The Devices that Divide in Politics

The Spectacle of the 2008 election that has distracted us from the issues:

The Tensions between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has spilled over to their interns

Part I

Part II

I do not own nor do I take credit for any of these videos. Enjoy!

The Causes of Division in Society

· Religion – Due the controversy that it always elicits when discussed, religion has become one of the most divisive themes in modern society and one of the main contributors to society’s tribal nature.

Ex. Continuing conflict between a Jewish Israel and its Muslim neighbors

· Politics – Though routinely discussed in society, politics has always divided society into at least two groups, those that agree with the current authority and those that do not. However, due to both sidesstanding staunchly against the other, believing that they are in the right, rarely are far reaching decisions between groups reached, which leads to nothing being accomplished.

Ex. Constant bickering between the major American political parties; The damaging division of the Democratic party between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

· Entertainment – Entertainment allows regular members of society to distract themselves from their everyday lives. But rival groups jockeying for superiority over each other has caused society to choose sides, especially in sports.

Ex. Yankees Empire vs. Red Sox Nation; Inter-city rivalries in cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles where more than one group exists within one realm of entertainment

· Education – Not so much about how the way people are educated divides them, but about the educational environment that exists in modern society. In many places, the student body inevitably splits up into various “cliques” that, unfortunately, define how a person is viewed by others and how a person views themselves.

Ex. The various groups of jocks, goths, “mean girls”, etc that develop in the high school setting

· Economics – Throughout history, societies has divided themselves under class systems based upon one’s possessions. The quest to better one’s economic standing has led to a modern society based on greed and “me”, which has led to lack of a shared value structure that can unite the many groups within society.

Ex. The continuing conflict between the upper and lower classes of society.

Blog Background

This blog is designed to represent the online presence of my research paper for my College Composition II class. This blog is meant to be used as a means of testing my idea for my paper. I am also asking for others who access this blog to comment and help shape my creative processes.

Here is the assignment to be discussed:

Zeitgeist is the ethos of a people; a dominant world-view prevalent at a particular sociocultural era. Some in contemporary American culture would argue that there is an unparalleled shallowness and superficiality in American shared beliefs and moral attitudes.

Others contend that American society has become increasingly individualized, perhaps tribal in many ways, and this has led to cultural anomie, which is the lack of shared values and a growing sense of purposelessness – especially in people under 40 years old.

There are those, however, who propose that American society is moving towards a “collective intelligence” – a model of public consciousness borne from the collaboration and competition of large groups of individuals communicating through technology like social networking.

Pick one of these positions (unparalleled shallowness; increasingly individualized toward tribalism; moving towards collective intelligence) and argue for its validity as a way to describe what defines American public consciousness at the beginning of the 21st Century.

Modern society, as a whole has become increasingly tribal in nature. This has developed due to the creation of various institutions that rarely allow for someone to choose a middle ground. In many of these institutions, once a side is chosen, one can’t defect to another side without facing extreme repercussions. Once a group is chosen, a person is almost expected to, figuratively, “tow the company line” which creates a sense of purposelessness.

Remember that as you read this, hypothetical readers, to not hold back on your criticism. This blog is supposed to help shape my paper and my creative process. Any and all comments will be read and appreciated.

Auguries of Innocence

William Blake – Auguries of Innocence

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all Heaven in a rage.
A dove house fill’d with doves and pigeons
Shudders Hell thro’ all its regions.
A dog starv’d at his master’s gate
Predicts the ruin of the state…