The North American Free Trade Agreement (or NAFTA) is a treaty that facilitates free trade between its signatory nations Canada, The United States, and Mexico. When signed in 1993 (going into effect January 1st 1994) it was heralded as a way to bring greater economic prosperity to all three nations involved in the agreement by way of eliminating tariffs on trade and other encumbrances to trade between the three nations. For the purposes of this policy discussion we will focus on the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico within the wider North American free trade zone.
The idea behind NAFTA, as it pertains to the U.S. and Mexico, is that with the
elimination of trade barriers between the two nations (amongst other stipulations of the agreement), Mexico’s economy would benefit from increased trade with the U.S. and that the U.S. economy would benefit from cheaper imported products.
Maquiladora’s established on the Mexican side of the U.S./Mexico border import, duty free, machinery, equipment and primary goods from the U.S., produce secondary goods and then export these secondary goods back to the U.S. This, in theory was to increase employment on the Mexican side of the U.S./Mexico border region while providing U.S. consumers with cheaper products because of the cheaper labor used to produce said products.
Indeed trade did increase. According to Gretel C. Kovach of The New York Times (citing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), there was $81 billion in trade between the U.S. and Mexico in 1993, while that number ballooned to $332 billion in 2006 (Kavach).
Although NAFTA opened up U.S. borders to Mexican exports, it also opened up Mexican borders to U.S. exports. U.S. agricultural exports would explode onto the Mexican market. The United States subsidizes a litany of different agricultural commodities, and as such these commodities are more competitive than their Mexican counterparts. This has had the effect of driving small Mexican farmers from rural areas into cities because they simply can not compete with U.S. subsidized wheat, grain, corn, rice etc. This has been a boon for U.S. agro-business conglomerates, and a detriment to small Mexican farmers. This is one example of an unforeseen negative externality of NAFTA; but not the only one.
Another externality caused simply by virtue of the increase in trade between the two nations, is the increase in traffic on the U.S. Mexican border; specifically international trucking. According to an article submitted to the Congressional record in 1997 by House member Marcia Kaptur (D-OH 9), there were 1.9 million trucks that crossed the U.S./Mexico border in 1993 before NAFTA was signed. In 1994 however (the year NAFTA went into effect), that number burgeoned to 2.8 million (U.S. House of Representatives, 2007). This incredible increase in international trucking is attributed to NAFTA. According to Agustin De La Rosa of the Texas Department of Transportation, that number had grown to 4.76 million trucks in 2007 (Rosa, 2007). This shows a steady growth in the number of trucks crossing the border annually.
The problem with this is that as legal international trucking grows over time, the likelihood of catching smugglers that use traditional access points on the border drops inversely. The reason for this is that there are only a finite amount of trucks that can be inspected in a day. However many that number is, it remains constant. Even if new trucking routes are established, those routes will only be able to be inspected a finite amount of times in a day also. In fact the United States only inspects %5 of all Imported containers according to the National Border Patrol Counsel (U.S. House of Representatives, 2007). This is an issue that will become more and more serious as time goes on. As shown above, the amount of trade between the U.S. and Mexico is steadily increasing along with the amount of transportation of goods that facilitates it.
This problem is directly related to the Mexican Drug War. In that same article submitted to the congressional record by Rep. Marcia Kaptur (D-OH9)
“Drugs are a multibillion-dollar industry for cartels in Latin America. The National Drug Intelligence Center conservatively estimates more than $108 billion roughly equal to the combined gross domestic product of Ecuador and Guatemala in drugs comes into the U.S. yearly. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration puts the figure at $142 billion in drug trade just between the U.S. and Mexico. Other estimates soar even higher. (U.S. House of Representatives, 2007).”
This is indicative of the reality that it is getting harder and harder for the U.S. to fight it’s War on Drugs and for Mexico to fight its Drug War as time goes on. With the increase of legal traffic and the decrease of the ability to inspect traffic that comes along with that, comes the simultaneous increase in the power of drug traffickers to smuggle drugs into the U.S. and money and guns (which are used by drug cartels in Mexico to fight their side of the Drug War) into Mexico; increasing their power and decreasing the legitimate power of both governments to enforce the law in their states.
NAFTA, as stated above, has also caused the unemployment of many small Mexican farmers. These farmers go to the cities to find work and not all of them can find it. This is creating, essentially, a labor force that the drug cartels can easily take advantage of. These farmers and the other people that make up the wider farm economy are economically displaced by NAFTA policy, and the alternative of becoming a part of the drug economy becomes more attractive when the legal economy cannot support them. NAFTA is having the effect of increasing the ability of drug traffickers to produce and smuggle drugs across the U.S. Mexico border.
That increased ability to smuggle has ramifications further than the sphere of drug policy enforcement. The ability to traffic humans across the border is also increased by the increase in legal trade traffic across the U.S./Mexican border. This has ramifications that go beyond that of immigration. Both the United States and Mexico have laws against trafficking humans. According to Eric Green, of BestandWorst.com, between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across borders each year globally (Green, 2007). Also according to him 17,000 of those persons are trafficked across the U.S./Mexico border every year (Green, 2007). These persons are trafficked for the purposes of sex slavery, and involuntary labor as well as illegal immigration purposes. As it becomes harder to control the flow of traffic between the U.S. and Mexico it also becomes harder to stop the trafficking in humans across the border.
These two issues are problems that the United States and Mexico both face currently. But as stated before these problems of law enforcement stem from the increase in trade between the two countries as a consequence of NAFTA and an inability to monitor it. A problem that both countries may face in the future is the problem of pirated material and drugs from Asia and their smuggling across the border from Mexico into the U.S.
The article that Marcia Kaptur submitted to the congressional record states,
“Now, the Mexican Government is working very hard to build a four-lane highway which they call La Entrada al Pacifico, the Entrance from the Pacific. And the idea there would be to redirect so much of the traffic from Asia, from China, these big ships that are bound for the United States, from the west coast, Ports of Los Angeles and Oakland, further south, and stretch the actual shipping lanes into Mexico versus the United States. It is estimated that as much as 30 percent of the truck traffic will also be diverted from California and El Paso to the ports of entry at Presidio.
The idea is that the highway into our country would begin further south where goods would come in in deepwater ports, and the completed route would save up to 4 shipping days for goods moving between the Pacific Rim countries and Texas, which would be one of the major ports of entry into our country. (U.S. House of Representatives)”
These goods could be contraband of any sort. The report goes on to state “Contraband can be anything from narcotics, pirated videos, humans or weapons of mass destruction," (U.S. House of Representatives, 2007). The increase of trade that would occur because of a shift of imports to Mexico could further deteriorate the ability of both nations, the U.S. and Mexico, to enforce the law at the U.S./Mexico border.
We can now understand that the increase in trade between the two economies of the U.S. and Mexico presents a serious problem for law enforcement (actual enforcement of laws as opposed to peace keepers). The trucks that cross the border bringing Mexico U.S. goods, and the U.S. Mexican goods can bring anything, and the increase in that trade inversely brings a decrease in law enforcement capacity.
As we can see, the issue of enforcing laws related to cross border transport is a problem both countries face today. According to Reuters writer Arshad Mohammed,
“Washington plans to ramp up border security with a $184 million program to add 360 security agents to border posts and step up searches for smuggled drugs, guns and cash.
The Obama administration will spend $725 million to modernize border crossings and provide about $80 million to help Mexico purchase Black Hawk helicopters, (Mohammed, 2009)”
citing Hillary Clinton. Additionally, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), according to the same article is seeking an additional $385 million to hire and equip 1,600 new Border Patrol agents and upgrade their facilities (Mohammed, 2009). This is in combination with $300 million that the U.S. has set aside for drug aid set to reach Mexico and South America. According to the Associated Press, the Obama administration has recently enacted a $95 million dollar program set to increase the inspection of southbound traffic across the U.S. Mexican border in order to stem the smuggling of guns and cash back to drug traffickers (Associated Press, 2009).
On the Mexican side of the border, according to Reuters writer Arshad Mohammed, Filipe Calderon’s government has spent $6.4 billion fighting the Drug War since December 2006. Additionally deploying 45,000 troops to places around the country (Mohammed, 2009).
The overall policy, as it seems, centers on the defeat of drug cartels in Mexico by attempting to deprive them of the cash that they recruit with, the guns they fight with and the drugs that they are funded with. This policy, although required, does not address the issue of cross border transportation and the weakening ability of both nations to monitor it. It is essentially an engagement of the purveyors of contraband across the border.
Even if the increased efforts on the U.S. side increase border inspections %300, the number of inspected vehicles would still only be %15 percent of total current volume. Additionally, if a %10 increase in inspections, coupled with the increase in spending by the Calderon government actually were to topple the drug cartels, that would still not address the issue of an inability to truly monitor cross border transportation.
An alternate policy proposed by isolationists in the U.S. involves the restricting of cross border traffic. The Benefit of this idea is that it would address the actual problem of monitoring of international trucking in that the fewer vehicles allowed through the border the higher the percentage of them can be inspected. Although this addresses the problem, it presents both states with larger problems. To restrict trade between the U.S. and Mexico would only harm legal and illegal shipping between the U.S. and Mexico but at the same time there are many Mexican immigrants that, although coming here illegally, are coming here because of societal and economic reasons. The fact that there are factors at play that influence the decision of these people wont go away with and would be exacerbated by the loss of trade that Mexico would sustain. The illegal immigrant would still come through the desert and would be put at risk because of the taking away of the option of traditional access to the U.S. additionally it would cost the U.S. government more money in border patrol of non-traditional access points to the U.S. in addition to the simultaneous loss in trade. Additionally this option may violate NAFTA’s 11th chapter making it difficult to implement.
A third alternative, although dependant on technology and not policy, could involve the tracking of all international trucking through GPS in order to monitor where trucks have been and where they are going. As almost all international trucking is linked to commerce, the companies whose goods are being shipped, and where they are being shipped to could be where the U.S. and Mexico could focus efforts to stop contraband from crossing the border region without having to check more trucks. Essentially if the business that is shipping goods is suspected to be a part of an illegal operation (this information can be gathered through traditional intelligence elements currently in place) then that shipment can be monitored more closely and effectively through the GPS network and law enforcement officers in the jurisdiction in which the truck is. This essentially allows for the current law enforcement infrastructure to be modified in order to address the problem of monitoring cross border transport. Free trade would still exist and a large obstacle to the enforcement of laws at the border would be overcome. The obverse of this solution is that international trucking is not the only sort of cross border transport and this plan does nothing to address other problems with law enforcement at the border.
We have only examined three policy alternatives here but there are others. The world is full of policy ideas. Spending more money on a system that addresses the belligerents as opposed to their ability to be belligerent while inspecting more traffic going both ways may be a viable option but it will keep both nations fighting against belligerents in perpetuity. Restricting cross boarder transport seems like an extreme and unwieldy solution but could be the basis for a reworking of NAFTA in order to address the problem of the enforcement of transport laws at the border. The use of GPS in order to track international trucking seems like an answer but doesn’t address the entire problem of monitoring other forms of cross border transport.
Both nations have an interest in monitoring and securing the border. The Mexican Government has an interest in stopping the violence associated with smuggling cartels and the U.S. has an interest in stopping the flow of drugs across the border. The issue of monitoring and controlling the shipment of contraband across the border must be addressed by whatever policy is adopted because it is not just a problem with drug policy implementation, human rights, or contraband of any sort. All of these are problems that fall under the umbrella of solving the negative externality that NAFTA has created.
Works Cited
Associated Press. (2009, May 15). Some cash, few guns found in southbound checks. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/05/15/ap6428888.html
Green, E. (2007, April 26). THE US - MEXICO BORDER, HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND SEX SLAVERY? Retrieved May 29, 2009, from BestandWorst.com: http://www.bestandworst.com/v/114330.htm
KOVACH, G. C. (2007, September 9). For Mexican Trucks, a Road Into the U.S. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/us/09truck.html
Mohammed, A. (2009, March 25). U.S. to blame for much of Mexico violence: Clinton. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52O5RF20090325?sp=true
Rosa, A. D. (2007). Update on Texas/Mexico Border Activities. Texas Department of Transportation, Government and Public Affairs office. Austin: International Relations Office.
U.S. House of Representatives. (2007). NAFTA And the Drug Trade. U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. house of Representatives.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Saturday, June 12, 2010
An Analysis of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming” and Dr. Suess’s “The Lorax”
Change is on the horizon. Human civilization cannot continue to exist under the rules of capitalism. Literature is how a civilization describes itself and there are three works that can be used to illustrate not only where we are, but also where we must go. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming” and Dr. Suess’s “The Lorax” are all from different literary genres, different time periods, and are written in different styles, yet they all can be used to describe today’s present and future.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” can be characterized as an accurate analysis of that special brand of capitalism called American. Although many other readers and writers alike have characterized the short story as being reflective of the atrocities of the Holocaust, one can take the story to be a reflection of the darker side of capitalism and the body politic’s obliviousness to it. In the story, one can look at the village as America and the lottery as the American system of capitalism. Where as one may look at American capitalism as a system that reinforces the will of the few as dichotomized against the will of the many, another may look at the system having it’s own will. In the story one person has to win (or lose, depending on how you look at it) and the rest of the community supposedly benefits (as shown by old man Warner’s quote “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”) (Jackson). The losers of the lottery in the story can be seen as an ever shifting group of losers and future potential winners (a probability if you will), and the winner can be seen as the result of this (probability) function collapsing and giving its result. Where one would think that the main mechanisms of American capitalism function to keep those in power (i.e. the losers of the lottery) in power (i.e. perpetual losers of the lottery) I am arguing that the inherent will of American capitalism is to keep some entity in power perpetually, where that entities status as “having power” is not only fully transferable but is constantly being transferred time and time again.
The story itself is centered around a small village in what seems to be circa 1910-1920. In the story all of the villagers are gathering around in the town square for “The Lottery”. Right away the reader is faced with small but telling signs that the lottery is not what it seems. The young boys are collecting piles of rocks in different parts of the square and the little girls do not seem too pleased that today is the day for “The Lottery”. Throughout the story the rituals, both forgotten and remembered, are described in such a way that it seems as though the villagers don’t know why they do them, but that they must be done. This is allegorical to American capitalism in that all Americans must play the game the same way as everyone else has played it, is playing it, and will lay it. Even with the minor changes the game must go on. In American society you must go to school, k-12, and then you must go to college, and then you must get a job that pays as much money as possible. This is the way that the American system is presented. If one does not follow these guidelines, one cannot be successful (or have heavy corn after the harvest as is the case in “The Lottery”). In addition the villagers implicit need for the status quo to remain (i.e. using pieces form the old box to make the new box) can be characterized by the American body politic’s assertion that the more rigidly one follows the dogma of the system the better the system will work for them (i.e. old man Warner’s comment).
Another allegory can be found in the villager’s lightheartedness during the lottery. Jackson gives portrays the idea that this is just another part of life in the town and that no one really thinks that they will be the big winner. None of the characters really give hint to the macabre actions that are not only going to take place, but that have been prepared for so meticulously. They are about to stone someone from their own ranks yet none of them seems like this fazes them. The allegory can be seen in the way that the American body politic acts in concert to perpetuate the system of American capitalism knowing that the system itself and by it’s own nature creates a strata of social classes the lower of which could be called societies losers and the lottery’s winners. Tessie Hutchinson could be viewed as the proverbial proletariat. Whereas she was just as eager to be a part of the lottery as everyone else until it looked like she may be the one that won that day. This can be seen in American society in the way that an executive of a major company may want to be a part of the system that perpetuates someone being poor until his company goes belly up and all of the wealth that he thought that he had disappears, thus making him poor and the winner of the lottery. The logic behind the lottery and American capitalism is the same. There must be a loser of the economic game and a winner of the lottery.
When Tessie sees that it is bill that has pulled the omen-serving piece of paper, she begins to try and find ways out. She even goes as far as to try and bring her own daughter into the drawing so that she will have a better chance of living herself. This seems inconceivable in contemporary human society, but if examined closely, one can see that this allegory is not so far off. In examining American capitalism, citizens are rated by society as to how well they adhere to the systems dogma and this in turn is measured by ones success within the system. As examined earlier the executive, that perpetuates the system that ranks him higher socially than others that have not been served as well by the system, would not hesitate to fire employees, legally avoid payment of debts and the like in order to preserve his place in the hierarchy. But by firing and avoiding payment, isn’t the executive relegating other parts of his corporate “family” to lower economic levels of society. These people that are relegated to the lower levels, couldn’t they be considered to be the winners of the lottery.
“The Lottery’s” dark and morbid storyline, I think, is meant to leave one thinking about how this work applies to many levels and areas of society and the human psyche. Although my take on the work is one of a socio-economic theme, there are other ways to interpret the work. The points that I have outlined here are just a few major points intertwining the story of a small village with peculiar customs and the panoramic view that one can gain by stepping back and examining their society in a way that is critical and ultimately unforgiving.
Similar to the theme of “The Lottery” is the William Butler Yeats poem, “The Second Coming”. Yeats wrote “The Second Coming” in response to the failing class system of industrial era Britain. But, the poem could be seen to model the fall of many types of social systems that exist all over the world especially capitalism and its unavoidable decline.
Because of Yeats’ intended poetic response to the fall of Britain’s class system, the poem is fraught with the imagery of a failing system. The beginning of the poem starts,
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity (Yeats).
This can be seen, as we know Yeats’ intentions, to be speaking of the fall of the British class system, but one could also view this passage as alluding to the fall of capitalism. As seen in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, capitalism cannot go on forever. In her story it would not be out of the question for a “winner” of the lottery to not want to be stoned to death and run away or resist in some way. Once one person resists it would become easier for another to follow suit. The same goes for capitalism. Capitalist systems around the world had to deal with the communist revolutions that happened around the world in the mid-twentieth century because the innate human need to not “win” the lottery. As the fall of the class systems of Europe spread across the land, so did communism (the antithesis of capitalism) thirty years later.
Yeats’ poem can be seen, especially in the first part, to be speaking about the end of capitalism. The lines “Things fall apart, The centre cannot hold, Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” was specifically speaking about the inability of the system to survive ad infinitum (Yeats). This is true of all systems. The center truly can never hold forever. Just as the class system of industrial era Britain went, so must the capitalist system of the information age go.
From the stand point of Yeats, anarchy would logically follow the end of the ruling class system of Europe. In his opinion anarchy was the only alternative. If viewed as a challenge to the current shift in the global capitalist system, it would seem that “The Second Coming” is Yeats’ challenge to the shift in sensibilities across the world that has been ushered in, in part, by the internet and its provision of free and unfettered access to information. Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other free social and information sharing networks are changing the rules of this capitalist system. No longer are the keys to change held in the hands of the rich and the powerful. Today we are seeing the beginnings of a revolution. Without the help of major corporations, anyone can reach a global audience. The grassroots are being watered with the elixir of freedom. If one had to say whether Yeats would have had a Myspace, just from the information gleaned from this poem about his sensibilities, one could safely say no.
Yeats’ poem gives the impression that a new age is upon us. As he wrote “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”, he was saying that this age is at an end, and we must wonder what new beast is upon us (Yeats).
Separately, Dr. Suess’s work, “The Lorax”, is aimed at describing capitalism’s destruction of the environment. The Once-ler in the story can be said to take the guise of big business. As with Yeats’ “The Second Coming” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, “The Lorax” can be read in such a way that it describes a particular aspect of the world today.
“The Lorax” can be applied to the current green movement taking shape across the world. Although “The Lorax” was published in 1971, the ecological problems that plagued the world then still exist now. The current shift in the capitalist framework of society has allowed for the Lorax’s message to reach people in a much more profound way. The message of conservation delivered by “The Lorax” is finally being read. Conservation and efficiency are now the themes of the day. Society fears being the Once-ler; telling our story of regret and hoping for an unlikely yet better tomorrow. Society wants and understands the need for the Lorax to stay.
The three works analyzed here would not normally be juxtaposed against each other. All three have different themes. But the similarity that they all share is an applicability of their message to current issues. “The Lottery” asks us to, examine our insistence on participating in the current capitalist system. Why do we participate in this system of capitalism that perpetuates unreserved affluence for the upper class in exchange for the sheer poverty of the lower class? Does a person really need a 10,000 square foot home, while there are homeless masses roaming the streets? Does American capitalism even give that kind of prosperity to all that adhere closely to its tenets?
“The Second Coming” speaks of the end of that capitalist system and to the fear that many have of the system that will inevitably come to replace it. As the “blood dimmed tide” rolls in and ushers in a new age for which there is no name yet, how will society cope (Yeats). The system is not being forcibly changed, but is falling away revealing a new and shining system built for a new age.
“The Lorax” comments on the destructive nature of our current system. Destruction cannot go on forever, as the Once-ler learned. “The Lorax” is an example of how the current system cannot go on forever and highlights the theme of “The Second Coming”. Also “The Lorax” highlights the dangers that society faces as this new age is ushered in. The system will change; we must decide to change with it.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming”, and Dr. Suess’s “The Lorax” are all true to the overarching theme of today. Change is on the horizon and its coming cannot be stopped.
Works Cited
Gwynn, R.S. Literature: A Pocket Anthology. New York, NY: Penguin
Academics, 2006.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” can be characterized as an accurate analysis of that special brand of capitalism called American. Although many other readers and writers alike have characterized the short story as being reflective of the atrocities of the Holocaust, one can take the story to be a reflection of the darker side of capitalism and the body politic’s obliviousness to it. In the story, one can look at the village as America and the lottery as the American system of capitalism. Where as one may look at American capitalism as a system that reinforces the will of the few as dichotomized against the will of the many, another may look at the system having it’s own will. In the story one person has to win (or lose, depending on how you look at it) and the rest of the community supposedly benefits (as shown by old man Warner’s quote “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”) (Jackson). The losers of the lottery in the story can be seen as an ever shifting group of losers and future potential winners (a probability if you will), and the winner can be seen as the result of this (probability) function collapsing and giving its result. Where one would think that the main mechanisms of American capitalism function to keep those in power (i.e. the losers of the lottery) in power (i.e. perpetual losers of the lottery) I am arguing that the inherent will of American capitalism is to keep some entity in power perpetually, where that entities status as “having power” is not only fully transferable but is constantly being transferred time and time again.
The story itself is centered around a small village in what seems to be circa 1910-1920. In the story all of the villagers are gathering around in the town square for “The Lottery”. Right away the reader is faced with small but telling signs that the lottery is not what it seems. The young boys are collecting piles of rocks in different parts of the square and the little girls do not seem too pleased that today is the day for “The Lottery”. Throughout the story the rituals, both forgotten and remembered, are described in such a way that it seems as though the villagers don’t know why they do them, but that they must be done. This is allegorical to American capitalism in that all Americans must play the game the same way as everyone else has played it, is playing it, and will lay it. Even with the minor changes the game must go on. In American society you must go to school, k-12, and then you must go to college, and then you must get a job that pays as much money as possible. This is the way that the American system is presented. If one does not follow these guidelines, one cannot be successful (or have heavy corn after the harvest as is the case in “The Lottery”). In addition the villagers implicit need for the status quo to remain (i.e. using pieces form the old box to make the new box) can be characterized by the American body politic’s assertion that the more rigidly one follows the dogma of the system the better the system will work for them (i.e. old man Warner’s comment).
Another allegory can be found in the villager’s lightheartedness during the lottery. Jackson gives portrays the idea that this is just another part of life in the town and that no one really thinks that they will be the big winner. None of the characters really give hint to the macabre actions that are not only going to take place, but that have been prepared for so meticulously. They are about to stone someone from their own ranks yet none of them seems like this fazes them. The allegory can be seen in the way that the American body politic acts in concert to perpetuate the system of American capitalism knowing that the system itself and by it’s own nature creates a strata of social classes the lower of which could be called societies losers and the lottery’s winners. Tessie Hutchinson could be viewed as the proverbial proletariat. Whereas she was just as eager to be a part of the lottery as everyone else until it looked like she may be the one that won that day. This can be seen in American society in the way that an executive of a major company may want to be a part of the system that perpetuates someone being poor until his company goes belly up and all of the wealth that he thought that he had disappears, thus making him poor and the winner of the lottery. The logic behind the lottery and American capitalism is the same. There must be a loser of the economic game and a winner of the lottery.
When Tessie sees that it is bill that has pulled the omen-serving piece of paper, she begins to try and find ways out. She even goes as far as to try and bring her own daughter into the drawing so that she will have a better chance of living herself. This seems inconceivable in contemporary human society, but if examined closely, one can see that this allegory is not so far off. In examining American capitalism, citizens are rated by society as to how well they adhere to the systems dogma and this in turn is measured by ones success within the system. As examined earlier the executive, that perpetuates the system that ranks him higher socially than others that have not been served as well by the system, would not hesitate to fire employees, legally avoid payment of debts and the like in order to preserve his place in the hierarchy. But by firing and avoiding payment, isn’t the executive relegating other parts of his corporate “family” to lower economic levels of society. These people that are relegated to the lower levels, couldn’t they be considered to be the winners of the lottery.
“The Lottery’s” dark and morbid storyline, I think, is meant to leave one thinking about how this work applies to many levels and areas of society and the human psyche. Although my take on the work is one of a socio-economic theme, there are other ways to interpret the work. The points that I have outlined here are just a few major points intertwining the story of a small village with peculiar customs and the panoramic view that one can gain by stepping back and examining their society in a way that is critical and ultimately unforgiving.
Similar to the theme of “The Lottery” is the William Butler Yeats poem, “The Second Coming”. Yeats wrote “The Second Coming” in response to the failing class system of industrial era Britain. But, the poem could be seen to model the fall of many types of social systems that exist all over the world especially capitalism and its unavoidable decline.
Because of Yeats’ intended poetic response to the fall of Britain’s class system, the poem is fraught with the imagery of a failing system. The beginning of the poem starts,
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity (Yeats).
This can be seen, as we know Yeats’ intentions, to be speaking of the fall of the British class system, but one could also view this passage as alluding to the fall of capitalism. As seen in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, capitalism cannot go on forever. In her story it would not be out of the question for a “winner” of the lottery to not want to be stoned to death and run away or resist in some way. Once one person resists it would become easier for another to follow suit. The same goes for capitalism. Capitalist systems around the world had to deal with the communist revolutions that happened around the world in the mid-twentieth century because the innate human need to not “win” the lottery. As the fall of the class systems of Europe spread across the land, so did communism (the antithesis of capitalism) thirty years later.
Yeats’ poem can be seen, especially in the first part, to be speaking about the end of capitalism. The lines “Things fall apart, The centre cannot hold, Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” was specifically speaking about the inability of the system to survive ad infinitum (Yeats). This is true of all systems. The center truly can never hold forever. Just as the class system of industrial era Britain went, so must the capitalist system of the information age go.
From the stand point of Yeats, anarchy would logically follow the end of the ruling class system of Europe. In his opinion anarchy was the only alternative. If viewed as a challenge to the current shift in the global capitalist system, it would seem that “The Second Coming” is Yeats’ challenge to the shift in sensibilities across the world that has been ushered in, in part, by the internet and its provision of free and unfettered access to information. Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other free social and information sharing networks are changing the rules of this capitalist system. No longer are the keys to change held in the hands of the rich and the powerful. Today we are seeing the beginnings of a revolution. Without the help of major corporations, anyone can reach a global audience. The grassroots are being watered with the elixir of freedom. If one had to say whether Yeats would have had a Myspace, just from the information gleaned from this poem about his sensibilities, one could safely say no.
Yeats’ poem gives the impression that a new age is upon us. As he wrote “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”, he was saying that this age is at an end, and we must wonder what new beast is upon us (Yeats).
Separately, Dr. Suess’s work, “The Lorax”, is aimed at describing capitalism’s destruction of the environment. The Once-ler in the story can be said to take the guise of big business. As with Yeats’ “The Second Coming” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, “The Lorax” can be read in such a way that it describes a particular aspect of the world today.
“The Lorax” can be applied to the current green movement taking shape across the world. Although “The Lorax” was published in 1971, the ecological problems that plagued the world then still exist now. The current shift in the capitalist framework of society has allowed for the Lorax’s message to reach people in a much more profound way. The message of conservation delivered by “The Lorax” is finally being read. Conservation and efficiency are now the themes of the day. Society fears being the Once-ler; telling our story of regret and hoping for an unlikely yet better tomorrow. Society wants and understands the need for the Lorax to stay.
The three works analyzed here would not normally be juxtaposed against each other. All three have different themes. But the similarity that they all share is an applicability of their message to current issues. “The Lottery” asks us to, examine our insistence on participating in the current capitalist system. Why do we participate in this system of capitalism that perpetuates unreserved affluence for the upper class in exchange for the sheer poverty of the lower class? Does a person really need a 10,000 square foot home, while there are homeless masses roaming the streets? Does American capitalism even give that kind of prosperity to all that adhere closely to its tenets?
“The Second Coming” speaks of the end of that capitalist system and to the fear that many have of the system that will inevitably come to replace it. As the “blood dimmed tide” rolls in and ushers in a new age for which there is no name yet, how will society cope (Yeats). The system is not being forcibly changed, but is falling away revealing a new and shining system built for a new age.
“The Lorax” comments on the destructive nature of our current system. Destruction cannot go on forever, as the Once-ler learned. “The Lorax” is an example of how the current system cannot go on forever and highlights the theme of “The Second Coming”. Also “The Lorax” highlights the dangers that society faces as this new age is ushered in. The system will change; we must decide to change with it.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming”, and Dr. Suess’s “The Lorax” are all true to the overarching theme of today. Change is on the horizon and its coming cannot be stopped.
Works Cited
Gwynn, R.S. Literature: A Pocket Anthology. New York, NY: Penguin
Academics, 2006.
What is Petro-Dollar Recycling?
U.S. citizens are increasingly interested in United States Foreign Policy in the Middle East due to the conflicts there. A little known component of United States foreign policy in the Middle East is the concept of Petro-Dollar recycling. The concept is little known because it is difficult to understand in the context of just U.S. dollars. Understanding Petro-Dollars and the system within which they are used and recycled is essential to understanding some United States foreign policy decisions in the Middle East.
Petro-Dollars is the name given to revenue that Middle Eastern governments accrue through the sale of oil in an open market. The reason that Petro-Dollars are called Petro-Dollars and not “Petro-Euros”, “Petro-Rubles”, or even “Petro-Dinars” is that oil is sold in market economies solely for U.S. Dollars. Because of the vast oil reserves held in the middle east, vast amounts of cash are also held in reserve by Middle Eastern governments. Major amounts of cash reserves cause inflation, and these governments need to put this money somewhere else besides within their economies. The West in general and the United States in particular had the most stable markets after WWII and for this reason many middle eastern governments put their money in Western and specifically U.S. hands.
Banks in the United States are not immune to economic pressures. The weight of cash would cause the same inflation here that Middle Eastern governments were trying to avoid there. The solution to this problem lies in the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank. These two organizations provide lending to nations with the money that is stored in U.S. banks.
When these dollars are loaned to developing nations they are not loaned in the local currency but in U.S. dollars. These U.S. dollars (because they are the currency of the United States) eventually must be spent buying U.S. goods and services. These dollars are recycled back into the U.S. economy at a rate that is tied to the level of production that the United States can sustain at any given time. These loaned funds were loaned in order to buy infrastructure and through that infrastructure, create a demand for U.S. goods and services.
Petro-Dollars is the name given to revenue that Middle Eastern governments accrue through the sale of oil in an open market. The reason that Petro-Dollars are called Petro-Dollars and not “Petro-Euros”, “Petro-Rubles”, or even “Petro-Dinars” is that oil is sold in market economies solely for U.S. Dollars. Because of the vast oil reserves held in the middle east, vast amounts of cash are also held in reserve by Middle Eastern governments. Major amounts of cash reserves cause inflation, and these governments need to put this money somewhere else besides within their economies. The West in general and the United States in particular had the most stable markets after WWII and for this reason many middle eastern governments put their money in Western and specifically U.S. hands.
Banks in the United States are not immune to economic pressures. The weight of cash would cause the same inflation here that Middle Eastern governments were trying to avoid there. The solution to this problem lies in the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank. These two organizations provide lending to nations with the money that is stored in U.S. banks.
When these dollars are loaned to developing nations they are not loaned in the local currency but in U.S. dollars. These U.S. dollars (because they are the currency of the United States) eventually must be spent buying U.S. goods and services. These dollars are recycled back into the U.S. economy at a rate that is tied to the level of production that the United States can sustain at any given time. These loaned funds were loaned in order to buy infrastructure and through that infrastructure, create a demand for U.S. goods and services.
Album Review of Jay-Z's "The Blueprint III"
After releasing ten number one albums and retiring a total of three times Jay Z is back with The Blueprint III, the follow up to his 2002 album The Blueprint 2.
The album itself was executively produced by superstar producer and rapper Kanye West, and features rhythms by notable production team The Neptunes, multi-platinum selling producer and rapper Swizz Beatz and production legend Timbaland. The production on the album as compared to Jay-Z’s discography is fragmented though. Whereas his last offering, American Gangster, was the pinnacle of hip hop at the time, The Blueprint III lacks luster in comparison.That is not to say that the album is without merit. The track “Already Home” with its triumphant lyrics and its lush brass section competing with the striking string section will be a classic for many years to come. And, the first single “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)” was like a harbinger of change within the hip hop art form, challenging other rappers to produce better music or face the wrath of Jay-Z.
The song “Thank You” shines through the rest of the album as Jay-Z’s mission statement and a sign of change in how he creates his art. This song seems a treatise on his relationship to other rappers and to his audience; it’s thick horns rousing us to celebration.
The album itself, as compared to other offerings of the year, protrudes from the monotony and background noise that is today’s music industry to give us another chapter Jay-Z’s saga. The Blueprint III is essential to any Hip hop aficionado’s music collection and is a perfect introduction to the lyrical works of S.Carter.
The album itself was executively produced by superstar producer and rapper Kanye West, and features rhythms by notable production team The Neptunes, multi-platinum selling producer and rapper Swizz Beatz and production legend Timbaland. The production on the album as compared to Jay-Z’s discography is fragmented though. Whereas his last offering, American Gangster, was the pinnacle of hip hop at the time, The Blueprint III lacks luster in comparison.That is not to say that the album is without merit. The track “Already Home” with its triumphant lyrics and its lush brass section competing with the striking string section will be a classic for many years to come. And, the first single “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)” was like a harbinger of change within the hip hop art form, challenging other rappers to produce better music or face the wrath of Jay-Z.
The song “Thank You” shines through the rest of the album as Jay-Z’s mission statement and a sign of change in how he creates his art. This song seems a treatise on his relationship to other rappers and to his audience; it’s thick horns rousing us to celebration.
The album itself, as compared to other offerings of the year, protrudes from the monotony and background noise that is today’s music industry to give us another chapter Jay-Z’s saga. The Blueprint III is essential to any Hip hop aficionado’s music collection and is a perfect introduction to the lyrical works of S.Carter.
How Has Terrorism affected the American Idea of Justice?
The American justice system has changed in that it no longer seeks justice. One can examine this statement through three specific problems facing the American justice system; the American justice system’s support of torture, the Executive branches suspension of habeas corpus, and the Department of Justice’s support of the Executive branches suspension of habeas corpus. Although one could say that because it is part of the American ethos to be fair and just, today’s facts do not support, and to some extent contradict this statement.
Torture is against International and United States law. Article 17 of the third Geneva Convention states clearly that torture in any way shape or form of prisoners of war is illegal. “No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatsoever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind” (Third Geneva Convention). In addition the the Geneva Conventions, it is flatly against current federal law to torture also.
These things being said, it is quite apparent that the United States engages in torture. Torture as defined by the Convention Against Torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession….” (Human Rights Watch). As ABC reporters Brian Ross and Richard Esposito report that their “CIA sources described a list of six “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” instituted in mid-march 2002” (Ross, Esposito). These techniques included:
1. The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him.
2. Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at causing pain and triggering fear.
3. The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage.
4. Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are effective in yielding confessions.
5. The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with cold water.
6. Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.
The United States government calls these Enhanced Interrogation Techniques“ but as the Geneva Convention, and the Convention Against Torture describe them, they are forms of state sanctioned torture.
The newly confirmed United States Attorney General Michael Mukasey has a unique role in the debate on “Enhanced Interrogation” and torture. Michael Mukasey is the head of the justice department. He is who gets to say whether or not a law has been broken. During his senatorial confirmation hearings, and in response to the question “Is waterboarding torture?” coming from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, Attorney General Mukasey stated "I think it would be irresponsible of me to discuss particular techniques with which I am not familiar when there are people who are using coercive techniques and who are being authorized to use coercive techniques. And for me to say something that is going to put their careers or freedom at risk simply because I want to be congenial, I don't think it would be responsible of me to do that." This response to such a clear cut and “to-the-point” question sounds eerily like newspeak. He is basically saying that American officials may be using torture techniques, but he doesn’t want to get them or their superiors into trouble so he wont define torture at this time. This is illogical and unjust. This ethical philosophy would not have been viable ten years ago. This is not the America described in history books, but this is the America of today. This is just one way that terrorism has changed the American idea of justice.
Another way that terrorism has changed the American idea of justice is how Americans perceive due process. Habeas Corpus is the right to due process. It allows anyone accused of a crime the right to not only hear the charges against them, but to examine the evidence against them, and to defend themselves against that evidence in a court of law. The American constitution explicitly states, “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public safety may require it (US Const., art. 1, sec. 9).” This is the way in which justice has been viewed in America until recently. In 2006 the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was passed.
According to the ACLU the Military Commissions Act of 2006 suspends Habeas corpus for all non-US citizens (ACLU). Although this part of the act does not affect U.S. citizens the next part does. Under the act the President is bestowed with the power to designate anyone in the theatre of war an enemy combatant (ACLU). Under the Military Commissions Act (MCA) enemy combatants are not entitled to This status strips even American citizens of their right to Habeas Corpus. Without this right to Habeas Corpus all of your rights that you would be normally afforded under the
Works Cited
HumanRightsWatch.com. 1 June 2004. Human Rights Watch.
15 Nov 2007
Ross, Brian, Richard Esposito. “CIA’s Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described.” ABC News. 18 Nov. 2005. 15 Nov. 2007
Calabresi, Massimo. “Squeezing Mukasey on Torture.” Time in Partnership with CNN. 18 Nov. 2005. 30 Oct. 2007. <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1677612,00.html>.
ACLU.org. American Civil Liberties Union.
18 Nov. 2007
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