The Matrix??? Seriously....wow

Well, besides the fact that I watched the first 10 minutes of the Matrix and determined I had neither the time nor the energy to endure Keanu Reeves, the concept of this whole, alternative reality, or possibly "false consciousness" as Marx would put it, is something I think about every night before I fall asleep....

Well, OK, maybe not every single night, but I have had numerous conversations concerning this various topics with the likes of sociology, psychology, business, and philosophy majors. Thus, I am going to enjoy ranting about my opinion on the matter :)

In our country, and I would presume in other "developed" nations, as well, people are born into this whole idea of who rules what and why. From the moment you are born, and from there on out, you are taught that your parents, teachers, and elders as well as the law are who and what you must obey. That of course, being on the smallest level of "power elite". In terms of our class, what is meant by the "power elite" is those who hold the highest power within the government and politics, as well as big business owners and basically those who have the "means" to control our nation. OK, that seemed a bit harsh, but, in all seriousness, who are we trying to kid saying that we all have an "equal" chance at becoming politicians, presidents, and owners of multi-billion dollar corporations??

Which leads me into the next question, who is this ruling class?? Well, basically, I would have to say that top government officials, big business owners, and hell, I'd even go as far as saying Oprah has a lot of damn power in our country. The key factor is and always will be, money and a name. It can sound disheartening to speak like that, because we all want to believe it is possible to work as hard as you can to get to the top (which, in the case of Oprah, was true..OK, so she might have been a bad example, since she is an exception). Even on the smallest of levels a name or some sort of power is what you must have to go straight to the top. I can remember all throughout my athletic career I had to work my ass off just to make the team or get some playing time, but my friend, whose older cousin and/or brother or sister was a star athlete in the county, had a spot waiting on them 3 years in advance. Which goes to show, it's who you know and how much you make that makes you powerful. So I guess I'm saying that the majority(you know, besides the exceptions like Oprah) are from a different world. OK, say it is "radical hogwash", but I would like to at least entertain this idea that the majority of the "leaders" in our society made it there because they had the means to do so. They had the name behind them to get them noticed, as well as the money to fund all of the marketing campaigns to embed that name into our brains. You get the point.


Well, in making the exclamation that the "ruling class" gets to be the "ruling class" because of money and other such commodities, I would say that they "frame" as you put it, or excuse, global conflict in order to protect their own interests. Those interests being, you guessed it, money and power. Wars are said to be inevitable because "there is no way we could all just get along", that it is just human nature to be at war and it always has been since the beginning of time. They say that war is necessary in order for our country to prosper and succeed. Well, obviously, war is necessary to keep resources handy for big business.

I can go on and on about these topics, and speak my opinion or what I think I know about the issues, but I always come to the question, "Is this my genuine opinion or is it what I think I should be thinking??" Thus, the question of how much of what we receive is factual or perceived knowledge, or is it just filtered through what the media is feeding us. Well, I, as well as others, would like to think that my opinions are insightful and based on the facts. But who are we really to say that we get straight facts from anyone?? Is it even possible to receive the facts? Someone has to tell you what is going on somehow, either through the media or by word of mouth. So can what we hear ever truly be factual?? I'm left with this feeling that any information that we receive will always be filtered somehow, and no matter how the information is given, their will always be an opinion imposed upon it.

Which brings me to my conclusion. Why does this matter to our course. Well, everything previously discussed has much to do about Global Peace and Conflict, and if we are wanting to truly and consciously discuss the issues facing the world today, then we must be able to grasp all viewpoints and ideas about why and how our world comes to battle with each other. It is important to see all sides of it and it is extremely important to critically think through what we are told and taught to believe in our lives, because if we don't take a closer look at our world, then we are destined to repeat our battles over and over until the end of time...

Oxjam 07'

Oxjam was a fabulous way to jump start the weekend! I was very excited to see the amount of people who came out to support a great cause and listen to some sweet tunes. The combination of The Frets, Pierson Keating, George Costa's Feelin' Horny, and various other student musicians here at Wesleyan made for a fun-filled 2 hours. Besides the amazing talent, Oxjam was able to raise funds for Oxfam America, a non-profit organization that raises awareness and funding to help millions of people across the world who suffer from poverty, hunger, and in general, social injustice around the globe. Oxfam has helped millions through their hard work and on hands help. It was enjoyable to know that I could help out such a good cause and have a good time doing so.

As for the relationship to Global Peace and Conflict, I couldn't help but feel that global injustice, poverty, and hunger have had a lot to do with the fact that our world is constantly unstable. After reading "Resource Wars", it got me thinking more and more about how we are in constant struggle to maintain our economy through certain resources such as oil and water. While it may seem as though we are maintaining and everyone is profiting, everyone isn't. You would think that by 2007, people wouldn't be hungry or living on the streets, but they are. Much of which has to do with the fact that the rich keep getting richer and the poor stay the same or go down. This is why Oxfam is a such a great organization. Anyone that can help bring awareness and start changing the way the world works holds a high rank in my eyes.

Hi. My name is Jessica Crislip. I am a 3rd year senior psychology major with a minor in sociology. I am from Weston, WV, which is unfortunately about 15 minutes down the road. I enjoy numerous activities, mostly involving sports and nature. I hope to see the world someday. I have many dreams and ambitions. I am in this class because it satisfies credit for my minor as well as a global cultural studies course. I am very excited about learning a subject that I am not as familiar with as I should be. I watch the news a lot, but I would love to have a better understand of the in depth issues that the media tends to leave out. Because I am not familiar with the subject, I am worried about the readings and discussions we will be having, but I am very excited and intrigued by the possibilities and opportunities this class will propose.