestingly, I am the breadwinner of the family. Not only does my full time job provide more money and benefits for our family, but I am also in school trying to change careers (from law into nursing). Therefore, I am commuting 2 hours for work each day during the work week, working 8 hours, then coming home to study and take exams, and somewhere in there fitting in all of my household chores, aka my "second shift," and also trying to leave myself enough leisure time to relax and enjoy time with my husband. It is exhausting, yet I do it all without thinking twice and without asking for help, just because that is what I saw my mother do, that is what my mother in law does, and that is the structure that I grew up with and know.

Even though I know my husband would happily pitch in if I asked, I would struggle with thinking of myself as a lazy woman, or a bad wife, just because this is the model that has been ingrained in our culture, and to not live up to that model would be short changing my family. Perhaps being aware of this may help us all to begin allocating tasks more equally among household members. But changing this deeply ingrained model will prove challenging and will take more than you or I alone. It will take the awareness of society on the whole to change this extraordinarily unequal model and mindset.

Week Eleven Blog Entry: Religion

I do not think that the world is secularizing, or decreasing in religious belief and involvement. I do agree that we have seen a weakening of the social and political power of religious organizations, and that we have seen a decline in formal religious observance. However, I believe that religion is to be understood in a broader view, and not just in terms of the traditional church. I believe religion incorporates such dimensions as personal spirituality, and that we have actually seen a measurable rise in personal spirituality. For instance, take Oprah’s Book Club which recently featured spiritual teacher and author, Ekhart Tolle. Mr. Tolle has written such books as “The Power of Now,” and “A New Earth.” Additionally, he and Oprah joined together to produce A New Earth classes, teaching inspiring millions of viewers around the globe. Additionally, I believe the rise in natural disasters, wars, and conflicts around the world has contributed to the large belief in “something bigger than oneself.” Religion, or spirituality, remains a significant force in this world, but certainly in new and different forms.

Week Ten Blog Entry: A Tale of Two Families

In reading the parallel stories of Byron and May in “A Tale of Two Families,” I find myself relating more closely with Max’s experience. My parents benefitted from stable jobs, homes increasing in value in nice neighborhoods, and the financial stability of their own parents. I am now benefitting from the advantaged starting point my parents gave to me. And I hope to one day give my potential children a leg up in life by starting from an even higher point.

I liken this to saving for retirement, with the advantages compounding on one another. If you start investing in your 401k early on, the money continues to compound, adding up to a very large lump sum at the end. But if you start investing late, no matter how much you put in, it will not have the chance to compound and you will end up with something, but not as much as it could have been.
Just like the 401k account, Max’s advantages in life compounded, one on top of the other, and led him to the wealth he has now. Byron and his family made some solid investments into their future, but it took them more time to do so, therefore, decreasing the amount of wealth he holds now.

These two stories have opened my eyes to see how my economic position in life is directly related to the path of my ancestors. Although my parents worked incredibly hard for everything they have, they were given the advantage of beginning their journey without debt and without having to step in financially for their parents and other family members. They were able to put the entire amount of money they worked for into their future. And they benefitted from real estate in stable and more affluent communities. Perhaps if my life were more similar to Byron’s, I would be contributing part of my paycheck to helping out my family. Perhaps, I would not be able to afford myself that nice suit which got me a new job. And perhaps I would not even live in the community that was close enough to get to that new, high paying job. I’ve seen how life advantages add up, and if you are not given any advantages, it is incredibly hard to be competitive with the rest of the community.