Answer 1 of the following blogs (or both if you need additional makeup blogs)
1. What is the main argument of Jeremy Rifkin's "The End of Work"? Do you think that he is correct? Is the future of work as grim as he anticipates? Why or why not? Provide examples to support your ideas.
2. Watch the following 2 minute clip from YouTube that incorporates all the advertising images from the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VnIrXmdYhY&feature=related
Which ones do you find the most important and what do they say about the world that Theo lives in? What are the dilemmas that the people face, and what does the government want the people to focus on? Which advertising images have the most similarities to our advertising, and how is this dangerous or problematic?
Question #1
ReplyDeleteJeremy Rifkin’s pretty much argues that many jobs are being replaced by technology and machines. Unemployment has reached its highest peak since the Great Depression. I think Rifkin’s is right because looking at our society now, more jobs are being taking over by machines. We have now self-check service, automated phone service, etc. While politicians blame the increasing loss of jobs on outsourcing, it’s become very aware that many jobs are being lost to technology states Rifkin. France, for example has lowered its work week for employees to 35-hours a week. “You either reduce the work week or you reduce the work force” (Rifkin). This is how many countries are dealing with the increase of productivity. The future of work is becoming grim because sooner or later jobs will be taken over by our inventions just like what happened to Bud in Player Piano.
Question #2
ReplyDeleteThe advertisements that I think are most important is the ‘Forever Young’ and the broadcastings of baby Diego. Just by looking at those advertisements their saying that people are trying to stay young and the youngest person died, meaning age is a big issue in this movie. The dilemma faced in Theo’s world is that the world has gone infertile and people are causing chaos. Trash is everywhere, people fighting each other; it’s kind of like the Holocaust. Even though our society is not suffering from infertility, we still have this obsession with staying young. Of course nobody wants to age and the way we advertise this is by our current media. For example, many people go under extreme plastic surgery so they can try and keep their youth alive. Also, advertisements that prompt products that can enhance your beauty: ‘NO MORE DARK CIRCLES, AND LINES. IF YOU CALL NOW WILL EVEN THROW IN THIS TOT BAG TO KEEP ALL YOUR MAKEUP IN, JUST PAY FOR SHIPPING.’ I wouldn’t say it’s neither dangerous nor problematic; it’s more of an understatement because just like in Theo’s world, we are controlled by age.
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteThe "End of the Work" was mainly about how new software programs are taking over the workforce. Workers are being replaced by machines and new technology. He claims that unemployment is growing daily within the US due to technological increase. I think he is correct to a certain extent. Yes, machines are being seen all throughout grocery stores, supercenters and even in companies. If technology is going to take over then what’s the point of being in school? I still think you can get a job if you have a degree and put forth the effort in the workforce. A computer can’t replace you only if you let it. The workforce is becoming grim due to all the advancements in technology. When 2 million jobs are getting eliminating annually due to computers then there’s a problem.
Question #2: All of the ads are significant, really. The first ad for the pet clothing demonstrates the adoption of pets in lieu of babies. Some are fulfulling the need to be a parent with their pets. Homeland Security is obviously important in the fight against immigration and nazi-esque propaganda is employed to turn citizens into spies. Sex and fertility testing are key in sustaining any optimism for reproduction. The government manipulates the media to advertise its own version of the "truth" as it would have its people believe it.
ReplyDeleteAll of these things encompass the dystopian fact of the society in the movie, but also demonstrate the importance of hope in human survival.
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteWe are so smart that we are creating machines to replace ourselves in the workforce. That is the point that "End of Work" was trying to make. What I think is important in this instance is that just like humans machines are not perfect. Machines are almost dependant on humans to make sure they are up and functioning. I would say that machines and humans are a partnership, needing each other in order to exist. I believe we are allowing our jobs to be taken away from us and we need to make a stand. In a way I believe that this recession has helped us return to some of our old ways and become harder workers and in the lond run that will be what keeps us alive and well in the workforce.
Question # 2
ReplyDeleteThe advertisement that said "forever young" reminded me of many ads in our society now. Everyone wants to look young, and there are advertisements everywhere you look that attempt to sell products that are supposed to make you appear younger. This indicates that some of the views in this society have remained the same as they are now. Another notable ad was about about illegal immigrants, telling citizens to report them, and that it is a crime to aid them. This also reminded me of our society because there has been a lot of political issues about illegal immigrants, and in both societies illegal immigrants are greatly looked down upon, even though they are people just like legal citizens are. This is especially problematic in the movie because with this world crisis going on, everything should be done to preserve life, in order for life to continue, and ironically it is an illegal immigrant that is the first pregnant woman in 18 years.
It seems that the government is focusing mainly on negative things such as the tragic death of baby Diego. This is what news stations do now, and in the movie everywhere the main character went was footage of the former youngest person in the world.
-Stephanie Tucker
Question # 1
ReplyDeleteThe article “End of Work” had a similar outlook to Player Piano. Both were about machines taking over the jobs people depend on. In the case of Player Piano, this was devastating to the general population. Our society is not to this point yet, but it is very nerve racking to think about what could happen if society keeps making giant leaps in the same direction-towards machines running everything. Already we have redboxes that are putting movie stores out of business, kindle machines that negate the use of physical bookstores, automated check-out machines at grocery stores that steal the jobs of honest workers, and many other machines that are taking the place of people that need jobs. It doesn’t help that our economy is not doing well, and jobs are already dwindling in many areas, but now even more jobs are being taken away.
I think the future is scary, but surely the advances of technology will not lead to unavoidable devastation. I think there are ways to combat the job loss with new jobs that are more centered around progressive fields such as research to more efficient lifestyles, such as new fuel, ways to help the environment, medical research, and other areas that are not receiving enough attention from society. Also, fields involving building, running or maintaining the machines are in fact growing. I am sure there are ways to combat this job loss associated with machines, such as a shift in the types of jobs instead of inevitably shifting to a near jobless world.
-Stephanie Tucker
Question #1: The main argument of “The End of Work” is that machinery is putting people out of work at an overwhelming rate, and the grim future is that this will continue until the majority of jobs are lost and ex-laborers will find it impossible to get by.
ReplyDeleteI recently read an article containing interviews of several owners and presidents of machining factories around the country. Each were asked similar questions, notably: "How many jobs have you cut since the recession?" and "How much have you spent on capital?" In economics, as discussed in "The End of Work", capital purchases nearly always mean labor layoffs. One machine can replace many units of labor and can be more reliable, cost less in the long run and require none of the HR related expenditures that human labor does.
Many of the plants laid off up to 70% of their labor, invested in capital, and have only brought back a few of the employees since the economy has begun to pick up. The necessary layoffs have also made many managers realize that they did not need nearly as many workers as they thought they did, and, along with the added capital, they can now run their plants just as if not more efficiently as before with a fraction of the labor. Those laid off permanently now struggle to find occupations that fit their skill set in an industry that is relying more and more on machinery and far less on a labor force. While I firmly believe that, as noted roundly in the paper, a large portion of jobs such as those in manufacturing will succumb to machine power, there will be some occupations that will never be fully automated (such as the bartender in “Player Piano”!). However, I believe the hardest hit will be the uneducated or undereducated workers, the vast majority of which are poor. In line with the views of many economists, I’m anticipating a significant shrinkage of the middle class and a dramatic increase of the percentage of Americans who live below the poverty line. But this is a cycle that all developed and developing nations have gone through in the past and will continue to endure throughout the history of our species.
"The End of Work" is basically a pessimistic view about how machines and advanced technologies will eventually result in a devastating decrease in employment rates within our society. Although it will increase productivity and other factors, it will begin to take over the the workforce leading us into another depression. As I do believe that the growth of technology will result in certain careers diminishing, I don't think that machinery and such will take over the entire workforce leaving everyone jobless. As some jobs are being taken away, I feel like new ones could be introduced in return; In order for the machines to even function, you need a human to operate it, right?
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1:
ReplyDeleteThe main argument of Jeremy Rifkin’s “The End of Work”, is that with the growth of machines and technology comes a decline in employment and the need for human workers. I agree with his overall theory but I do not believe our futures are as grim as Rifkin thinks them to be. Yes, machines have been developed to do the work of many humans such as self-service checkout at the grocery store, Redbox’s diminishing the need for stores such as Blockbuster and machines building cars without the need of human supervision, but all of these examples do not cancel out the need for human intelligence or creativity. The working community needs people to take care of these machines, to fix them when they malfunction and to design new ones for the ever-evolving technological world. Without human workers, new ideas and inventions would never see the light of day.
Question 2:
ReplyDeleteAfter watching all the advertisements, the ones I found most important were the ads for the Forever Young Medical Surgery Group and the ads pertaining to Illegal Immigrants. These advertisements show how the people in the world Theo lives in are obsessed with youth and trying to keep order in a crumbling society. The people face the dilemma of growing older without the ability to reproduce. With the lack of fertility in the world, depression has become another big issue the citizens of Britain have come face to face with. The government wants people to focus on trying to fix the infertility issues with fertility testing and promoting sexual activity with the drug “Niagra”, while also remaining a community and not accepting immigrants or outsiders into their lives by banning all immigrants from entering Britain. In regards to our advertising world, I believe the ad with the most similarity to what we see in our everyday lives would be the Forever Young ad. Plastic surgery is growing increasingly popular nowadays, and people can not help but cling to the idea of looking ten years younger. The problem I see with this is what could develop into a fear of growing older, which unfortunately happens no matter what surgery you have.
2. Which ones do you find the most important and what do they say about the world that Theo lives in? What are the dilemmas that the people face, and what does the government want the people to focus on? Which advertising images have the most similarities to our advertising, and how is this dangerous or problematic?
ReplyDeleteThe pieces of advertising that I find most important are the advertisings for the mandatory fertility tests, the suicide kits, and the anti-depressants. These pieces of advertisement show the absolute desperation that is gripping the world that Theo lives in. It goes to show that the crisis of infertility is beyond hopeless to the point where it is necessary for a government to provide its citizens with happy pills and a way to escape from it all. The government in the advertising wants to try to take people’s minds off of the infertility gripping the world and instead try to muster up a form patriotism and hope in its own citizens. This shows in the advertisements for the dog racing which has a British flag behind the dogs, and the advertising proclaiming that only Britain soldiers on. The advertising is similar to advertisements that are used today which are often aimed to divert people’s attention away from the crisis and hand and distract them with something else. Another thing that is similar between today’s advertising and Theo’s world is the attempt to instill patriotism. There are so many advertisements that seek to brainwash people into a sense of patriotism instead of allowing them to show interest in the state of the rest of the world. This is dangerous and problematic because it lull’s the public into believing whatever the advertisers want and keeps people from seeing the truth of the world, forcing them to stay focused on what is hot now or how they need a new Iphone.
I think that the most important ad shown was the one about youth. The ads about being younger is very similar to our society today. We are all trying to conserve our youth or appear more youthful. The way the media portrays the importance of youth makes people want to go out and purchase products that will make them look younger or even undergo plastic surgery, which is something that our society falls victim to. The ads about Diego are also significant because he was the youngest person alive and his death caused devastation around the world. Youth is obviously something important in Theo's society because of the fact that the world had gone infertile. Since people were not able to create youth with a child, they had to try the best they could to preserve the youth of themselves
ReplyDelete1. What is the main argument of Jeremy Rifkin's "The End of Work"? Do you think that he is correct? Is the future of work as grim as he anticipates? Why or why not? Provide examples to support your ideas.
ReplyDeleteThe main argument that Jeremy Rifkin is trying to get across to the reader is that technology is developing at such a pace that it is going to put the average blue and white collar worker out of the street and out of a job. I personally agree with Rifkin and find the counter argument given to us by Donald Jonas to be lacking in empirical evidence backing up the claim that Rifkin is incorrect. I believe that the future of work is grimdark, in that only those who are skilled enough to have gone to college and gotten an applicable degree will be able to find a job, the rest of the country who will be desperate for part-time and full time jobs will be in a crisis, or will be doing manual labor jobs that a machine could not do. I believe that the world portrayed in player piano is not an impossible reality if we continue on the current path we are heading. With the replacement of human workers in every line of work, the issue is simply that there will not be enough jobs for everyone, and even with re-training as attempted during the Clinton administration, the fact of the matter is that there are too many people being born and too many machine replacing human workers for everyone to find employment. I believe that the future for work in this country is a powder keg just waiting to explode into a crisis.
Question 2:
ReplyDeleteI feel that the forever young advertisment and the depression pills were the most important advertisments. In Theo's life there is a problem with infertility so everyone wants to be young. This problem causes depression which is why the depression pills are important. In today's society you see depression pill advertisments during every commercial break. Our economy is on a down fall, just like the one in Children of Men, and it is causing depression. Knowing that the money you make during your day at work is not enough to live a comfortable life. With infertility it is a problem in our society today but it is not a major problem. There are ways to have/raise a child today even if you are infertile. Whether is be adoption, surrogacy or depending on your problem artificial insemination.
Question 2
ReplyDeleteI think the forever young and dog clothes ads were the most interesting. They obviously compare to our society today because it seems like EVERYONE wants to be younger, everyone wants to get rid of their gray hair and wrinkles at whatever cost. People will pay hundreds, if not thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to look younger, yet they won't give a homeless man a buck. I find this interesting and disappointing. Related is the pet clothing ads. They say "show them you care" meaning spend a couple hundred dollars on a designer piece of cloth for your pet when that couple hundred dollars could be put to much better use elsewhere in society. Not to mention, there is plenty of research that says that pets don't like being dressed up. I find the use of funds for things like staying young forever and making pet clothes to be useless and a waste.
Quesiton 2:
ReplyDeleteThe advertisements that stuck out the most to me in relation to Theo's world talked about reporting illegal immigrants, fertility tests, and sexuality. Illegal immigrants are not allowed into the country, and the government heavily enforces this. They are also extremely focused on trying to create offspring by promoting sex and fertility tests. These are all attempts to hold together what is left of their broken world. When comparing these ads to those of our world today, the "Forever Young" and "Bliss Pill" ads are probably the most significant ones. Everyone is afraid of "growing old" and everyone is looking for "Bliss". The "Bliss" ad is telling consumers that they will experience this bliss once they take fertility pills. It could be that soon the government will soon be promising us things like bliss from pills and other things that promote what the government is trying to promote
Question 2:
ReplyDeleteWhen watching the video, I noticed that most of the images were government propaganda opposed to advertisements. Most of these advertisements promoted government policies as opposed to just selling a product. The two that really caught my eye the most are "Avoiding Fertility Tests is a Crime" and "The World Has Collapsed, Only Britain Soldiers On". The government wants the people to focus mainly on their policies, but that has caused the people to also focus primarily on the problems causing the policies. The constant reminder of their society's problems plays a big part in the prevalence of depression in their world.
2. The clips really emphasize very apocalyptic messages. In Children of Men, the world is collapsing because there is no fertility anymore. People are fighting over the last girl who is pregnant and her transfer rests in the hands of terrorist groups. Since the people of this futuristic society live in such a dismal situation, there are pills that target happiness. Also the “forever young” advertisements remind me of the commercials that are targeted towards the people who want to look younger and really care about their image. I guess in a society where there will be no more young people, there will be a strong emphasis on looking and feeling younger.
ReplyDelete1. The main argument of Jeremy Rifkin’s “The End of Work” is that the future of work is very very grim. There have been hundreds of layoffs and the scary thing is that even developing nations are using more technology therefore the layoff rate is even higher. Rifkin says “more than 75 percent of the labor force in most industrial nations engage in work that is little more than simple repetitive task.” That means that most of these tasks can be taken over by machines therefore even more people will lose their jobs. In my opinion, this is a very serious situation but it really is not that big of a deal because it was to happen with the technological revolution.
ReplyDeleteQuestion #2
ReplyDeleteI noticed a common thread of choices, age and sexuality as subjects of the advertisements, or at least in the important ones. It was interesting how one advertisement said that people were free to decide their own destineys but seconds later said that avoiding fertility testing was a crime. The advertisements seemed important because they were contradicting statements. Age was a big topic discussed since no one had been born after "Baby Diego" who was actually 18 years old. So it was important for people to take these medications to keep them looking young but also joined with the topic of sexuality. Since no one had been born since 2009 phone sex, ulimate climax and "are you horny" commercials kept reappearing. They seemed to keep the idea of reproducing on the minds of the people; to keep people trying to procreate.
Dilemmas people faced consisted of not having the ability to reproduce because they werent fertile, terrorism, aging and happiness. The government wanted people to live if fear of terrorism; one example being the "Suspect it: terrorism relies on surprise"; if people fear it then theyre willing to turn anyone in, especially immigrants. Aging and Happiness were given away in pills but organs were needed becasue regardless if people dont age on the outside theyre aging on the inside, so money was granted to those giving organs.
The movie and today gave a few similarities. One being sexuality, since usually they play every night on various channels. However, I dont know how that would be problematic in the same way as the movie. Today that could possibly give the idea that sex is needed so the population gets to big versus in the movie reproduction was needed. Also we both advertise medication whether thats medicine for depression today like in the movie having a happiness pill. Makeup and aging creams advertise a lot to since there is pressure to be beautiful and have clear skin with no wrinkles. The problem with that is mental from person to person because then suicide could become an issue.
What is the main argument of Jeremy Rifkin's "The End of Work"? Do you think that he is correct? Is the future of work as grim as he anticipates? Why or why not? Provide examples to support your ideas. Rifkin's article is a bit over dramatic. i feel that in the future most jobs will be run by machines but it will not be the end of work. soley because there are jobs a machine can not operate like jobs in the medical field and such. But there also has to be someone to develop the machines. i think that with proper education jobs will be secure.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1:
ReplyDeleteThe main argument to Jeremy Rifkin's "The End of Work" is that technology has taken the place of human workers. Large companies have replaced 10-25% of their workforce with machines. People are afraid of losing their jobs each week. I agree with his argument because already, we see that automation has taken it's place in our society. We now see tollbooths that are automated and the same goes with self check out machines. Little by little we see things getting replaced by machines. I think that the future of work could potentially be pretty grim because of his statistics that say the US alone eliminates 2 million jobs each year. At this rate, why wouldn't any one be afraid? The reason why I think that it could potentially be grim is because there are plus sides with the growing rate of technology. Even though real wages have failed to keep up with inflation, employment benefits such as health care has risen. There's also new opportunites presented by the rapid growth of technology. The only way to succumb to the technological revolution is to always be a step ahead and be able to stop it if necessary.
What is the main argument of Jeremy Rifkin's "The End of Work"? Do you think that he is correct? Is the future of work as grim as he anticipates? Why or why not? Provide examples to support your ideas.
ReplyDeleteThe main argument of Jeremy Rifkin’s “the end of work” is that by making all everything automated through the use of machines we are destroying jobs that the people of the world need. Also he touches on the point that no matter how the situation is looked at – via a democratic or a republican point of view – there is no way to clearly stop this disaster from happening. He also talks about how the out sourcing of jobs is only a very minor problem because over time these unskilled cheap labor jobs will become automated as well. I do believe that Rifkin is correct in saying these things. As technology continues to increase and more and more jobs become replaced with machines it will do many destructive things to the people of the world. Some of these include that more people will be forced to get higher education to be able to get a skilled job that a machine cannot do. The problem with this is, though that these jobs will be so competitive that only the people that are extremely innately gifted with cognitive abilities will be able to make it in the grim society that is to come. Additionally only the rich will be able to afford to send their kids to higher education centers since it can be expensive and the families that don’t have much money will not be able to change that because they cannot get a job. In other words the middle class will vanish.
Andrew Spaedy
#2 Which ones do you find the most important and what do they say about the world that Theo lives in? What are the dilemmas that the people face, and what does the government want the people to focus on? Which advertising images have the most similarities to our advertising, and how is this dangerous or problematic? The world that Theo lives in is full of sex but infertilty drugs that make you feel pleasured. People feel like they can think for themselves but in reality they can't.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2:
ReplyDeleteI think the most important advertisments were the anti depressants and the "Forever Young" ads. It's hard to be positive in this society, where infertility is a problem. Knowing this, people become instable and chaos is all around. With the antidepressants, people can atleast pretend to be mildly happy. The government is in a police state and it wants control of all its citizens. If citizens are "happy" they are atleast able to concentrate on other problems, such as the illegal immigrants. The advertisments that our simliar to our society are the "Forever Young" ads. A lot of people now have the mentality that you need to look young. This is problematic because then everyone looks uncharacterisically young. It's dangerous in our own society because it makes people tend to think that they way you are isn't alright.
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteThe main argument of Jeremy Rifkin’s “The End of Work” is that advancements in technology are replacing jobs that people would do, thus causing unemployment and economic decline. I agree with him: man is being replaced by machine, simply because it is more efficient and cheap in the short term picture. However, the people who are laid off because of these machines will struggle quite a bit: most of these people can only get low-paying jobs because anything better is done by machines or requires extensive amount of schooling. As a result, the long-term unemployment rate continues to rise, which causes problems on a national level. Because many of the new products are so expensive, people resort to using credit, which is why debt “today is more than $4 trillion.” The irony is that businesses who utilize these new technologies will end up losing money because the average consumer is inundated with debt. However, I believe that there is more hope than Rifkin. Because we are in a new age of information and technology, we will have to adapt to the new way of life. The job industry has changed drastically throughout history, and right now, it seems like America is in a transitional state. What we really need to emphasize are the programs that will reeducate the people and businesses to have people working alongside machines. This can be done by restructuring our education program and reevaluating what types of machines are needed in the industry. This process will be gradual, but in the long run, we can lower unemployment rates, literacy rates, and create a better future.
Question 2:
ReplyDeleteMost of the advertisements that the government displays emphasize sexuality and repopulation. By emphasizing on youth and encouraging the use of pills such as “Bliss” and “Niagra”, people are basically being told to try and reproduce. The desperation seeps out of these ads because ads that encourage non-martial sex are displayed subtly as well. This desperation is also emphasized through the “top” news about the death of baby Diego. The government wants the people to focus on youth and the idea of children, so they focus on the very few people who are actually young. Another thing that is noticeable in these ads is the homeland security: society is really intolerant to foreigners and to anything that goes against the government. By emphasizing the successes in their own country, people are led to be optimistic as long as they keep trying to have babies but are blind to the cruelty done to people outside of Great Britain.