Protest music vs. Protest music

Bob Dylan: only a pawn in their game
Dylan's style of music is plain with no rythym. His voice is steady and upon hearing the song, he uses the same chord or chords thoughout the entire thing. The message of this song shows how the government uses everybody as pawns in order for themselves to gain power. The poor white man thinks he is better off, but actually its only the authority that wins in this case. It's a lose-lose situation for everybody not in power.  

MEGADETH: Washington is Next!
Megadeth. The ultimate thrash metal band I have ever heard. One of my favorites. Frontman Dave Mustaine uses real life events, plus his own experiences to create the distinct anger that his music produces. He's a very political man, and has strong views on government. The song's "washington is next" message is of the government corrupting and decieving its people in order to be a world power. It looks into the things that have happened to us (WW1, WW2, etc.) and then looks into the future asking 'Has anything really changed? Has it really? Or are we just telling ourselves that?'. 'The quiet war has begun with silent weapons'. That sounds like the Cold War.

Dylan and Megadeth share the same messages about the government and its people. Just in a different way though. Dylan is a more soulfull person, while Mustaine prefers to make the conflicts of the country visible in his lyrics through a heavy grungy sound.

What is un-American? Is it difficult to define? Who gets to decide what un-American is?

What is un-American? Really. Us "Americans" might say that cannibalism, terrorism, and arrange marriages aren't part of our culture, but what is AMERICAN culture? America doesn't have its own beliefs because it is made up of all different types of them. Domestic and foreign. So, to answer the core of the question, there is pretty much nothing that is un-American except cannibalism and arranged marriages. We terrorize other countries to get what we want and WE do not mind our own business.

It IS difficult to define what is un-American. Everything that we consider not part of our culture is pretty much a contradiction.

Who decides this? The people deicide this. We sterio-type every single thing that we see un-fit. We ourselves are hypocrites. We can't even look at ourselves before we look at others. I guess thats the "American" in all of our hearts. Consider who we are first.

Economic Downturn Project Reflection

As a group we divided the amount of work between each other. We used the tactics from our last lap. Whomever was the richest did the least and whomever was the poorest did the most. Everything was done on time because of the pressure I exerted on everyone. As the leader of the group, I maintain balance with everyone in the group. The members of my group each put in the best effort they can and always work for the best.

There was alot of reading involved, but we understood the reasoning between American government and business. The economy was in a rut and the government interferred with business to try and stimulate the economy back to normal. Which is what has led us into this great recession. Now Obama's stimulus plan shows significant logical investments that will be made to get this country back on track. We will not know if this is successful until we see more jobs created, more taxes collected and less forclosures.

Changes in America. The Great Depression part 2

When the Great Depression began, everything was falling apart. The stock market, banks, society and basically the economy. People lost stock, money, homes, jobs and sanity. Society was becoming homeless and drastically dying out. Due to this the government interferred with new areas of transaction with the economy and society as a whole.

They created more social assistance agencies at the national level. Americas government at the time took on a greater role in the everyday lives of the people. The New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt created a liberal political alliance made up of labor unions, minorities within the country such as blacks and other religious groups, intellectuals, the poor, and some farmers. These people became the strong backbone of the Democratic Party for countless years following the Depression.

The new deal promoted GNP back to its 1929 level, but Roosevelt refused to conjure the shortcomings that the depression needed, to end.

Changes in America. The Great Depression Part 1.

A mother and her children. They had been living on frozen vegetables from the fields and that of the birds the children killed.

Americas forestation. One of the photos from natural alterations of the landscape, disturbances from industry and development.

The "Golden Age of Agriculture". The incomes of farms doubled and the value tripled. Between 1898 and 1915 the amount of wheat planted in North Dakota more than doubled from 4,300,000 acres to 9,400,000 acres and production grew from 69 million bushels to 159 million bushels. The increased use of machinery, ever larger and more powerful, was the key to the farmers' success.

1930s reflection

What to the people of the 1930s era may have been exciting and inspirational, seems very boring to our generation. In this era the most popular thing was Jazz and Blues. Something that hasn't died through time, but that is very much alive. R&b, Hip Hop and Rock are the most listened to genres of this millennium. Most is based on the lyrics and the message that it gives off, but decades ago it was all about the soul of the music. The vibe and spiritual emotions that run through your ears.

What could you do back then? The technology wasn't that great. You'd either listen to the radio all day at home or just walk the entire city. Where was the entertainment in that?

What I like about this era is how people looked classy and carried themselves with a sense of pride. Not many people have that look nowadays. Most just don't care about their image. They would rather be sluggish than take pride in who they are and what they can accomplish.

Fanny brice "my man"

Fanny Brice's song "My man" is about her being in love with this man who is not too good looking. He isn't much of a man since he abuses all his women. But she just simply in love with the guy. She fantasizes about leaving the country with him and being a family. She doesn't care what his flaws are, she just wants to be loved and love him.

The song embodied the era because it just simply talks about love. The era came to be known because an inspiration of love for the arts arised. Which brought attention to the need for economic and social equality and brought a new sense of pride in being black.

Now. the song from Megadeth "The hardest part of letting go...sealed with a kiss" is different because it talks about letting go of the love you have for not only someone but for anything. The thought of being afraid to hurt someone with love and affection.

Do you support imperialism for your country? Explain

Yes I do support imperialism for my country. We are all naturally born imperialists. We in any type of way try to imperialise other people. Imperialism has many benefits that come along with it. Our country would be granted more resources and would be given the chance to industrialise itself more. The more workers we have, the more successful businesses we will have as a country and people.

Since the state of this country isn't as great as it should be, imperialism is a definite option. Desperate times call for desperate measures. If we must take over another landmass to thrive, then we will do so. There is no question behind it honestly. We will do what we must to survive.

Sure we might not be thinking clearly about the consequences, since when does that matter. This is America, we can do what we want. We hold no time for judgement. America will fight for the better of its well being.

Imperialism today is not often quite as blatent as it was in the past. What are some examples of imperialism today? How is it different or similar from the past? Explain

Examples of imperialism today are robbery; a person or a people taking something that is not rightfully theirs in an act of aggression. This is has been around since the beginning of time. People do it to try and better themselves without thinking how they break down another person or people. Today there is more of this than there has been lets say a hundred years ago.

Bullying is also a part of imperialism today. You see kids trying to control kids of the same age or older people. They take your money, make fun of you, beat you down and take your pride.

Racism can be part of this as well. Back then people were highly against others who weren't of the same race, religion, or family.

All these contribute to imperialism in general. Past or present, it is all the same because you're still taking advantage of another person. But I wonder. Can imperialism be related to animals?

Should countries pursue policies of imperialism, or empire expansion?

I think countries should pursue policies of imperialism rather than empire expansion. An empire can expand as much as it wants. The issue is How they do it. With policies of imperialism, it can be inferred that ones country will be limited to specific details on how they can take a part of another country. The key here is having an equal advantage that benefits all of the world.

Take imperialism in China for example. The Spheres of Influence. Every country involved was somehow limited to something. Whether it be not being able to interfere with another country's trade or not being able to make one sphere more powerful than the others. Every one had an equal chance to have more power in some type of way.

If a country were to pursue policies of empire expansion, how would anyone cooperate? A country some how in some way needs to expand its empire. Have you thought about their motives? What if they are in need of certain resources for their country?

Individual Reflection

For my groups presentation, I believe that we did a well job on keeping what we talked about to the point without any nonsense. We gave our audience the mot important information they needed to know and managed to have well put together explanations.

What could have been improved was the design we had for vertical and horizontal integration. The poster was all beat up and I believe that people couldn't see what we were exactly discussing with them. Other than this I believe that there was nothing else that could have been improved. Given what the teacher said, all presentations had gotten stronger  with the next. So I suppose we were the strongest group because we went last. We kept if brief and to the core.

I pretty much know this because of the time span that presenting all of these chapters took. Plus our classmates were losing interest of paying attention. Evidently we saved our presentation for the next day when people were likely to pay more attention than they did before.

Do you think an individual today can rise from "rags to riches" like Andrew Carnegie did? Why or why not?

I guess it all depends on the product that you're trying to produce and sell. Lets say you want to be a manufacturer of a new guitar line. If you are able to produce them efficiently and make them last an extremely long time then yes I do believe an individual can rise from rags to riches.

But it's not the same as it was a hundred years ago. Nowadays we're running out of certain resources and that holds a great problem depending on what you're trying to sell. The more you have the less you can sell it for. The less you have, the price begins to range higher.

It is not really hard to start a business. The key factor in it is how you're able to get your product(s) out there in the world so you can make profit. The world works in weird ways all the time.

Jacob Riis

 http://www.authentichistory.com/1898-1913/2-progressivism/2-riis/58.jpg

In this photo, I see a crowded room full of men. This place doesn't look healthy, given by what I see. It looks like everything is piled up onto other things. Looking at the faces of these men makes me feel like they're uncomfortable, and depressed. But ultimately shows the blank expression on their faces. "This is life." These men feel tired and over worked. All they have is a blanket to cover themselves up in.

Where do they store their food? I see bowls and pots, but no food storage. Is it illegal to store food in your compartment at that time? Did food have to be given to you?

These people are hit by the harsh realities of life. I am pretty sure that they aren't that well paid either. Is this because they are immigrants? I believe that this is unfair. Although this is a big part of life during this time period.

Compare industrialization in China today to the description of a Carnegie factory of the past

In China today workers work over 60 hours a week. Some have 24 hour shifts. Working conditions over there are terrible. These people work for less and live horribly. They have 20 people sharing 3 tiny apartment complex rooms. These workers are barely fed. How can you just be fed a biscuit and tea?

Andrew Carnegie's steel mills were basically the same. This man worked his employees to death and hardly ever paid them. Some one was always at there death in those mills. Safety was a big issue. There "protective gear" consisted only of two layers of wool long johns. Definitely not enough protection if you are working around high flames, breaking chains, and tired as ever.

These workers work to create something so efficient, but receive less than what they should. But I guess some people have to go through hard times to set themselves at a successful position in their lives.