In The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk, the world of 2048 has suffered a series of environmental, military and political disasters leaving much of the population dead and the planet destroyed. In San Francisco (Ecotopia) eco-feminists have created an egalitarian, environmental utopia based on a kind of ‘Pagan’ or Native American spirituality. There are five elements of air, fire, earth, water and spirit representing the true wealth of society “that no one can profit from individually” (274). There are shrines to the first four of these on a hill outside the city, where they are tended by the priestesses. One of their most important rituals is to leave offerings at these, such as feathers, rainwater, seeds and herbs, to emphasize the community’s link with the environment. There are no more airplanes or automobiles in Ecotopia, and all the city streets have become gardens and canals, with the energy coming from wind power and the economy based on local agriculture. They have more than enough to eat, unlike people in much of the rest of the world, and there is no oppression or inequality based on gender, color, religion or sexual orientation. At one time, they also exported high tech devices like audio-discs, widescreens and video players, but since their enemies, the Stewards “’cleaned up’ the industry, there’s nothing much anyone would want to watch” (104).
On the other side, the Southland around Los Angeles (Angel City) is run by a group of wealthy white men and large corporations called the Stewards. They practice a fundamentalist Christian religion, repression of women, and racial segregation and apartheid. It is basically a militaristic and fascist state with a huge underclass controlled by drugs and genetics that t...
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...eally got underway in his administration. Along with Richard Nixon, he deserves the credit for creating this New Right version of Southland Republicanism that has continued up to the present. If anything, the country is even more divided along these lines today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s. Ecoptopia, on the other hand, was a feminist, green society based on multiculturalism, alternative energy, belief in the Earth Goddess, psychic healing and pacifism, all of which really were prime targets of the New Right. In this novel, they were the good side while the forces of the Stewards had already led the world to destruction, so their main problem was how to combat the fascists and militarists without becoming like them.
WORKS CITED
Starhawk. The Fifth Sacred Thing. Bantam Books, 1983/1994.
WORKS CITED
Starhawk. The Fifth Sacred Thing. Bantam Books, 1983/1994.
The tone of Whitewashed Adobe delivers an ethnic and cultural history of Los Angeles. The author, William Deverell, indicates “Los Angeles has been the city of the future for a long time.” The book takes a revealing and harsh look at prejudice, political power and control in the early vision of 19th century Los Angeles and its surrounding communities. Deverell’s main interest is the economically, culturally and politically powerful Anglos and their view of ethnicity and race that enabled them to distance themselves from the Mexican people. Whitewashed Adobe’s six chapters illuminate how these men “appropriated, absorbed, and occasionally obliterated” Mexican sites and history in going forth with their vision for Los Angeles.
George Washington Plunkitt was a complicated politician from New York in the 1900’s. He had his own questionable way of seeing what’s right and what’s wrong. Plunkitt’s Ideas of right a wrong sometimes seemed to be off. However, some of his ideas about things that needed to be reformed were as true then as they are now. Plunkitt seemed to be a man that knew how to get what he wanted out of people with very little effort. From the perspective of an outsider this could make him hard to trust, but to people then this wasn’t a problem.
...ith this next statement: "The flexible hybrid of Capitalism and the welfare state pioneered in the United States had proven capable of military triumph over Germany, Italy, and Japan. Despite widespread fears and dark prophecies that the depression would return once the war was over, the economy weathered the transition away from the controlled economy of wartime with relative ease." The businessmen of the time continued to fight for conservatism even when liberalism seemed to be at its finest. This quote from the author made the businessmen of the day to once again seem as of they were out of though with the majority of society and were only seeking what benefit them and their bank accounts.
Through visiting La Plaza De Culturas Y Artes, I have learned a lot more interesting, yet, surprising new information about the Chicano history in California. For example, in the 1910’s and on the high immigration of Mexicans and other Chicanos, into coal mines and farms by major corporations, made California one of the richest states in the US. I also learned that most of California 's economy was heavily reliant on immigrants. Immigrants were the preferred worker for major corporations because they didn 't have American rights and were given the harder jobs for less pay.
Years ago, there was once a small town called Chaves Ravine within Los Angeles, California and this town was a poor rural community that was always full of life. Two hundred families, mostly Chicano families, were living here quite peacefully until the Housing Act of 1949 was passed. The Federal Housing Act of 1949 granted money to cities from the federal government to build public housing projects for the low income. Los Angeles was one of the first cities to receive the funds for project. Unfortunately, Chavez Ravine was one of the sites chosen for the housing project, so, to prepare for the construction work of the low-income apartments, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles had to convince the people of the ravine to leave, or forcibly oust them from their property. Since Chavez Ravine was to be used for public use, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles was able seize and buy Chavez Ravine from the property owners and evict whoever stayed behind with the help of Eminent Domain. The LA Housing Authority had told the inhabitants that low-income housing was to be built on the land, but, because of a sequence of events, the public housing project was never built there and instead Dodgers Stadium was built on Chavez Ravine. Although Chavez Ravine public housing project was the result of the goodwill and intent of the government, rather than helping the people Chavez Ravine with their promise of low-income housing, the project ended up destroying many of their lives because of those in opposition of the public housing project and government mismanagement.
In a country full of inequities and discriminations, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discriminations and hunger, and finally his decision of moving Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C Boyle illustrates similar experiences. In this book, the lives of two wealthy American citizens and two illegal immigrants collided. Delaney and Kyra were whites living in a pleasurable home, with the constant worry that Mexicans would disturb their peaceful, gated community. Candido and America, on the other hand, came to America to seek job opportunities and a home but ended up camping at a canyon, struggling even for cheapest form of life. They were prevented from any kind of opportunities because they were Mexicans. The differences between the skin colors of these two couples created the hugest gap between the two races. Despite the difficulties American and Candido went through, they never reached success like Wright did. However, something which links these two illegal immigrants and this African American together is their determination to strive for food and a better future. For discouraged minorities struggling in a society plagued with racism, their will to escape poverty often becomes their only motivation to survive, but can also acts as the push they need toward success.
Los Angeles is a place with a dynamic history. It has grown to be one of the most diverse cities in the world as a whole. Despite the diversity for which it is known for, the city has always had a striving conflict due to racial and class tension. The social stratification of its past continues to take its toll as dividing lines persist in contemporary Los Angeles. Furthermore, these dividing lines redefine place in Los Angeles, whether geographically or personally, to be subject to race and class. Fluidity has become evident recently however it is more common for the identity of people to be fixed in society. Through the novel Southland, by Nina Revoyr, and various means of academic sources, one is further able to explore the subject of race, place, and reinvention in Los Angeles.
Rituals are held as a very important part of any society, including ours. They go back to ancient times or can be as simple as maintaining one’s hygiene. Non-western societies have rituals that may seem very foreign to us, but they have been engrained in their communities and are essential to their social structure. This interpretation will focus on the Great Pilgrimage, a ritual performed by Quechuan communities. We will be looking specifically at a community in the area of Sonqo.
Los Angeles, California is often seen as the city of dreams. Hollywood paints the picture of Los Angeles as a place of endless possibilities. Los Angeles is also thought as the city where dreamers can come with nothing in their pocket and become an over night success story. Many Americans and immigrants come to Los Angeles with the same dream of success. In The Tattooed Soldier Tobar describes how this fictionalized “American dream” version of the Los Angeles affects immigrants. In the novel Tobar followed two Guatemalan immigrants Antonio and Longeria who live very different lifestyles in their home country and in America. Los Angeles seemed to be the land of dreams and promise to both characters, however; Los Angeles becomes a place of harsh reality for Antonio and Longeria. In the novel we watch how Antonio and Longeria adjust to the struggles of being immigrants in Los Angeles, , and what makes man a man.
The research of these two authors has essentially broken past standards, presenting a challenge to historians and sociologists. The challenge being, to find the reason why Californians, a multi-ethnic peoples with multi-ethnic areas of population, continue to hold race as a prevalent indicator of socio- economic variables and social problems. This is the critical thinking that Almaguer and Molina present in their works, driving the interest and study of sociology. The new school of thought is why race continues to
The flatlands are Oakland’s poorest districts, not surprisingly associated with crime and drugs. Rios explains that although the youth he is studying are in one of the country’s most dangerous cities, most of the boys in this area live productive lives. “I argue that criminalization is embedded in Oakland’s social order, that it is a fabric of everyday life… developed a powerful youth control complex…” (pg. 27). He believes that youth in Oakland are being criminalized racially, and being further labeled as deviants with the national advents of social control (mass incarcerations). The “collateral consequences” of criminalization was found to be worse for Black’s, but both groups understood the punitive social control as a collective
Throughout his tenure as a civil servant, Theodore Roosevelt perpetually involved himself in matters of reform. Well read and well traveled, Roosevelt expressed his wide array of political thought out of experience as well as an underlying desire to see the United States establish itself as a world power under the ideals of a democratic republica wolf amongst sheep on the world scene. The nation's twenty-sixth president laid the framework for foreign policy as we know it. He pressed reform amongst big business, and rallied for the rights of the laborer. Conservationism as well as environmental protection and preservation became issues at the forefront of Teddy's agenda. Another vital contribution to American political thought was Roosevelt's idea of the "New Nationalism," an analysis of American society and the roles which government and individuals ought to play. Theodore Roosevelt's progressive attitude, adherence to a strong moral basis, and genuine concern for his fellow countrymen all define him as a quintessential American political thinker.
From its origin, California has idealized to be the place which provided hope and a future for all ethnicities. Pervasive discrimination and prejudice flourished in the south, which led racialized groups and immigrants to head to this west coast state with the help of the transcontinental railroad and appeal of the gold rush. However, the white supremacy sentiment was not entirely left behind, as the white anglo-christian pushed to differentiate themselves from those who were “uncivilized and heathen” (Almaguer, 8). The definition whiteness was entirely subjective as public opinion continually changed from the 19th to 20th century. At one point, a Mexican could would possess more whiteness than a black based on skin color, even though the latter was an assimilated citizen with Christian values. Although diversity is typically seen as a positive reform, whites felt an entitlement of superiority. They decreased the progress of racial liberalism that progressed towards equal opportunity and dismantling of legalized segregation. Underlying the concept that race was socially constructed, racialized groups were placed into an hierarchy with an imbalance of power given to Caucasians and injustices for minorities. The influence of small political parties and popular sentiment on large scale legislation was the key power in the creation of ubiquitous segregation in California. Despite the unjust ordinances against racialized groups, community organizations aided individuals in fighting the structural barriers that kept them subordinate.
...ts had a liberal mindset by viewing the capitalistic society with mistrust as they held great power among the nation.
The prime example of their success is Ronald Reagan with his mix of conservatism and populism. Rhetoric about morality, freedom and responsibility now resonated in new ways with increasing numbers of white middle-class Americans who were concerned with social changes and the threat to their privileges. Even during the Watts Riots, Reagan landed the 1966 campaign for California Governor. But, conservatives did not ease up on their utter disdain for communism. And it highlights a core aspect of McGirr’s argument: she observes how conservatism pits a white-collar middle class against communism and its sinister plots of