During our class discussion on Thursday, we began to relate our readings with the documentary that we watched in class. The common theme that we discovered involved the reciprocal relationship between work and leisure. In the documentary, The White Fair was the biggest display of work that the World had ever seen thus far. It took over 40,000 workmen to build the Fair grounds. Some people were working by choice in order to compete with other people (or countries). Before this time, people’s work was basic and need-based. But now, they were beginning to relate working with leisure. What the workers put in, the Fair got out. Their hard work created leisurely experiences for millions, including the workers who helped build the place. People could spend the 25 cents to go on the Farris Wheel and enjoy the spectacles. This was a time where people could see the “fruits of their labor”.

In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Hank Morgan experienced a world in which work and leisure operated in an unbalanced system. The peasants would be forced to work endless hours every day to not only provide from themselves, but for the Lords, King, and other people who were of a higher social standing. While this system was delightful for the Lords, Knights, and Kings, it was miserable for the peasants. They received little to no leisure time and when they did, it was nearly not enough to refuel their mental emotional and physical state to work at an efficient level. The relationship between work and leisure this time was not reciprocal, and therefore it was unbalanced.

This made me think about something I learned in one of my Sociology classes last semester. As globalization has developed, many companies have moved the production processes of their goods to countries or people that would be willing ot supply cheap labor. As a result, several forms of alienation have taken place in the workplace. A big form of alienation that occurs is alienation between a worker and the product that they make. A lot of the times, the workers providing the cheap labor do not make enough money to buy the product they are helping to make. Studies have shown that workers alienated from their products have a lower productivity level than those that are not. In terms of leisure and work this makes total sense. A worker might be willing to put forth more work, if it helped them accomplish their leisure. In the case of alienation, if workers were able to buy the products they made, they might be more efficient in the making of these products. Some people in the past have realized this connection and adjusted their workplace accordingly. For example, Henry Ford of Ford Motors changed the working standard of the time by manipulating the work and leisure relationship. He offered a very high hourly rate to his workers, which enhanced their productivity greatly for many reasons. Firstly, no other companies were offering an hourly wage that came close to being as high as Fords. His workers therefore would work hard because they did not want to lose the high paying job that would increase their standard of living. Additionally, the higher wage of the workers made it possible for them to buy their very own Ford car. Ford’s mission was to make a car that his own workers could afford. The manipulation of the production process through the assembly line cheapened the production costs allowing Ford to be able to pay his workers more, and sell the cars for cheaper. Because the workers could now afford the car, their work was directly relating to a large section of their leisure time. The average worker could own their very own automobile. Ford’s technique changed a paradigm at the time that people had to pay their workers as less as possible to ensure a good revenue.

While the forces of globalization have furthered alienation in the workforce, many companies, like Google, are beginning to change their workers experiences to enhance productivity. Work and leisure go hand in hand, and need to be working in a balanced system with each other to produce the best results.

While reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, I really was troubled with the idea of time travel. I have seen different shows and movies that involve time travel, but I never really thought about where I would go and the type of person I would. Would I use my knowledge of the developed world I came from and take advantage of people? When Hank Morgan traveled back to the time of King Arthur, he used his knowledge to manipulate the people into somewhat worshiping him. At this time, the people were very superstitious and believed in higher powers. He used this knowledge and purposely fooled the people, while also getting pretty lucky with a scientific phenomenon. While Hank was not intentionally harming people, his manipulation makes me question if anyone would be able to act ethically in the situation that Hank was dealt. It is so easy to get caught up in the world and people around you, that you sometimes might lose sight of the person you would want to be. In class we had to chose a time period that we would dread going back to. I would dread going back to the Holocaust, slavery and segregation. In thinking of the type of person I would be, I realized that it would be extremely hard to emulate this person if I actually had to live in that time. The ultimate reason why I would dread going back to these times is because I am scared that I would get caught up in the fears and assumptions of the time, and not speak up for those that were persecuted. As much as I would want to be the leader of the civil rights movement, would I actually have the courage at the time to be the first voice in a silent crowd.

In class today, we also talked about whether we think our society is pessimistic or optimistic. I agree with many of my classmates in the idea that the younger generation is optimistic in that we tend to believe there is nothing we can’t do. We are taught to “reach for the stars” and that education and technology will enlighten us. While these beliefs are powerful, they are also our downfall. We have become a society that can never live in the present and appreciate our current state. We constantly are looking for the next best thing, and trying to beat the next person in a brilliant discovery or invention. This attitude is not always bad, as it has helped us tremendously in our current technological advancements like communication, transportation, production, and medicine. I do however think that our advanced technology has made our society greedy and selfish as a whole. For example, there a medicines, treatments, and surgeries available that can preform miracles and saves so many lives everyday. However, these procedures are costing huge amounts of money; money that almost no one can afford. What is the point of having the technological advancements if not everyone has the capability of using it. And isn’t it even worse that as a society, we chose to not let these advancements reach people who might need them? No matter the time period you travel to, the value of life is of utmost importance. People do not want to see their loved ones go, and for the most part, people will do anything to survive. It is our human nature. I have noticed that is has become the trend that people are beginning to manipulate our value of life. For example lets think about someone who is in desperate need of a kidney. They only have one left and it is quickly failing. Medical advancements created a safe procedure where one person can donate one healthy kidney to someone in need. It just so happens that you are the one and only match for their kidney transplant. Would you give your kidney for free knowing that it would safe their life? How much do you think you could charge this family for the “donation” of this kidney? The answer is simple. Love and life trumps everything and the person who needs the kidney, along with their friends and family would give up everything for life. While I understand donating a kidney can be a life change, I also think that it should be a no brainer to give up something you need, to save a life. And if you take advantage of the medical advancements, and our value o of human life, then our society is in deep trouble. While this scenario is pretty dramatic, similar smaller scenarios are happening across the globe. Why are african children starving, when the United States grows more thane enough food to feed them and more? Why do millions of Indian babies die a year, if we have the medicine and means to help them live? If someone found the cure for cancer, would we all band together to help cure all cancer patients, or would we rob their bank accounts dry. Our advancements have become exclusive to the upper class of society. If you want to be a part of the advancements someone makes, you have to be prepared to give them something in return. I am totally an optimist in our capability as human beings to discover amazing things, but I am a pessimist on society’s willingness to share these advancements with EVERYONE.