Week 16: Our Changing World II

The video ‘Shift Happens’ is definitely an eye opener!! The fascinating video shows the accelerating pace of change in already turbulent times. The 6 minute presentation exemplifies the need to change our educational system, our organizations and our attitudes towards the world.  It is imperative that certain amendments be made to our current existing systems so that our coming generations are aware of some of the changes that might happen in terms of increasing information and knowledge and be prepared for it. For instance, we need to realize that America definitely is a great country but probably cannot be the best forever. Students in this country need to realize that they need to keep up with the changing world in order to be in par with the students worldwide who are competing with the United States in every possible way. American students should not take the growing importance of India and China in a negative manner, but rather understand that these are additional global opportunities for everyone.

The technological advancement has made immense amount of information available to everyone in a much more mobile form. Improved IT has been the major driver of economic growth and improved quality of life. IT has been the reason for advancements in education, health care, business and much safer, faster, secure communication. However, according to some critics these advancements in IT are also responsible for detracting us from our lives in some ways. Even though there is some truth in this statement, I am a firm believer in the fact that it is up to us (the human race) to strike a balance. Many chapters in the text book laid emphasis on globalization, the changing roles of developing nations and their impact on the global economy, urbanization, effects of globalization on our daily lives etc. However, we cannot deny the fact that these same developments have given thousands of people better lives giving them hope and helped them enter mainstream economy and get out of sheer poverty. 

Week 15: Urban/Suburban/Rural Life

Human species has experienced living in the wild and the forests for thousands of years. We have come a long way from there and today most of us live in the cities - the ultimate escape from nature and what we call urbanization. It involves the movement of people from rural to urban man made cities, shift from agriculture to jobs,businesses, trade and the change in the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patters of the migrants. This process of urbanization can be seen all over the world. Being born and brought up in India, I have seen the country shift from a purely agrarian society to a massive urban industrialized concrete jungle. I hate to say this but in India and most other developing countries the urban development has come to such a point where if we do not learn to build and design our cities with respect for nature, we won't have any nature left amongst us. From India (Delhi and Mumbai), I came to Philadelphia, moved to Virginia and ended up in New York City - some of the most developing and urbanized cities respectively in the world - seen it all! The only rural experiences I had in India is when I visit my grandparents and in the United States was when I went to a small town in upstate New York called Dolgeville. I must say I do enjoy the serenity of these places initially and enjoy the friendly atmosphere but deep in my heart I have become a city person - I like my space.
I agree with Wirth's argument to a certain extent about people in cities having weaker bonds and competition prevailing over cooperation. Traveling in a Subway in New York city is such a learning and enlightning experience every morning to see how people behave and react to various situations. Many of us board the trains with books,magazines, ipads in our hands and ipods in our years or talking or playing on the cellphones. As Wirth puts it ' through such appearances of apathy we can avoid unwanted trangression of social boundaries'.

Week 14: Understanding Our Political System

Out of all the democratic theories explained in the textbook, I agree with C Wright Mill's theory of the 'Power Elite'. The theory explains that the American balance of power is an ideal showing less flexibility today than in the past. According to Mills the Power Elite command the resources of bureaucratic organizations and hence, dominate the modern societies. The Power Elite comprises of people who hold a pivotal position in making decisions having major consequences and affects the lives of ordinary men. I believe to a great degree that the United States has three distinct levels of power as mentioned by Wright Mill - the power elite occupying the highest level, formally and informally making key decisions affecting both domestic and foreign policy. Interest groups follow and occupy the middle levels of power. At the bottom is the mass of the population that has hardly any say in political decisions. Within American society, major national power today resides in the economic, political and military domains. The World War II and the the Iraq war have proven the influence political and military forces have on the country. Religious, educational and family institutions are not centers of power, in fact all these three institutions are shaped by the big three.

Week 13: Is Walmart good for America?

Walmart - the biggest American retailer has a huge impact on the American economy as well as the global economy. Walmart's strategy of providing products at immensely low prices has both positive and negative implications on the society. Walmart permits thousands of Americans to enjoy a lifestyle and afford products that otherwise would have been impossible, but the question is how good is the quality of the products? The company also creates jobs but the question is how well paid are they? At whose expense is Walmart manufacturing such cheap products? On weighing the pros and cons of this giant retailer, it appears that the contra arguments outweigh the benefits of Walmart. The company is able to offer low priced products at the expense of putting people out of work and lowering living standards. I totally agree with Larry Mishel of the liberal Economic Policy Institute who says: “Well, if people were only consumers buying things, lower prices would be just good. But people also are workers who need to earn a decent standard of living. And the dynamics that create lower prices at Wal-Mart and other places are also undercutting the ability of many, many workers to earn decent wages and benefits and have a stable life.” Even though Walmart stores create jobs, they are underpaid it terms of hourly wages and benefits. Moreover, Walmart has taken over the world manufacturing  industry and has put so many small specialized businesses out of businesses. 
Walmart needs to understand their practices are probably not the best and fair in the end.  However, sadly like every other business, all Walmart cares about is profit!

Week 12: Domestic Division of Labor

Family and work are the two main concerns of all married women all over the world. The struggle gets even tougher when one has kids and more so when one is a single parent. On completing the chart 'Who completes which task in your family', I realized my mom does majority of the household work and some chores that I never even thought of before! The rise in women labor force has brought a change in the roles and expectations of the gender, both at workplace and family. Even though men have started sharing a lot of daily chores; not in a lot of families will you see the husband cooking, doing the laundry, or cleaning up the house. The men in the families would take up occasional tasks like lawn mowing, washing the car or much fun chores like giving the kids a bath etc.
The fact is household and child care responsibilities are still applicaple to women even if she has to get to work at 9:00am and doesnt return home until 5:00pm. I believe it is the society's expectations and social assumptions of gender roles. The social agents such as one's own family, schools, books, media etc. all assume and preach that women are the nurturing and the care taking sex. Women who are not able to keep up to the expectations feel gulity of not being able to do so.

Week 11: Is our world secularizing??

 After I read the news everyday and today after reading the chapter, I believe our assumtion that we are secularizing is a absolutely false. The world today as I see it, is frantically religious as always! Even though there is a huge population of atheists (1.1 billion according to Adherents.com), secularization is not a dominant trend. As religious organizations such as Churches and Temples are losing their former social and political influence; religion still remains significant often in new and unfamiliar forms. Not all of us go to a Church or a Temple every week, but most of us do believe in going on pilgrimages once in a while.
I believe that having some sort of faith is not wrong as long as it serves the purpose of preaching peace and satisfies the yearning of our 'soul' for purpose and meaning. However, when religion leads to some sort of fundamentalism is where the problem arises. I come from India, where communal riots between the Hindus and the Muslims is a common sight. 9/11 was a catastrophe which has left indelible images on our minds. There are many such catastrophic events that have proved time and again that a portion of the society/world has gone furiously religious as ever. Hence, in an era where people are killing each other in the name of religion and where the propenents of cosmic warfare justify the loss of innocent lives as serivng God's larger purpose, I am afraid we still have to go a long way to say that our world is secularizing.

Week 10: A Tale of Two Families

After more than two hundred years of continuous presence in North America, African Americans are still in a miserable situation due to the residues of slavery and widespread discrimination and prejudice against them for a very long time. The story ' A Tale of Two Cities' throws light on how many African Americans face problems in every step of their lives. And unfortunately this is passed on to their children and hence many future generations are effected who in turn have to struggle to make a living. Unfortunately, not everyone are able to be a part of th so called 'American Dream'. Not everyone gets the same access to home ownership, good schools, health services and other resources. I do believe strongly in the statement that  - Wealth is not just luxury; its also the starting point for the next generation. I have been fortunate enough by the grace of God to be able to start my career without the pressure of supporting my family. However, I have seen how financial support in the beginning of one's career actually helps a person start at a much raised platform than those who don't have it at all.  The story emphasizes on how important the access to good resources is essential for a comfortable start.