16. April 2009 by student.

I just recently read the article concerning the pregnant farm worker in Immokalee that lost her baby on Friday due to pesticide exposure. The article was written by Janine Zeitlin and she stated that “declined to name workers saying they feared coming forward because some were still employed by the company or had relatives working there.” This is terrible that the workers are scared to come forward and after the research in our class I understand why. It disturbs me also that the officers of the company could not be reached. When that is the case and no one can get some sort if answer then that usually means they are guilty of something and even the receptionist knows what’s going on. I am a strong advocate for organic food and I really feel that those of us in our class really need to take our voices out of the classroom and into the community. Organic food may be slightly higher in price but the chance not to be poisoned by pesticides and also helping our environment is worth the cost. Some of our proposals are very well written and some members of city councils may want to hear what we have to say concerning localized alternatives to pesticide use. Please read the article and see what a difference we could make showing some well researched ideas to the community and local farms. Complaint spurs investigation of pesticides on Immokalee farm

By JANINE ZEITLIN • jzeitlin@news-press.com • April 15, 2009

The state is investigating an Immokalee farm today after receiving an anonymous complaint alleging two pregnant farmworkers may have lost their babies after a pesticide exposure. “We have an inspector supervisor and an inspector on a farm as you and I are speaking,” said Andy Rackley, a director for agricultural and environmental services for Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “We will go through all of the records and will talk to any worker at the farm who is willing to talk.”Rackley said the department had also been contacted by Adan Labra, an Immokalee organizer with The Farmworker Association of Florida.Labra said he had spoken to three workers who had experienced nausea, coughing, headaches, and nosebleeds. He said one of the women was rushed to the hospital Friday and had surgery to have her child removed. He had not spoken to the other woman. “Many companies are not complying with the mandated pesticide regulations,” he said. “We have documented many complaints. Thank goodness this one was recent but we have received many others from yearsLabra declined to name workers saying they feared coming forward because some were still employed by the company or had relatives working there. A woman at Johnson Plants who answered the phone refused to identify herself. She said Ralph Hendry and Douglas Johnson were not there and couldn’t be reached. Both were listed as officers in state records. Rackley said the state is working with health officials and hopes to complete the investigation in a week or so. “We obviously will give this our utmost attention,” he said

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16. April 2009 by student.

One day I received news that the Department of Homeland Security made a report on Right-Wing Extremism recently (They already made a report for Left-Wing Extremism last year) and that this report was making news all the sudden. For some reason the media (specifically the conservative-inclined media, like Fox News and right-wing blogs) went “up in arms” over this report, as if they wanted to be associated with far-right terrorists (although some warned that by making a fuss out of the report they are giving “credibility” to the far right fringe). While the reasons behind the outrage may perhaps be interesting in finding out, what caught my attention were certain things that the report mentioned.

Besides “hate groups”, such as White nationalists, National Socialists (Nazis), etc, the report identify another type of right-wing extremist: “Those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority…”As of late, the American Libertarian and/or Constitutionalist movement (i.e. the people attracted to that Ron Paul persona) has began to grow a bit more popular since the 2008 elections. Arguably, Ron Paul’s politics have become more widespread as the recession continued on and of the current news of the new government budget. Some of the conservative media, which supports some or all of Ron Paul’s policies, are angry at the report because they believe it unfairly targets Libertarians (specifically those who are participating in the various “Tea Party” protests around the country this April 15).

I’m puzzled by this movement, I sincerely am. What kinds of people are attracted to it? To my knowledge, many different kinds of people support Ron Paul but even some of his supporters don’t know some of his other policies (or don’t know the possible consequences of his policies). Some of these supporters are progressive-minded people (who are dissatisfied with the Democrats and don’t know much of other political ideologies) who want an end to the wars in Middle East, increase civil liberties, end to corporate welfare, etc. These supporters tend to be ignorant however that Ron Paul (and some constitutionalist organizations) is for anti-immigrant (He’s a “nativist.” He’s also using the old “they are taking our welfare” argument which is arguably a myth. ) policies, his economic policies are mostly beneficial to businesses, some of his domestic policies would be detrimental to the poor sections of society, etc. Some of his other supporters are more like dissatisfied Republicans and other kinds of conservatives, but these kinds of people being attracted to Ron Paul make sense in a way.

Continental Europe reacts differently than the U.S.  in terms of politics, there’s probably been a larger increase in the far-left (specifically amongst anarchists) in Europe than in the far-right and in Europe American Libertarianism does not exist (the word “libertarian” in Europe is another term for anarchist). England however does demonstrate a different reaction then Europe by exhibiting towards increase support for the far-right British Nationalist Party during this recession. It’s actually a mystery to me why the progressive-minded members of the libertarian/Ron Paul movement would join that movement instead of being a part of the anarchist movement.

One other part of the report, which was very interesting (and controversial), was the mention that returning soldiers and veterans are potential recruits for far-right extremists. The conservative media made a fuss about this part too, probably even more so then the other section of the report. But this does have historical verification: The Nazi Party of the 30s attracted many German WWI veterans.

This report actually creates many questions than answers…

Should we take this report seriously? Is there an actual increase threat from hateful far-right groups in the U.S.? Is the libertarian/constitutionalist movement fundamentally dangerous, as the report might subtle and implicitly suggest, and are they able to ever gain power?  Lastly, why is the American anarchist left unable to capitalize on this recession and the “populist rage” as successfully as their European counterparts and their Libertarian rivals?

Sources:

http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/04/report-warns-of-rise-of-rightwing-extremists-.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7993595.stm

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

16. April 2009 by student.

So we all hear the words poor people like everyday right? Well this class status is not just called poor people, it is actually named ”poverty” which can be defined in a variety of ways. It can mean a condition of near starvation, bare substitence, or any standard of living that is measururably below the national average. Official definitions of the poverty line are based on the consumer price index. But the meaning is not much of what I want to point out.. Did you guys know that the United States has almost 36 million people who live below the official poverty lines? A large proportion of the poor are children, many of them in single-parent familes. Blacks and other racial minorities are overrepresented among the poor. And even more shocking news is that poor people living in rural areas include migrant workers, Native Americans on reservations, and farmers who suffer poor health and unequal access to health services, inadequate education, substandard housing, homelessness, and discrimination in the criminal-justice system. So my point is, don’t just sit back and relax because you have a good life! I understand economy is horrible at the moment and we barely make enough money to eat ourselves, but remember there are people in worst positions… people who haven’t had a bite of food in months! So before you throw something away just because you don’t like it anymore, take your time and listen to those t.v commercials who give out telephone numbers of poor kids and families shelters for those who want to help… Because I believe a little something we don’t need can save many people’s lives, and the more human lives we have the more we keep growing and making history! Now stop reading this and go help with charity, let’s try and stop this social problem from getting any bigger. It will pay off afterwards… !

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