As we delve into the writings of Mr. John Dewey and Mr. Howard Zinn we notice a shared theme between the two authors, balance. However, both philosophers view the approach to reaching balance in different ways. In Zinn’s article The Uses of Scholarship, Zinn states that knowledge is a form of power. I find a great deal of truth in this statement. The presidential election of 2016 is on the rise. With that being said, even the most uninformed voter will elect the candidate he/she feels is the most knowledgeable to run our country, the candidate he/she feels is the most qualified to become the leader of our free world. Zinn writes that these people we elect in power, keep control by setting rules that are upheld by modern society. Zinn does not …show more content…
To correct the fatal flaw our society is experiencing, both authors have arranged a theory they believe to be the most efficient. Dewey believes there are two aspects to our society: play which correlates to a process oriented society and work which is a product driven society. Dewey says too much play leads to fooling and too much work leads to drudgery. We need to find a balance between the two; however, is this easier said than done? Zinn confesses that his idea for societal change is a revolution, a social revolution. The trouble is, our society does not know how to engage in such a revolution, especially when the majority of the population unconsciously believes nothing to be wrong with the operation of our society. In my opinion, the most feasible solution to correct our unbalanced society is to find a way to follow Dewey’s philosophy. Life cannot be all work and no play and vice versa. I find Zinn’s idea of a revolution to be farfetched.
After reading the essays written by two influential men of their time, I realized just that, they were influential men of their time. Things have changed since the 19th to early 20th century. I will say similar catastrophes are occurring in
At the end of the first article Zinn describes representative democracy as " a façade for a controlled society and barrier". I think that by this he is saying that creating a government where the leaders are chosen by the people, only gives a false sensation to the people that they are in control. A façade is defined as a superficial appearance of an illusion of something. When you relate this to a representative democracy, you can tell that Zinn is saying that the representative democracy is just a cover. This means that the central government really has all of the power in the end and that the people don 't have as much influence on the nation as they
America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on over glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride.
In chapter “The Other Civil War” of A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn described the underlying class tensions caused by industrialization during the nineteenth century. He claimed that these tensions would have led to radical labor reforms if the working class’s anger had not been directed towards other issues. Zinn used The Age of Enterprise by Thomas C. Cochran and William Miller to show the upper class’s indifference towards the problems of the lower class and to prove that the rich manipulated the poor to promote their own interests. He also used Class and Community by Alan Dawley to offer examples of working class resistance, government oppression, and the effects of the Civil War. While Zinn’s use of Class and Community accurately represents Dawley’s arguments, he misuses some of his evidence from The Age of Enterprise.
Zinn is always careful to avoid painting his prognostications with too broad of a brush. Zinn’s scrutiny of the issues between the rich and the ever increasing poor population continues today.
1. Zinn's purpose for writing A People's History of the United States is to write about American history from the viewpoint of the people, and not from the rich or the men that made the decisions, but from the people who lived through those decisions and whose lives were affected. His purpose is not to make the people who were in charge look bad, but to see what they did from all perspectives.
Taking a closer look at Zinn’s quote, the first provocative part begins when he states that America was not created as a symbol for democracy, freedom and the meshing of cultures; but rather it was created as large scheme for t...
The population in Equality’s society is taught to live for the betterment of their brothers and environment, rather than for themselves. The inhabitants of this society become very self-reliant on their brothers and society to think, feel, act and judge for them, consequently people’s opinions and decisions remain identical. Ayn Rand discusses how dependence affects innovators in another one of her novels, For The New Intellectual, “Men have been taught every precept that destroys the creator. Men have been taught dependance as a virtue” (Soul of an Individualist). This sentiment shows the effects of the Society’s dictation of dependence, it has removed any function of the ego and killed individual creativity . This form of dependence causes history to constantly repeat itself, making it
The world was hectic in the 20th century. The first plane was flown, World War I took place (1914-1918), communists took over Russia and China (1917), penicillin was discovered (1928), the U.S. stock market crashed (1929), and the DNA’s structure was discovered (. However, on the eastern side of the world, the most notable occurrences were probably Hitler’s rise as chancellor and his launching of the Kristallnacht, the German invasion of Poland, Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Holocaust. Further east, specifically Japan, its 124th Emperor had just inherited his father’s place, right before entering World War II.
Johnson wrote about Madison who was the most important individual to shape the Constitution. He also spoke about the fact that lawyers could basically control the poor, illiterate people and take all their money. Johnson wrote a lot about ratification and how the States had to ratify the constitution for it to become law. He also wrote about the voting rights of the people as well as the fact that only the privileged were able to do so. Additionally Johnson discussed how Christianity was a major part of the Constitution. He went further stating that religion was significant in the society. In contrast, Zinn stated that the Constitution should focus more on the order and building of the society rather than the ‘elites’ who wanted to maintain their status. Zinn wrote, “The Constitution, then, illustrates the complexity of the American system: that serves the interest of the wealthy elite” (pg. 99).This ultimately led to the division of the society between rich and poor. Zinn argued that the American Constitution is not neutral or for the people but rather for the government itself. He went further to discuss the fact that the Constitution only serves the wealthy, small property owners, middle class and so on. Zinn was more concerned about the fact that there was no balance, one party had more power and influence, which was the government over the
For over 300 years, historians, sociologists, psychologists and others continue to research and write about them to this day, and they continue to serve as a reminder of how politics, family squabbles, religion, economics and the imaginations and fears of people can yield tragic consequences.
"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both." -- James Madison ("Focus" 1)
John Dewey was a leading proponent of the American school of thought known as pragmatism. Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or proposition is true if it works satisfactorily. John Dewey was the third major figure in the classical pragmatist pantheon, whose wide-ranging writings had considerable impact on American intellectual life for a half-century (McDermid, D. 2017).
In today’s ever changing world people must adapt to change. If an organization wants to be successful or remain successful they must embrace change. This book helps us identify why people succeed and or fail at large scale change. A lot of companies have a problem with integrating change, The Heart of Change, outlines ways a company can integrate change. The text book Ivanceich’s Organizational Behavior and Kotter and Cohen’s The Heart of Change outlines how change can be a good thing within an organization. The Heart of Change introduces its readers to eight steps the authors feel are important in introducing a large scale organizational change. Today’s organizations have to deal with leadership change, change in the economy,
The late president John F. Kennedy once said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Although many may find comfort by endorsing conformity, some may disagree and think otherwise. President JFK highlighted his point of view by describing conformity as the enemy of a liberal and advanced society. In order to shed a better light onto conformity, we ought to ask ourselves questions like, why do most of us submit to the power of conformity? How does conformity shape our personal lives and our society? And most importantly the consequences that may reflect on our lives if we decided to go against conformity. In her poem, Emily Dickinson, “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” attempted to send a powerful message about conformity.
"Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. ... For every thing that is given something is taken." Emerson, "Self Reliance", p 169