An Unlikely Solution

An Unlikely Solution: Article Critique

Salmon are of great importance to many Native American tribes, including the Winnemem Wintu tribe of Northern California. The tribe and the Chinook salmon that they cherish have been adversely affected by the construction of the Shasta Dam. The tribe has dedicated themselves to rejuvenating and protecting the salmon in the McCloud River, and they have found an unlikely solution to doing so. Chinook roe from the McCloud was introduced into a New Zealand river many years ago. The species survived the transition to a new environment and developed into a stable fishery. The article Tribe Travels Across Pacific to Recover Lost Salmon Species discusses the Winnemem Wintu’s plan to reintroduce these salmon from the New Zealand river back into the McCloud. The Winnemem Wintu’s unique approach has the potential to solve the salmon depletion problem.

The impressive Shasta dam was constructed from 1938-1945, during the great depression (USBR, pg. 4).  The dam created beautiful Lake Shasta, where I enjoyed many hot summer days during my childhood.  It also provides electrical power to the area, is a safeguard against flooding, and provides year-round water flow for California’s considerable needs.  Shasta dam has its benefits, but it also has many devastating side effects. Some of these side effects include diminishing salmon runs and water coverage of previously inhabited land, including the Winnemem Wintu’s village.

Since the construction of Shasta dam, 15 of the 18 historical Chinook runs have vanished, including that of the McCloud River. The article also argues that the Sacramento River salmon that have survived to this day are not as healthy as they once were due to poor river management and dangerous contaminants in the water. Without intervention, Chinook may become completely extinct from the region. Removal of the dam is something that the article does not discuss, but it would be the most effective way to bring prosperity back to the salmon. Unfortunately, the dam’s benefits are too important for its destruction to be seen as a likely solution. Therefore, alternative options must be explored in order to save the salmon.

            The Winnemem Wintu have been a salmon-based community for hundreds of years, but they no longer have any salmon. They have faced the loss of their village, their salmon, and their way of life. Most community members are suffering with debt and low standards of living. The tribe is devastated by the way they and the salmon have been treated by the nonindigenous population, and are now fighting back. One of the tribe’s members said when they first became dependent on the salmon that “it was salmon who gave us their voice, and we promised to always speak for them in return” (Dadigan; 2011).

Before the Shasta dam was constructed, a hatchery was built on the McCloud. The hatchery raised McCloud Chinook and exported them to places all around the world, including the Rakaia River of New Zealand. The tribe developed the plan of reintroducing the Chinook from the Rakaia River back into the local waterways. The tribe desires to bring these salmon all the way across the world instead of introducing the local salmon from the Sacramento River; this is because of the genetic purity and lack of disease of the New Zealand salmon. They also believe that the salmon will be genetically inclined to follow the same difficult spawn up the McCloud waterfalls that their ancestors did. Two creeks would be opened up so that the salmon could bypass the dam. New Zealand’s fishery department is in support of the plan and shares the tribe’s goal of getting salmon back into the McCloud.

            Although some people are skeptical of the Winnemem Wintu’s plan, with enough support and luck it could become reality. The Winnemem Wintu have lost a key element of their culture, and are willing to go to great lengths to restore it for future generations. They have even begun to create a documentary about their venture to bring the salmon home. With their extreme level of ambition and motivation to reach their goal, they may stand a good chance of achieving it. The obstacles that stand in their way may be large, but are surmountable.

            There are several obstacles hindering the Winnemem Wintu’s plan that were discussed in the article. A proposal to raise the height of the dam is one such obstacle. Raising the height of the dam would submerge important parts of the potential habitat and would destroy the chances of the salmon’s survival. Another potential problem is a proposal by PG&E Hydroelectric Project that would affect the size and temperature of the river, thus affecting it’s habitability. The article suggests that the largest obstacle that the Winnemem Wintu will have to face is securing cooperation of government agencies and other stakeholders. The Winnemem Wintu need their assistance and support to complete every step of their plan: from creating the salmon run to maintaining sufficient habitat throughout the years. The government has been hesitant to begin such a partnership. Many regulations would have to be created and a lot of work would have to be done. The government knows, however, that action needs to be taken to improve the habitat if any salmon are to survive in the region. Under the Endangered Species Act, the government is required to protect and improve the native Chinook populations. It is also realized that the tribe’s proposal would be cheaper than the alternatives. Because of this, they are likely to comply with the tribe’s plan. There is however, an even more prominent problem that the article only briefly brushed over. The Chinook have been living in the Rakaia River for over a hundred years. The habitat of the Rakaia is very different from that of the McCloud and the species has evolved since they were introduced through natural selection. Depending on how much they have evolved, their genetics may not match that of the McCloud Chinook species anymore. If this is the case, the project will not be successful.

The newspaper article Tribe Travels Across Pacific to Recover Lost Salmon Species was meant to be more informative than scholarly. It was written by Marc Dadigan in August 2011, and copyrighted by California Watch. The Center for Investigative Reporting, owns California Watch. Because The Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonpartisan and nonprofit company, they would have no reason to skew the information.

            The article goes in depth about the lives of the Winnemem Wintu tribe.  It discusses their ceremonies, rituals, and how their way of life has changed. It was not perfectly written, but still succeeds at informing its readers about the interesting plan of the Winnemem Wintu tribe. Their plan still has a chance of success, and that is enough to keep their hopes and efforts working towards achieving it.

Bibliography

Dadigan, M. (2011, 08, 31). California Watch. Tribe travels across Pacific to recover lost salmon species.

Shasta Unit map from River Pirate Guide Service. http://www.riverpirate.com/shasta.asp

http://www.winnememwintu.us/

U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). Reclamation: Managing Water in the West. Shasta Dam: A Tour Through Time. http://www.usbr.gov/mp/ncao/shasta/virtual_tour.pdf

Arranged

Arranged

            Arranged is an enlightening film that takes its viewers into the lives of an Orthodox Jewish woman named Rochel and a Muslim woman named Nasira. It illustrates that there are many stereotypes against both religions, but that they are not so different after all. The two religions may have differences, but both hold many similarities and are able exist in harmony.

            Rochel and Nasira began their friendship when they worked in the same classroom. One of the children in the classroom asked Nasira why she and Rochel talked to one another, “I thought Muslims and Jews couldn’t be friends”. The women worked together to break the stereotypes against them, and ended up becoming friends. They were both going through their processes of arranged marriages at the time, which is something that they bonded over. Rochel went several dates that were arranged by a professional. All of the men she went on dates with she found to be unbearable. Nasira deceived Rochel’s date arranger by creating and giving her the file of a man Rochel had taken a liking to. Rochel did not know about this and had no hope of ever marring the man because of the strict orthodox dating system. The arranger put them on a date together, and the couple hit it off immediately. Nasira went through similar problems with her arranged marriage process. Her father had wanted her to marry a son of his good friend. When Nasira met the marriage prospect she was disgusted and wanted nothing to do with him.  She pleaded to her father to not make her marry him. The father replied that he only wants what is best for her, and she does not have to marry the man. Nasira soon met a different man, and it was love at first sight. The new man came to her home and asked her father for his permission to marry Nasira. Nasira and Rochel went through different processes of arranged marriages, both of which had happy endings. This illustrates that some religions processes may seem harsh and wrong to people not familiar with them, but that they are not always that way. They can be the beneficial and a worthy path for many people.

            Observing the different clothing the religions wore was one of the most interesting parts of the film to me. The Muslim women wore head coverings and modest clothing styles, called Hijab. The men wore turbans. The Jewish women also dressed very modestly. They dress this way in accordance to the commandments of their religions.

Rochel and Nasira had to face many prejudices and difficulties in the secular world they lived in. It was eye opening and informative to see how their religion meshes with secular society. Watching this film has helped me gain a better understanding of what my Sikh friend goes through, as she practices a minority religion here in Eugene. Arranged was an inspirational film that may have helped the world become a less stereotyped place. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to others.

            

Abolish Restaurants - a well written piece

1. Discuss “Abolish Restaurants” with special regard to:  Division of Labor and the class system in Restaurants, the addition of value to a product, tips, unions, and the use of machines.  How is this analysis political economy and Marxian?  What are the alternatives to restaurants?

Abolish Restaurants

Restaurants are the product of a capitalist system with a hierarchy of labor. A person does not open a restaurant because they think it would be enjoyable, they open it to make money. The food service industry fits perfectly into Karl Marx’s economic theories from his book Capital. Food service workers are constantly being pushed to work faster and harder, and are frequently exploited.

Abolish Restaurants contains a critical analysis of the restaurant industry’s development and procedures. This political economy approach brought to light the failures of restaurant unionization and the inequalities of the workers. The boss’s main priority is to increase profits. Like Marx explained, any worker who produces more than the necessary amount to pay for the expenses creates surplus value. Surplus value is what Marx believes is the source of all profit. This profit goes directly to benefiting the capitalist, who is in this case the restaurant boss. The boss, who of course wants more profit, does whatever he can to decrease the amount of necessary labor and increase the amount of surplus labor of the workers. For the workers this means a variety of bad effects that mostly involve lower wages and greater pressure to increase production.

The most basic way that restaurant workers are pressured to work harder and increase production is the hierarchy system.  The dishwasher wants to become a chef and the bus boy wants to become a waiter. The hierarchical structure motivates workers with hopes of promotion. Even the chefs and waiters usually can’t afford to regularly eat at their own restaurant. Restaurants tend to cater to a more economically prosperous class than they employ. The division of labor in restaurants also increases production. However tedious it may seem to the worker to repeat the same tasks over and over again, the business would fall behind the industry’s level of production without it. Replacing tasks that humans do with machines makes it so that the workers have even less variety of tasks to do and it can cut down interaction between workers while doing so. These machines give the business a competitive edge until the majority of their competitors have them, then they are just necessary components of staying competitive enough to stay in business. The front of the house (i.e. waiters) and the back of the house (i.e. chefs) often are in dispute about how much business they should try to have. The front of the house receive tips, which is a huge incentive to increase production. The prospect of being tipped causes the workers to be extra friendly, move extra quickly, and try to fill every table that they can. The workers in the back of the house are paid flat wages, and thus they usually prefer a smaller flow of customers. All these motivational factors lead to workers being pushed harder and having miserable work experiences. Although it is necessary for workers to produce a certain amount to maintain the business, every extra ounce of labor makes the worker more miserable while the capitalist has a thicker bulge of money in his pocket.

The restaurant industry is a profitable path for a capitalist who takes his money making seriously. Most bosses know that they should treat their workers better, but rationalize their brutality with the competitive nature of the business. The unionization of the food service industry has proved to be trickier than other industries and has repeatedly failed. Without help of unions or other controls, food industry workers have few prospects for improving their work conditions. The only ways that the work of the food service industry could improve is through changing the nation’s economic system, more people making the choice to prepare his or her own food, or the creation of food cooperatives. The implementation of socialism into our nation would lead to more equality among the classes and less worker exploitation. Preparing your own meals avoids the exploitation of the food service industry and also allows you to know the quality of the food that you are consuming. Food cooperatives are owned and run by the food suppliers and employees. The cooperative business structure allows the owners and employees to be paid better and not be as exploited.

            Abolish Restaurants brings to light the inequalities of the food service industry and is an excellent example of the product of capitalism. Bosses push their employees to create as much surplus labor as possible, and the employees hardly benefit from their extra drudgery. Restaurants are highly exploitative for workers and very profitable to the entrepreneurs who own them. Hopefully there will be a system change that improves the industry in the near future.

The General Formula of Capital

Lauren Berg

Second Midterm

SOC 420

5/9/12

5. Discuss the general formula of capital.  What does the prime mark on the final C mean in this formula?  What is the dilemma expressed by the increased value at the end of the formula when money is used as capital?  What is the Marxian response to this question?

The General Formula of Capital

A key aspect of capitalism is the circulation of commodities, of which money is the product. Karl Marx thought the relationship of commodities and money was of great importance and needed to be described. Marx developed significant ideas and formulas that illustrate this relationship.

Marx explained that a commodity’s trade value is equivalent to the labor time and skill that is expended to produce the item. Money is used as a median to trade commodities and to hold wealth without the ownership of commodities. When money is used to purchase a commodity to then be sold, it can be represented by the formula M-C-M, and money is the capital in the circuit. When a commodity is sold in order to buy another commodity, it can be represented by the formula C-M-C, in which money is the middleman and is not capital. These formulas are abstractions of the general formula of capital, which is denoted as M-C-M’. In this formula M’ is the equivalent of the original amount of money plus an increment. This extra increment of money is known as surplus-value, which is added on to the original value and converted to capital.

It is only worthwhile to buy a commodity in order to sell it, if a profit will be produced, which can be denoted as M-C-M’. Otherwise the money would be put into the market for no reason and have the risk of being lost. A person who is trading for the purpose of accumulating money is a capitalist. It is however not necessary in the C-M-C circuit to produce a profit. When a commodity is sold and another one gained, the seller has something new that is of greater use-value to him. It is also common that the commodity sold and the one purchased are not of equal trade value, denoted as C-M-C’. This happens when a commodity is sold or purchased for more or less than it is worth.

The increased value at the end of the formula when money is used as capital results in a dilemma. In the C-M-C circuit money is used as a unit of exchange, which was the purpose of money to begin with. In M-C-M’ money is used as capital and the goal of the circuit is the accumulation of money. Marx said “the equivalence of [the original M and the resulting M] values is rather a necessary condition of [M-C-M’s] normal course. The repetition of the act of selling in order to buy, is kept within bounds, by the very object it aims at, namely, consumption or the satisfaction of definite wants, an aim that lies altogether outside the sphere of circulation” (Marx, ). The problem is the people who endlessly seek accumulation of wealth. Boundlessly seeking enrichment in the form of money is not necessary and has negative consequences.

Some of these consequences include perpetual growth of the gap between rich and poor, greater exploitation of the working class, and corruption. Entrepreneurs go to far lengths to ensure their gain of capital, even if it pushes their morals to the limit. Many businessmen and corporations use bribes to meet their business goals. Donating money to political campaigns is a popular way to bribe in the United States, which makes politicians feel obligated to pass legislator in favor of the donator. Bribing is done in different ways throughout the world, and helps propel the system of accumulation of wealth. The money hog capitalists have caused the depletion of wealth in the middle and lower classes. Increased poverty levels and the suffering that goes along with it can be blamed on capitalist. Marx did not come up with a solution to the problem of boundless accumulation of wealth of certain people, but predicted that it would lead to downfall of the capitalist system.

The ideas and formulas that Marx presented in Capital bring an entirely unique perspective to the discussions of economics. His systematic logic and analysis of economy has brought to light the problems of capitalism. The lack of balance in the M-C-M circuit has widened the wealth disparities throughout our world. The gap between the rich and the poor has increased while the middle class has begun to vanish. Perhaps this is the beginning of the capitalist downfall of which Marx wrote.