I'm sure you've seen this around

via New York Post

This immediately brought to mind

"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a dismal portrait of the white male psyche. Can I really expect white males to recognize that? Yet they must. All of us suffer the consequences as long as they do not."

-Julius Lester

Even if the argument being posed here was not racist, as the artist is arguing- isn't this the cautionary tale of Mark Twain? If you are going to be a satirist you have to be conscious of your audience, and this artist may or may not have purposefully put forth an argument that recalls the hatred seen in Twain's Huck Finn.

Is Michael Moore keeping too critical of an eye on government?

I'll admit that I'm not a fan of Michael Moore. The most recent film of his I watched was called Slacker Uprising, which was released for free on iTunes and while he presents provocative ideas they usually lack substantiative evidence and more commonly offend people (I myself felt attacked as a young person for being targeted in this film in particular.)

More recently, he made headlines in the New York Times about a new film that is supposedly in the works. This time he's tackling the economic recession, and guess what- there's something the government is keeping from us: a shocking new topic for Mr. Moore.

My bias aside, I did find it interesting though predictable that he'd tackle such a topic at this time. The article quotes his website, he having said, "I am in the middle of shooting my next movie and I am looking for a few brave people who work on Wall Street or in the financial industry to come forward and share with me what they know. Based on those who have already contacted me, I believe there are a number of you who know “the real deal” about the abuses that have been happening. You have information that the American people need to hear." and said that "a few good people have already come forward."

Taking from our study of critical essays and Mark Twain's satire of being overly sentimental- I think it's good that there is someone out there that is keeping a critical, even cynical eye about what's going on., I just think Michael Moore isn't very authentic in doing so, though this really isn't a post just bashing on Moore. If the film does end up happening I'd be delighted to hear what Moore "uncovered" and perhaps do some fact checking on the film myself after seeing it. No details of a release were discussed in the interview, so if it's anything like Slacker Uprising, we might not hear about this film again until the economy has recovered (let's hope).

Bail-Out or Stimulus Package?

(via the New York Times)

Well that would vary depending on who you ask. The New York Times published an article today describing the Senate's Approval of the Stimulus Plan. As we have been discussing the importance of word choice through reading critical articles about Huckleberry Finn, I thought it appropriate to take a look at the word choice used by House Speaker Pelosi, President Obama, and others quoted in the article.

While the debate over whether or not to pass the stimulus package is moot at this point, the nature of why we "need" one is still being talked about and examined.

President Obama said of the bill, “Doing nothing is not an option. You didn’t send me to Washington to do nothing.” I found it interesting that he seems to be taking a much more aggressive stance, and this sound-byte seems almost accusatory of those now disagreeing with him.

The New York times reported that Nevada Senator Harry Reid had said, “Throughout our history, the federal government has catalyzed a good idea, invested in the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of the American people, and let the private sector flourish,” the majority leader, Senator Reid said before the vote. “Faced with an economic crisis today, we have an opportunity to make similar investments that will help our country prosper in the years to come.”

Mr. Reid added, “With common sense as our compass, we must now answer the urgent call for action.”

His language is also echoing the sense of urgency in the quote from President Obama. Word choice like "common sense", "urgent call for action", "ingenuity and entrepreneurship of the American People"- these all are broadcasting a more forgiving way of saying "let's get things done", contrasting Obama's language which seemed more like, in my opinion, necessary discipline directed at the businesses and consumers involved illegitimate mortgage practices among other things that led up to this crisis.

The few, the proud...

...the romanticized. As a few others in our blogosphere have noticed, the United States military has some very optimistic portrayals of what life is like for our men and women overseas. If you watch the video included in this post you will see some incredibly bold claims. While using hyperbole to strengthen an argument is one thing, what the ad leaves out is equally important.



What makes this advertisement so easy to discredit as giving an accurate view of life as a soldier is that it leaves out all of the negative aspects of being a soldier. Those depicted in the ad weren't in danger- rather basking in glory and growing as individuals. This isn't to say that there are no positive aspects of being in the military, there certainly are- however in leaving out the negative aspects this ad puts an entirely different spin on what that experience would be.

Perhaps the most jarring part of the ad was when it did hint at the negative aspects, though only briefly. The line "the strength to build...and the strength to tear down" came almost as a surprise, and removed the viewer from the fantasy the ad created. It's moments such as that one that should serve as reminders to always keep a skeptical and curious eye whenever being shown anything that is trying to argue a point. And if our textbook is correct, everything is an argument.

Foner on NPR?

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard on NPR that they would be interviewing none other than Eric Foner later that evening. You can listen in here.

How to never pay taxes again:

http://vitw.org/archives/922

A surprise visitor came to talk to our American Studies class today- a nonviolence activist- Kathy Kelly, from Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She came here to tell us her stories of engaging in civil disobedience and her philosophy on life and government, or at least that's what she ended up discussing with us.

She is pictured above at the "Fast For Economic Justice For Iraq", one of the many demonstrations she has been a part of.

Kelly's views were not unlike many others that I had heard, and I'm sure many students in our class agreed with her on many issues. What set her apart, however, is that she took her philosophy to heart and lived it every day.

In his essay "Civil Disobedience", Thoreau states, "...when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize."

Kelly seems to have taken this to heart- she refuses to pay taxes as they directly fund the war, she has been arrested multiple times for displays of civil disobedience, and continues to work as an activist for nonviolent change.

In the way that Thoreau took Emmerson's ideals to heart when he went to live in the woods near Walden pond, Kelly has taken Thoreaus ideals to heart in her pursuit of change and nonviolence.

As I view my blog from my iPhone...

I start to realize that I'm never apart from the internet. I'm never disconnected. Do you know the last time my iPhone was off? When it was in its box. During the day it's on me, and at night it's on my nightstand, charging and serving as my alarm clock. With all the new ways to stay connected, be it the internet, television, cell phone, etc.

Henry David Thoreau expressed the necessity of solitude in Walden, saying, "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers."

If being alone, at least every once in a while, is as beneficial as Thoreau makes it out to be- can this ever occur in modern life? While possible, it is certainly more difficult. Between the internet, television, cell phones and the like, we are almost always connected, and this is viewed as technological progress.

There are even new rules and standards for this modern communication that occurs, as detailed in an article on The Feature.com. It lists the "Top 10 List of SMS etiquette". Is it not backwards that we have even more impersonal ways to communicate?

More so, Thoreau argues that this type of conversation is meaningless, asserting, "Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications."

What I'm suggesting is that we should all take some time during the week to simply be alone. Get heavily involved in a project or your work, or just take some time to read and turn off all of your devices that keep you connected.

Yes, your iPhone does have an off-switch, perhaps that's its most useful function.