Assignment#8

December 3, 2013

Walter Benjamin: “The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction”

The camera that presents the performance of the film actor to the public need not respect the performance as an integral whole. Guided by the cameraman, the camera continually changes its position with respect to the performance. The sequence of positional views which the editor composes from the material supplied constitutes the completed film. It comprises certain factors of movement which are in reality those of the camera, not to mention special camera angles, close-ups, etc (p. 228).murdaco.

    The camera will catch each and every movement of the actor involved, even while changing directions. The instant camera is more still pictures that are graphic and tells a story and picks up the smallest detail, while the movie camera is a continuous, expressive motion or movement. The camera will catch all of the expressions of the person being viewed whether realistic or unrealistic. Keep in mind people go to the movies to get away from reality, and take them away from the stresses of the real world no matter what era one is in. Movies are also money makers and are influential in many ways. There is also a certain detachment to movies, fulfilling in one way, but empty in another. And in mid part of the 1900’s the movies certainly had, I’m sure, great shock value. Even though the short movie “Eadweard Muybridge: Motion 2 implies a state of freedom (nakedness) as Dadaism also implies, is anyone really free? Another thing is one person may see this as art in motion, while another would think this an insult to the art form or industry. Many have paved the way for the art and entertainment industry. So even though there are forms that some may not agree on, it has helped to open up the industry for any and everyone involved, the audience is always evolving and there is need to please and shock.

Weimar Republic Assignment #7

Weimar Republic

Assignment #7

November 4, 2013

Article 111
All Germans enjoy freedom to move and settle down. Everybody is entitled to stay and settle anywhere within the Reich, to acquire property and to pursue his trade. Limitations require a Reich law.  “Weimar Republic”

According to the article Germans have the right to move about freely such as migrate into different regions or states of Germany, purchase and or rent property along with working to provide for his her family.  Any other requirements not of the norm or atypical of the above law, requires assistance or permission of Reich law. The fourteenth amendment, section one of the United States of America protects all citizens- stating that one would not be “deprived” of the freedom to relocate or gain property and make a living.  If any problems were to arise then the citizen would have to follow due process which could take weeks or years in order to resolve an issue. Some people relocate because there is an opportunity for a better paying job or better education for their children, a safer neighborhood and so many more options.  The negative side to this great law is a word that will strike fear into any home owner’s heart “eminent domain”- this is when the government has the right to seize your home from you whether you are willing or not, it is protected by the Fifth Amendment. Which I personally object to, even if the land is for public use and the government is willing to pay you for the land. Because one is under the false impression that it is my home, my land, my sanctuary and no one has the right to take it from me. Economic liberty is the right to own and use property free from unreasonable government interference.

Although laws in general are meant to protect, there are times when there is a backlash or double standard, so it’s not really protecting ones rights or property.

Article 47

The Reich President has the supreme command over the armed forces in their entirety. “Weimar Republic”

The president has total power over the armed forces as it states above. The President is both the chief Executive of the United States, responsible for the executive branch of the federal government, and the chief of state.  According to Article two, section two, the president is given a lot of latitude in the defense area or war power, the positive side is that leaders are responsible for their actions that affect millions of people and will be held responsible for their actions by the public. The President has advisor(s) such as national security advisor to assist with his decisions but he has the final say –in some areas, although there are always conflicts with the senate about his decisions or actions.

No law is currently protected one hundred percent from being amended, modified and/ or face nullification because there are always debaters, issues that arise on a daily basis, plus new presidents. Again laws meant to protect people, property, government and so many more areas which always carry conflict in some way and these are reason why laws are always changing. The United States Supreme Court has the iron hammer or final say, in regards to all other courts and changes in law.  “Greenberg/Page”

Assignment #6

October 29, 2013

The Junius Pamphlet: passage

One thing is certain. The world war is a turning point. It is foolish and mad to imagine that we need only survive the war, like a rabbit waiting out the storm under a bush, in order to fall happily back into the old routine once it is over. The world war has altered the conditions of our struggle and, most of all, it has changed us. Not that the basic law of capitalist development, the life-and-death war between capital and labor, will experience any amelioration. But now, in the midst of the war, the masks are falling and the old familiar visages smirk at us. The tempo of development has received a mighty jolt from the eruption of the volcano of imperialism. The violence of the conflicts in the bosom of society, the enormousness of the tasks that tower up before the socialist proletariat – these make everything that has transpired in the history of the workers’ movement seem a pleasant idyll. (“Luxemburg”)

            According to Luxemburg, the war affected everyone. The rich and worst of all the poor or working class. The turning point is when Germany failed to capture Paris, it was the beginning of the end, everything that was to lead to victory failed and Germany was defeated.  People were fooled into believing that once the war was over things would be better, the economy and government would improve. They could return to their safe, warm, home - the government would provide and support –but nothing is the same, life is bleak, the proletariats who were struggling before, now they have to fight for rations, protect their women, avoid mobs, and heed curfews for their own safety among other things. There is little hope for any improvement in the relationship between the poor and the rich sector; there is still a large divide, an imbalance if you will, between the two. There are sudden demands for workers during an opportunistic time, the rich oppress, plunder, and exploit the poor to gain profit. The power struggle among the leaders, the rich and how it affects the poor more so than any other sector is again about to boil over. It seemed intolerable before but now it is survival of the fittest. There is no going back to the good old, simple days.  She was against war, and considered it suicidal.

         Nihilism fuels capitalism and capitalism feeds on anything like a parasite, especially war. Nihilism causes war which leads to destruction and death. War is meaningless, a power struggle if you must, a means to an end, while to the next man it creates a capitalistic atmosphere which may or may not lead to an imperialist gravesite for the poor. When there is war everything changes. There is the opportunity to capitalize on another’s defeat and or victory. There are shortages of food supplies, medicine, arms, failed value of their currency. And worst the atrocities. During and after the war, defeated Germany was crushed, the collapsed economy and unstable government created chaos. Of course the working class has no choice but to keep challenging the unstable government, and the private sector because they need work to feed their families and to survive. Luxemberg helps us to see what many people endured during one of the most difficult times in history, how people in general never gave up hope, even though they felt as if the government had failed them. Bourgeois class domination is undoubtedly an historical necessity, but, so too, the rising of the working class against it. Capital is an historical necessity, but, so too, it’s grave digger, the socialist proletariat. Rosa Luxemburg 

Assignment #6 The Junius Phamplet

Assi

October 29, 2013
Assignment #6
The Junius Phamplet: short passage


One thing is certain. The world war is a turning point. It is foolish and mad to imagine that we need only survive the war, like a rabbit waiting out the storm under a bush, in order to fall happily back into the old routine once it is over. The world war has altered the conditions of our struggle and, most of all, it has changed us. Not that the basic law of capitalist development, the life-and-death war between capital and labor, will experience any amelioration. But now, in the midst of the war, the masks are falling and the old familiar visages smirk at us. The tempo of development has received a mighty jolt from the eruption of the volcano of imperialism. The violence of the conflicts in the bosom of society, the enormousness of the tasks that tower up before the socialist proletariat – these make everything that has transpired in the history of the workers’ movement seem a pleasant idyll. (“Luxemburg”)

            According to Luxemburg, the war affected everyone. The rich and worst of all the poor or working class. The turning point is when Germany failed to capture Paris, it was the beginning of the end, everything that was to lead to victory failed and Germany was defeated. People were fooled into believing that once the war was over things would be better, the economy and government would improve. They could return to their safe, warm, home - the government would provide and support –but nothing is the same, life is bleak, the proletariats who were struggling before, now they have to fight for rations, protect their women, avoid mobs, and heed curfews for their own safety among other things. There is little hope for any improvement in the relationship between the poor and the rich sector; there is still a large divide, an imbalance if you will, between the two. There are sudden demands for workers during an opportunistic time, the rich oppress, plunder, and exploit the poor to gain profit. The power struggle among the leaders, the rich and how it affects the poor more so than any other sector is again about to boil over. It seemed intolerable before but now it is survival of the fittest. There is no going back to the good old, simple days.  She was against war, and considered it suicidal.

          Nihilism fuels capitalism and capitalism feeds on anything like a parasite, especially war. Nihilism causes war which leads to destruction and death. War is meaningless, a power struggle if you must, a means to an end, while to the next man it creates a capitalistic atmosphere which may or may not lead to an imperialist grave site for the poor. When there is war everything changes. There is the opportunity to capitalize on another’s defeat and or victory. There are shortages of food supplies, medicine, arms, failed value of their currency. And worst the atrocities. During and after the war, defeated Germany was crushed, the collapsed economy and unstable government created chaos. Of course the working class has no choice but to keep challenging the unstable government, and the private sector because they need work to feed their families and to survive. Luxemberg helps us to see what many people endured during one of the most difficult times in history, how people in general never gave up hope, even though they felt as if the government and society had failed them.

Bourgeois class domination is undoubtedly an historical necessity, but, so too, the rising of the working class against it. Capital is an historical necessity, but, so too, it’s grave digger, the socialist proletariat. " Rosa Luxemburg" 

ASSIGNMENT #5 Blue Angel

            It was so sad when Lola laughed when the Professor, proposed marriage to her. She is a cold, calculating character. But I have to agree, she certainly is free-spirited. She is happy and comfortable in her skin, with whom and what she is. She knows no loyalty or true love and probably never did. She knows how to use and manipulate her sexuality decisively.

The second part that I found sad was when he went back to his village and had to face the people he grew up and worked with, as a clown, even his own old friends found it unbearable to watch him. He was a prominent outstanding citizen who was respected by all, to a clown, married to a cabaret dancer of a side show whom he desired and loved.  He married beneath his stature, which is not the norm and so was condemned and ridiculed by society. At the end of the movie, the fore-shadow was the sound of the fog horn of what was to come- his death. ”The idea of freedom as duty turns back into itself and becomes unfreedom to the extent to which it neglects the irreducible factors of the external world” ( murdaco). Teaching was his life but he gave it up to be with Lola, which in the end destroyed him mentally. Even though the Professor followed his superego by upholding values adopted from parents and society and also being very authoritarian to his students and society, he none the less followed his id by following impulses according to the pleasure principle according to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory” (Freud). Many men have fallen from power because of a woman.

"It's All a Swindle" (Alles Schwindel), by Mischa Spoliansky and Marcellus Schiffer (1931)

in 

Cabaret Song

Politicians
are magicians
who make swindles disappear
The bribes they are taking
the deals they are making
never reach the public's ear
The left betrays, the right dismays
the country's broke and guess who pays
But tax each swindle in the making
profits will be record breaking
Everyone swindles some
so vote for who will steal for you

Bürger schwindelt,
Staatsmann schwindelt,
Schwindel, was die Zeitung schreibt,
Moral und Sitte,
rechts, links und Mitte!
Ehrlich ist, was übrig bleibt!
Alles sucht sich zu betrügen,
na, sonst mübt’ich wirklich lügen!
Bins, das kann ich glatt beteuern:
Könnt’ den Schwindel man besteuern,
hätt’ der Staat nicht Sorgen mehr,
denn dann wär’ er Millionär!

 Alles Schwindel, alles Schwindel, usw.

The song is about politicians and their deception and how it affects the citizens who work so hard to survive. I choose this song because it makes sense and it is true. Every day I hear on the news about another politician who is abusing funds or abusing their power in some way. It has always happened in the past and the present is no better. The politicians are just better at deceit now than they were before. The poor, the tax payers, all citizens are held responsible for the actions of someone who thinks he can get away with deceiving the government and the people. Nowadays people are not really surprised by their actions. And that is why it is good that we have the choice of choosing another politician to serve and work for us, the people.

"The Lavender Song" (Das Lila Lied), music by Mischa Spoliansky, lyrics by Kurt Schwabach (1920)

in 

 Cabaret Song Homophobia

 Round us all up, send us away

that's what you'd really like to do
But we're too strong, proud, unafraid
in fact we almost pity you
You act from fear, why should that be
What is it that you are frightened of
The way that we dress
The way that we meet
The fact that you cannot destroy our love
We're going to win our rights
to lavender days and nights

 Wozu die Qual, uns die

Moral der andern aufzudrängen?
Wir, hört geshwind, sind wie wir sind,
selbst wollte man uns hängt,
den müte man beweinen,
doch bald gebt acht, es wird über Nacht
auch unsre Sonne scheinen.
Dann haben wir das gleiche Recht erstritten,
wir leiden nicht meht, sondern sind gelitten.
Wir sind nun einmal anders, usw.

The song is saying are you going to round us up and lock us away because we are different, based on how we dress, how we look, what we like, and who we like. We freely express ourselves while you hide who you are. We love ourselves and who we are and you cannot change that fact no matter what you do to us. The lyrics are lovely. And oh, so true. Why are people afraid of what and whom is different?  Are we not all human beings, who bleed and have feelings just like everybody else?

I noticed in the movie, blue angel, at the cabaret where ever the performers went. They were constantly monitored/watched by a Nazi police. Which I found interesting to watch.

175a. If a male has sexual interactions with another male he is guilty and will be imprisoned for up to ten years, losing his civil rights unless he is a minor, there will be a lesser charge or penalty.

175b. Anyone having sex with animals will be imprisoned and lose their civil rights.

 “The idea of freedom as duty turns back into itself and becomes unfreedom to the extent to which it neglects the irreducible factors of the external world” (murdaco).  Although we are free in society there are many restrictions placed on our behavior, even it is something that makes us happy, shared with a partner, is healthy, even leading to a fulfilling life and does not hurt anyone. There is always a limit on our rights and our freedom.  Things were hard in Germany and quiet a few people joined the cabaret to make money and have somewhere to belong especially if they felt as if they did not belong based on restrictions in society.
 

Assignment #04: Quote from Agnes Heller

 “Being born into any society and any social group means that members of this particular society and social group must learn about and practice the norms and rules of that particular society and social group. This is the process called ‘socialization’. Normally, different sets of norms and rules apply to different groups of people (one fundamental division being that between men and women).  Accordingly, learning about and practicing norms and rules is tantamount to two distinct sets of behavior. On the one hand it means knowing, practicing and expecting a certain set of norms and rules; on the other it means knowing and expecting, but not practicing the same set of norms and rules – in other words, in-group and out-group behavior. “   -Agnes Heller.

            Agnes Heller was born, May 12, 1929 in Budapest Hungary.  She is currently a professor at the new school of social research in New York. She has a Ph.D. from the Lorand Eotvos University and her concentration is ethics and political philosophy, Marx, Hegel. Jewish, Agnes and her family were in constant danger in the 1940’s.  In 1947 she started her studies at the University and joined the communist party. She openly criticized the soviet suppression of the Prague spring of 1968. She was expelled several times for her candid views. She won the Lessing prize for Philosophy activity in 1981, the Szeehenyi national prize in Hungary in 1995, the Hannah Arendt prize for political philosophy in 1995 and the Sonning prize in 2006.

It seems if you are rich, you follow one set of rules and if you are poor, you follow a totally different set of rules. Clearly Agnes spoke for people in general, not a particular group but in general for all. She spoke out against the oppression/suppression of people in society constantly, and was always punished for it, causing her expulsion from the university which she worked for on and off over the years.  Also in that era the 1940’s,  women were oppressed, not considered strong, not allowed to speak out, and existed about several steps behind the man of the house, yet she still held her ground and stuck with her beliefs, among them, freedom of expression. There will always be social conflicts because we are all individuals who live with different rules and ideologies. She was constantly exposed /faced with authoritarianism in her social circle as well as at work.  It is clear she is trying to make a difference in society, maybe change the world. She challenged restrictions against the people.  Maybe, she was trying to follow the Marxist theory as Praxis.  The fusion of theory and practice (Murdaco).  Well there is a saying practice what you preach and she certainly did. This shows how compelling and strong her character is as a woman and a feminist.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was illusive, consisting of foreshadows, until the murders of course, clearly portraying  how people in power or of a higher status use it to influence or abuse others , in most cases for their own gain and to achieve power. In the movie, things are not what they seem or what you see is not what you are going to get.  However the movie shows the good, the bad, and the oppressed, the justice verses the injustice. I liked the double edged meaning of the movie, even though it was crafty and absolutely insane.

·         Agnes Heller (2000) The Frankfurt School, 2 December 2005 

·         [11] Copyright: Agnes Heller;
First published: 1987 by Basil Blackwell Ltd;
HTML Mark-up: Andy Blunden, 2003.

Assignment #3

“Slowly blossomed, slowly ripened in Siddhartha the realization, the knowledge, what wisdom actually was, what the goal of his long search was. It was nothing but a readiness of the soul, an ability, a secret art, to think every moment, while living his life, the thought of oneness, to be able to feel and inhale the oneness. Slowly this blossomed in him, was shining back at him from Vasudeva's  old, childlike face: harmony, knowledge of the eternal perfection of the world, smiling, oneness.”

"Siddhartha"

      After being schooled and exposed to different ethnicities.  He has now had his AH HA moment, he is no longer lost as to who he is or what he is. He has searched and found himself through knowledge and understanding. He has accepted himself with all his flaws and imperfections.  He now feels oneness with the world and himself, feeling peace and later tries to rectify mistakes that he has made with people in his past.

      Oneness is to have inner peace, balance and harmony in one’s life, although it is not very easy these days. And as stated in the earlier part of the story that the world is hostile and dangerous, it is, but one still has to live and try to make one’s life less harsh, cold and as comfortable as possible. Also earlier in the story you discussed “Vesica Piscis” or “fish bladder in Latin illustrates the idea of synthesis or unity of opposites by showing two circles intersecting. The circles can be seen as coming together or pulling apart. The unity is illustrated the shaded figure in the middle, this figure, known as the Eureola, also has religious significance.” This is a great example of Siddhartha, at first one person with two inner self having a tug of war, trying to find who he is by having different experiences and exposures from a comfortable upper class life to an ascetic self-denial, to enjoying the sensual aspects of life, so the circle is trying to pull apart, but clearly cannot because one cannot be without the other. Eventually finding himself. The circles become more stable and accepting of each other. This is also wisdom, how to hive harmoniously with ones-self and with others, knowing right from wrong and practicing it, and being accepting of self and others. Everyone goes through these experiences or tug of war on a daily basis but it is how we interpret it and how we learn from it to better ourselves and grow as individuals.

"Barry Murdaco"