I don’t know how to handle this Social Science question and need guidance.
Requirements: The readings for this Short Writing Assignment MUST be from the assignments in the selections below. Do not respond to other students for this assignment, but please read their work and my comments. 1000+ word count minimum. This MUST BE A FOCUSED, IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE ASSIGNED TEXTS FROM THIS CLASS! Use THREE quotations from the reading or film you choose but NO outside sources.
Grammar and mechanics weigh heavily for this assignment. Please proofread and revise as needed prior to submission! See this discussion’s Rubric below for specific grading criteria.
Double-space all submissions. Put YOUR full name, English 103 and a title on all submissions. Do NOT Include MY name, a date, or a cover page.
Be sure to include the writer’s or director’s FULL name and FULL article or film title ONE time in the first paragraph. Following that, you should always refer to the author or director’s LAST NAME ONLY (no Mr., Mrs., Dr, etc.).
Reading Choices:
Read “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx (with Definitions)
So, as you can see from the assigned readings, this is not a happy course. In fact, I’ve often been told by students that reading these materials and learning some of the histories behind them can be very depressing. Reality is, unfortunately, not a joyous state when we learn about inequality and exploitation though it’s always been with us. Critical thinking gives us the tools to analyze and discuss our current circumstances and to describe the power structures that support the way things are.
In this assignment, I’d like you to choose one of the readings or one of the Zeitgeist films above. Use 1000+ words to explore and connect the reading or film with a current “real life” issue that concerns you. This MUST BE A FOCUSED, IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE ASSIGNED TEXTS FROM THIS CLASS! Use THREE quotations from the reading or film you choose but NO outside sources.
Please proofread and revise your work prior to submission. All submissions MUST be DOUBLE-SPACED. You may review the grading rubric for this assignment to help you.
Grammar does count for this assignment, but the content is also important. Please proofread and revise your draft using the steps below:
- Print out your draft.
- Read it OUT LOUD.
- Make corrections with a pen as you read it.
- Type in corrections on the computer and go back to Step 1.
- Repeat three times.
Example of an Analysis of the Zeitgeist film:
The manipulation of public opinion over media platforms has emerged as a critical threat to public life. Our society is perpetually misled by government agencies who repeatedly exploit media platforms to reinforce institutional power, exercise censorship and control, undermine trust in media, public institutions, and science. In his documentary, Zeitgeist: The Movie, Peter Joseph gives an in-depth view of how the public is manipulated and controlled through religion, education, fear, and money. These elements are an important part of our society and the more control that government and the elite have over them, the more control they have over the people. Joseph provides evidence and historical references for all his arguments. His film has a lot of conspiracy theories, and some well-researched truths. He uses persuasion and language as tools to express the cycle of repetition in our system. This paper will analyze each part of Mr. Joseph’s film and the continued impact on modern society.
Religion does not manipulate people. People manipulate people. Religions serve to reinforce the social control of those in power. It discourages collective political action that is vital to eliminate capitalist oppression and transform society. In the film, the narrator breaks down the ways in which religion strategically dismantles natural unity of society with this statement,” Christianity, along with all other related theologies, is a historical fraud. These religions now serve to detach the species from the natural world and likewise each other. They support blind submission to authority. They reduce human responsibility to the effect that “God” controls everything, and in turn, awful crimes can be justified in the name of a Divine Pursuit. Most critically, it empowers political establishments, who have been using these myths to manipulate and control societies. The religious myth is the most powerful device ever created, and serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish.” Newscasters, politicians, and pastors use the religion to push an agenda of greed, violence, and fear. Presidents and leaders often use phrases such as, “God bless America,” when speaking of war or mass deaths. News anchors reference the bible when justifying actions taken by the government. Religious leaders use the bible to push hope at the price of a membership fee or donation. Members of religious groups experience cognitive dissonance when the younger generation questions the validity of the religion they serve. Our society blindly follows what is taught to us and seldom questions its validity if someone viewed as authority presents it as truth.
The government controls the education system in America. We are taught only what the government and the elite believe is needed, and programs that encourage freedom of expression such as art and music are continuously removed from school curriculums. Among the latent functions of education is the conservative function of transmitting culture, promoting social and political integration, and maintaining control through authority. Education serves as an instrument of elite domination by creating a standard for entry into high paying occupations, bestowing a status, and unequally tracking students into class-influenced career paths. We adhere to this system because we are told that without it, there is no future of prosperity. Advertisements tell us that we can make a lot more money with a degree or certificate. The fear of not having a promising future without education forces us to pay the cost without a guarantee. Once we agree to take on the debt of education, we give ourselves to economic manipulation and are bound to the monetary institutions through debt.
People are constantly manipulated through fear. It is an essential strategy, generated and used by the ruling class in the United States to provide an enemy to keep society enraged and under control. People react quickest to fear, and if someone is able to instill fear into a society, they have great power over those people. Joseph made note of this in his film when he said, “The social manipulation of society through the generation of fear and division has completely inhibited the culture. Religion, patriotism, race, wealth, class and every other form of arbitrary separatist identification and thus conceit have served to create a controlled population utterly malleable in the hands of the few. Divide and conquer is the motto, and as long as people continue to see themselves as separate from everything else they lend themselves to being completely enslaved.” History has shown this to be true and it continues to prevail today. Fear is the number one tactic used by the government to manipulate the public into believing false rhetoric. Technological changes have significantly advanced our society and the influence of mass media is instrumental in proliferating what we fear. We currently have a president that thrives on fear. He has used fear to pass legislation that seeks to eliminate protections of the American people and advance the elite. Similar to many presidents before him, Trump has manufactured fear to separate people, justify wars, and increase taxes on the lower and middle class in favor of the elite. Fortunately, we have a growing number of people to see beyond this rhetoric and protest for a better America for everyone.
The thing that ties all control elements together is money. Religious institutions take in billions of dollars and pay no taxes, yet these institutions continuously ask for more. Churches use God and hope to get money out of their followers, often saying like,” You have to pay your tithes so God can give you the blessings you seek.” The Bible, however, states that God helps everyone who helps himself or herself, regardless of what they possess or give to the church. Our education is money driven as well, even though we are not taught money management in schools. In order to achieve higher education, most Americans have to borrow money with high-interest rates. In turn, students pay more than twice what they borrow with no guarantee of a job or skills needed for the workplace. We fear a life without money because we are taught that without it, we have no self-worth. To purchase anything worth great value, we are told we need credit. To have credit, we must borrow money and pay interest. Essentially, we pay money for the money we borrow. Credit is necessary to purchase things such as a home, car and cellphone plan. The majority of banks are privately owned; therefore, the elite controls our monetary system. In his film, Joseph deconstructs the financial institution when he said,” Our great industrial nation is controlled by its credit system. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men, who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom.” A perfect example of this is home ownership. We must have excellent credit to purchase a home and borrow money with a high-interest rate. If the purchaser misses a payment, their home and all the money invested in their home is gone. Conversely, if the purchaser manages to pay off the mortgage, they are still indebted to the government for the remainder of our lives. If the homeowner does not pay property tax to the government, their home can be taken away and sold to whoever can afford the debt. This system prevents us from ever being free and independent of the government and the elite.
Our society has come a long way from blindly submitting to authority, but we continue to live in a system driven by the influence of religion, education fear, and money. Although his film is controversial, Joseph makes key points on how our society was, is, and will be if we continue on the path of destruction. America is a country that habitually takes advantage of the poor and middle class with little resistance. For change to occur, we must ask questions, demand total transparency and hold authority accountable for what they do to our people. Unity is the one thing that effectively drives change and alleviates the systems that have been constructed to control us.
