Wilding is an escalating epidemic in our nation. The reason it is becoming such an epidemic is because people that are categorized as lesser wilders are slowly becoming ultimate wilders. This happens because the standard of success keeps rising. This could in part be because of the kinds of lavish lives we see around us and on the big screen. American’s see what others around them have and want the same. This kind of mentality which turns lesser wilders into ultimate wilders.
We, as people in society, can see “second America” in our world today as we are amidst an economic recession. Today, money and jobs are scarce. Ordinary people who maybe previously did not take part in wilding, would and will do anything to stay on top as their neighbors and friends lose their jobs and financial security. It is in times like these when we ordinary people resort to wilding ways.
“Second America” is also being affected by the images on television of the rich and famous. Images such as fancy cars, lavish houses and estates, tropical vacation homes, and the latest technological gadgets are creating a skewed view for ordinary Americans as to what success is. Seeing others living this kind of lifestyles makes others want it too. These skewed images of success can makes people do things they may not ordinarily do. Those considered “second America” are constantly bombarded with such images and ideas which can in turn drive them to act in ways they may not ordinarily act; abandoning their morals and values in the process.
Images on television do not exclude hit shows either. The hit show Survivor drew 30 million viewers in its first season. In reality television shows, a wilding culture is imitated. This wilding culture is the reason why people are drawn to watch reality shows. The wilding aspect of it makes the events even more twisted and unpredictable. The characters within this show manipulate each other out of interest for themselves. By manipulating others, they hope to advance themselves into the next round and eventually win the million dollars. Alliances are made and broken at the flip of a switch with no regards to their repercussions on others. Those who fare the best in this show are those who can manipulate and make alliances with others the best. Because of this, many may say that Survivor promotes such wilding behaviors. Many see the success of those on the show and mimic their behaviors and ultimately become wilders themselves in the process. In tough times such as those we are experiencing today, many may even mimic the wilding survival strategies used in this show too.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Response to Chapter 2: "The Ultimate Wilders: Prisoners of the American Dream"
Many may want to say that they are not wilders, but instead they are just simply ambitious, hard working, and competitive. But the difference between being extremely competitive and being a wilder is that a person taking part in wilding acts out of self-interest with no regards to others and how their actions may affect others. A competitive person may want to win and be on top but will know when to back down for the good of all while the wilder will do whatever it takes to advance oneself and not back down even when he/she knows it could negatively effect others.
Competition and the need to succeed are all apart what makes the American dream what it is. It is ordinary people trying to leverage themselves into fortune. Competition can be healthy for some and push them to their best and boost motivation. It’s when competition turns into wilding that we have to begin to worry. Using healthy competition to improve performance and motivation is much different than when one resorts to cheating and lying to advance oneself; all the while harming and/or prohibiting others from advancement. While both competition and wilding involve the goal of advancement, wilding achieves the advancement through a single-minded pursuit with no regards for others.
Many can become trapped by the American dream. Societies standard for achieving the American dream is financially based. According to society, one does not achieve the American dream unless millions are made. This exaggeration of the American dream has occurred over time. When the first people immigrated to the United States, it was to improve their lives yes, but not just financially, quality as well. The United States offered an ample supply of opportunities for those immigrants to advance themselves. Improvement through more opportunities was the goal, not to achieve fortune, although financial gains were a part of this.
The phrase “keeping up with the Jones’” exemplifies the “destructive materialistic goals” we as Americans hold. Everyone is trying to keep up with each other. If the neighbors buy the latest fishing boat, you may feel the need to buy a brand new top of the line speedboat. This “one upping” mentality is driven by the exaggerated view of the American dream that society has created.
The tragedy in all of this is people are driven by the American dream to obsess over material items. To “keep up with the Jones’,” people will do anything. The fact that people will do anything to get to the top and stay at the top, leads many to call this mentality and behavior wilding. Because the American dream has been exaggerated from new opportunities to better ones self to becoming wealthy and powerful at any cost, many believe the exaggerated version of the American dream is the only way to succeed. This kind of mindset creates the American tragedy because in the end, it turns normal people with simply motivation to improve ones self with a healthy amount of competition into wilders that will do anything, no matter the consequences, effects, or harm to others to achieve the American dream.
Competition and the need to succeed are all apart what makes the American dream what it is. It is ordinary people trying to leverage themselves into fortune. Competition can be healthy for some and push them to their best and boost motivation. It’s when competition turns into wilding that we have to begin to worry. Using healthy competition to improve performance and motivation is much different than when one resorts to cheating and lying to advance oneself; all the while harming and/or prohibiting others from advancement. While both competition and wilding involve the goal of advancement, wilding achieves the advancement through a single-minded pursuit with no regards for others.
Many can become trapped by the American dream. Societies standard for achieving the American dream is financially based. According to society, one does not achieve the American dream unless millions are made. This exaggeration of the American dream has occurred over time. When the first people immigrated to the United States, it was to improve their lives yes, but not just financially, quality as well. The United States offered an ample supply of opportunities for those immigrants to advance themselves. Improvement through more opportunities was the goal, not to achieve fortune, although financial gains were a part of this.
The phrase “keeping up with the Jones’” exemplifies the “destructive materialistic goals” we as Americans hold. Everyone is trying to keep up with each other. If the neighbors buy the latest fishing boat, you may feel the need to buy a brand new top of the line speedboat. This “one upping” mentality is driven by the exaggerated view of the American dream that society has created.
The tragedy in all of this is people are driven by the American dream to obsess over material items. To “keep up with the Jones’,” people will do anything. The fact that people will do anything to get to the top and stay at the top, leads many to call this mentality and behavior wilding. Because the American dream has been exaggerated from new opportunities to better ones self to becoming wealthy and powerful at any cost, many believe the exaggerated version of the American dream is the only way to succeed. This kind of mindset creates the American tragedy because in the end, it turns normal people with simply motivation to improve ones self with a healthy amount of competition into wilders that will do anything, no matter the consequences, effects, or harm to others to achieve the American dream.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Response to Chapter 4: "U.S. Business vs. Us: Global Capitalism and Corporate Wilding"
Wilding behaviors are ones that focus on enhancing one’s “wealth and power by harming workers, citizens, and communities” (Derber 55). These behaviors do not exclude those who run sweatshops either. Those who run sweatshops exhibit “predatory behavior” that seem to seek a profit at any price. Greed is the driving force behind these behaviors.
Corporations that run sweatshops have an individualistic outlook on success. This outlook stems from an individualistic political economy. When this self-interest takes over, the cooperation will do anything to maximize their profits, including dehumanizing their workers. Corporations accomplish this by threatening to abandon a certain community unless the workers agree to work for lower wages. The governments in these communities adhere to the threats to even offer the corporations various incentives to keep them at a certain location. These intimidation tactics make it possible and are apart of wilding. Sweatshop owners, like the ones in El Salvador that made clothing for Boston College, knew when they opened up shop and began production that the wages they were offering their workers was substantially low but intimidated and threatened those in community that they would pull out and move their business, costing many members of their community their jobs. This kind of power is given to these corporations and businesses through wilding.
Owners of sweatshops rationalize their wilding tactics and the conditions in which their workers are suppose to work under with the frame of mind that even though their employees work in unhealthy conditions, they are “earning among the highest in the region and if it pain even higher salaries, it would lose business to the rivals paying less” (Derber 63). This type of attitude directly reflects the individualistic and “predatory behavior” of these owners. They do not see their employees as equals but rather as less than human entities within their cooperation. The conditions in which they allow their workers to work in also reflects their dehumanizing view of them. The corporations only see the profits that can be made and neglect to see how their greed is negatively affecting others.
These corporations’ attitudes also reflect upon the values and morals of society. It has been instilled in these owners that wealth and power is the ultimate goal in life and it does not matter how one acquires it. Society values those in power and with a great amount of wealth and disregards how the individual got to that point. Integrity is an obsolete value in the eyes of society.
Accountability is the only way in my eyes to ensure that these injustices do not continue to take place. We can no longer allow these companies to “escape their social responsibilities by hiding behind globalism and using it as an excuse. By holding these companies accountable, Derber states that it would help to create a “democratic model of globalization, centered on respect for human rights…” (66). Derber also states that “building a new world community” would help to hold companies accountable.
Corporations that run sweatshops have an individualistic outlook on success. This outlook stems from an individualistic political economy. When this self-interest takes over, the cooperation will do anything to maximize their profits, including dehumanizing their workers. Corporations accomplish this by threatening to abandon a certain community unless the workers agree to work for lower wages. The governments in these communities adhere to the threats to even offer the corporations various incentives to keep them at a certain location. These intimidation tactics make it possible and are apart of wilding. Sweatshop owners, like the ones in El Salvador that made clothing for Boston College, knew when they opened up shop and began production that the wages they were offering their workers was substantially low but intimidated and threatened those in community that they would pull out and move their business, costing many members of their community their jobs. This kind of power is given to these corporations and businesses through wilding.
Owners of sweatshops rationalize their wilding tactics and the conditions in which their workers are suppose to work under with the frame of mind that even though their employees work in unhealthy conditions, they are “earning among the highest in the region and if it pain even higher salaries, it would lose business to the rivals paying less” (Derber 63). This type of attitude directly reflects the individualistic and “predatory behavior” of these owners. They do not see their employees as equals but rather as less than human entities within their cooperation. The conditions in which they allow their workers to work in also reflects their dehumanizing view of them. The corporations only see the profits that can be made and neglect to see how their greed is negatively affecting others.
These corporations’ attitudes also reflect upon the values and morals of society. It has been instilled in these owners that wealth and power is the ultimate goal in life and it does not matter how one acquires it. Society values those in power and with a great amount of wealth and disregards how the individual got to that point. Integrity is an obsolete value in the eyes of society.
Accountability is the only way in my eyes to ensure that these injustices do not continue to take place. We can no longer allow these companies to “escape their social responsibilities by hiding behind globalism and using it as an excuse. By holding these companies accountable, Derber states that it would help to create a “democratic model of globalization, centered on respect for human rights…” (66). Derber also states that “building a new world community” would help to hold companies accountable.
Response to Chapter 1: "The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach"
After reading the first chapter in “The Wilding of America,” I learned how much society is affected by wilding. If one looks at it from the other side though, society actually influences and promotes instrumental and social wilding from a very young age. We are taught from a young age that if we want anything in life, we have to work hard for it and that if we do not accomplish the things we set out to accomplish and succeed, we did not try hard enough. The pressures put on students today to not only succeed academically but also in athletics only promotes wilding behaviors in our youth.
There is a standard of excellence expected from our youth today; a standard of academic excellence, athletic excellence, and social excellence. These are the standards set by our parents, teachers, administrators, other family members, peers, and most influencially society as a whole. Even before the beginning of a child’s academic career, it is expected that they perform in the top percentile for their age group and then in the top percentile in their grade and even within their school. The pressure is greater than it has even been for the students in our nation’s schools. There is so much expected of them and while parents realize this, they too fold under pressure. When pressure mounts, parents may encourage certain behaviors that in other circumstances they may not normally endorse. Society has placed this pressure on our students to succeed and reach their feel potential at any cost. This kind of pressure is then put on the shoulders of the parents who want their child to succeed and advance up “the ladder” in pursuit of wealth. Students feel this pressure and equate it as moving up is the only way to go and to get there, they must not allow others to stand in their way. They embark on a single-minded pursuit to advance oneself at the expense of others with no regards to how it may effect them.
Social wilding is defined as “collective forms of selfishness that weaken society” (Derber 9). This type of wilding is also affecting our schools systems and its students. Legislators and politicians set up a system that based the disbursement of state funds to districts on test scores. This means, the higher the test scores, the more funding their district would receive. On the surface this seems fair but if one takes a closer look, it is actually backwards. The government is taking part in social wilding when they pass legislation like this. The schools receiving lower test scores should receive more aid in my opinion so that the students enrolled in those schools can have the resources to improve their test scores and have the opportunity to receive their share of the funds. Instead, this legislation is increasing the chances of the already succeeding schools in receiving more funding and decreasing the chances of the struggling schools to receive future funding by ignoring the reasons those schools are currently not producing adequate test scores.
Instrumental and social wilding makes achieving the American dream just that much harder and more complicated for our youth. Increased pressures to achieve this dream and to advance oneself at any cost is causing the students in our nation to cheat, lie, act out of greed, and compete at unhealthy levels in which relationships are severed. By promoting these kinds of values, society is creating individuals with ambition but unfortunately individuals with ambition but no empathy for others. Working together and cooperatively to reach goals is not longer the trend in our youth because of the wilding taking place within our society today.
There is a standard of excellence expected from our youth today; a standard of academic excellence, athletic excellence, and social excellence. These are the standards set by our parents, teachers, administrators, other family members, peers, and most influencially society as a whole. Even before the beginning of a child’s academic career, it is expected that they perform in the top percentile for their age group and then in the top percentile in their grade and even within their school. The pressure is greater than it has even been for the students in our nation’s schools. There is so much expected of them and while parents realize this, they too fold under pressure. When pressure mounts, parents may encourage certain behaviors that in other circumstances they may not normally endorse. Society has placed this pressure on our students to succeed and reach their feel potential at any cost. This kind of pressure is then put on the shoulders of the parents who want their child to succeed and advance up “the ladder” in pursuit of wealth. Students feel this pressure and equate it as moving up is the only way to go and to get there, they must not allow others to stand in their way. They embark on a single-minded pursuit to advance oneself at the expense of others with no regards to how it may effect them.
Social wilding is defined as “collective forms of selfishness that weaken society” (Derber 9). This type of wilding is also affecting our schools systems and its students. Legislators and politicians set up a system that based the disbursement of state funds to districts on test scores. This means, the higher the test scores, the more funding their district would receive. On the surface this seems fair but if one takes a closer look, it is actually backwards. The government is taking part in social wilding when they pass legislation like this. The schools receiving lower test scores should receive more aid in my opinion so that the students enrolled in those schools can have the resources to improve their test scores and have the opportunity to receive their share of the funds. Instead, this legislation is increasing the chances of the already succeeding schools in receiving more funding and decreasing the chances of the struggling schools to receive future funding by ignoring the reasons those schools are currently not producing adequate test scores.
Instrumental and social wilding makes achieving the American dream just that much harder and more complicated for our youth. Increased pressures to achieve this dream and to advance oneself at any cost is causing the students in our nation to cheat, lie, act out of greed, and compete at unhealthy levels in which relationships are severed. By promoting these kinds of values, society is creating individuals with ambition but unfortunately individuals with ambition but no empathy for others. Working together and cooperatively to reach goals is not longer the trend in our youth because of the wilding taking place within our society today.
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