Dialectics: Regionalism and Globalism

My initial inspiration for this blog post was not from the examples given on the blogging prompts page, but from our French book. Two of our vocabulary words for the chapter are: la mondialisation, or globalization, and la regionalisme, or regionalism.

Globalization and regionalism are, for one, different in the areas they address. Globalization expands across the earth whereas regionalism applies to a specific region. Obvious, I know, but now we have the basics out of the way.

So what exactly is globalization? By my definition, it's the communication of people across long distances, connecting all four corners of the earth.

Regionalism is the sense of belonging to a specific region. It gives the region a feeling of being larger and more important and focuses in on its prosperity

So, in a sense, the connections through globalization make the world seem smaller as communication becomes faster, easier, and more prominent. It feels as though the world has shrunk in size and relations with faraway lands are increasingly more attainable. However, regionalism focuses in on one region, making it the center of all decisions and thought. This makes the region seem much larger, as it is the sole purpose and focus and outside elements become less important.

With each mode of thought, perspectives change. Globalization accepts and welcomes outside nations while regionalism is more self-centered.

Yet, either way, both of these methodologies bring masses together, whether on a global or regional scale. They formulate close connections and elements that bind us together.

Blogging Around: Connor and Merrick

Connor's dialectics blog post was about the role of business and government in society.

My comment:

"I completely agree with you in that business and government should remain two separate entities and should not intervene with one another. You addressed important yet unfortunate effects of each institution holding too much power and realizing these outcomes are vital in maintaining society. This was well written and thought out."

Merrick's blog post was about colonialism and its long-term effects on Africa's development.

My comment:

"This really grabbed my interest because I, too, have pondered Africa's slow progression (compared to the rest of the world). The idea of European imperialism stunting Africa's growth makes perfect sense and I completely agree. I also agree with you, Merrick, in that Africa didn't benefit under European rule. It only led to a wounded society that never seemed to fully recover."

Best of Week: HOD through the eyes of an African

During our Heart of Darkness discussion, Mr. Allen had brought up a point about introducing an African perspective to the story. This idea immediately sparked interest within me for I was curious to explore the difference one narrator could have on the story.

Not only would it change the literary aspect of the novel in ways I will describe later, but the historical background would be altered concerning the position of blacks in society at the time. Not only were the Africans in the story of a minority race, they were "savage" indigenous peoples who were subject to white colonial rule. Therefore, introducing an African perspective to the story would take away some of the pride in imperialism and methods of The Company from a European colonist's eyes and replace them with disdain towards whites, altering the feel of the book.

From a basic literary standpoint, the language and rhythm of the writing would differ if from an African's perspective. I also think it would change the mood of the book from a story about colonialism rich with modernist and post-modernist elements to a diary of an indigenous African and his/her relations with European colonists. However, I think the reader would be subject to even more of the modernist idea of multiplicity through African fascination and reverence for Kurtz.

Also, during class someone had brought up the idea of making a character in the book African, using the Russian as an example. We evaluated that if any of the characters were "Africanized," then they would be reduced to being of little importance. Relating back to the historical aspect, only a century ago, Africans were of the lowest social class, so any character of high stature in the story would be reduced to a minority with a change of race.

An Inconvenient Truth: Food, Inc.

Today in health class I was faced with the inconvenient truth of the practices of our agrarian society. The movie, Food, Inc. is a documentary that takes viewers behind the scenes of today's food manufacturers and their treatment of animals as well as poor production methods. As I watched merely the first 45 minutes of the film, I was horrified, disgusted, and deeply saddened all at once.

Food, Inc. took me back to the ideals of Ishmael and humanity in the rest of the world. The Fall marked the beginning of man's grasp on the earth; the ability to bend the environment to suit our own needs. We tilled the land to feed a growing population that would only keep growing, rationalizing our actions as sustaining the population. We as humans gave ourselves permission to tamper with lifeforms and form them to support our populations with the help of science, technology, and the might of the human race. And what are we left with? Now we genetically modify chickens and cows and plants to be bigger, better, and less susceptible to disease and we mass produce them. Animals aren't born. They're manufactured to our needs. They're manufactured to make money. This is what has become of the hunter-gatherer societies of the Stone Age. Well done.

Another angle to this situation is that our new agrarian practices make us richer. Food is made cheaply and efficiently and is engineered to give utmost satisfaction. The fast food industry is now booming and more and more people have grown to rely on it. Also, science has helped us make our food safer and more nutrient rich so that we may receive vital vitamins and minerals.

Although it is difficult to accept our current food situation, it is important to realize that the progression of our society has led to increases in population, and we must feed this population cheaply. However, I don't have to accept the horrors of this situation, but I can accept that maybe green and organic initiatives will continue to grow and hopefully our newly developed food technologies will be used for the better.

Connection: Heart of Darkness and the East India Company

During our Heart of Darkness discussion on Thursday, we talked about the relationship between government and economics with the main question being: "To what extent should government be involved in businesses?" I connected this idea to the English East India Company and their involvement in the colonization of other countries.

The East India Company (EIC) established especially close relations with India after the 1757 Battle of Plassey when troops defended the weak Mughal empire from rebellious warlords. This resulted in a peace treaty making the commander of the EIC troops the official tax collector for Bengal. From 1757-1858, the EIC progressed to become the de facto government of India, illustrating the mesh of government and business.

This is along the lines of Heart of Darkness as Europeans scramble to exploit African commodities and African society suffers European enroachment and brutal power. This is visible as Africans are enslaved to work in mines and businessmen from European nations travel to Africa seeking ivory.

This connection sheds light on the relationship between government and business because at one point, business organizations or companies became the government and ruling body of these nations. It shows their political weakness but also the changing times and the modernist/post-modernist development of Heart of Darkness. The connection further illustrates the post-modernist worldview that globalization leads to more complicated representations of society and the way people live and relate to one another, for example.

Metacognition: 1000 Word Essay

Word count FAIL: Before writing the 1000 word essay, Mr. Allen made it seem as though the word count would be easily fulfilled and even surpassed. However, while writing the essay I found that this word count wasn't as easily attainable as I thought it would be. I found myself tossing in words just to reach the goal of 850 words, throwing the desired succinctness down the drain.

Structure/organization FAIL: I had conformed to the age-old 5 paragraph essay format taught as early as 3rd grade. For a reason unbeknown to me, I had assumed that it was part of the assignment to follow the lovely formatting, but after turning in the essay I quickly learned that this wasn't the case.

Quality FAIL: My essay lacked deep insight and perspective as well as voice.

As is quite visible, I did not like my essay very much.

But, to preserve optimism, found that I was able to piece together many philosophers' perspectives and find underlying commonalities. I also found that I enjoyed delving into this question and hunting for the answer within the lines of Sophie's World.

While writing the essay I pondered creation and evolution and their conflicting roles in society. Science has taken a new stand in today's world and religion isn't very welcoming of its growing power.

Throughout the semester I had gained a lot of insight into various philosophies that will prove to be very helpful in my essay writing and thinking. It is mode of thought that is foundational to many fields of study, no matter how contradictory they may be.

Blogging Around: Rebekah and Anna

In her blog post, Rebekah gave us a 360 degree perspective of rock and roll music. From a bad influence and the cause of druggies and rebels to the greatest thing ever heard, rock music has been a ground for change.

My comment on Rebekah's post:

Rebekah, Being a rock and roll lover myself, I really enjoyed reading your post. I have also experienced others' varying opinions of rock music, but this post raises many interesting questions. Music is a very very powerful form of expression, and I think that it was the driving force behind many of the revolutions of thought and societal values in the 60s and 70s. It became a strong foundation for many people and propelled their causes forward. With so many effects associated with it, maybe rock and roll did change the world.

Anna's iMedia blog post reflected a new Levi's commercial that went against the norm, was artfully done, and very grasping. The commercial had the underlying idea of rebelliousness that also had historical relevance.

My comment on Anna's post:

Anna, First off, I totally agree with everything you said. Upon seeing these commercials, I was completely captivated. I experienced the same exact thoughts: "artistic; historically relevant, yet refreshingly modern; frightening, yet optimistic." Basically, it was the coolest Levi's commercial I had ever seen. Ever. Also, Anna, stop stealing my thoughts. This post addressed every thought in my head and you even brought attention to the ones that were elusively unaddressable (great minds think alike!) I was so happy to see a thought-provoking commercial with meaning and not a superficial figment of the modern world.