Macbeth

Macbeth Analysis: Act 1.

Macbeth starts with the emergence of “Three Witches” meeting to predict the future. The three witches are in the bleak environment, which is represented by a wild Scottish landscape. Particularly, the imagery of witchcraft and chaotic weather intensify this feeling.

On the next Scene, the main characters start to appear. Here, Macbeth becomes a hero, with the execution of the Thane of Cawdor, a very treacherous character. Thus, Macbeth is ‘nominated’ to obtain the position of the Thane. In this sense, the hero Macbeth is compared to “Valour’s minion” (the servant of Courage) and “Bellona’s bridegroom” (the husband of War), the metaphors that reinforce the ‘heroism’ of Macbeth even more. Another evidence of portraying Macbeth as a hero is shown on the similes of the Captain’s second report, comparing Macbeth and his fellow-captain Banquo to “eagles” and “lions,” while their enemies are compared to “sparrows” or “hare.” However, all of this, describing Macbeth as a superhero actually is a device to emphasize the tragedy of Macbeth’s death at the end of the play. In the lines, “unseam’d him from the nave (center) to the chops, And fix’d his head upon our battlements,” Macbeth’s death is foreshadowed.

On the third Scene of Act 1, the Witches reappear. They make prophecies that “Macbeth shall be named as Thane of Cawdor and then king,” while Banquo will be the “father to future generations of kings.” With the Witches’ reappearance, the Scene recalls the first Scene, when Macbeth says, “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” The prophecies and words of the Witches can be summed up with a word, ‘unpredictability’. Macbeth is likened to a ‘sailor’, since the sailor is the captain of a ship, in the same way that Macbeth is to become “captain” of his land, which foreshadows the fate of Macbeth.

Other than Macbeth, Banquo also shows up and become the very first to actually spot the weird sisters, remarking on the Witches’ weird appearance, saying they “look not like the inhabitants of the earth, / And yet are on it.” (I personally found this very funny; I laughed for this for quite a long time and my friends stared at me, asking me how could I possibly laugh while reading Macbeth.)

When the Witches say all the ambiguous things, which suggest a more unpredictable future, both Macbeth and Banquo are confused and show incomprehension. Also, when Macbeth is announced to be the new Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth is confused , casts doubt on this, but is not criticizing too much: “This supernatural soliciting / Cannot be ill; cannot be good”, while Banquo is quite sure the “Devil” is interfering here: “oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of Darkness tell us truths.”

On Scene 4, King Duncan delivers formal thanks to Macbeth and Banquo, but announces his successor to be his son Malcolm. When Duncan says, “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face,” he means ‘never judge a book by its cover’, which implies that he wasn’t able to predict the treachery of Cawdor, while Macbeth did. And this probably is said to compliment Macbeth. Of course, Duncan sees Macbeth as a potential successor: “I have begun to plant thee, and will labour / To make thee full of growing.” This creates a perfect irony, because Duncan says these things, while formally announcing his son to be his successor. This irony fuels the ambition of Macbeth to be a King. So, Macbeth gets angry and says, “Star! Hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires.”

On the next Scene, Lady Macbeth turns up and simultaneous the Scene gets darker very rapidly. When Lady Macbeth finds out that Macbeth would be meeting with the Witches, she decides to carry out the murder of the king herself, in order to hasten the prophecy. At this point, Lady Macbeth herself has virtually become an ‘agent of Fate’. She thinks Macbeth is “too full of the milk of human kindness” to commit murder, so she, herself, transforms into a man. Judging by these evidences, Lady Macbeth can be said to be one of the most powerful female characters in literature, filled with the imagery of death and destruction.

On the sixth Scene, King Duncan finally arrives at Inverness, while Lady Macbeth becomes a perfect hostess for now. The castle, from the outside at least, appears to be a paradise, and the King is well entertained, but this place will soon turn into a violent place. Here, the cunningness of Lady Macbeth is shown rather explicitly, with her elaborate greeting.

On the last Scene of Act I, Macbeth is now bothered by self-doubt whirlpooling inside his mind, still very much in confusion, and Lady Macbeth is still guiding the way where Macbeth should go, representing a very strong figurine. When Macbeth admitted to Lady Macbeth that his golden reputation might lose its “gloss,” she sets out to strengthen his mind by mocking his perceived weakness by calling him a “green,” “a coward,” and “poor cat.”

Catcher in the Rye

Back to myself

I left KMLA a month ago. Actually, I was kicked out of it because I exceeded 80 points, the limitation the school said it could ‘take’. All I did was I ordered some chicken when I really wanted to eat some, didn’t clean my room because I was out having a barbecue party, brushed my teeth or ate some squid during the self study time, skipped the morning exercise because nobody woke me up and stuff. I didn’t go to court because I committed a crime; I was just being myself.

Even Mr. Ganse agreed with me. I visited Mr. Ganse just before I left the school, and I immediately started to like him a little bit more because he talked about how much improvement I’ve made throughout my school years, and the school cannot be more stupid to just let me go like this, just because of those penalty points, which is not even important in our lives.

I immediately went to a place where I can learn music, as I’ve always wanted. I’ve wanted to learn music composition, guitar and more piano. I really missed singing all the time and playing the piano. It’s been quite a while since I really enjoyed music itself. I’ve been stressed by all the performances I had to do successfully every time, just for the good of my NAB club.

I could finally learn professional music, by a professional musician, Mrs. Grendell. She is such a nasty person, but a great musician, though. When I first came to this place, she required so much money so that I couldn’t learn from her. I begged her for like a week until she finally accepted me. I think she did that because I was driving her crazy, following everywhere she went, trying to convince her that I was eligible to become her student. Again, she was extremely harsh on me the minute I became her student. Every time I learned a little thing, she scolded me for not knowing it. Her voice was always in maximum volume, probably due to her outstanding singing ability, and with that huge voice, she shouted right into my ears. However, what mattered was not her voice, but the humiliation I got every time she shouted at me. It was always in front of everybody else whenever she scolded me, with the great combination of such hurtful words. Every night, I cried with my face buried in my pillow, for I didn’t want anybody to hear me. But then I comforted myself, telling myself I could someday be a great musician. The same thing happened to me every day, so I eventually got dull with such harsh scoldings.

Yet, I was holding on to my only hope; becoming an international musician, until I heard the news that a selected trainee at SM entertainment, a student of Mrs. Grendell, was excluded from the group she was supposed to join.The reason I was shocked at the news was because she was, in a nutshell, ‘perfect’. She had been a trainee at SM for over 6 years now, and I recognized her as soon as I came in, as the most talented student of Mrs. Grendell. I didn’t understand why she was excluded. She simply had everything; fantastic voice, greatest dancing skills and one of the most beautiful faces I’ve ever seen. She said her boss told her she didn’t have ‘potential’ to succeed in the entertainment world. Well, she didn’t need potential; she already ‘had’ everything! I was infuriated at the news, but at the same time, gave another thought about my future. Until last month, I was in KMLA, the so-called the most prestigious high school in Korea. I was enjoying the school life along with all my extra-curricular activities, got fairly nice GPA, wanting to be a marine biologist. I was working on it, but then I suddenly deviated from my ‘path’, towards music, which I’m not really an expert in. I was an idiot.

Now I realize studying is the easiest way to have a better life in the future, especially if you're not particularly talented in an area that you can kick everybody's asses without much effort, or you would die for working in that area.

The Intouchables (2011)

A true story of two men who should never have met - a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects.
-From imdb


Just watched this movie last weekend with my family at CGV.
to be continued...

Brainstorming - 3 points of view

Unifying incident, thought, theme, or question that is central

Connected with cigarette
all of them on the rooftop of the cigarette company

Manufacturer (CEO)-rich, white man in America-perhaps England 왜냐면 여기서 담배에 대한 단속이 제일 심하니까 힘든 정도를 나타내기 위해 영국으로? (제일 잘나가는 곳에 사는). 물론, 담배가 건강에 해롭다는 것을 알지만, 이 사업을 지속시키기 위해 수단과 방법을 가리지 않는다. 사실 속으로는, Feel a little guilty but has to do this to sustain his position and income, salary. 정부가 막을 때마다 엄청난 로비를 해서 겨우겨우 삶을 이어간다. 가끔 그만둘까 생각도 해보지만 집에서 내가 돈을 가지고 들어오길 목 빠지게 기다리는 가족들 때문에 그럴 수도 없다. 그런 자신의 상황을 몰라주는 시위하는 사람들이 얄밉기만 하다.

smoker (customers of cigarettes)-담배 애호가인 employee. 우리나라 담배 맨날 피는 삶이 힘든 아저씨. 담배를 고등학교 3학년 때 친구들의 계락에 말려들어 피기 시작했는데, 그 후로 삶이 점점 더 힘들어져 끊기가 거의 불가능했다. 점점 더 힘들어질수록 하루에 피는 담배의 양은 점점 더 늘어났고, 그럴수록 건강이 걱정됬지만 끊을 수가 없다. 딸들로, 아내도 담배 좀 끊으라고 수많은 닥달과 잔소리를 늘어놓고, 나도 끊고 싶은 마음은 굴뚝같지만, 그들 앞에서만 피지 않고 어떻게든 다른 곳에서 담배를 핀다. 결국은 암 선고를 받고 입원한다.

non-smokers-a girl who hates smokers. 자기 건강 엄청나게 끔찍히 중요시 여기는 employee. 담배 피는 것을 살인이라고 생각할 정도로 극단적으로 여기며, 특히 학교에서 금연 교육 받은 것 중 담배를 피는 사람보다 담배 연기를 맡는 사람이 더 니코틴 섭취를 많이 한다는 사실을 알고는 더욱 싫어한다. 또, 담배를 만드는 회사와 사람들을 매우 혐오한다.

Autumn Rain

Autumn Rain

By D. H. Lawrence 1916

British Literature Class

            THE plane leaves

fall black and wet

on the lawn;

The cloud sheaves

in heaven's fields set

droop and are drawn

in falling seeds of rain;

the seed of heaven

on my face

falling--I hear again

like echoes even

that softly pace

Heaven's muffled floor,

the winds that tread

out all the grain

of tears, the store

harvested

in the sheaves of pain

caught up aloft:

the sheaves of dead

men that are slain

now winnowed soft

on the floor of heaven;

manna invisible

of all the pain

here to us given;

finely divisible

falling as rain.

Analysis Essay

The Autumn Rain by D. H. Lawrence begins with, and continues to talk about sufferings a grain has to go through in order to be harvested. On the second line of the first stanza, the phrase fall black and wet signifies the trials and ordeals, for black represents dark, gloomy society and never-ending route leading to success, and when you’re wet, you are most likely to feel dreadful with the rain soaked up in your clothes and socks. Droop and are drawn on the last line of the second stanza indicates the same thing; it takes a cloud’s sacrifice to make it rain.

As the poem continues, the trials and ordeals are intensified. Seed of heaven, on the second line of the third stanza, can be considered as one of the smaller results of rain; rain, especially the autumn rain, is like the seed of heaven in a way that it is the main element required for better production of grains or fruits. I hear again, on the next stanza, rhymes with rain; again and rain rhyme. This phrase suggests that the sacrfice, or the rain, has to continue again and again to accomplish what you’ve aimed for in the first place.

           On the next two stanzas, it says, ‘The winds that tread out all the grain of tears, the store harvested in the sheaves of pain.’ Here, the line grain of tears may be drawing a picture of a grain lowering its head when it’s wet or when it has been fully ripened. This represents the hardships that grains go through; they are treaded out by the winds, (Here, to tread out means to step on them really hard, so that the zests of the grains are peeled off, usually done in the process of harvesting.) and are harvested in pain.

The poet also compares the harvested grain to the sheaves of dead men that are slain. This is a rather extreme comparison, especially since the rest of the poem is comprised of serene languge. Thus, it does make a strong point that harvested grains are the products of extraordinary difficult processes. In other words, success may only come after the harsh courses of adversity. By saying, heaven with manna invisible of all the pain, he probably means the fruition in the end, finally getting rid of all the pain that existed in the past.

Overall, the autumn rain falls, the leaves fall, the grains fall, which are harvested and given to us, making our world the heaven. By describing this long process of harvest, I think the poet wanted to talk about the common fact that only after overcoming trials and ordeals, can a person accomplish something he or she wants.

Walmart, a Boomerang: 2nd Draft

Walmart, a Boomerang:

The Neo-Industrial Revolution: 2^nd Draft

Walmart represents great controversy all over the world, and we can easily feel the heat when we type in “Walmart” in Google or Youtube. Some people nearly worship Walmart as their saviour for industry and positive impact to many communities, while many others are infuriated by the brutality of the company. In some Youtube videos, Walmart employees express their anger by fierce demonstrations and creating provocative videos criticizing Walmart. The truth is, both sides are right; Walmart serves a function like a boomerang, as it seems to benefit citizens, but also creates a viscious cycle.

At first, after watching a Youtube video “When Walmart Comes to Town: A Success Story”, I was persuaded for a moment to believe that Walmart actually improves the lives of people. The video showed complaints by citizens of Chicago who complain about a lack of places to buy fresh vegetables and other materials. People were shouting, "We want Walmart so that we can have something more than some dollar stores…", and they were actually demonstrating to demand the establishment of Walmart in their town. In 2006, Chicago finally got what it wanted, and Walmart successfully fulfilled the needs of people right away. First of all, Walmart boosted the employment rate in Chicago. According to the video, statistics showed that 726 jobs were created, 298 were lost, for a total result gaining 428 jobs after bringing in Walmart. Not only that, but also, since Walmart came in, it brought in 22 new businesses to the area, including the Bank of America, Chase Bank, CVS, and Menards. As more and more businesses were coming in, Chicago kept on moving towards more economic development, also creating new streets and leading to more population to Chicago. All of these make it seem plausible to support Walmart chains, as these things actually happened.

         Now here’s the reality; after such seemingly-positive effects on a society, Walmart in turn exacerbates people’s lives and infuriates the employees through horrible treatment. According to a news article from REUTERS, called “Wal-Mart trims some U.S. health coverage”, Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation decided to no longer offer health insurance to new part-time U.S. employees who work fewer than 24 hours a week and charge workers who use tobacco more for coverage as healthcare costs rise (Wal-Mart). Most American businesses provide healthcare systems for their employees, especially huge retailers with a global chain system. Plus, the system is vital for most people, particularly those who work in Walmart, with such poor income and having nowhere else to go to earn money. Walmart simply reduces funds that are put into health care system only to produce more yields, but in the employees’ perspective, just a small reduction of funds will greatly deteriorate people’s lives.

Walmart’s atrocious acts are not only about health care systems; in fact, there exist other companies that do the same things. In an article Wal-Mart: Merchant of Shame, National Organization for Women (NOW) received complaints regarding workplace environment and employment practices, which include the following: “sex discrimination in pay, promotion and compensation, wage abuse, exclusion of contraceptive coverage in insurance plans, violations of child labor laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.” (Merchant). Reacting to Walmart’s discrimination against women, Dukes filed a lawsuit on behalf of 1.5 million women employees, basing on extensive public records filed against Wal-Mart. However, the Judge of the case took Walmart’s side.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, "Even if every single one of these accounts is true, that would not demonstrate that the entire company 'operate[s] under a general policy of discrimination … Respondents have identified no 'specific employment practice'--much less one that ties all their 1.5 million claims together. Merely showing that Wal-Mart's policy of discretion has produced an overall sex-based disparity does not suffice." (Merchant).

Now we know that Wal-Mart is actually a bad company that disguises itself as a “revolutionary retailer,” and also came to know that Wal-Mart power is already so prevalent all over the world that even the government compromises to Wal-Mart. This situation is similar to what’s happening in Korea, with the Samsung group ruling over the Korean government.

           To sum up, Walmart seems to bring in a lot of things and give positive impact to many communities, but viewing Walmart in the long term, the situation goes back to the original state, if not worse. In this way, I would describe Wal-Mart as industrialization, since industrialization also seemed to greatly improve the lives of people with no negative impact at all, but then people understood later that there are even more disadvantages than benefits. Also, as my title indicates: A BOOMERANG, as it comes back to its original place after a long trip.

Citations

Walmart NYC. “When Walmart Comes to Town: A Success Story.” Youtube (2 Feb. 2011): n. pag.  Mon. 5 March. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdtcBiaflUQ&feature=player_embedded>

Jessica Wohl. “Wal-Mart trims some U.S. health coverage.” REUTERS (2 Feb. 2011): n. pag. Mon. 5 March. 2012. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/21/us-walmart-idUSTRE79K43Z20111021>

The National Organization for Women (NOW) Website. “Wal-Mart: Merchant of Shame.” 2 Feb. 2011. Mon. 5 Mar 2012. <http://www.now.org/issues/wfw/wal-mart.html>

KONY 2012

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Facebook security: the Secret of Facebook

Facebook security – the secret of Facebook

Facebook has now become a global social networking website, with over 845 million users all over the world. I barely know a person who doesn’t use facebook, for this became a website inevitable to use as long as you want yourself to be connected to the global community. Most people use facebook unconsciously, for the purpose of communicating with their friends, getting to know them better, or even making new friends online just like in the Catfish. You are probably one of these facebook users who made it a habit of visiting facebook everyday. That is exactly why you should read this, to be aware of what computer experts are doing with YOUR personal information.

You may have already encountered this issue before you read this, but probably not as severe as this. An Australian computer expert has raised first privacy concerns of the facebook users. He discovered a website that is able to track exactly where you go on the web even if you're not logged in to your Facebook accounts. He claims that Facebook is following users beyond the social networking site. His blog says Facebook does not delete tracking technology known as 'cookies' even once you've logged out. This is not his opinion only; many other experts say the exact same thing. Stephen Collins from the Electronic Frontiers Australia says, “It's actually still tracking where you're going and there's the potential for that information to be put on the facebook without your explicit permission.” Why would they do this? Obviously, personal information can be extremely useful for marketing or advertising, increasing the profits of businesses in great amount. On-line security experts also say that information could be sold to advertisers. They say that online tracking technology has been benefiting for years. Actually, according to Nick Ellsmore, an Information Security Expert, says, “For many internet businesses, there's a saying that goes 'If you're not paying for the product, you're not the customer. You are the product being sold.'”

The security problem of Facebook is not a recent one; this has been a major problem since the Facebook CEOs first launched this internet site. In Social Network, the movie that deals with the behind story of first establishment of Facebook in Harvard by a genius, founders of Facebook faced plenty of accusations about the morality and legality of the world's most popular networking site. The founder was sued by his best friend to the Federal Court, in which the Judge declares, “You’re being accused of intentionally breaching security, violating copyrights, violating individual privacy…”

On the other hand, Facebook argues that they did not use the personal information of users for their own profits. Facebook admits that it does gather personal information, but says it is used only to enhance users' security, such as detecting unauthorized log-in of facebook accounts. And in any case, the information gathered is deleted after ninety days. Also, Facebook engineers put these defenses on-line; an engineer Gregg Stefancik says, “Generally, unlike other major Internet companies, we have no interest in tracking people. We don't have an ad network and we don't sell people's information.”

Now being aware of this critical issue, many people now claim that the government has to step in. However, IT experts say common sense is a better protection than legal intervention. One of them says, “It's happening, and we just need to be aware of it, we need to be sensible, and if you're really concerned about it, don’t do anything you don't want mom to know about.” I personally think the experts are right. The Facebook engineers are probably one of the greatest technology engineers in the whole world. To combat these people, it’s going to take great amount of money and time, and of course, will not be easy once the Facebook get to know that they started intervening.

To his Coy Mistress

Assignment from Mr. Tame's English Literature Class

To his Coy Mistress

Andrew Marvell

Had we but world enough, and time,

This coyness, Lady, were no crime.

We would sit down and think which way

To walk and pass our long love's day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the Flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires, and more slow;

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast;

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart;

For, Lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

   But at my back I always hear

Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found,

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song: then worms shall try

That long preserved virginity,

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust:

The grave's a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

   Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may,

And now, like amorous birds of prey,

Rather at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapt power.

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life:

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Analysis Paper of

To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

            ‘To his Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell is a poem dedicated to the speaker’s ‘sweetheart’, urging her to make love with him. The speaker of this poem is directly talking to this mistress, who is being so shy, probably because she is not allowed to have a relationship with the guy. Also, this poem is in the form of iambic tetrameter, with rhyming words at the end of each line. All the paired rhyming words are closely related to each other in meaning, particularly in consistency with the theme of this poem.

            In the first part of the poem, Ganges’ side and the tide of Humber are compared, with the rhyming words side and tide. The Ganges, a river in India and the Humber, a river in England are far away from each other, thereby representing the distance between the speaker and his love, the mistress. In addition, it is easily implied that the girl is refusing to have a relationship with the man because she is a Jewish, which is also related to two rhyming words, refuse and Jews. Overall, the first part discusses the slow and steady love game between him and his love.

In the second part, the speaker is suddenly aware of the limitation of time, which is even more emphasized by rhymes at the end of each line. Here, the pace of the poem starts to get faster, with much more passion and burning love. Especially in the lines ‘hear the / Time's winged chariot hurrying near’, the two rhyming words hear and near give readers the feeling of being pursued.

            The third part bit by bit begins to explicitly talk about sex, now every line representing something regarding it, which varies greatly according to the reader’s interpretation. Also, the line that says, ‘And tear our pleasures with rough strife / Through the iron gates of life’ indicates the passionate love towards his ‘sweetheart’, for strife and life together hint the idea of eternity. This is due to the fact that life can be considered a ‘complete life’ only when it accompanies strife, or conflict. Therefore, this means that the speaker will always be together with her, no matter how difficult the approaching problems are. Moreover, the last two lines, ‘Thus, though we cannot make our sun / Stand still, yet we will make him run.’can signify an important point. Other love poets would probably sing that he would stop the time even just for an instant, to get together with his lover. However, the speaker of this poem in turn says he would make the sun, or time, run, instead of making it stand still. This implies that he would rather spend the rest of his life together with his love, not for just a while.

            As stated above, the feelings expand and intensify as the poem progresses towards the end, and this trait is emphasized by two important symbols, the vegetable love in the first part, and instant fires in the last part. In this context, vegetable love would mean a love that has the property of life and growth, as does a plant. It can mean a love that actually grows, takes nourishment and reproduces, although very slowly. On the other hand, the instant fires would indicate a love that blazes with passion and desire. These two concepts are completely opposite to each other, letting the readers recognize the vast expansion of feelings throughout the poem. I personally love this poem, as its language is very intense and effective enough to deliver his message of love, which makes the readers really pay attention to what the speaker is trying to tell.

Catfish - NO MORE PRIVACY

I am SHOCKED at how fast these people can get an update information and get to be friends with such a person who you never know or have never seen. I saw a lot of these similar incidents in movies, but this documentary is just shocking in how clever a person can be to disguise herself so completely.
After I watched this film, the thought that this world will never be able to keep privacy of different people came to me immediately. If we go on like this, there is, and will be no more privacy.

This video from TEN news demonstrates the danger of facebook in how people, especially technical experts and businesses use people's private information for their own profits.

This video examines the historical perspective of facebook privacy.

The Social Network Trailer: The real foundation story of facebook CEO.
I also found an article concerning this issue called, <12-Year-Old Sues School Over Facebook Privacy>

That's about it for the ideas.

Walmart, a boomerang

Walmart, a boomerang:

The Neo-Industrial Revolution

Walmart is of great controversies all over the world, and we can easily feel the heat when we type in ‘Walmart’ in Google or Youtube. Some nearly worship Walmart as their saviour for bringing in a lot of industries and giving great positive impact to many communities, while others are infuriated by the brutality of the company. In some of Youtube videos, Walmart employees express their anger by fierce demonstrations and creating provocative videos criticizing Walmart. The truth is, both sides are right; Walmart serves a function of a boomerang, as it seems to benefit citizens, but then people soon realize that Walmart creates a viscious cycle.

At first, after watching a Youtube video < When Walmart Comes to Town: ASuccess Story >, I was persuaded to believe that Walmart actually improves the lives of people for a moment. The video showed the complaints that the citizens of Chicago were making on lack of places to buy fresh vegetables and other materials. People were shouting, "We want Walmart so that we can have something more than some dollar stores…", and they were actually demonstrating to demand the establishment of Walmart in their town. In 2006, Chicago finally got what it wanted, and Walmart successfully fulfilled the needs of town people right away. First of all, Walmart boosted employment rate in Chicago. According to the video, statistics showed that 726 jobs were created, 298 were lost, as a result gaining 428 jobs total after the bringing in Walmart. Not only that, but also, since Walmart came in, it brought in 22 new businesses to the area, including the Bank of America, Chase bank, CVS, and Menards. As more and more businesses were coming in, Chicago kept on moving towards more economic development, also creating new streets and leading more population to Chicago. All of these make it seem plausible to support Walmart chains, as these things actually happened.

Now here’s the reality; after such seemingly-positive effects on a society, Walmart in turn exacerbates people’s lives and infuriates the employees by horrible treatments. According to a news article from REUTERS, called < Wal-Marttrims some U.S. health coverage >, Wal-MartStores Incorporation decided to no longer offer health insurance to newpart-time U.S. employees who work fewer than 24 hours a week and charge workerswho use tobacco more for coverage as healthcare costs rise. Most American businesses provide healthcare system for their employees, especially huge retailers with global chain system. Plus, the system is vital for most people, particularly those who work in Walmart, with such poor income and having nowhere else to go to earn money. Walmart simply reduces funds that are put into health care system only to produce more yields, but in the employees’ perspective, just a small reduction of funds will greatly deteriorate people’s lives.

Walmart’s atrocious acts are not only about health care systems; in fact, there exists other companies that do the same things. In an article < Wal-Mart: Merchantof Shame >, National Organization for Women (NOW) received complaints regarding workplace environment and employment practices, which include the following: sex discrimination in pay,promotion and compensation, wage abuse, exclusion of contraceptive coverage ininsurance plans, violations of child labor laws and the Americans withDisabilities Act, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Reacting to Walmart’s discrimination against women, Dukes filed a lawsuit on behalf of 1.5 million women employees, basing on extensive public records filed against Wal-Mart. However, the Judge of the case took Walmart’s side. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, "Even ifevery single one of these accounts is true, that would not demonstrate that theentire company 'operate[s] under a general policy of discrimination …Respondents have identified no 'specific employment practice'--much less onethat ties all their 1.5 million claims together. Merely showing that Wal-Mart'spolicy of discretion has produced an overall sex-based disparity does notsuffice." Now we know that Wal-Mart is actually a bad company that disguises itself as a ‘revolutionary retailer’, and also came to know that Wal-Mart power is already so prevalent all over the world that even government compromises to Wal-Mart. This situation is similar to what’s happening in Korea, Samsung group ruling over the Korean government.

To sum up, Walmart seems to bring in a lot of things and give positive impact to many communities, but viewing Walmart in long term, the situation goes back to the original state, if not worse. In this way, I would describe Wal-Mart as industrialization, since industrialization also seemed to greatly improve the lives of people with no negative impact at all, but then people understood later that there are even more disadvantages than benefits. And also, as my title indicates: A BOOMERANG.

< Sources >

 “When Walmart Comes to Town: A Success Story”, Youtube, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdtcBiaflUQ&feature=player_embedded>

“Wal-Mart trims some U.S. health coverage”, REUTERS, Jessica Wohl  <http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/21/us-walmart-idUSTRE79K43Z20111021>

“Wal-Mart: Merchant of Shame”, National Organization for Women (NOW), <http://www.now.org/issues/wfw/wal-mart.html>