A Slow-Moving Holocaust

      

I found a fascinating article about an interview with David Simon, the creator of the HBO drama series The Wire. He talks to a panel about how the War on Drugs has affected the town of Baltimore. He argues the same position we discussed in class, which is that prisons are a convenient and profitable way to wipe crime off the streets.

        “Capitalism,” Simon said, “has tried to jail its way out of the problem” with the result that “the prison industry has been given over to capitalism. If we need to get rid of these people, we might as well make some money out of getting rid of them.”

This quote made me realize how much capitalism has permeated every facet of living. America's capitalist structure allows people to make money off of wars, prisons, and even certain ideas, such as catchphrases and art. 

The people who receive the most money from these business deals, however, are never the people you expect to benefit from capitalism. High-powered military contractors make huge sums of money off of creating weapons, while soldiers can hardly get benefits  when if they return from war. 

The title of this post comes from a controversial quote Simons said:
The war is about the disposal of what Simon called, in his most unforgiving but cogent term, “excess Americans”: once a labour force, but no longer of use to capitalism. He went so far as to call the war on drugs “a holocaust in slow motion”.

Do you agree with David Simon? Will we eventually see an entire set of America gone if we continue the war on drugs?

Shores of the North

Fellow American Studies student Jackson Hamilton recently blogged about this t shirt that was present at the Senior Project Fair:

 

While he pointed out some of the reasons this shirt was offensive in his blog, I want to see whether or not it was coincidence that this shirt was created at New Trier instead of another high school. It's no secret that the New Trier Township is one of the wealthiest areas in America. According to Businessweek, Winnetka is the 21st wealthiest town in America, and Kenilworth 4th, putting them well up in the 99th percentile of towns, or the 1% of wealthy towns. I believe that these statistics are key to understanding why a student would put this on a T Shirt. 

Another key image on this picture is that of the sailboat. Sailing and other water sports are very popular among New Trier students. This perhaps brings up another sign of social class: the proximity to large lakes and oceans. After all, our township is often called "The North Shore". Real estate almost always gets more expensive the closer you get to water. This is because Lake Michigan is a vast, beautiful body of water with fantastic beaches. Perhaps the sailboat shows that the "1%" can afford not just to live by the lake, but relax in it too.

The t shirt itself looks like the "New Trier Bubble" leaking into clothing. How many places could you wear this shirt and not get disgusted looks thrown at you in the street? The images show that being wealthy in America doesn't entail working day in and say out for a high income, it leads to a life of relaxation and partying, which isn't uncommon in our township.

What do you think of this shirt? What "1 Percent" behavior do you see on the North Shore?

"Destinations"

This Friday, the Seniors at New Trier enjoyed their last day of High School. Neon-dressed soon-to-be graduates paraded in the hallways as other students looked in awe and envy. Another item was making its way around the halls of New Trier: the annual New Trier News Destinations Issue. The two-page special shows all of the students who reported where they are going for college. They also gave facts for the most attended public and private institutions.

I know many people who are fascinated by this list (including myself). However, I know many more people who hate this list. Some of my junior friends say it's lists like these that give them such unhealthy stress; one day, they too will be on the list, and they need to study hard enough so other classmates don't look at the paper and say "Oh, he's going there...".

The editorial of the paper addressed the controversy over this issue.

"We simply can't understand how anyone could say this is a poor reflection of the News or New Trier as a whole...Ivy League schools, larger state universities, small liberal arts colleges, and community colleges are all represented". They also go on to say that this practice is very common, with parents adorning their children's colleges on their cars, and schools having days where students wear their college's clothing.

I think the Destinations Edition is a little different from the aforementioned examples. I've heard friends laugh as they look through the paper for the "Oaktons": Seniors attending Oakton Community College. Not only is this search mean-spirited, but it doesn't take into account the actual people themselves, just their names. These lists begin to take the personalities out of students and replace them with a overly-simplified name-to-college comparison.

Even the name itself is stressful. The word "Destination" shares the same root as "Destiny", which is defined as "The events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future". This implies that people's colleges are part of their fate, and thus part of their being.


Do you enjoy the destinations issue? What would you change? Have you found any interesting patterns or occurrences on this year's list? Let me know!

The Appearance of Wealth

A lot of the issues we've been dealing with in class revolve around the idea of self image. One way the Americans project an image of themselves is through fashion. Unless you blindfold yourself in the morning and randomly grab at a shirt and some pants, you construct yourself through your clothes and accessories.

"Fashion, like automobiles, is one of those social avatars we use to present ourselves to the world and, importantly, create the self we want to be." Forbes contributor Robert Passikoff states.(Link) 

So how does one project wealth with their clothing? When I went to Rogers Park for a charity benefit this weekend, I was surprised by the amount of gold chains and accessories I saw people wearing. Rogers Park is a less affluent area in Chicago, yet I saw many people proudly displaying precious metals on their person. 

In The Great Gatsby, the wealthy characters wore gold, but it was much more subtle. Even in the North Shore, you'd be hard pressed to find a wealthy individual whose visible gold wasn't confined to their watch. 

My theory as to why lower class people flaunt more luxurious accessories is because they want to project the image of wealth onto others. Richer individuals, however, would rather keep their assets more private, since they see it as rude to flaunt their wealth.

What other symbols of wealth do you see in fashion? Does your fashion reflect who you are, and how?

The University of Profit

May doesn't only bring flowers; a humongous field of college graduates entering the work force have just sprung. While some have internships and jobs secured for their post-college life, many college grads are stuck with massive amounts of debt and no job. While it's almost necessary for New Trier Students to enter higher education, many more people are afraid to enter college because of the massive loans and seamingly meager payout.

Because of this, many people turn to colleges that guarantee a higher chance of getting a job coming out of college. In March of 2010, over 500,000 people graduated from the University of Phoenix, a for-profit college stationed around America. For-profit colleges are changing the climate of college. Most people enter for-profit colleges looking for "useful" degrees that are sought out in the job marketplace. For-profit colleges run like a business, since their primary goal is to gain a profit. Because of this, congressional reports have torn apart many for-profit colleges because of their large tuition and seemingly low job promises.

While I've never heard on New Trier student ever showing interest in attending on of these colleges, many lower income families don't have information regarding the shadiness of some of these schools. University of Phoenix spent over $150 million in naming a football stadium after their school. They also produce countless television advertisements and print ads. Because of their aggressive marketing strategies, many people enter these school with the hope of earning a high salary at a good job, but leave with large loans that are difficult to pay back.


Do you see any potential in for-profit colleges? How would you change the educational climate to appeal to lower-income families?

What does our flag say about us?

Mr. O'Connor briefly mentioned his fascination of the American flag and where it's seen in everyday life. I am quite interested in the flag itself. We all know that the stars represent the fifty states, and the stripes represent the thirteen colonies, but how does the design of our flag resemble the American identity? A flag is the image one want to project out to the rest of the world as a symbolic representation of one's country and beliefs.

The stars on our flag are silvery white. As we've seen in the Great Gatsby (originally titled "Under The Red White and Blue"), white represents purity, or a sort of cleanliness. If this is the image America wants to project to the world, then we want all of our states to be uniform, neat, and purified. We've seen this attempt at purity in certain legislation to ban dirty behaviors like smoking and littering, as well as in dark historical events like segregation.

While the addition of Red probably represented bravery and passion, it also unknowingly represents another facet of American life and history. Red is almost always related to bloodshed, violence, and lust. America has taken part in a ludicrous amount of bloody wars since it was founded. People also come here seeking fame, wealth, and power, all of which are associated with lust.

Obscured by the fifty stars, the square of blue is the last color on the flag. Blue is a much more peaceful color than red or white, and commonly symbolizes water, the most important substance on earth. In the context of the flag, perhaps blue represents America's undying desire for freedom and justice. The blue surrounds the states, as if it's "washing" the stars. This is my favorite color on the flag, since it represents the best of America's intentions.


Did I miss any important connotations that our flag holds? Do you think that the colors could represent other things?

Preparing for The Mundane

All of the juniors at New Trier took the PSAE's a couple of weeks ago. This test included the ACT, and a section a little more unfamiliar to New Trier students. The "Reading for Information" test was the second part of the PSAE's, and focused on a much different set of skills than the ACT. Here is one of the sample questions the official website gives:

This was the format of most of the questions on this test as far as I can remember. What shocked me was that all of the questions were based on low-paying jobs which didn't require a college education. This was another reminder of the North Shore bubble that we live in; While New Trier students look forward to being doctors, lawyers, and scientists, most other students in Illinois are getting prepared by the state to feed into these menial jobs. 

If this test is being given to every kid in Illinois, and these tests dictate which schools get funding, then what does that say about our educational system? Instead of preparing its students for a path to success, Illinois uses this test to make sure that students are at least able to succeed at menial jobs. There can't be social mobility of our schools are already putting students into these scenarios.

 Do you think that these tests should be given to students, even if some high schools have low graduation and achievement rates? Is this test just a necessary bi product of under-performing schools?