FEI #6

FEI Blog Post #6

Part One: Factual Question-What would Socialism in the United States be like?

 Socialism would be a system of economic and political democracy where individuals would have the right and obligation to structure their work lives through their own direct control. Americans social and economic conditions would facilitate the full development of human capacities through cooperation, democratic, equal, and participatory relationships.  Americans would gain cultural, emotional, and sensual fulfillment.

 (page 266)

Part Two: Evaluative Statement- I agree with the author’s stance on education. He says that socialist education is revolutionary education, in that administrators, teachers, and students need to have more control over what is being taught and how. (page 270) On page 268, the author writes that, “Democratic social relationships in production lead to highly motivated and productive workers, who will turn their creative powers toward the improvement of work.” This statement can reflect how a socialist classroom can work. When a school staff and students have more of a say in their education, it becomes more enjoyable and allows creativity to flow. I agree that for education to make this huge change we must recognize and the similarities between social relationships and economic life. Teachers need to teach students that work and personal development go hand in hand. Students learn through experience and the environment they grow up in. The author says that the teacher should not suppress an individual’s interests but nurture them. I agree with the author when he says, “The teacher must teach students the truth about our society; through demonstrating that alternatives superior to capitalism exist; through fighting racist, sexist, and other ideologies of privilege through criticizing and providing alternatives to a culture.”

(page 274) I relate to this comment. When I read it, it struck me. He is exactly right. I work in a very poverty stricken school where expectations for students aren’t held high and judgement is passed every day. And I will say that I have done it myself. But I need to start being that teacher that lets students know that they can be and do anything. I need to start teaching them about socialism when I start our classroom economy. I need to instill in each student that it doesn’t matter where they come from or what their situation is, they can become whatever they put their mind to. I need to instill this in them and use it as a guideline for classroom behavior and expectations. I would love to see our country’s educational system revolt for a Socialist education. Socialism is described as having full development of human capacities through cooperation, democratic, equal, and participatory relationships. People gain cultural, emotional, and sensual fulfillment. That to me sounds like an ideal classroom environment.

Part Three: Interpretive Question

What does the author mean when he talks about the process of human development is lost? (Pages 277-279)

 The author writes, “The institutions which govern the process of human development –families and schools as well as the workplace –have evolved historically in response to struggles among competing groups.” (Page 278) In my mind process of human development are basic needs, values, socialism, behaviors, and family. Is the author saying that our capitalist society has influenced that process of human development? The author then compares the school system to today’s working class people and their struggle to reach material wealth, class status, and capital. As I have been reading, I find it interesting that human development seems not to be changing but to include many more barriers than it ever has before. These barriers occur in school and work places due to high demand from government, state, and production rules and expectations.

FEI #4

Reading Capital Politically

Shope

Part 1_ Factual question

What is Capital?  I found that in chapter one page 86 states that, “In Marx’s view capital was above all a social relation, more specifically a social relation of struggle between the classes of bourgeois society: capitalist and working classes.” A definition of capital is: Accumulated wealth; being the seat of government; relating to or being assets that add to the long term net worth. (Merriam Webster Dictionary, Page 121) Also on page 87, it says that we can define Capital as; “we can define capital as a social system based on the imposition of work through the commodity-form.”

What is relative surplus-value strategy? Relative Surplus Strategy makes it possible for the wealth and hence the power of both capital and labour to grow absolutely: while the value of labour-power falls relative to surplus value thus raising profits, the absolute amount of use-values acquired by the working class can still rise.¹⁸ The changing relation between price and productivity. (Page 95)

Part 2_ Evaluative statement

 I agree and understand Marx’s idea of the relation between commodities and class struggle. It makes perfect sense that most people spend much of their lives working their life away just to get paid. That money is then spent on basic needs of life like food, shelter, and other commodities. In turn, we gain social wealth. If we do not work, our children and families are impacted negatively. Except for people on government assistance, we are all part of the capitalist class that creates and maintains an organized society of social control.  Our taxes also make it possible for people on government assistance to survive. (L) Thanks to our hard work, we are able to control the means of production in society. I found it interesting to learn that when women and children were no longer included in the labor-power, factories still needed the power and shift coverage. Human labor was replaced by machines and increase capital through a strategic plan forced by workers’ power. For some reason this doesn’t make sense to me. In my mind this would make me think that less people were able to make an income due to machines creating more product on their own. It does however make sense that the concern went from how much of the commodity will be made to the price of the commodity.  I can relate to the relative Surplus strategy referring to the cost of housing versus the price of minimum wage. These are interrelated in that on various areas the living cost is different based on many factors. Minimum wage must be correlated with these factors in order for people to live and help keep up the area business and other commodities.

Part 3_ Interpretive question-

What does Marx mean when he says, “the twofold character of labour ‘is the pivot on which a clear comprehension of Political Economy turns.”?  I believe that he means that the commodity form assisted in controlling the overuse of labor in our society. Or does Marx mean that character of labor (How we view labor and how we use it to capitalize) helps in controlling the fact that people are innovating and working smarter and not harder? We use many different machines to help make work more efficient and less back breaking in every form of production. Or is the way we better understand the consumer market and use it to monitor production?

FEI #3

The Role of Government in Education

Subsidize: A gift of public money to a private person or company. (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

Part 1_

How can government intervention in education be rationalized?  Government intervention can be rationalized by “neighborhood effects” and paternalistic concern for children and other irresponsible individuals. Neighborhood effects are things like: individuals influencing their peers, Individuals decisions reflecting large costs on others, or people not being able to compensate.

Part 2_

I agree that if parents were responsible for paying for children’s schooling would definitely equalize the social and private costs of have children and so promote a better distribution of family by size! I can relate to this idea because I work in inner city schooling system and feel as if there is no control or responsibility taken by parents in caring for the child or how many children they have. I see it every day. Everyone is related in one way or another. But then again there could be a negative effect.  Many of my students have extremely poor attendance. Although there are truancy rules and regulations, there are so many offenders in my school that they are rarely looked into. If parents were responsible for paying for their child’s education, many of my students wouldn’t even be enrolled in school. If education is not important to the parent, then education is not important to the child. With the school I work at being a 100% poverty school, most all families depend on government assistance. I read in the article that needy families would receive assistance. But maybe this idea of charging for schooling would just put more pressure on the middle class who are usually working the hardest to maintain economic freedom anyways. In the community where I work as a first grade teacher, many students will not be provided with meals for days when at home, but will always have a brand new pair of Jordan’s. Government assistance is great in some ways but seems to abused and unmonitored. But once again if these parents have to pay for their child to attend school, there may be more children going without an education. This article began by stating that a general education is vital in becoming a functioning member of our democratic society. So in turn, I feel as though this idea is great, it is also unrealistic in today’s world.  I also feel that “neighborhood effects” are very real.  Through parent expectations of education, taxes, religious preferences, social influences, and government involvement, neighborhood effects are still today all around us. As an educator, I do not feel that one type of schooling is better than the other. All people are influenced through their home life, experiences, and education and as long as each type of school embraces these things, than a child will be able to become a functional member of our democratic society.

Part 3_  When the author speaks about Technical Monopoly, He suggests that since transportation services have gotten better over time, this creates more equal opportunities for students to have more options in their schooling. On the other hand, there are situations where I work where there is no busing. Parents cannot afford a car and so their child who is in first grade has to take public transportation to school each day by themselves. This is very dangerous for a young child to do on their own. Technical Monopoly still exists and I know about it firsthand. The children who attend the school I work at have no other choice to go anywhere else because of their transportation needs as well as family size.