I originally started this blog for a class, but I figured that i'd take it to the next level and add in life AFTER graduation. I was a Washingtonian for a while, but i've come back to Hawai'i once again :) #GoCougs
The documentary “Mardi Gras Made in China” was heart breaking, and a huge eye opener to the different jobs we continually outsource to poorer more unfortunate countries that will cheaply manufacture our goods so that we, as a capitalist society, will profit off of their hard labor. That really sucks. It was sad to know that these girls all sacrificed their educations and childhoods so they could earn some money to support their families in unfortunate neighborhoods and towns far away.
When the partiers in New Orleans were asked where they believed the beads came from, some of them didn’t seem like they cared, and others didn’t seem like they knew (probably because they were incoherent and intoxicated). But, when you put some thought into it, you realize that all of their hard work and hours of laboring over machines in sweat shop factories goes to waste as these beads get thrown away at the end of the night.
Many of these Chinese workers were in disbelief when they found out what people celebrating Mardi Gras would do to get some of those worthless plastic beads. But from this disbelief, we see the cultural separation of norms; how Chinese workers find no use or worth to them, but Mardi Gras goers end up doing provocative things just to get them, and will devote hundreds of dollars into these plastic beads that often get thrown away at the end of the night.
The other day, I walked past the Dollar Store as I went to Ace Hardware. I walked around and found some Mardi Gras beads, and I thought back to how many things in that store were probably also made in China, or other countries that we outsource to, just for cheaper goods. It made me realize the true meaning of capitalism, and how life is really unfair.
It always just makes me second-guess what I buy and find out where they’re from, just out of plain curiosity.
I thought this was a good representative of the truth behind majority of the products:
[Warning: The lateness of this blog actually benefits the content that will be discussed. Also, you never saw this disclaimer, AND, it’s not late. Woosah.] (waves magic hands and everything disappears)
Just kidding. On my drive from Pullman to Seattle for spring break, I noticed a couple of things. I noticed the different cars that passed, the trucks that were delivering freights in bulk, and the “businesses” that I drove past as I made my way down to lovely urbanization.
Things like: Walmart, Toyota, McDonald’s, Nissan, Snoqualmie Casino, Northface, Go Cougs, and a whole bunch of other logos stuck out in my mind as I wandered aimlessly looking to satisfy my needs of exploration, escaping from rural Pullman, and finding free parking downtown (one of the hardest feats, if you ask me) 😛 Our lives are filled every single day with some type of logo-ism. From what we wear, to what we eat, to where we go, logos and brands are EVERYWHERE. Literally, huge emphasis on EVERYWHERE.
Imagine now, if they were all removed from our lives, and we had to live with generic stuff, and fillers for all of these? Would the quality be better? Would it be worse? Would it lack anything? I wonder that, and honestly, I don’t think i’d want to eat something like an “imitation cheeseburger from McDonald’s.” That not only sounds disgusting AND unappealing, but, c’mon, how much more artificial can you get?! [I haven’t had fast food in almost 3 months, bear with me here].
I agree with Klein – branding IS everywhere, it’s an essential part of our lives, and it makes us vulnerable and susceptible to what we believe our needs and desires are. If I didn’t see a billboard advertising the casinos on my way to Seattle, I wouldn’t have even known they existed. The same thing applies to commercials and advertisements. We’re told that true athletes drink Gatorade, and those that want the curvaceous/sculpted bodies all partake in Nike’s campaign to “Just Do It” (random fact, by the way: Nike got it’s slogan of “Just Do It” from a prisoner on Death Row who wanted his punishment over with).
I guess the overall point of my rant/tangent kind of goes back to all of this and what we’re surrounded with on a daily basis = that is, that we cannot escape branding. As I type this, I’m adorning a pair of Adidas shorts, Dolce & Gabana eye glasses, and a Billabong t-shirt. See? Branding can be everywhere. And that’s the point of it; to spread and spread until we don’t realize we’re even wearing it.
According to the article, I found it interesting that many American youth are affected by institutional influences… We’re all practically screwed. Yup, I said it: SCREWED. It doesn’t really seem like these institutions are helping us, even though they’re supposed to get us ahead in life.
Take for instance, student loans for pursuing higher education. Many younger adults are knee high or more in debt as they pursue their degrees and come out with pieces of paper that certify the worth of what they’ve learned in four years or more. What about “No Child Left Behind?” That’s screwed us over too; no student learns at the same pace as their fellow students, but we know that it’s working toward making every student equal in the eyes of the law.
Well, hold up right there! Although yes, students are all equal, some may need more attention, care, or must be approached differently BEFORE they can be integrated with other students in the same classroom. Institutions may seem like they mean no harm, but they do more harm than good. Tying this in with the amount of education an individual receives, we label people as ‘educated’ or ‘uneducated’ simply because they don’t make it past a certain level of schooling. Why does that matter?
It’s because institutions train us to think that way. If you look at all of the infamous individuals throughout life that we’ve encountered so far, like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and other success stories, they’ve made it farther than we ever could without college degrees or technical training. Life isn’t like that anymore – we need those skills, education, and experiences that they lacked. It gets even worse when we take an arm and a leg in costs to have to get it.
I agree with the article, in that I know that it’s disappointing to come to the realization that institutions affect us so much, and that we need to make more of an effort to satisfy institutionalized requirements in our lives.
The culture industry manages to manipulate society in different ways. As we go through our every day lives, both in education and professionalism, we know that it can affect us in positive and negative ways. We live our daily lives influenced by manipulation; what we want to think conflicts with what our professors and instructors WANT us to think, and what we read online may sometimes conflict or complement what we read in our textbooks.
I understand that marxism and capitalism are what hold our society together, but maybe we’re putting too much emphasis/reliance on it. We’re living in a world where we find it okay for different individuals to be categorized by socioeconomic classes, where they live, how much money their parents make, and the amount or type of education they receive. That doesn’t really seem fair.
I utilize a lot of social networking sites; when i’m not stuck studying for hours on end, or working my butt off at my two jobs, I like to indulge by mindlessly spending time on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. Thank goodness that I don’t have a smartphone, but i’ve got a tablet, so i’m still guilty of spending time away from classes or work just scrolling away on these sites.
I feel like there’s always a “privileged” group of individuals, regardless of where we are both environmentally and mentally. As a student mentor for the Office of Multicultural Student Services here at WSU, i’ve had my fair share of questions from ethnic students and white students alike. The fourth floor of the CUB does indeed, exist. So here’s my little spoof of what MSS does: We strive to retain first-year freshmen and transfer multicultural students with the ultimate goal of graduation, while successfully transitioning them into a university setting. Many of the students that i’ve mentored were of first generation, lower SES/income backgrounds; when I explain my job to white students, they normally give this response:
“Well, that’s stupid. Why’re there mentors and student centers for multicultural kids? That’s racist – there should be centers for everybody.”
If you haven’t noticed, Pullman and WSU’s entire campus make-up in general has been predominantly white. It’s more difficult to bring multiethnic students here because we’re more prone to… failure. It’s sad, but true. White students gain a lot of benefits while being here; they’ve got the majority of the numbers of campus population, they don’t have to fight language barriers, and they also come from higher income families. I’ve had a multitude of friends (all minority backgrounds), that have had to move home because they couldn’t afford the cost of tuition here, or have had bouts of homesickness so bad that they couldn’t stand it.
Whites don’t realize the privileges they are really given; the nation’s founding fathers strived off of having black slaves working on their plantations, raising their children, and cooking for their families. They don’t have to undergo scrutiny, aren’t placed under a glass ceiling, and are more apt to have higher paying positions in the workforce. The current state of the nation has thrived with the working and labor classes being filled with minority citizens that are willing to take lower paying positions simply because they need the money. Whites don’t have to fear for being found as illegal citizens and being deported back, they don’t get pulled over for looking suspicious, and they don’t have to listen to racist remarks being thrown at their face.
This kind of ties in with the stereotypes associated with race. I for one, have been scrutinized multiple times over what ethnicity I associated with. Because I was pretty dark for a Korean girl, people actually thought I was Filipino or Mexican, even. I blended in pretty well with the majority population of my friends that I grew up with; Filipinos. However, in my freshman year of high school, I was thrown out of a Macy’s in Washington, DC during a class trip because I was followed by an associate that believed I was going to steal something from the store because I was Mexican. Looking back at my senior year of high school (as pictured below), yes, I was pretty dark for a Korean female (typically skinny/lighter skin toned), but it didn’t matter to me because I was happy playing Tennis for every single day for four years under the bright sunny Hawaiian skies.
I’m hoping I didn’t get skin cancer from being that dark 😛 But anyway. Redirecting my focus. I got thrown out of a Macy’s store because I was accused of being Mexican. You can bet that I complained and of course, got justice, however, we have to look at the underlying question: Would a white person have gotten put into the same situation as myself? No.
Referring back to McIntosh’s post, she had many situations where she realized that she was privileged as a white woman. However, what about those that are gay or homosexual? Looking at this video, we can see how your average, everyday people are being scrutinized in public and no one ever does anything to help. Straight individuals are not judged or placed under a microscope for being in love, but as we can see from this video, homosexuals have to undergo these feelings everyday.
We all do not truly realize the benefits we have of being alive and because we’re all so different. Whites don’t get chased after on the street, don’t get labeled as instant criminals, and don’t get kicked out of Macy’s for concerns of being a robber. And so, I leave you with these two videos.
I originally started this blog for a class, but I figured that i'd take it to the next level and add in life AFTER graduation. I was a Washingtonian for a while, but i've come back to Hawai'i once again :) #GoCougs
@Yooojin09 