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Reaction Paper (Week 4)

Benefits of Unearned Privilege provides a very clear example of how white

privilege can be shown. I actually found it very ironic that the student in the article who

wants a level playing field simply ignores the fact that he has an advantage. It is seems

to me that people do want to say out loud or express their regard toward their advantages

simply because they do not want the world to think that they are conceited and above

everyone else. It is human nature to be humble; in fact, I actually think that most white

people, despite their admittance about their privilege, are quite humble. However,

humbling oneself and leveling the playing field are totally separate ball games. In order

to be fair and square, every participant must be willing to admit that he or she has either a

disadvantage or an advantage. This is a very good time to bring up another very

important human value: altruism. This quality is the reason why we as a society honor

figures like Mother Teresa and Gandhi. They act because they care for the poor and

unprivileged. The whole world should do the same; people must understand privileges

and weaknesses of each other. I believe that through this process the world move in the

positive direction.

I am simply in love with Zinn. The way he stabs into the heart of the world of

corporate America and the corrupted government is like music to my ear. He had me

grinding my teeth as I read about the excessive, and possibly unfair, bribing to elected

officials. I was on the tip of my chair when I realized the ultimate wrong of the

government at that time: one of our governments goal, as written in the preamble of the

Constitution, is to provide welfare for the people. Most of the policies that big

corporations were trying to influence were actually quite harmful to a very big proportion

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of Americans. This chapter certainly feels a lot like a classic example of a Davis versus

Goliath situation.

Unfortunately, a lot of what goes on in chapter 11 is still happening today.

Politicians are still being bribed, not in form of direct bribery, but as donations from big

corporations. As the result, politicians who accept these donations are usually going to

do whatever Corporate America asks, since they are always in need to campaign funds.

This is a sad irony in a nation where the people are supposed to be represented, not

money.

It is pleasing to know that at least on famous writer mentions the period of labor

strikes and harsh working conditions during the turn of the century. I find it very

disappointing that most history textbooks do not talk about this era with a decent amount

of content. When comparing the each topic addressed in a textbook, if the lengths of

chapters are to be proportional to how large is the actual percentage to Americans at the

time that the chapter is about, the chapter about the labor strikes during the late

nineteenth and twentieth century is supposed to be much longer than the other chapter.

The following chapter, which is about the Spanish-American War, is a good

example of how deep business interest has penetrated the political system. Soldiers are

sent overseas to secure the American economic interest. American lives were lost in the

process. I am in favor of expanding the American market. However, there are more

peaceful ways to do so.

We are sending troops overseas in order to secure the nations interest. It all

seems to me that history is still repeating itselftoday.