We don’t work because we have to. We work because it is deeply engrained in our culture that one must work. In his book “The Hacker Ethic” (see sidebar), Prof. Himanen provides a very solid example of cultural anthropology when he digs for the origin of such practice, all the way back to the sixteenth century through Max Weber’s “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”:
This peculiar idea, so familiar to us today, but in reality so little a matter of course, of one’s duty in a calling, is what is most characteristic of the social ethic of capitalistic culture, and is in a sense the fundamental basis of it. [...] Not only a developed sense of responsibility absolutely indispensable, but in general also an attitude which, at least during working hours, is freed from continual calculations of how the customary wage may be earned with a maximum of comfort and a minimum of exertion. Labour must, on the contrary, be performed as if it were an absolute end in itself, a calling
While any original relationship between Protestant faith and the described calling to do God’s work was lost by the time the industrial [...]
Without having the nurturing care of their mother culture or the strong support of their community, the children of globalization are usually left alone struggling to figure out who they really are and what alliances they follow, often times falling on the side of hyper-marketing campaigns that spread throughout the globe without consideration for the cultural bastards they leave behind.
An attempt to witness this effect is now documented by the book “Bastard. Choose my identity” (see sidebar) and its companion website, which describes the project:
The idea behind BASTARD was to bring together photographers, writers, illustrators, graphic designers, musicians and typographers to create a solid and unique book that also functions as a work of art. The profoundly personal impressions of the authors and artists [...] shed light on our modern culture — on daily life, on the themes of change and continuity, and on the pervasive branding that is all around us. We must define who we are, be able to form both national and personal identities for ourselves, and in this journey we may come to see that globalization is not a completely negative force. Instead, the trend and phenomenon of globalization offers us proof that [...]
According to Ellen Tomson from Pioneer Press, “living without a TV is the right program”, or at least that’s what she has concluded while following the story of a family that decided to shutdown the signal, for good. Although the article mentions some of the undeniable influence of mass media on the rise of global brands and a general attitude of consumerism, this post is not a criticism on TV. What I find interesting is the potential shift in one aspect of our global culture.
Without elaborating on the history of television, I believe we can all agree that it is a fairly persistent ocurrence across all latitudes, and has been a powerful factor in shaping our behavior as a society over the last few decades. Marshall McLuhan (see sidebar) pointed out well ahead of most that while the print had forced people into the abstract world of letters and words, accelerating the diffusion of ideas, television was going to reverse the process by leveling access to culture by means of simple images, creating along the way a univeral language of very concrete symbols, enabling what he called the “Global Village”.
If TV has been so engrained in our [...]
Lebanon. A 7 year old girl holds her little brother from the hand while they board the ship that will separate them from their mom forever. She barely knows life herself and doesn’t understand why she must part ways with her loved ones, but is now responsible for the destiny of her little family. Her instructions are simple: go to America, find your uncle. CIRCA 1897.
While historic accounts of the lebanese society of those days are scarce and often lost in the accounts of the Ottoman Empire, it is not difficult to imagine how a humble family from the mountains would’ve been easy to impress given the growing European influence from the previous three decades (after the Sectarian conflict in 1860). Likely as part of this influence, the news about “America” and its industrial prosperity after the Civil War would’ve given enough amunition to the unmarried uncle to venture in search of fortune (those were the days of the Gold Rush in the U.S.), perhaps obeying some ancient phoenician instinct to cross the sea.
Years later, news would arrive from “America” telling tales of modern life and fortune. The mother of our little girl [...]
In the article “Migration’s impact felt in Mexico as well as U.S.” by Kevin Diaz there is a detailed account of the intimate relationship between St. Paul, Minnesota and Axochiapan, Mexico.
A previous article published by the New York Times last year entitled “Way North of the Border” by Eduardo Porter and Elisabeth Malkin has a similar account.
They both provide a very clear demonstration of the powers of the chicano network
Need help settling in a brand new city and don’t know where to start? While it is one of the reasons this project got started (read participate), long before this blog started I was already volunteering time to help the ocassional friend of a friend find its way in Toronto by sharing stories about my own experiences. To this day I’ve lost track of how many people I’ve influenced, but judging by the flourishing Mexican community around me, there must’ve been quite a few.
Last week, once again, I was having beers with a couple of Mexicans. One of them had just arrived to the city, while the other had been here for over 10 years. They had been friends since high school. In an interesting twist of networking, it turns out the new guy was opening the doors for the one that had been here for a really long time. Before coming to Canada, the new guy had done his research, identifying any people and organizations that could possibly help him find a job. This is how he found me. The other guy, having been here for such a long time [...]
Social Networks. If you’re reading blogs you probably have heard of them. The furor around the media would seem to indicate that they are about the revolutionize the ways of societies. They are correct, except their observation is a few decades late. In fact, the social networks I’m interested in don’t even need the Web.
While reading “The Immigration Equation” by Roger Lowenstein published in The New York Times Magazine calls for many comments to be made, its central argument around the economics of immigration is probably a much better target for other blogs with a political agenda. However, there were a number of hard facts that I found very interesting to be discussed here.
As recently as 1970, the U.S. had fewer than one million Mexicans, almost all of them in Texas and California. The U.S. did bring Mexican braceros to work on farms during the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. The program was terminated in 1964, and immigration officials immediately noticed a sharp rise in illicit border crossings [...] there was a catalytic effect – so many Mexicans settled [in the U.S.] that it became easier for more Mexicans to follow [...] with [...]
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