thoughts on fast food, Malcolm X, and 1984
Well I'm going to do a little post of what I got out of some of the books I finished recently. What good is a book if you don't share with other people some of what you learned.
First, there was 1984. This story was written by someone who had been disheartened by how the communist revolution turned out in Russia. Communism was supposed to be a collective effort to make everyone basically on the same social level. Unfortnately, the leaders used it as a chance to gain more and more power for themselves by controlling all of the people who were supposed to be on the same level. The author wrote 1984 about how far removed from its socialist beginnings this society could ultimately become in the future. The funny thing about this book is the basic principles of mind control used to keep the peons in order are basically being used by the current Bush administration. The leader in the book, or "Big Brother" would insight mindless loyalty and boistrous nationalism in the party members by completely dumbing them with false rhetoric and filling them with fake stories of how great things were going in the "war"and how much better they were than other people (e.g., mexicans for modern times). The thing the book really pointed out to me is how important it is for people to speak out even if they think they are the only person who sees something that is right/wrong with the world. The main character keeps repeating to himself, "sanity is not statistical."
Another one I read is "Fast Food Nation." This is a great book for the argument of vegetarianism as it goes into the terrible realities of the meat packing industy and their typical immigrant employees. Can you imagine the mental and moral vacuousness required for sitting on an assembly line all day with a hydrolic bolt gun that fires into the skull of a live animal? No one should have to endure that! The main thing I took from this book is that ultimately, businesses, even HUGE businesses like mcdonalds (or wal mart), will cater to WHATEVER the customers demand. We as the consumers could require all natural/organic/cruelty-free food from these restaurants if we weren't so caught up in saving a buck. Instead of electing officials that give these mass businesses tax breaks for raising the minimum wage, or give them immunity from USDA inspections, we should be REQUIRING that every possible precaution be taken to ensure the safest, most wholesome food possible, that doesn't take advantage of the poor and the young, even if it means spending a little more money.
Another one i read is the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Before this book, I know i wasn't racist, but I had practially zero empathy for what african americans have to go through on a daily basis. And yes, i mean even currently. I mean think, our black friends' parents were the ones being called "boys" and being talked down to as some sort of sub-human and now many people think that they don't deserve to act like white people owe them something. A lot of people might think, "hey, they just have to blend with american culture and everything will be fine for them." But they shouldn't have to blend, this country is about celebrating everyone's individualism in a collective environment. Black people have been subjected to all sorts of forced cultural assimilation that they shouldn't have to endure. They shouldn't be expected to look like us, practice our religions, or even act like white people. Malcolm X talks about how ridiculous it is that even he thought that having straight hair, lighter skin and a white girlfriend were positive things for black people. It took him a while to realize that everyone should know they are beautiful just how they are and should celebrate the differences.
I guess in all of these books I realized how terrible and dangerous institutionalized thought can be. Whole societies can be brain-washed into a certain frame of mind that is completely erroneous and harmful. It takes the free-thinkers to stand up and point out a socities flaws for what they are. No one can stand up for everything, but just trying to make ANY difference or standing against any injustice is doing your part and is entirely necessary to further a civilization. Everyone needs to realize that nothing that seems permittable now is entirely correct, everything should be questioned. Don't give polite chuckles to racist jokes, don't allow your money to go to businesses that exploit humans and animals as if they were a machine or means of production just to save some money, don't let your congressmen get away with voting for something you don't believe in, and most of all, don't resign yourself to just riding the waves because you think that the world can't change or that you can't change the world.
If ALL of us young people do just a few simple things for a better world, change will become unavoidable. Society will finally realize it's wrong thinking and see that its time for a change.
I posted this on my myspace page, but this is just in case you didn't catch it there.
First, there was 1984. This story was written by someone who had been disheartened by how the communist revolution turned out in Russia. Communism was supposed to be a collective effort to make everyone basically on the same social level. Unfortnately, the leaders used it as a chance to gain more and more power for themselves by controlling all of the people who were supposed to be on the same level. The author wrote 1984 about how far removed from its socialist beginnings this society could ultimately become in the future. The funny thing about this book is the basic principles of mind control used to keep the peons in order are basically being used by the current Bush administration. The leader in the book, or "Big Brother" would insight mindless loyalty and boistrous nationalism in the party members by completely dumbing them with false rhetoric and filling them with fake stories of how great things were going in the "war"and how much better they were than other people (e.g., mexicans for modern times). The thing the book really pointed out to me is how important it is for people to speak out even if they think they are the only person who sees something that is right/wrong with the world. The main character keeps repeating to himself, "sanity is not statistical."
Another one I read is "Fast Food Nation." This is a great book for the argument of vegetarianism as it goes into the terrible realities of the meat packing industy and their typical immigrant employees. Can you imagine the mental and moral vacuousness required for sitting on an assembly line all day with a hydrolic bolt gun that fires into the skull of a live animal? No one should have to endure that! The main thing I took from this book is that ultimately, businesses, even HUGE businesses like mcdonalds (or wal mart), will cater to WHATEVER the customers demand. We as the consumers could require all natural/organic/cruelty-free food from these restaurants if we weren't so caught up in saving a buck. Instead of electing officials that give these mass businesses tax breaks for raising the minimum wage, or give them immunity from USDA inspections, we should be REQUIRING that every possible precaution be taken to ensure the safest, most wholesome food possible, that doesn't take advantage of the poor and the young, even if it means spending a little more money.
Another one i read is the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Before this book, I know i wasn't racist, but I had practially zero empathy for what african americans have to go through on a daily basis. And yes, i mean even currently. I mean think, our black friends' parents were the ones being called "boys" and being talked down to as some sort of sub-human and now many people think that they don't deserve to act like white people owe them something. A lot of people might think, "hey, they just have to blend with american culture and everything will be fine for them." But they shouldn't have to blend, this country is about celebrating everyone's individualism in a collective environment. Black people have been subjected to all sorts of forced cultural assimilation that they shouldn't have to endure. They shouldn't be expected to look like us, practice our religions, or even act like white people. Malcolm X talks about how ridiculous it is that even he thought that having straight hair, lighter skin and a white girlfriend were positive things for black people. It took him a while to realize that everyone should know they are beautiful just how they are and should celebrate the differences.
I guess in all of these books I realized how terrible and dangerous institutionalized thought can be. Whole societies can be brain-washed into a certain frame of mind that is completely erroneous and harmful. It takes the free-thinkers to stand up and point out a socities flaws for what they are. No one can stand up for everything, but just trying to make ANY difference or standing against any injustice is doing your part and is entirely necessary to further a civilization. Everyone needs to realize that nothing that seems permittable now is entirely correct, everything should be questioned. Don't give polite chuckles to racist jokes, don't allow your money to go to businesses that exploit humans and animals as if they were a machine or means of production just to save some money, don't let your congressmen get away with voting for something you don't believe in, and most of all, don't resign yourself to just riding the waves because you think that the world can't change or that you can't change the world.
If ALL of us young people do just a few simple things for a better world, change will become unavoidable. Society will finally realize it's wrong thinking and see that its time for a change.
I posted this on my myspace page, but this is just in case you didn't catch it there.