Hello, my name is Enis Bektesevic, I am currently studying a course in Violence in American Art and culture at LaGuardia Community College. We've started out this course studying infamous violent riots that took place in America and now shifted to fiction novels, we are currently reading Caesar's Column by Ignatius Donnely which was published in 1891. This is an interesting science fiction story about a secret society that is trying to overthrow a corrupt American government and implant a system which is fair for all of mankind to enjoy.
As Gabriel theoretically discusses with his companion Maximilian about the way he would reform world business regulation, he comes up with many interesting and well thought out ideas. The one that really stuck out to me was when he says "I should establish a maximum beyond which no man could own property. I should not stop his accumulation when he had reached that point, for with many men accumulation is an instinct; but I should require him to invest the surplus, under the direction of board of management, in great works for the benefit of the classes." (63). This greed stifling regulation sounds promising and most importantly effective because it minimizes poverty by producing more valuable resources that also produce more jobs for people such as schools, orphans, libraries etc,. that provide a much needed lift for people in the lower classes. Imagine, having rich people being required to build Colleges with the extra money they have laying around. Even though this all sounds like the ethical thing to do, it seems to be absolutely ridiculous to ask any government to make this type of tweak to the existing system because the rich have so much say in terms of policies and regulations that shape the system of how businesses need to run. They would laugh at this very idea and make it seem like it is completely absurd and some how make convincing arguments against it.
Looking back at the Railroad riots of 1877, I try to picture how things would have unfolded if this kind of system was in play. Even if wage cuts would have still happened, Railroad workers would have some type of resources to fall back on to ease their loss in pay. Maybe the surplus would have been used for welfare that didn't exist at the time. Railroad owners would also be limited to own a specific amount of profit earning railroads, that would probably open more doors for other aspiring business men who are trying to climb up the ranks of their place in society. Business men would be known for how much they've contributed to the lower classes and not by how much wealth they have accumulated. Today, we usually say "wow, that person is so rich" but imagine saying "wow, that person did the most for mankind, God bless him/her."
Hello Enis!
ReplyDeleteThis blog is a great example of how it should be structured and what it should include. I was especially pleased that you keep the readers updated with the course instead of just focusing on the novel, this is something I will try to do in my blog posts more often. This is a great way to keep readers interactive with the course material and have them see the different connections that the materials in the class bring.
For instance, bringing back the railroad riots is a good tool to use in order to teach others about the class and the sorts of different materials that we are looking at. The plan that you elaborated on was well thought out for the poor’s particular situation. It sounded like that increase win businessmen you suggested could wipe out the poor and rich classes.
I would have liked to see more of your opinion applied to our economic situation now on the quote that you selected. The quote itself is very strong and mirrors a belief Gabriel has about a Utopia. The explanation only leaves me wondering wether or not you agree with this Utopia today although you agree it could work in present time. However, would you be willing to implement it if the decision was in your hands. The time period and amount of people today would make an entire difference on wether or not that plan could work today.I’m not trying to challenge you on this but these are questions as a reader that I would want answered because of . I can see my self having a long conversation centered around the type of government that this quote proposes.