#8 Howard Zinn

I think the most important thing we should know and remember about Howard Zinn is that he was a social activist, always speaking his mind whether people were going to like what he said or not.

Zinn was born in Brooklyn, NY to an immigrant working class Jewish family. His mother and father had come over before WWI broke out, they both worked in factories and weren't very educated. Despite this, they gave Zinn books as a child, and he ended up going to Thomas Jefferson High School and studying creative writing in a special program. After high school, Zinn wanted to fight fascism so he joined the Air Force for WWII. He became a bombardier, and was involved in the bombings of several places in Europe during the war. He was also one of the first bombers to use napalm, which had devastating results. He eventually returned to some of the places he had bombed to interview the survivors about the horrors of war, and their recollections turned Zinn away from war. He found out that he was responsible for the killing of hundreds of civilians and retreating soldiers, right before the end of the war. The US government's recounts of these same events told a different story entirely.

After the war, Zinn attended New York University and obtained his B.A. He went on to Columbia University and got his Master's and a PhD in History with a minor in political science. He became a professor at Spelman University and later at Boston University. He was an outspoken advocate of the Civil Rights movement. He believed that the United States was publishing textbooks that had very limited points of view, so he published his own which went on to be very influential. He mentored Alice Walker, who went on the write The Color Purple. He criticized the Kennedy administration and the FBI for not responding effectively to all the injustices occurring in Georgia.

He supported socialism, a radical idea to most at the time and even still today. He was quoted saying he would describe himself as "something of an anarchist, something of a socialist. Maybe a democratic socialist." The FBI pegged him as a Communist supporter because of his ideas concerning socialism.

He died in 2010, but his legacy will live on for all of history.

#7: Essay Bibliography

Boggs, Carl. “Empire Versus Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate and Military Power.” New York, NY. Routledge. 2011. Print

Florig, Dennis. "American Values in Conflict: Democracy vs. Empire." 2004. 18 September 2012. http://www.dflorig.com/AmericanValues

Gerrasi, John. "The US empire and the death of democracy." The International Endowment for Democracy. 2012. 18 September 2012 http://www.iefd.org/articles/us_empire.php

Johnson, Chalmers. "Empire vs. Democracy: Why Nemesis Is at Our Door." AntiWar.com. Engelhardt,Tom. 2007. 18 September 2012 http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=10439

Nace, Ted. “Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy.” San Francisco, CA. Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 2003. Print.

#6: Monsanto

Monsanto is a very powerful company, and tries to conceal the fact that it practices in various unscrupulous ways. The ad shown depicts them having support for local American farmers, when in reality they have been suing and bankrupting farmers for years. They want the citizens to associate the Monsanto company with hard working small business farmers in collusion with the All-American ideal, which couldn't be further from the truth. They want to appear organic and less of a corporation. They have been involved in numerous court cases concerning patents that they have on herbicides and other products, both as plaintiffs and defendants. These cases have resulted in millions of dollars in fines and damages, sometimes because of the heath issues their products pose to the environment.

They are responsible for the development of Agent Orange, which is a herbicide that was used during the Vietnam War in Vietnam and caused thousands of death and later was a factor in thousands of people being born with various bith defects.

Monsanto also developed rBGH, which is recombinant bovine growth hormone. Cows are injected with this hormone and it causes their milk production to increase. Many consumers do not approve of this method of hyper production. They have also been criticized for their product saccharin for having health complicaions. Their product "Roundup" has been said to cause harm to animals and fish etc. and has been the subject of debate amongst environmentalists and court systems.

They practice astro turfing, which is being paid for statements that they make to the media and public. This process gives credibiliy to independent entities, but in fact they withhold information concerning these statements and the actual sources of the statements and claims that are made.

In conclusion, Monsanto may try to mask the facts of its history and what it has done to the environment and citizens but the truth is that they are a dirty low down business and cannot be trusted to put the truth out to the media and public regarding just about anything.

#5: "The 'N' Word"

Having recently watched Tedd Nelson's documentary concerning the N word in today's society, I became aware of how he framed it in order to reinforce the message and give it validity. It was definitely able to shed light on the reality of the situation for those that may be naive to the fact that the word has been used for centuries and continues to be used today. However, while it was used in the past to degrade African-Americans, word variations are used in both positive and negative ways currently.

In  the documentary, Nelson interviews people in a very open and candid setting. The older people can remember the times when the word was used in an extremely derogatory manner, and do not believe the same way about the word as younger people do. We as a society have come a long way since slavery, but many people -white and black- still have memories of different times and different ways of life. These instilled values and traditions have been passed down for generations, and white and black tension has lingered even until this very day.

Historically, black people can associate a lot of negative things with the N word. Slavery, lynchings, the KKK, racism, discrimination, segregation, etc. And all of these oppressions being caused by white people. White kids were being raised to call black kids the N word, and did so even at school. Black people fought for their right's until 1964, only 48 years ago.

Decades ago, black people started using the word in variations amongst each other, in a non-negative way. This led to a movement of taking importance of and sensitivity to the word away. Younger black people picked it up as apart of their lingo, while many older black people still had resentment for the word and did not want the word used in any context. Many white young people use the word, some with their black friends and sometimes with other white people. The word has many usages in today's society. It can still be used in a degrading manner, or it can be used to demonstrate the closeness of a friendship. It has a wide range of meaning.

Nelson used mostly black people in his documentary, to help give it a more realistic view of how actual black people felt about the issue. There were also white people offering their opinion, but almost everyone shown was a celebrity. This gave the documentary more star power and made it more interesting to the audience.  

#4 Political Philosophy

When I think about my political philosophy, the first thing that pops in my head is Democratic. But what does that even mean? What is the democratic platform? And why is it that in my mind, I automatically declared myself as democratic?

After taking a test, I was told that I was a leftist libertarian. Leftist meaning that I am in favor of social changes that support the creation of a society in which all are considered equal. And libertarian meaning I'd be in favor of a slightly smaller government, that emphasized freedom, liberty and progress. I tend to side with Democrats on most issues.

I support the raising of minimum wage, progressive taxes, preserving Socialist programs we have in place, affordable heath care, preserving the environment, providing a students a college education that they can afford, eliminating discrimination against all people, and stem cell research.

Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are very important to US citizens, as well as the other welfare programs that have been apart of our culture and structure for decades, since FDR first passed the New Deal to end the Great Depression. These programs continue to provide benefits that people would be otherwise unable to receive. I believe health care should be affordable, and the poor shouldn't have to suffer because they can't pay for medical treatment. Insurance companies shouldn't be able to drop coverage when people get sick. Children should be able to stay on their parents insurance longer.  Employers should provide insurance to their employees. Employees should have better minimum wages, and be able to receive more raises. We need to stimulate the economy somehow. Creating a strong middle class is a key factor.

Stem cell research could help cure so many ailments, we need to explore it much further to see the full potential. Obama has proposed further research after an 8 year ban. 

#3 Enlightenment

In the first of the two videos being synthesized, "21st Century Enlightenment," the lecture explains how the current systems in place regarding ways of thinking in general are outdated and need to be better suited to the times we live in today. He displays the need of a new 'enlightenment' in order for human kind to be able to face the challenges of todays world, how human morality is often discarded in favor of corporate profit. Education is widely held to be the most important aspect of increasing universal knowledge, however, Taylor argues that increasing the human capacity for empathy is paramount in achieving a world of citizens at peace with each other and themselves. In the current system: science, markets and bureaucracy are most important in our society, whereas humanism should be at the forefront of progress.

The second video shows how the current education systems were designed during the enlightenment period and aren't well suited for our society as it is today. The system says that if you get a college degree, you will obtain employment. This is not always true in todays world. It goes on to show the epidemic of ADHD in America, and how its fictitious in that the medication level isn't necessary because kids need stimulation in their lives rather than sedation to maximize their learning capacity.

I agree with both videos in that the current systems do need to be updated and more well adapted to the real world and real world issues we face today. Standardization and conformity have dominated education systems and as of now these systems aren't working to help people realize their full potential.  There needs to be a reevaluation of standards and ideals so that the global population can work better as one toward the common goal of peace and prosperity.

#2- "They Say"

In this introduction, Rushkoff explains that we as citizens tend to listen to authority figures when they have information for us. Regardless of what that information might be, we usually accept it as fact without actually doing any research on the topic oursleves. In a sense, these authority figures "seem to dictate our lives, decide our fates, and create our futures," as Rushkoff says. "They make our decisions for us. They do our thinking for us. We don't have to worry about our next move--it has already been decided on our behalf, and in our best interests. Or so we hope."

Rushkoff shows how these "authority" figures use manipulative techniques to encourage us to do certain things, or even to behave in a certain manner. He illustrates how a saleswoman undoing a few buttons on her blouse may lead to more men buying things. This is a form of "hidden coercion"  and many times we are unaware that these techniques are being used on us. Rushkoff says, "It's not always easy to determine when we have surrendered our judgment to someone else. The better and more sophisticated the manipulation, the less aware of it we are." This is very true, and the subconscious advertising and persuation plays a major role in our daily lives.

These techniques are constantly changing and upgrading as people become used to the old ones. "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."

I agree with Rushkoff, in that we are constanly at war with mass media advertisement. Our minds hang in the balance, drifting between individualism and conformatism. We must always be aware of the things happening to us and around us. We must not fall victim to commercials and compulsiveness. Knowing is half the battle.

#1: Sheltered Living

In the article, Ryan demonstrates how people often are deluded by their society into believing that their way of life is the only normal way that people can live. We have been brainwashed by popular culture and the media to ignore the perspectives of others not only in our own country but also others around the world. We are quick to criticize and judge others for not being the same as us. He believes that these traits have developed and evolved over time, based on several factors including the culture in which we were raised. He also believes that society is more or less survival of the fittest, lending to the richest people in the world remainimg rich and living lavishly while others work their whole lives for modest wages. He says that often times, the fairy tale-like histories of the colonizaton and creation of countries is in stark contrast to the reality of the situation as it was, and that things are sugar coated so that the people don't have negative views of the founders and how they established themselves.
I tend  to agree with Ryan, I believe people often are misguided and inaccurate in their beliefs about other cultures and are naive in a sense. They too easily accept what they are told through the media and what they are led to believe by popular culture. People won't truly know or be able to understand the complexity of the world as a whole until they realize that they may have been lied to at some point. We should all take it upon ourselves to research and develop our own unique beliefs and values, rather than simply accepting what is considered to be true and normal in our society. Just because there are differences in cultures doesn't mean that one's way is right compared to the other. We just have different ways of thinking and going about things.