Synopsis: Social activist, political scientist and labor historian, Howard Zinn, delivers a presentation on “The History Of The American Working Class.” The presentation took place in San Francisco at an educational forum sponsored by the Labor Video Project. Zinn was political science professor at Boston University and was considered the preeminent scholar on civil disobedience during the Vietnam War Era. He has authored more than twenty books, including his highly influential work, A People’s History of the United States.
Synopsis: In the final weeks of his life, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. increasingly turned his focus on Americans plagued by poverty – “the other America.” On April 14, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech at Stanford University suggesting there are two America’s: one which “is overflowing with the milk of prosperity and the honey of opportunity,” and another where individuals “find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” He called for “a guaranteed minimum income for all people,” urging social justice advocates to turn their attention towards organizing a national movement to address the problem of the nation’s growing economic disparity.
Do you have a fixed character? Or do you play many roles depending on the situation? Sociologist Erving Goffman argued that we display a series of masks to others, enacting roles, controlling and staging how we appear and constantly trying to set ourselves in the best light. If this is true do we have a true self or are we endlessly performing?
Many individuals are familiar with the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Most religious and cultural traditions have an equivalent moral teaching. York University administrator and professor, Brendan Schulz, explores the limitations of this ethic with regard to equity, diversity, cross-cultural communications and inclusion. Schultz draws on his twenty years experience in Organizational Development, Change Management, Human Resources and Workplace Diversity to propose an updated ethic, termed “The Platinum Rule,” along with the conditions necessary to fulfill it.
This ten minute short discusses the psychological, biological and environmental factors which contribute to aggression and altruism. The video examines conflict and cooperation through an analysis of the Robber’s Cave Experiment; Realistic Conflict Theory; Physical & Environmental Triggers; Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis; Altruism; Bystander Effect; and Social Exchange Theory.
According to Russian-American novelist and philosopher, Ayn Rand, our highest duty is to ourselves, therefore it is irrational to look out for the best interest of others. Rand’s philosophical approach, which she labelled ‘Objectivism’, begins from the premise that there is an objective reality which human beings understand through reason, rather than emotion. Rand asserts that since our survival is based on pursuing our own rational self-interest, requiring individual’s to sacrifice for the greater good is immoral.
The Golden Rule, referred to in Philosophy as the Ethic of Reciprocity, is a basic moral principle which states that individuals should treat others in the same manner they wish to be treated. It’s inverse, known as the Silver Rule, is that an individual should not treat others in a manner which they would not wish to be treated in. It is the essential premise underlying the Democratic concepts of human dignity and equality under the law. The six minute short introduces the different religious and cultural traditions which embrace this principle.
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a book written by Max Weber, a German sociologist, economist, and politician. In his book, Weber argues that the theological ideas of protestant sects such as the Calvinists played a role in creating the morality of capitalism. Calvinists believe in predestination–that God has already determined who is saved and damned. As Calvinism developed, a deep psychological need for clues about whether one was actually saved arose, and Calvinists looked to their success in worldly activity for those clues. Thus, they came to equate material success and financial gain as signs of God’s favor.
Weber asserts that the modern spirit of capitalism sees profit as an end in itself, and the pursuit of profit as a virtuous endeavor. As a consequence, capitalism promotes the notion that socioeconomic differences are the measure of one’s virtue — or lack thereof. Theologically this has resulted in the emergence of what has been termed The Prosperity Gospel — socioeconomic differences are divinely ordained, therefore, material prosperity is the sign of God’s blessing upon the faithful while those who lack means have been deemed unworthy.
The ethical problem with such a simplistic political and religious model is that it not only provides credence for the vilification of the poor, but it also supplies a moral justification for failing to seek a more egalitarian social arrangement. Things are the way they should be, any lack of equality is due to a lack of virtue, effort or God’s favor. This relieves adherents of any duty to acknowledge that social injustices such as corruption, patronage or exploitation occur, let alone that they have any moral responsibility in effectuating change.
Synopsis: In 2008, the Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers collapsed triggering the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Unlike the New Deal era reforms, the financial response to our modern crisis was to entrench existing wealth through government assistance. Meanwhile, millions of working class Americans lost their homes, pensions and employment. During the economic recovery period, the top 1 percent of Americans have captured approximately 95 percent of the income gains while the middle class has been forced to accept pay cuts. As a result, the current divide between the top 1 percent of Americans and the lowest 99 percent is the greatest it ever been since the Great Depression.
Bill Moyer and political economist, Robert Reich, discuss the growing income equality in America. Reich warns the middle class in America is shrinking at an alarming rate and the record income gap is undermining our democracy. Reich is currently Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He served in the administrations of presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor from 1993-1997 under the Bill Clinton administration.
Synopsis: Noam Chomsky delivered his lecture on the goals of Public Education on March 16, 2012, at St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, NY. Chomsky discusses the longstanding tradition of utilizing public education as a means of breeding civic passivity and conformity, while discouraging free and independent thought. Chomsky sets forth the premise that the ruling class utilizes public education to naturalize individuals into the established corporate ethos and to dissuade them from challenging the dominant ideology and economic structure. Chomsky cuts through the political rhetoric with a detailed historical analysis of the Western practice of using social institutions to indoctrinate the young.
Camden Civil Rights Project 