Assignment 11/22

     "To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge--to convert our good words into good deeds--in a new alliance for progress--to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house."

This part of the speech basically speaks of how America is going to stay free from communist influences and they hope that the bordering countries will do so as well. It starts off with a peaceful enough beginning, however it continues to in a nicer or more washed out declare of war.  The way in which JFK presented it was as supporting those in need of help and a revolution for those who have suffered in the hands of poverty.  In this passage he seems to try and get the alliance of other countries in joining the United States' fight against communism.

This passage to me showed the way in which politicians romanticized war.  Though I think JFK was probably very passive about the whole ideal of war, he still supported the United States in this war of communism and capitalism.  He tried romanticizing this whole idea of wasting money and time on what he called a revolution.  However he contradicted himself, and even though the speech that he presented was very inspiring there was still a aggressive attitude.  He still had that mentality that if the United States didn't do anything, then the neighboring countries would soon convert to communist.  It's reasonable however to have that fear at that time, because even today there are remains if that same fear.  I thought this was a good passage because I felt that in parts he contradicted himself, which often politicians do.

Assignment 11/8

"The Poor law was an aid, not a menace, to capitalism, because it relieved industry of all social responsibility outside the contract of employment..."
Citizenship and Social Class by T.H. Marshall, page 4.

        This quote is basically explaining the idea of how the poor law, which had been a thing in England benefited the industry more than the people.  The Poor law in Marshall's view allowed the industry to rid themselves of social responsibility, in which he doesn't go into depth however one can guess as to why it gave an advantage to the capitalist system.  Capitalism has the Idea that whoever works more gains more.  With a small background knowledge of the "poor law" one can see as to why it gave aid to capitalism.  The first mention of poor laws in England was the movement in where the wage for laborers was raised due to the low amount of population in England, food prices were also lowered.  This served as an initiative to raise England's population therefore increasing the labor force; in it's way creating competition and aiding capitalism.  Though Marshall doesn't mention the depth and history of such laws, it is almost obvious how such laws aid the industry, even in our  society.  
 

        I chose this quote because i found it interesting that he would point this out.  In the United States a large fraction of the population tends to have the attitude that goes against the social standards.  It is a common trend to see young and even some older people have a negative view towards "the man", which often refers to the wealthy and or government.  Today's society recognizes the social inequalities that have been accumulating since the early years of the United States.  And so this quote I thought represented a very common view of many people in the U.S., that in no way is wrong.  I think that as people we expect the government to have the people's best interest, but that is often not the case.  Take for example higher education, it became a thing not because we thought it important to educate citizens for the sake of education, but because it was becoming a requirement for jobs.  It can even be seen today that people are going to college for the sake of being able to find a job in the further future, and so the roots of what we think to be social rights is in reality demands by the industry.  I think that this topic is in philosophical terms and issue, because in a sense we are not free and the industry has a larger power on us than we think.