#4 Politics: The Inevitable Argument

            A conversation about one’s politics is almost always never a conversation at all. Rather, it unfortunately turns quickly into an argument or a heated debate. Rarely are people’s opinions on politics ever the same and, for most people, it is a topic that they feel very strongly about. Therefore, when other people do not share the same views as you do then automatically “they’re in the wrong” or “they don’t know what they are talking about” or “they’re just ignorant”. If it is not how you feel – your morals, your beliefs, your views – then the other person is immediately judged, lectured, and looked down upon from that point forward.

            Personally, for as long as I can remember I have always thought the government was completely corrupt. The combination of that reason and the reasons I shared above are why I have never cared for politics whatsoever. I have my beliefs, but taking the time to apply them to my political standpoint was never something that even crossed my mind. After my English 102 class recently, I have discovered that my personal opinions fall under the Left Libertarian side. Looking further into this political standpoint, I do agree that it best suits me. I believe that gays should have the right to marry and have children. I believe in pro-choice. I believe that corporations who all claim that “the customer comes first” are all full of it. I believe that they, along with the government, are stealing the money that we work so hard for, blowing it to build more corporations to take even more money from us, and that it is just an endless vicious cycle. I do wish all of this could change. However, the Left Libertarian ideas are never able to survive in the government due to being out-numbered by Republicans and Democrats and the people in power who, of course, are the only ones actually benefiting. Because of that reason above all, politics is something that I will continue to not become involved in. Ultimately, if one does not agree with the two popular parties then your voice is not heard or cared about. Regardless, I will always stand by and live out my beliefs - whether they are ever “legal” or not.

#3 Enlightenment

The 21^st Century Enlightenment is a video created by the RSA Animate organization. This video looks inside the ideals, norms, values, and lifestyles of the 18^th Century Enlightenment and how they are used, as well as how they should not be used, in the world today. In the video, questions are raised such as, “What do those values mean? Do they still apply? Do they meet the challenges we now face in the 21^st century?” According to Matthew Taylor, because we live differently in the 21^st century, we need to think differently as well. We need to see ourselves and our world in a new perspective. I agree with this idea entirely. There are very few similarities between the world in the 18^th century and the world as we know it today, so why would we treat it as if it were the same? With all of the modern-day obstacles that are placed in our way, our morals, politics, and education all need to adjust and become modern as well.

The Changing Education Paradigm is another video created by the RSA Animate. This video, also accompanied by brilliant cartoon sketching, is based on today’s education system. It presents great ideas about the importance and the pressure that is placed on having an education, the many failures in the system, and ways to change and improve those failures so the education system may work more efficiently. This video, in my opinion, was extremely eye-opening. The fact that we are grouped merely by age, that we are trained to sit in straight rows in uncomfortable desks, and that we are all conditioned to herd from one area to the next like farm animals at the sound of a bell, are all norms that I was well aware of but never really paid attention to. I simply viewed it as normal – as most people do. But is this really the most effective system? According to the video, not even close. And after watching I was completely captivated and strongly shared this belief as well. These are major flaws in today’s education that need to be addressed and changed. The outcome could give people a real chance to reach their full potential, which given the system today they easily may not be able to do.

In addition to these two videos, reading the Age of Enlightenment, an article part of Wikipedia, helped to summarize this idea of “enlightenment” as a whole. It is explained as a “cultural movement … to reform society using reason (rather than tradition, faith and revelation) and advance knowledge through science.” The ideals of the 18^th Century Enlightenment influenced major documents including the American Declaration of Independence and the United States Bill of Rights in which we still base our country around today. However, the point of the original enlightenment was to reinvent according to the times in order to improve everyday life and maintain progress. Three centuries later, a lot has changed again – and that is a major understatement – therefore it is time to improve our systems once more so that we may continue this progression.

#2 Introduction: They Say

Upon finishing "Coercion: Why We Listen To What 'They' Say", I was left extremely impressed with the author's thoughts, opinions, and especially his writing techniques. He not only went into great depth as to what he was expressing, he personalized his evidence, explained every opinion thoroughly, and then expressed the manipulative  manner of his writing, only to further prove his point. In his book introduction, Douglas Rushkoff leads his readers through a brief evolution of media and its effects on the public. Due to the growing advancement of technology, most people have been blind-sided into being compliant to advertisers, to naively listen and base decisions on what “they” say. Even when we think we are outsmarting their lure, it turns out that in most cases we are still exactly where they want us to be – buying out of the palm of their hand.

Though I was well aware of the whatever-it-takes-to-profit motives by advertisers, bosses, and other “theys” of authority, until reading this introduction I had no idea the complexity of how businesses went about taking the most money from consumers possible. Something that I thought before was just a choice of my free will and inability to say no when shopping. I believed I was aware of all the coercive techniques used to manipulate potential buyers like myself. However, in his book Rushkoff states “Media-savvy young people have learned to reject advertising that tries too hard to make its product look "cool." In response, companies now produce decidedly "uncool" advertisements, which appeal to the cynical viewer who thinks he can remain unswayed.” … “Our attempts to stay one step ahead of coercers merely provokes them to develop even more advanced, less visible, and, arguably, more pernicious methods of persuasion.” Reading these words in black and white, I instantly realized that I fell right into this category. I was immediately appalled and, at the same time, embarrassed that I was still able to be fooled so easily.

After reading it over several times, there was nothing in this book introduction that I strongly disliked or disagreed with.  And the way it was presented only made it better. His disassociation technique in order to prove how easy it is to get sucked in and immediately give someone ethos, even if we have no idea if “they” are deserving, for me was the most impactful. I thought this piece overall was very capturing, had an intriguing topic, and seemed to be written by a brilliant writer.

#1 An Introduction to Criticism

            After reading the “Theory for Beginners”, I can conclude the author’s main point to be that criticism is the ability to change how the world works by changing how people think, perceive, believe, and act. Stories and words provide us with our “norms”, but criticism helps us to evolve new norms and outgrow old ones. And in order to critique and eventually change these norms, people must broaden their perspective of everyday life, past one’s own culture, knowledge, and comfort zone.

            For the most part, I agree with the author’s opinions on criticism and looking beyond one’s own lifestyle to further expand their thoughts, views, and beliefs to a perspective that is not naïve to how the world actually works and has a better understanding of others from all over the world. This perspective including Capitalism, the reality of our so-called “freedom”, and how non-individualistic our culture is due to what is “acceptable” and what is not. As US citizens, we are raised and bred to take on roles as workers in order to inherit power and wealth. These two ideas, a human fabrication of success, are what our society strives toward our entire lives. I share the opinion that this system is not right in any way, and if we opened our minds to other views of the world and distanced ourselves from our idea that “the majority works; a minority benefits” then we could find a much more equal, fair, and peaceful form of success.

            In counterpart, I do think that without any sort rules, laws, structure, etc., it would be just as damaging to the operation of the world if not worse. Without any of this, civility would crumble and chaos would break out. If we were all truly able to do whatever we pleased to its entirety, humans would regress rather than evolve. However, Michael Ryan and his ideas are ones that, within reason, if taken into consideration by more people, especially those in power, would be extremely beneficial to improving our thoughts, behaviors, beliefs, morals, and the workings of the world as a whole.