In the article “8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back”, author Bruce Levine makes incredible arguments on what has happened to the youth in this country and how our institutions and media are to blame. It is hard not to agree with what Levine states about the frameworks of schools, and other government sanctions because as one of America's youth, I have been effected or witnessed the effects of these institutions first hand. One of Levine's first arguments that I can relate and agree with the most was the idea that because today's college students are raking up thousands and thousands of dollars in government loans and debt, it has had “a subduing effect on activism, and political passivity makes it more likely that students will accept such debt as a natural part of life”. When I first read this section of the article, I disagreed because my thought that was if anything, acquiring such high amounts of debt just for a simple education, would make our youth WANT to revolt, and WANT to fight for changes because of how hard it is hitting it is hitting our college students. However then I thought about my own personal situations with debt and loans, which is high and very stressful for my family and I, and I understood what the author meant. While I am shocked and angered with the costs of attendance and tuition and my university and those across the country, I have realized that I have actually always seen is at just a “natural part of life”. Just like mentioned in the article, I have been taught to believe that it is natural part of all American's lives to go to college, acquire a good amount of debt, and then receive a high paying job after school to be able to pay it all off, and then everything will be okay. However as we have seen more and more in this era, everything doesn't always turn out okay and more and more people are struggling their entire lives attempting to pay everything off, while at the same time still trying to find a decent job. I don't revolt against schools and state legislatures in fear of being arrested, getting kicked out of school, having my parents freak out, or of nobody listening and helping anyway, and that's how most of America's youth feel.
One huge issue that I believe is effecting today's youth that was not mentioned or covered in Levine's article is that of our obsession with the media. While he did mention TV and video games, I furthermore mean the obsessions with being famous, being rich, celebrities, fashion statements, reality stars, Facebook, and Twitter. American's youth is so obsessed with the lives of celebrities, what everyone is posting on Facebook, and what new clothes they need to buy to be popular that government change, revolution, and courage seem like unimportant, things of the past. We are constantly bombarded with all of these other attributes that are made to seem SO important, and then at the same time we are hidden and our eyes are covered by groups of power to insure we don't learn too much about the policies and implications of world trade, consumerism, poverty, and corrupt political leaders. The sad thing is that even if these issues were thrown right in our face and we learned the horrible truths behind many of them, most of us wouldn't know what to do or would think “why should I care, none of these things affect me”.
Another issue I find making a huge impact on the amount of youth resistance in our era is the lack of understanding, and participation in politics, such as voting, writing to legislatures, and knowing our own rights. While we all grow up reciting the pledge of allegiance and taking a government in high school, our youth is no where near involved in our democracy as much as those 40 or 50 years ago. If you stopped a college student on the street chances are he/she couldn't tell you a basic summary of how our government works, why it is the way it is, who is in office, or what they thought on a current world issue. We have grown up in a time where we were made to believe that the powerful are the powerful and they will run things the way they choose regardless of the way we vote or react to their decisions. I will admit I am not even registered to vote because I have began to believe over the last couple years and election processes that my one vote wouldn't make a difference, and even if, all politicians are corrupt anyways. By acting and thinking this way, like much of our youth does, we are further being taken advantage of and suppressed into the idea that nothing we can do could change anything.
A third issue I think has an effect on the issue of social change is the lack of America's cultural competency. As a country we are selfish and ignorant, and most American's have no experience or knowledge on the world and people around them, outside of our borders. We have a narrow-minded view that what we do and the choices we make have no implications on the other six and a half billion people on this planet, which is so very far from the truth. We are one of the most influential and powerful countries in this world and when it comes to making positive change or helping people, it is in a big way up to us. On top of being ignorant on our influence, Americans lack the ability to understand and work with other cultures. We have so much pride in this great country of ours that we act like we are the best, most important people and that are lives are more valuable than those in other countries. We are disrespectful and rude of other cultures, their practices, beliefs and ways of life just because they are not in alignment with our own. If it continues to be “our way or the highway” this country and planet is in store for major problems.
I believe that a fourth issue of social change comes from the simple feeling of helplessness that many American youth feel. In a world where there is so much war, famine, disease, hatred, poverty and deprivation it is easy to seem small. It is hard for us as individuals to understand ways in which we can actually make a difference and be a catalyst for a word-wide change. We don't believe our voices are heard or that we would actually be able to do something worthwhile that would positively benefit a world issue. So many of us believe that if we cannot even make changes and differences in our own nation, how are we supposed to help the rest of the world.
A related article I found intriguing
http://www.alternet.org/vision/152532/vision_5_ways_young_americans_can_fight_back_against_student_loan_debt_the_drug_industry_and_more
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Brands & Logos
Before partaking in the activity in which we kept track of all the blog and logos we saw in one day, I had not realistically understood how much we were bombarded with branding. After watching the Naomi Klein video and keeping track of brands for a day, I was surprised on how many different brands there really were, especially how many I noticed before even leaving my house that morning. I had known for sometime that branding was an idea that was becoming increasingly more important in the process of Globalization and more important to America's youth, but I never guessed how much impact it had on not only our economy and social structure, but the lives of millions of workers across the globe. Some suggest that people should “remove themselves from the presence of brands” and while I'm sure millions of people would like to be able to do this, it becomes the question of how realistic is that idea?
After compiling a list of brands for a day, I recognized that it would be absolutely impossible to remove myself from their presence. Even before leaving my house that morning, I had almost half of the list made just from some of my own items in my bedroom and closet. No matter where I went, or what kind of people I saw that day, there were always logos or brands sticking out, whether it was a backpack, pair of shoes, or a Starbucks cup. Walking to class I saw shoe brands such as Nike,Vans, and Uggs, North Face, Zumiez, and American Apparel jackets, and North Face and Dakine backpacks. When I sat down in class I immediately noticed a whole other set of electronic and school supply brands such as Mac, Iphone, Ipod, Blackberry, 5-Star notebooks, and Bic pens/pencils. These are just a sample of the brands and logos I encountered that day, and the list could go on forever. It sounds like an exaggeration or joke, but I believe that to completely remove yourself from these things you would have to be put out in the middle of the desert or forest, and even then, anything you brought with you would most likely have a label or logo on it.
The years of high school and college are years when the idea of brands is most influential and when we (young adults) are the most bombarded and controlled by big name companies. When I look around the large majority of us all have the same stuff. That is isn't because we just happened to see these items at stores and decided we had to have them. It is because as a generation and culture we are so consumed with the idea that what we wear and what we own will make us who we are, and as cool as everyone else. I too was guilty of this trait when it came to me NEEDING a pair of Uggs, or NEEDING a new North Face this year, just because these were the brands everyone else was wearing, meant I needed the same ones. Everyone likes to claim “I don't care what people think of me” or “I don't follow trends or fashion statements, I just wear what's comfortable and cheap” but that's a lie. If nothing at all had a brand or logo or stereotype attached to it, I think everyone would be lost and all of a sudden not know what to buy or wear, and be looking to others to figure out where to go next. We all want to be seen in a certain way and a big part of accomplishing that, at least for our society and generation is by what you wear and/or advertise. Just like Klein mentioned in the movie, these aren't just simple items or logos, they have turned into ideas about how people live their lives. Starbucks isn't just a company was the example she used, it is now the idea of a hang out spot, were social “cool” people come to hang out. I believe most people understand this idea or branding and the negative effect it has on not only or attitudes and behaviors, but the effect it has on people abroad, it's just that no one knows how to stop or change it. At least for me, I know that I hate being so overcome with brands being thrown in my face 24/7, and I hate knowing how all of my clothes are really made and the conditions these workers are placed, but I have no idea where I would start to challenge these problems, and neither does anyone else.
These ideas of brands and logos tie right in with the idea of social justice and injustice. There is one main thing that has always seemed ironic to me, and even more so now that I have learned much more about this topic. I constantly see advertisement and commercials for different brands, and many of them have recently started adopting strategies in which they make themselves look like the pro-peace, pro-democracy, pro-justice, environmental friendly companies we all want them to be. Many state that a certain percentage of their profit will go to workers in other countries, or starving kids in Africa, saving endangered species or what not, but none of these companies want to recognize that the cause of many of these problems they are supposedly “giving back to”, are related to their business practices. They want to donate money to poor kids in Africa for example, but what about the 10,000 workers they have stuffed in their little factory in Taiwan that are being abused, mistreated and paid sometimes less than a dollar a day. They are not helping anyone or any cause, in reality they are bringing in more money and sales which in turn gives them more need for these workers and factories.
Two youtube videos that I found interesting relating to this topic are below.
The first one is just a cartoon, comical example of Klein's idea that everything is this world is branded and we are constantly surrounded by it, with no way to escape.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p10UE3O8s24&feature=related
This next one is sponsored by the Fair Trade Company which is the biggest company that certifies brands as being socially just. They certify companies who are fair trade oriented and who do not take part in things like overseas, sweat-shops and factories. They are fighting poverty and attempting to generate global change!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVxe1ZKIff0&feature=youtube_gdata
After compiling a list of brands for a day, I recognized that it would be absolutely impossible to remove myself from their presence. Even before leaving my house that morning, I had almost half of the list made just from some of my own items in my bedroom and closet. No matter where I went, or what kind of people I saw that day, there were always logos or brands sticking out, whether it was a backpack, pair of shoes, or a Starbucks cup. Walking to class I saw shoe brands such as Nike,Vans, and Uggs, North Face, Zumiez, and American Apparel jackets, and North Face and Dakine backpacks. When I sat down in class I immediately noticed a whole other set of electronic and school supply brands such as Mac, Iphone, Ipod, Blackberry, 5-Star notebooks, and Bic pens/pencils. These are just a sample of the brands and logos I encountered that day, and the list could go on forever. It sounds like an exaggeration or joke, but I believe that to completely remove yourself from these things you would have to be put out in the middle of the desert or forest, and even then, anything you brought with you would most likely have a label or logo on it.
The years of high school and college are years when the idea of brands is most influential and when we (young adults) are the most bombarded and controlled by big name companies. When I look around the large majority of us all have the same stuff. That is isn't because we just happened to see these items at stores and decided we had to have them. It is because as a generation and culture we are so consumed with the idea that what we wear and what we own will make us who we are, and as cool as everyone else. I too was guilty of this trait when it came to me NEEDING a pair of Uggs, or NEEDING a new North Face this year, just because these were the brands everyone else was wearing, meant I needed the same ones. Everyone likes to claim “I don't care what people think of me” or “I don't follow trends or fashion statements, I just wear what's comfortable and cheap” but that's a lie. If nothing at all had a brand or logo or stereotype attached to it, I think everyone would be lost and all of a sudden not know what to buy or wear, and be looking to others to figure out where to go next. We all want to be seen in a certain way and a big part of accomplishing that, at least for our society and generation is by what you wear and/or advertise. Just like Klein mentioned in the movie, these aren't just simple items or logos, they have turned into ideas about how people live their lives. Starbucks isn't just a company was the example she used, it is now the idea of a hang out spot, were social “cool” people come to hang out. I believe most people understand this idea or branding and the negative effect it has on not only or attitudes and behaviors, but the effect it has on people abroad, it's just that no one knows how to stop or change it. At least for me, I know that I hate being so overcome with brands being thrown in my face 24/7, and I hate knowing how all of my clothes are really made and the conditions these workers are placed, but I have no idea where I would start to challenge these problems, and neither does anyone else.
These ideas of brands and logos tie right in with the idea of social justice and injustice. There is one main thing that has always seemed ironic to me, and even more so now that I have learned much more about this topic. I constantly see advertisement and commercials for different brands, and many of them have recently started adopting strategies in which they make themselves look like the pro-peace, pro-democracy, pro-justice, environmental friendly companies we all want them to be. Many state that a certain percentage of their profit will go to workers in other countries, or starving kids in Africa, saving endangered species or what not, but none of these companies want to recognize that the cause of many of these problems they are supposedly “giving back to”, are related to their business practices. They want to donate money to poor kids in Africa for example, but what about the 10,000 workers they have stuffed in their little factory in Taiwan that are being abused, mistreated and paid sometimes less than a dollar a day. They are not helping anyone or any cause, in reality they are bringing in more money and sales which in turn gives them more need for these workers and factories.
Two youtube videos that I found interesting relating to this topic are below.
The first one is just a cartoon, comical example of Klein's idea that everything is this world is branded and we are constantly surrounded by it, with no way to escape.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p10UE3O8s24&feature=related
This next one is sponsored by the Fair Trade Company which is the biggest company that certifies brands as being socially just. They certify companies who are fair trade oriented and who do not take part in things like overseas, sweat-shops and factories. They are fighting poverty and attempting to generate global change!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVxe1ZKIff0&feature=youtube_gdata
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