Sally, 10/23

This class was, perhaps, the most relevant topic to date. I found the lecture, the examples, and discussion to be timely and illuminating of the society in which we live. I share a fellow classmate's sentiment: I never thought I'd be studying Marx and coming to the conclusion that, so far, his critique/views make a great deal of sense. I know that we are "brushing the surface" in a sense and there is much more should we delve into his essays that we, as Americans, may not agree with...but, so far, so good.

Case in point: "...each new class which puts itself in the place of one ruling before it is compelled, merely in order to carry through its aim, to present its interest as the common interest of all the members of society, that is, expressed in ideal form: it has to give its idea the form of universality, and present them as the only rational, universally valid one."(40) I thought the frank discussion regarding the British Empire and colonization illuminated the essence of this ideology. Of course, any "conquering" nation will believe that it is "in the right" and that those subject to the new rule will be better off because they will now have a better system of education, of religion, and of society, in general. I could not help but reflect upon our "occupation" of Iraq. Yes, we are occupying their land (has anyone seen photos of the new embassy compound that has been built to oversee Iraqi affairs - it's HUGE!) It makes a bold and threatening statement: America is here.

In my opinion, we have so blended nation-building with the "war on terror", that the "real" purpose of the "war on terror" has been diluted. If we were that serious about this "war," our borders would not be so porous. There are so many smoke and mirrors that a description of exactly what we're doing in Iraq is obscured. However, we are "doing the right thing" and we are told repeatedly by those in charge that it expresses "the common interest of all the members of society." (Marx, 40) The ideology of our own national security justifies our occupation of another nation - a country that vacilates on whether they need our assistance or not as they deal with their own civil unrest. In the meantime, we've moved in and have set up shop! As an American, I am disappointed and disillusioned in the politics of our great country. We find ourselves in a distressing situation as we "soldier" on in Iraq. I believed our president when, in the first rounds of the presidential debates, he answered the question of whether or not he supported nation-building with a resounding "No, I do not." That answer, and our current ideology keeping us in Iraq, don’t jive. Am I naive to think our president should be a man of his word, or worse, did he not understand the question? I wonder what I’m missing in the big picture - I know I'm not alone.