A Financial Connection

"All her life Lily had seen money go out as quickly as it came in" (116).

Lily isn't very good at handling money as we have seen, she gains it gambling, then spends it on luxury clothes and jewelry, but it's nothing really practical. This quote kind of sums up Lily's financial situation. When I read it, it reminded me of Marx and how he argues that people are too reliant on money. They get caught up in it and forget about other things. Then there's the gap between the rich and the poor. That is why he advocated communism, because it decreased the physiological value of money and put everyone on an equal level. Lily is always trying to prove that she is in the top tier of society, she is always trying to appear like she has more money than she does. I think Marx would disapprove of her thinking and her obsession with money

Seldon

It seems to me that Selden's character in The House of Mirth is created to help the reader understand and realize some of the absurdities of the social scene. He is sort of on the fringe of this level of society and sort questions it himself with his relationship with Lily. He questions her actions and her values. Maybe Wharton is using him a "control" to sort of compare to with the rest of the characters and how they act in their world.

And it All Connects Back...

"success-what is success?" and the response "personal freedom...from everything" (70)

This is a piece of a conversation between Lily and Seldon about the idea of success. Lily thinks success is about making the most out of life, "to get as much as one can out of life..." whereas Seldon's definition is about gaining personal freedom, freedom from everything material and concrete. I found this to be an interesting connection in the text to Marx, Nietzsche and Gandhi, (as well as along the themes of this entire semester...) that total success in life requires man to take a step back from society and its many restraints. To forget about material goods and focus on spiritual philosophy and knowledge.

Marx wants us to give up our obsession with material goods and work instead as a community for the good of everyone. Nietzsche stressed the rigid formality of society and the need man retained to break away from it. Gandhi also, spoke of personal freedom when he talked about living a simple, modest life of nonviolent behavior and without predetermined expectations or duties. All philosophies arguing the benefits of thinking for yourself. In a way, Lily is right as well, this is how to make the most out of life, to break from the norm and the dependency of modern civilization to enjoy life in its most natural state, a free mind and free body. Personal freedom.

Flexibility is a Must

"Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one" (37).

I liked this metaphor in The House of Mirth because it talks about how adapting to one's situation and dealing with it is better than remaining stubborn and unmoved by it. When Lily and her mother lose most of their money and are forced to become more or less nomadic, Lily does not break down and lose hope, she doesn't close-up and harden her shell. Instead she becomes more flexible than before, accepting her new fate for the time being and adapting to her environment to make the most of it. She will not break with such a sudden change of lifestyle, instead she will bend around it and make it fit.

Lily and Lizzy

So far reading the House of Mirth has been a fun, new change considering our past titles of Gandhi, Nietzsche and Marx. I am enjoying the characters and an actual plot, not to mention the excellent writing style. Finally. This book actually reminds me of one of may favorite books: Pride and Prejudice . The descriptions about how the rich live, the lavish parties, dresses, food etc all remind me of the lifestyles of the Bennett's and the rest of them. The values are the same too. The young women are worried about getting married, missing opportunities. Worried about dying an old maid, poor, without any financial security, etc. They spend their money on dresses and jewelry all in hopes of bettering their chances to advance in society. Lily is like Elizabeth Bennett (or Lizzy as they called her), they are both deep thinkers and strong women. They both are looking beyond what the average woman wants, they are the rebels of their time, much to their mothers' disappointment. Young, pretty (but not overly so...), and thoughtful, they are anomalies.

Product Value to Personal Value

"If commodities could speak, they would say this: our use-value may interest men, but it does not belong to us as objects. What does belong to us as objects, however, is our value" (243).

Marx emphasizes here that it's not really the product we are interested in that makes up buy more and pay more, it's the relationship we imagine with that product. It's the way we think that product will affect the value we place on ourselves. This behavior is reflective of our "fetish" with the Monetary System. We, as humans, as a society, are obsessed with branding and personal value. We seem to try to express our own self worth through the products we buy. For example, if I choose to buy a $100 pair of jeans I may deem myself more valuable as a person than if I bought a $30 pair. The fact that I was able to spend this amount on a pair of jeans tells others that I am worth more than they are. Such a simple conscious purchase with such a powerful subconscious societal message attached. Also, consider the product's use-value. Working with my example again, the expensive pair of jeans may not prove to be any more useful or of any higher quality than the cheaper pair, but it's all about the brand, the money, and how that money and that brand portray me as a person to the rest of the members of society.

I find this phenomenon super interesting and I love to analyze how people buy things and why they buy them due to marketing, fashion trends and role models. There was actually a book I read recently called Why We Buy which explained our buying habits according to certain store displays and how the stores choose subconsciously our next purchases depending on floor plans, sales, and customer service. But for the record, my favorite pair of jeans cost me $15 at a consignment store and are worn at least five times as much as my $70 pair, so it's all relative.

"To Produce His Means of Subsistence"

Marx defines man as a creature who "begins to distinguish himself from the animal the moment he begins to produce his means of subsistence, a step required by his physical organization" (Marx 107). This is like Gandhi and his metaphor with the railroads and how railroads are bad because they are created by man and pull man faster and farther away from his maker. Man is one of the only animals who really does produce for himself. Think about it. We are constantly creating machines and certain inventions meant to make our lives easier, to aid us in our existence, to sustain ourselves. These are not natural creations and were not inherited in our genes. These "alien" developments are what Marx says separates Man from animals and thus natural history and the history of man. The idea of further production is, as Marx stresses, the main goal of man in society. Thus, the division of labor, the economic system, etc etc.

Communism is what Marx thinks is the next step in man's history. Man's "physical organization" and production. But can man subsist off this?

The Value of Property...

"You are horrified at our intending to do away with private property. But in your existing society, private property is already done away with for 9/10ths of the population" (Marx 171).

This quote sums up one of Marx's main points in support of Communism, the fact that private property is sort of an illusion. The gap between the rich and the poor is large and it's true that the rich are in control of most of the "property" which we value today, including company shares, land/real estate, banks, etc. But it seems there is still a value in the idea of private property and the idea that owning property is a feasible goal. If the whole concept of private property was destroyed with a controlled economic installment like Communism, then all motivation would be lost.

The Middle Class Stuck in the Middle

I thought it was interesting what Professor Dolson was saying her her blog about President Ayer's speech on financial aid at UR> CoreCownexions: Marx and Property and UR. It's true. The Middle class is really squeezed by our society. We want to help the poor and all those who are less fortunate, and we dedicate a lot of money to do that. Though, there are people who are living comfortable lives who still need help because prices are so high. These are the middle class and college tuition is a great example. The University of Richmond is an extremely expensive school that also has a lot of money to burn. I know a lot of scholarships are given out and many kids do not pay the full tuition price, but there are some who are forgotten. Mainly those qualified, but not stellar, students who are on the edge for being eligible for financial support, but do not quite make the requirements. I am one of those kids. A member of the forgotten middle class. I know, I have to pay for a good portion of my education and it's hard, especially here. But there are also kids worse off than me. It's hard to find this middle ground. To make sure there is enough for everyone. That type of equality of all classes is one of the main arguments in favor of Communism, and what Marx is really pushing for.

The Untouchables

When I read the passage about untouchability in India I remembered a podcast I came across a while back in the summer about this same subject. Though a little dry, the podcast is extremely interesting and offers a new perspective on the untouchables and how they were viewed by Gandhi. The story in the podcast describes Gandhi as a supporter of keeping the caste system out of fear of destroying Hinduism. A man named Ambedkar is seen as the true untouchable hero and worked hard to demolish the caste system. Ambedkar gained support of Britain for his cause and as a result Gandhi began one of his famous fasts. Anyway, I think this is a worthwhile podcast to listen to even if it is 30ish minutes. I learned a lot.

National Geographic Magazine: "India's Untouchables"
http://podcastmedia.nationalgeographic.com/bestofngm/pc5_untouchables.mp3

Dorm Life

Yesterday in class we were told to think about our roles in the dorm community and how that works together. It's true, my dorm is a thriving community composed of my roommate, hallmates, RA, etc. we all work together to make dorm living as easy and as fun as possible. All the roommates have room contracts which set out the initial boundaries of that particular room. Then in the next tier, the RA runs each different hall with different expectations and feelings. We've had a couple hall meetings to discuss certain rules or even fun things, like hall outings and bonding time. All hall problems, unless worked out individually, are taken up with the RA. Overall, life runs smoothly in my hall and their are few conflicts. Everyone knows whats expected and generally gets along well with the rest of the floor.

Perhaps it is like a government. The contracts like a constitution: basic guidelines. The RA as a president of sorts to handle domestic problems. All the citizens working together to create the best possible lifestyle. Each hall is self-sufficient and independent, as a whole, hardly any of the other halls interact with each other. I have found my niche as a member of this community and proud resident of the first floor, B-wing hall.

Outside Help Weakens the Inside

"Doctors have almost unhinged us...Their business is really to rid the body of diseases that may afflict it...The doctor intervened and helped me to indulge myself. My body thereby felt more at ease; but my mind became weakened" (33).

Here Gandhi uses an analogy with doctors to illustrate how our indulgences and outside remedies are weakening our minds. He explains that we never learn not to indulge because we immediately ease the pain or consequences with medicine or some sort of remedy. This treatment is bad because we feel better from our indulgences and never suffer the actual consequences of our actions, we ignore it and numb the affects with medicine. Thus, the mind is weakened because it is being deprived of its true feelings. For example, I get headaches a lot. Sometimes because I am tired, stressed, dehydrated etc. I know these are the reasons I get them, but I never treat a headache with more rest and less stress. I usually just take an Advil and get over it and continue on with my fast paced life. I am just ignoring the problem when the headaches are my body's way of telling me something is wrong. In a spiritual sense, as Gandhi states, this is overall weakening my mind because I am not in touch with the workings of myself, only reliant on outside help.

I think this metaphor can also be used to describe India and the English rule. The Indians rely on the the English to keep their government somewhat stable because the political parties have too many conflicts. So, the Indians just rely on the English to keep everything under control, an outside remedy, the English medicine. Therefore, India "mind," or independent capability is becoming weaker because the English are not allowing it to feel for what the country really needs and what needs to be done to rule independently with out the foreign help.

The American Culture

Gandhi touches on the idea about mixing cultures in his writings. He talks about the Indian culture mixing with the English culture and whether or not to accept that. He also describes how important it is to have national pride, pride in one's home country. It was interesting how this related to our discussion in class on Wednesday, how Americans have a different feeling of national pride than most countries.

Americans don't like to admit they are American. When someone from another country asks where they're from they'll say their state or perhaps where their family is from. It's interesting that we take traditions from all over the world and mix them into our society creating our own "semi-homemade" mixture of culture. It isn't completely foreign, but it's not a purely American idea. Americans, it seems, take a lot of pride in their ethnicity or family background and seem to try to celebrate that more than the fact they American. Maybe it's because our country is so new, and has yet to become established enough to create a defined culture. But for sure this sort of lack of our own culture is our culture. Also our ideas, the consumerism, the drive to succeed, the bigger, better, more, attitude. That is what fuels our country. It just is kind of funny, to see people all the time trying to separate themselves from their American roots and striving to express their individual diversity.

But then, it's sad that sometimes tragedy strikes and suddenly, everyone's "oh yeah, Go America." Events like Katrina and September 11 spurred nationalism in America that was never before seen. Suddenly everyone wanted to help, to be involved. If only this type of enthusiasm would happen during the good times as well.