Hello everyone!
Happy end of spring break. Tomorrow starts the last 5 weeks of classes of the spring semester. It has been a pretty uneventful spring break. If I was at school I would have spent the week with College Outdoors camping at Tumalo state park and visiting Crater Lake and skiing on Mt. Bachelor. Instead, I have been hanging out at home watching a lot of tv, reading, running, and FaceTiming my friends all the time. Yesterday I jumped on the bread making train and made a sourdough starter. I also decided to make my own kimchi because I have been meaning to do it for a few months. All aboard the fermentation train! I've also been making some killer sandwhiches with lots of vegetables and guacamole to go with my tortilla chips.
Given the uneventful week and the lack of things to talk about happening at Lewis & Clark, I thought I would share about one of the books I’ve been reading for class:
Right now I am reading Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas for my international affairs course, Social Justice in the Global Economy. I highly recommend this book if you’re at all interested in social justice and the impact and power that the elites of our society hold to the extent to which change actually happens. This book has pushed me to open my eyes to the world around me and look critically at the plutocrats, billionaires, powerful business people, corporations, philanthropists, and foundations that claim they are making the world a better place. Giridharadas discusses how these elites (both people and corporations) are “fixing” the system but only so that it also benefits them; they want a win-win situation that does not threaten their power and the status quo. They do not want to take responsibility or be blamed for creating and perpetuating inequality and injustice; they only want to be seen as the heroes not part of the problem. If we want true social justice reform in our society we need to reconstruct the systems of power that perpetuate inequality. However, these elites do not want this since it would take away their power over others. The recurring theme in the book is that the elites are trying to solve issues of inequality by using the very tools and systems that created inequality in the first place and perpetuate it. For me at least, this book really speaks to the work I want to do in the future in combating the elite power holders that are not actually enacting real, meaningful, structural change. One of many examples being the rich elite are deciding, behind closed doors, how to alleviate poverty without actually considering what impoverished people need or giving them a seat at the table. Additionally the changes or solutions created do not accurately address the systemic problems that keep people impoverished because that would threaten the position of the elites making the changes. Powerful people and corporations do not want to give up their power or privilege for the betterment of society; they get away with a facade of creating limited changes while maintaining and reinforcing systems that keep the rich powerful and the poor weak.
The book looks at various aspects of this issue and discusses the pros and cons. It considers the counter arguments and differing perspectives, the internal dilemma and contradictions, the power and influence of thought leaders, the issue people face as they look to jobs at big foundations or businesses where they’re told they can “make a difference” in the world but at what moral costs, and it gives a look into the thinking of various elite figures in how they see themselves in relation to the system.
So if you are looking for something to read during this time of social distancing you should add this one to your list. Educate yourself on the realities of the world we live in so you can better navigate the system and push back against all forms of injustice. Don’t be afraid of the word “inequality”. Challenge yourself to look at your privilege and what you can do with it to make the world more equal. A concept that we discuss and use in class is “the veil of ignorance”. Essentially we should use this veil of ignorance when we are creating policies and changes to society so that everyone is accounted for. You, along with everyone in the world, puts their life into a hat and redraws a life from that hat. The idea with this is the likelihood of drawing a life that is as good and as privileged as your current status is so extremely small. You would probably end up worse off than you are now. Since you are likely to draw a life with fewer resources, power, or privilege, wouldn't you want to live in a system that is going to actually help you and make the playing field equal. So, we should use the veil of ignorance when creating the new rules of the system so that the people with the least are given the same opportunities, resources, and support as those who get super lucky on drawing a life with the most.
I am grateful for the education I am receiving at LC and my amazing professor Elizabeth Bennett who pushes us to think critically about social justice. Besides just reading about injustice and ways other people are solving it, we are pushed to identify where in the system we want to actually work to solve injustice. Social Justice in the Global Economy has been my favorite and the most worldview-changing class I have taken so far.
If you want any other awesome reads that will expand and challenge your worldview, teach you about social justice and injustice, and show you the realities of the system we live in... here are some of the other books we have already read this semester in the class (I highly recommend all of them!!):
- The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli
- Modern Slavery by Siddharth Kara
- Marketing Dreams, Manufacturing Heroes: The Transnational Labor Brokering of Filipino Workers by Anna Guevarra
- Rules Without Rights: Land, Labor, and Private Authority in the Global Economy by Tim Bartley
- Buying Into Fair Trade by Keith R. Brown
Stay safe and stay informed,
Sarah