Cooperation Over Competition In Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward

Bellamy’s Nationalist America in Looking Backward 2000-1887 shows an America without poverty. There were not masses of sick people without insurance, or twenty-five year olds drowning under crushing piles of student debt. There was absolute freedom from the constraints that money binds most people. The high cost for this system was the personal freedom to do as one wanted with his own life. Perhaps the most important freedom given up was the ability to do as one chose with the years of his life.

The Grapes of Wrath Versus Civil Disobedience As long as government has existed, so has conflict over which type is best-suited to unite and serve an advanced society. John Steinbeck presents his vision of an ideal government, as created by migrant families in Chapter 17 of his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. In his earlier essay, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau promotes his own idea of the optimal government: little to no government at all. Moreover, there are several differences and similarities between the ideas about government, democracy, and the nature of humanity suggested by Steinbeck and Thoreau that are crucial to the broader impact of each work and their combined significance.

While reading the chapter 1 of the Conscience of a Conservative, I found many of Goldwater’s views to make perfect sense, and also the problems in the political arena are the same. Which can only mean we haven't come a long way since the 1960s some of the logics that Goldwater uses we can sure use. Goldwater starts the chapter by saying that Conservatism is not an economic theory, but it has some economic implications. He arguing that conservatism is not a mechanistic economic only philosophy and it is a fact comprehensive in range and application and should never be apologized for and modified with labels like ‘progressive conservative’. He believes that socialism superiors put the people’s well being first.

Edward Bellamy’s book, Looking Backward, shows the optimism of the late 19th century modern America through numerous contextual examples that follow the “modernity” philosophical view. One of the core concepts of modernity is power over nature as evidenced by the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. In Bellamy’s book, this power over nature idea is expanded upon when Julian finds himself walking through a “continuous waterproof covering” that encloses the sidewalk to create a “well lighted and perfectly dry corridor” (Bellamy 53). Julian further mentions how “in the stormy weather the streets of the Boston of my day had been impassable” (Bellamy 53). This shows a particularly optimistic view as Edith states it would be “extraordinary

Adam Smith, born in 1723, laid the foundation for classical economics in the eighteenth century and established a paradigm on how to tackle economic decisions on a micro and macro level. Smith’s Wealth of Nation’s outlined many of contemporary economics’ key concepts and laws that offered radical criticisms against the dominant economic thinking of the time, mercantilism. Karl Marx, born in 1818, bore witness to the technological innovations and social conditions that came along with the Industrial Revolution, rise of capitalism, and the growth of Europe’s oversea empires. Marx wrote Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, which sharply criticized Smith’s benevolent depictions of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. Smith and Marx wrote from different vantage points in history but both offered insights into the changing worlds around them.

A Better Tomorrow The comparison presented by the speaker shows the conflicting ideologies of a dictatorship and a democracy. Although the majority of countries today have opted for a more moderate welfare state, there are still a few elitist countries with a dangerous amount of power out there. According to the source, these countries are lead by paranoid and corrupted leaders; as a result their country is at a standstill with no economic or political development. The speaker suggests steering away from such a standstill and to reach full potential society needs to protect the rights of everyone ensuring equality. The speaker’s perspective aligns with the ideas of John Stuart Mill, who strongly believed in individual liberty where one can

In Edward Bellamy’s book “Looking Backwards” the main character is julian west and he is from the 19th century. He is 30 years old and lives in a time where the rich stay and the poor stay poor basically. Though there are some privileged that want to help they are still worried about their pockets. How the book goes off is Julian suffers from insomnia and because of this he is sent asleep in a underground chamber. With the help of a sleep doctor called Pillsbury, he mesmerized him into a deep and his servant never awaken him.

As you look up at the grey endless sky, which stretched for miles, you see it reflecting on the dark mood of the people. As if stunned by the drastic and chaotic events of hours ago, they were lifeless, pale-looking, as if they already had one foot in the grave. The “Dirty Thirties,” or more commonly known as the Great Depression, marked a catastrophic time in our history that we cannot forget. People love money and are extremely greedy, which did not help the dreary situation of the Great Depression. It’s been almost 90 years since this historic event, but as the world knows, “history has a way of repeating itself.”

The most successful corporations in such an environment, prospered and eliminated their competition. The less successful businesses, should be removed because

Many people feel that American society is too competitive. Does competition lead to better products and results, or does it lead to a focus on winning at all costs? I disagree with this statement, because without it there would be no elections, no war, and no freedom. Being competitive is a big help in many different scenarios, competitiveness is a big role in many different things such as war. Without competitiveness, we would lose many battles.

This is mostly for the financial impact and an ethical discussion. When discussing ethics, the consumers should be able to decide what companies stay in business, not the businesses themselves. If a company becomes obsolete because consumers have upgraded to a new service or product, then so be it. It is not fair, though, to keep other companies out of the markets reach. Companies accused of monopolizing through nefarious means will be forced to go through litigation and waste an enormous amount of money.

Module 2 Presentation: Beyond Hope Beyond Hope is a short read from page 27-31 by Derrick Jensen in regards to his activist friend John Osborn. This read revolves around how most environmentalist are desperately fighting; using whatever legal tools those in power grant them to try and protect the earth from the harm it is going through. If they cannot stop the manufacturing or release of poisons, land corruptions, or abuse to plants and animals; they will have to settle for saving just one tree at a time. Jensen then goes on with Osborn’s summary of why he does what he does. He mentions how, no matter what environmentalist do, the efforts are insufficient.

The government told the human race that nothing is wrong, it was just the citizens’ fear of the worst. So people did not worry about their lack of food or unsafe working conditions because they had no reason to distrust the government. They never realized that their idea of a utopia slowly slipped through their grasp. Rather than maintaining utter perfection in respect of laws, politics, customs, and conditions, the government remained in oppressive societal control; everything appeared ideal, but once examined closer, the true horrors came to light.

One might argue that Spanno’s (2008) Real utopia: Participatory society for the 21st century is a stimulating collection of essays with contributions from fellow left libertarian activists such as Michael Albert, Robin Hahnel. It appears to explore the likelihood of an openly democratic and participatory society, which is based on egalitarianism, employees’ self –management, and social ownership as the mode of production. It appears to reject the directives of capitalist globalization to be replaced by centralized planning in collaboration with participatory planning. In essence, Wright’s (2010) real utopia as an e alternative to capitalism might be an egalitarian society based on self-management, justice, and harmony.

In Utopia, Sir Thomas More wrote, “‘A king who can only rule his people by taking from them the pleasures of life show that he does not know how to govern free men.’” More meant that a leader who governs their people by taking their wealth from them does not know how to govern free people. An ideal leader is one who governs the free without making them dependent on the government or the leader themselves. More’s point was that by taking their peoples wealth away, they are really not free as of that point because the leaders are now controlling them. The leaders have the power of their money to control them and their actions.