Shift happens

The Shift Happens video presents a lot of staggering facts and predictions that are difficult to take in all at once, but that individually challenge one to think in larger, more global terms than normal. I found the population facts about China and India especially surprising, especially when comparing these numbers to the U.S. numbers. It is obvious from these populations shifts and from much of our material this semester that global dynamics will be changing in huge ways. Many Americans assume that the U.S. will always be THE global superpower, but, as we have learned, we are already losing jobs to China, and there is a trade deficit that favors China. With the capabilities that the Chinese (and other countries) are developing in the realms of technology and manpower, the U.S. will soon be ousted from their top position. This is scary to think about, in terms of democracy and human rights. Currently, the U.S. has a lot of power in what is happening in other countries as well as our own, and if China were to gain control of this power, with their track record of suppression of their own people, it is frightening to think of the implications this has on the rest of the world.

Urban/Suburban/Rural Life

I lived in the suburbs between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, for the majority of my life, from the time I was 2 until I moved out of my parents' house and went to college. The suburbs that I lived in were very typical in the way that the book describes the suburbs. Most of our neighbors were also white and middle class.

When I went to college at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, I was exposed to different types of people, though many were still from areas similar to where I was from. There were also people from very small towns and a few people from bigger cities. College Station is mainly a college town, as one would assume from the name, and though it is expanding quickly, it still has a very small-town feel. There are bigger cities within driving distance, such as Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, but many of the permanent residents of College Station enjoy living in a smaller community.

After college, I lived in Okinawa, Japan, on a U.S. military base for four years, where I was able to travel quite a bit to different parts of Asia. I got to see many different living situations in other countries, and it was interesting to compare these countries to what I was familiar with. I traveled to some of the bigger cities in mainland Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Nagasaki, etc, and comparing these cities with big cities in other countries like China, the Philippines, Thailand, and even Europe and the U.S. was interesting in that Japanese big cities seem very different from other countries' big cities. In Japan, most people dress professionally in public and things are much more organized and clean than in other countries that I've been to. I found South Korean cities to be similar to Japan in this way.

Now that I am back in the states, I definitely miss some things about Japan, especially when I go to the big cities here in the U.S. The courtesy and customer service in Japan could not be matched, and this is seen even in simple exchanges on the streets and on the subway systems, which I think go against what is usually assumed about large cities.

Power in Democracy

After reading the text, I have to agree with C. Wright Mills' theory about the power elite. Clearly, the effects of globalization have included the conglomeration of businesses into large corporations who have most of the control of the economy. In America, it seems that these corporations have most of the influence in the political realm and are gaining even more influence. The book comments about how the government is losing control over processes that are involved in the increasingly global economy, also called the legitimation crisis. It seems that the government cannot control large corporations and also doesn't have enough money available to help counter the effects of corporations' decisions to save money by moving their production plants to countries with cheaper labor. Because of this, people are losing faith in the government. The large corporations monetarily support the few powerful elite politicians who support policies that contribute to the corporations.

Is Walmart Good for America?

After watching the Frontline video on Walmart, I would have to say that the video itself was definitely biased on the question. I think that the video was obviously anti-Walmart and tried to convince viewers that Walmart is bad for America. That being said, I do agree with most of the video's portrayal of opinions, in that I think that Walmart is definitely good for China but bad for America. I think that Walmart is good for those people whose jobs and incomes are not affected by Walmart, but that Walmart's influence is increasing, and that more and more people are being affected.

The low cost of products is good for the American people, but the low wages for Walmart employees and the decrease in available jobs that is a product of Walmart's policy are not good at all. The decrease in income for these people creates a cycle where they are almost forced to shop at Walmart because of the low prices, but then they are supporting the very force that has caused them to be in a low income situation. I don't know if this is something that Walmart does on purpose or not. It reminds me, in a way, of the Fordism policy of raising wages so that people can afford to purchase the products that they are producing. However, it is backwards, because low wages force people to shop at Walmart in order to save money.

I think that part of the influence that Walmart has had is increasing consumerism in America. Many Americans cannot afford the lifestyles to which they have become accustomed, and credit card debt, along with other debt, is a huge problem. Walmart makes some of this consumerism possible for people, and keeps people expecting to be able to make purchases and have things that they do not necessarily want.

The U.S. trade deficit with China is disturbing. The U.S. is being forced into the role of a periphery country in its relationship with China, who is more like a core country in the relationship. The U.S. is exporting raw materials to China and importing finished products from China. We are becoming more and more dependent on China for cheap products that we cannot compete with.

I disagree with the viewpoint of the economist on the video who said that Walmart allows consumers to spend more money in other parts of the economy because they spend less at Walmart and then have extra money to spend elsewhere. I think that the more that people shop at Walmart, the more dependent they become on Walmart for the prices that they find there and realize that they are unable to afford to shop elsewhere. This is what capitalism is all about, finding the best price and having manufacturers compete for consumers' money, but when there are unfair practices going on in other countries like China that don't allow the U.S. to compete, such as unsafe working conditions, Chinese government subsidies, etc. capitalism cannot overcome like it should in theory.

Domestic Division of Labor

After filling out the chart, I wasn't too surprised by any of the results. I filled out the chart based on my family growing up, and I don't think that my family represented a typical family. The main reason for this was that my dad was an airline pilot, so his schedule wasn't very regular. He would be home for a few days or a week at a time, then he would be gone for anywhere from a day to a week at a time. When he was home, he helped out with most of the household chores, including chores that most other dads didn't help with, like laundry, cooking, and helping to take care of the kids. When he was gone, my mom took care of everything on her own, and did some things that most dads usually handled, but not as many, because, like was pointed out in the book and podcast, most "typically male" chores weren't as time sensitive. One thing that my dad didn't help with much at all was household cleaning, and my mom never mowed the lawn or helped with "outdoor chores" except for weeding and gardening. It's interesting that these chores were split up like this so drastically. My mom was a stay at home mom, and never worked after having kids, but with four kids in the family, she always had her hands full with us and didn't always have time to finish with cleaning chores. Still, my dad never volunteered to chip in with these. Something else that I find interesting when thinking back is that the chores that my dad "helped with" were never expected, but it was like it was considered a good deed for him to help with things not in his realm. On the other hand, my mom always did everything while he was gone but this was just expected.

I think that these values are definitely changing, and I can see it even in my own house now, with just my husband and I. When we were living in Okinawa and both working full time, we shared chores, but I was still always in charge of cooking. My husband doesn't have the same expectations that were present in my family growing up, in that he doesn't consider chores to be divided into male/female chores and instead thinks that they should all be split. This doesn't make sense with cooking, but the reason that I cook is because his idea of helping make dinner is to make two bowls of cereal, and he is happy to eat that way, but I prefer to have a "real" meal. Now that we are back in the states, and I am not currently working, I am in charge of a larger portion of the household chores than he is, which I consider fair, since he works everyday.

I think that chores are becoming less gendered, and even in households where wives don't work, I think that husbands are expected to do more work than they have in the past. Sometimes this seems unfair to me, in that the duties aren't being split evenly, but I think that it is a very positive thing that fathers are expected to be more involved in their kids' lives.

Secularization in America

I do believe that America is becoming more secular than it has been in the past. I think this is partly due to the fact that many other options for religions are present than have been in the past. America is still predominantly Christian, but there isn't the social stigma attached to being non-Christian that used to exist. I think that it is definitely a good thing that people don't feel as pressured to fit in with the mainstream religious viewpoint. I think that in different parts of the country, religion plays a much different role also. In the Biblebelt South, I think that secularization isn't as apparent as in other parts of the country, and that it is often expected for people to be Christian, but in the West and East, there is more diversification. I don't agree with the theories that suggest that having more options of religions doesn't increase secularization. I think that our society now is very focused on instant gratification and only spending time where it matters, and, to a lot of people, religion doesn't matter enough to spend time pursuing it. Perhaps these people still associate with a certain religion, but if they are not practicing the religion, I think that this can still be considered secularization.

Ethnicity and Race

From the readings, video, and websites that we researched this week, one thing that stood out to me was how much easier it is for people from any country to discriminate against others based on how they look than for any other reason. In Rwanda, when expatriots from other countries were being evacuated, more than one person commented in the video that all white people were removed, almost without questions, while all black people were left to fend for themselves. During World War II, when Japanese-Americans were rounded up and herded into concentration camps, German-Americans and Italian-Americans were left alone. Black people living in the U.S. have never been able to assimilate into culture the same way that white immigrants have been able to. These differences all seem based on how people look rather than other defining characteristics. Is this just because we are so visually-oriented or maybe just because our first judgements are usually from what we see? I know that discrimination is based on other factors as well, such as if someone has an accent, what cultural clothing someone wears, etc. but these things can be changed and don't seem to matter as much.

As a white person living in America, I had never experienced any type of racial discrimination, but when my husband and I lived in Japan for four years, I was able to see a little of what this could be like. The Americans living in Okinawa are sometimes portrayed badly to the Okinawan public, but not quite to the same extent that black Americans are portrayed in the media in America. I found that this made me and other Americans that I knew in Okinawa want to get past these judgements and try to be the opposite of what was thought of us. We went above and beyond to try to appear polite, quiet, not greedy, etc. but we were only in the country for a short period of time. I think that this forced attitude on our parts might have grown old after awhile, and we might have begun to resent it, but this is hard to say. After all, we were guests in their country, so we didn't expect the Okinawans to treat us as though we were not different at all. If we were in our own country, experiencing these same discriminatory stereotypes, it would have been a very different situation. Also, it was very frustrating to be out in public and see other Americans acting the way that "typical Americans" act, thus furthering the stereotypes to our Okinawan hosts.