Thesis

The mixed feelings, artifacts, and war baggage in "The Things They Carried" help us understand what soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are going through today.

Vietnam War: yesterday and today

Much has been made of this war in American culture. Some say it was the only war the U.S. has lost, some say it was a waste of human life, and many agree it was one of the most brutal wars fought in the modern era. The proliferation and experimentation with chemical weapons is one of the most controversial and well-known facets of the war, as well as the unreal jungle conditions the fighting was done in. In America, the common people were mostly pissed off at the government and unsupportive of soldiers. Protests were rampant and the anger was tangible in the streets. Perhaps no war before or since so affected all facets of American culture and society, as the war was on everybody's minds and the proof was all around. When veterans returned home many were treated badly, spat on, looked upon with disdain, baby killers, drugged out psychopathic murderers. The conditions of the war were relentless, guerrilla warfare waged in a dense sweltering jungle. The U.S. forces underestimated the Vietcong's tenacity and perseverance. It grew into a war of attrition, both sides waiting for the other to give in but neither giving or gaining any ground. Today people have a more sympathetic view of both sides, both the Vietcong and the Army. We don't think our soldiers were baby killers or murderers. Many movies, musics, books, and other cultural ephemera have emerged documenting and relating this war. The Vietnam Memorial is a testament to the memory our nation has of it, and the aftermath of this conflict started many veterans programs that are still in use today to help soldiers recover and heal.

SB1070 suxxx!!!111!

It's a bogus law that doesn't help anybody. Police are distracted and impeded in their pursuit of serving justice. Migrants are fearful and ever more distrusting of authority. The regal, refined, alabaster-skinned citizenry of the state still need their tables bussed and their cars washed. Gangs still smuggle drugs, weapons, and children across the border with impunity to serve their own nefarious ends. Arizona is still a big dry desert devoid of culture and rich in cacti and Gila monsters. This beverage is hella dank. Why is all this relevant to us as Californians? We share a border with the Grand Canyon State, and ought to be concerned that similar laws are not passed in our illegal-immigrant-dense Golden State. What is the solution to the convolution? Jen Gordon, of Chapter 5, article "Transnational Labor Citizenship" fame, has come up with thee bitchinist proposition yet: a transnational labor citizenship program, which would create a membership of cross-border worker organizations facilitating the free movement of migrant workers to other countries. Check it out in the textbook pages 254-261.

SB1070

I think Arizona's Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act will have both positive and negative effects. On one hand it may persuade illegal immigrants to attempt to get proper documentation and go through the process of becoming naturalized, as opposed to hanging out as illegal aliens since it obviously can be done. On the other hand it seems absurd to me that law enforcement have the authority to arrest a person for not having proper documentation on them after being stopped. Depending on the officer this power can be used beneficially or abused, but I'd rather not leave that to chance. Clearly Arizona has a perceived problem with illegal immigrants, otherwise this bill wouldn't have passed. Only time will tell how it affects immigration in Az.

End of Unit 1

So our first unit has come to a close. I've learned many more details about how the United States got into the economic position it is in and about the state of trading around the world. Not a very rosy picture, but at least I think we have come up with some good solutions. Valuing quality over quantity. Changing our spending habits. Not taking out too big of loans if we can't pay them back. We can learn from our mistakes. This class has raised our level of awareness of world events, and we have substantial knowledge in our grasp, now it's up to us how we choose to use it.

CEO Spotlight: Charles Prince

Charles Prince was the CEO of Citigroup from 2003 to 2007. He got his Bachelor's, Master's, and Juris Doctor degrees from University of Southern California and went on to a achieve a Master of Law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. During the months leading up to the crash he was noted as being overtly positive and optimistic in his prognostications, according to Fortune magazine, evidently ignoring the evidence or not foreseeing the catastrophe that would unfold. When Prince resigned in November 2007 after Citigroup had suffered 3 consecutive major losing quarters, he left with $94 million in stock holdings and an accumulated $53 million salary from his 4 years as CEO. Citigroup were one of the worst culprits in subprime lending that played a major role in the economic crisis, yet they also received among the biggest taxpayer bailouts of any bank. Today Citigroup are profiting under new CEO Vikram Pandit.

Corporate Profile: Citigroup

Citigroup was one of the biggest recipients of the federal bailout. Stocks fell from about $55 per share pre-recession to $5 where they sit today. They receieved $341 billion in bailout from TARP. Profits from 1998-2008 exceeded a combined $145 billion, and the company netted $28 billion in 2010. Citigroup were one of the worst hands in subprime loaning, financing the 3 biggest subprime lenders, Countrywide, Ameriquest, and New Century Financial, and owning another, CitiFinancial. These 4 lenders accounted for over $280 billion in subprime loans from 2005-2007. My sense is they contributed a great deal to the current economic crisis.

Sweatshops and USA labor

The impact of sweatshops on labor in our country is heavy. There are less jobs in manufacturing and production sectors because these jobs are outsourced to third world nations where labor is cheap and abundant. There's certainly abundant labor here but companies would have to pay people more and they're not down for that because they're some greedy muthasuckaz, so they post up their factories in places where people will work for less than $1 USD an hour. The discrepancy in value of money between countries contributes greatly to this issue. There ought to be a standardization of value for trading goods. Workers in China have as much value as workers in America, they should be paid equally.

So few control so many

"Free trade" as we have defined and discussed together in class is a misnomer. If trade were truly free then we would not be having this discussion. The power vested in corporations by the WTO and by international trade agreements, including those reducing or eliminating import tariffs, has created a global economy in which the means of production and distribution of goods are controlled by increasingly fewer, more powerful entities. It is impossible to function in our society without contributing to this wave, because we are so integrated that we fundamentally rely on these few controlling groups to survive. Beyond commodities that may seem to us like essentials (all manner of electronics, modes of transportation, even clothing), the very food and drink we use to fuel our bodies are nearly all produced and distributed by a multinational corporation. It is not hard to see how this affects politics and quality of life, since the one who controls the stuff also controls the people who want/need the stuff (or have been programmed to think they need the stuff.) Unfortunately the situation looks pretty terminally fucked.

So what can we do? First, be a practical hand. Don't agonize over what brand of shoes or cereal or gasoline you buy, because unless you decide to go native and move to the mountains, you (and me) are at the very least monetarily contributing to the conglomeration of natural resources and helping the controlling factions get stronger. Feeling guilty is not productive, and neither is feeling powerless. Knowledge is power, so learn hella shitski!!! Hunter Thompson said politics is the art of controlling your environment. Politics as we understand it in our cultural idiom can be a broad, abstract thing to apprehend, so bring it down to its roots on an interpersonal level in order to better understand how things got the way they are and how we do our part to change it. Observe and be aware with all your senses. Give up the funk to receive the funk. And have fun.

Introduction/Response to consumer worksheet

Hi, my name is Addison and this is my first quarter at Foothill. I did 2 years at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles then decided to leave due to a lack of focus and direction. I've been living at home and working at a technology company for the past year and recently got the urge to go back to school to take some writing classes. I greatly enjoy reading and writing and am taking as many related classes as I can to practice and improve my skills. I don't have any set plans for my academic future though I'm leaning towards finishing out my remaining 2 years as a creative writing major. Excited to continue learning and sharing with you all.

In response to the consumer worksheet, I was surprised to find out that the wages of most sweatshop workers are higher than the average wage in their country. Our culture has, in an effort to distance ourselves from the fact that we utterly rely on their operation to support our mad consumerist lust, taught us negative associations with sweatshops; that the people work for nothing, are maltreated, live in squalid conditions, and while they are by no means living at what anyone would consider a decent standard, at least compared to their fellow country men and women sweatshop workers seem to be slightly better off. This in itself is appalling and illuminates just how dire the living circumstances are in most parts of the world. It is incredible to fathom the disparity between human beings in the range of our standards of living.