YA Power!

I couldn't help but notice the correlation between "Borderlands/La Frontera" and the book I just finished reading for my Children's Lit. class, "Julie of the Wolves." Interestingly enough, the ideas presented in "Borderlands" matched almost word for word exactly to the themes of "Julie of the Wolves", a sixth grade level text. "Julie" is about an Eskimo girl who has runaway from her arranged marriage to live on the frozen tundra of Alaska while attempting to reach San Francisco. Oddly, aside from her efforts to win over the wolves and survive in the wild, at heart, Julie is struggling with her place in society, within her culture. She is caught between being "Julie" an American, and "Miyax", an Eskimo native. Just like in "Borderlands", Julie does not know which part of herself she should follow. Should she become Julie, and American, or should she stay true to her Eskimo roots. Adding to her struggle, her father raised her to be a true Eskimo, but then later in life, he has embraced the American lifestyle. Julie also struggles with language. Of course, she speaks both English and her native tongue, but she is unsure which language truly represents herself.

Welcome Exit from the Jungle

For this blog, I'm just going to go with a general stream of consciousness of my thoughts post "The Jungle" class discussion. Maybe some things I managed to express during class, while maybe others, not so much since I had to represent the child laborers in our in-class trial.

Let me start by being totally honest, I did not finish reading the book. Yes, I had read the book in the past, so I did know what I had missed on this re-read. But seriously, I just couldn't bring myself to go through the horrors of the story again. I didn't want to sit back and watch everyone die, slaughter animals, get hooked on drugs, and experience general life catastrophes, whether through limb loss, family loss, or general humanity loss. I just couldn't do it.

Like I said in my previous post, I don't eat ground meat for good reason. This story is horrifying. Seriously, it could easily be made into a kitchsy horror film.

OK, other topics, Marxism, Socialism, and the American Dream. Clearly, this book points out just how unattainable the American Dream really is, especially for immigrants. It's such a huge disservice we do be constantly touting the American Dream as a possibility for everyone. The fact is, without the general slaving masses, mostly new immigrants, no one would be able to reach the American Dream of home ownership, education for their children, and a 2 week vacation every year. Let's face it, Sinclair and Marx have a point, the system, Capitalism, is bad. It clearly keeps the poor, poor and the rich, rich. And as horrible as it is to say, without this system, there's no way I'm be in the situation I am in today. So I can complain away about the unjust treatment of the general masses, but really, aren't I just continuing the process by buying my cheap goods? Without the exploitation of the masses, there's no way I could live my comfortable lifestyle.

For the record, I've experimented with the Socialist lifestyle. I've lived on a Kibbutz in Israel, working in the dining hall, making breakfast and lunch for the farm in exchange for room and board. And it was great, for a time. But maintaining the lifestyle over my life, would just never work for me. I want to do more, sadly, own more, get out more. And I'm guessing, so does everyone else in the world. So even though I love to concept of Socialism, and it is my go-to choice for extreme governmental options, in reality, Capitalism suits my heart's desires.

Don't Eat the Hot Dogs

For this blog, I'm doing a bit of pre-writing about "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. I read this book when I was in the 8th grade. Based on my sketchy memories of the story, I'm guessing this book easily relates to Marx. Something to do with the man and the machine keeping the people down. Capitalism being a ploy to keep the poor, poor, and the rich, rich. I remember heaps of people living together in squalor. And the worst memory I have of the story, the scene after the kid has trudged to work, and his ear has frostbite, and it breaks off! Even worse, the floor manager, or some adult, picks the ear up and tossed it in the meat grinder! And people think I'm odd for not eating ground meat.