The Decline of the West
Financial crises affect the lives of millions of people all over the world. Although many families try their best to continue living their lives like nothing happened, recessions can have a serious effect on their day-to-day interactions, as well as their daily lives. In the short story “The Decline of the West” written by Hanif Kureishi and published in Collected Stories in 2010, Mike and his family represents a normal family whom have fallen victims to the 2008 financial crisis. Mike and his family lives in a materialistic world in the modern western capitalistic society, to which they’ve lost important family values such as love, trust and respect for each other. The short story questions, which values are the most
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We see the lack of respect, as well as the clear aspects of materialism. Billy, Mike’s younger son, is seemingly not yet completely lost to the same state of mind as his older brother. He still shows some love for Mike, yet he also knows that his father can give him anything: “I like you sometimes, Daddy. But I want guitar lessons”.
The title “The Decline of the West” is a direct reference to the economic decline, as well as the moral decay we see in the modern western society. Looking at the economic decline, it is seemingly linked with the economic problems experienced in the western capitalistic world during the recession of 2008-09. This theme is clear all the way through the short story, where Mike’s eyes are opened for the life style he and many others has led in many years. He considers whether the finance crisis is a punishment for this:
“[...] Nonetheless, like many people, Mike had also worried whether the present catastrophe was punishment for years of extravagance and self-indulgence; that that was the debt which had to be paid back in suffering. Yet how could his family be considered despicable or guilty of this, when all they’d asked for was continuous material
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At one point in the story, all lights suddenly went out and all sound were suspended. Mike goes down to the basement to try and fix this, but at the staircase, he slips and loses his footing. For a second he believed he was crashing onto his back and would break his neck. And for merely a short moment he thought: “How easy it was to fall, and how tempting it was - suddenly would be best - to die!” But just in time, he grabs the railing and steadies himself. Down in the basement, he’s surrounded by paint cans, broken toys, discarded purchases and bags of credit card receipts. He is surrounded by materialism and realizes, that he is not satisfied with all of this. He realizes how his family has fallen victim to the capitalistic and materialistic mind set shared by millions of people in the west. It was in the moment where the world was dark, that Mike had his enlightenment - the moment where he was away from any interruption from society. Suddenly, the lights appear once more, and the material world comes back to life full force, and everything continues as though nothing has changed. In a capitalistic society, you must work your way up the ladder, and as soon as the fame and money takes over, you risk falling. This is what happens to Mike, he spends a lot more money than he has, and his world
To begin, Mike becomes dependent on alcohol to mask the realities surrounding his financial crisis. He is introduced to the novel by his fiancé, Lady Brett Ashley, as a “ drunkard” and an “undischarged bankrupt”, immediately allowing the audience to create an image of him as an unstable, dependent character (Hemingway 85). As an individual with the status ‘legally bankrupt’, he is ineligible to obtain credit, he cannot “write checks” and has various restrictions on his financial status (233). Because Mike made careless decisions in his past, he as a result, jeopardized his future. He
John Lee Hancock puts emphasise on the fact that Michael is poor and the Touhy’s are rich and juxtaposes these two central characters repetitively throughout the film. This is done to portray to the audience that a person’s socio-economic status can affects an individual’s capacity to learn and excel at the things he may be talented at, in Michael’s case football. Another aspect which is explored throughout the film is the fact that attitudes towards belonging can change of time this is evident in Michael because at first he was hesitant in staying with the Touhy’s but later transitions into part of their family, Michael makes many transitions throughout the film which include from Illiterate to educated and from disrespected to honourable, this movie has a very motivational aspect to it in that it inspires people to push past any barriers they may be faced with. Michael is quickly accepted as part of the family and creates a connection with them and has a sense of belonging with them this is also done at his school when his football coach strengthens Michaels sense of belonging by describing him as “his son” this makes Michael Ohers feel a part of the group and encourages him to excel without the fear in his mind that he is not accepted in the environment he is faced with.
In Two American Families, a documentary film which produced by Bill Moyers, it follows the two middle class families in Milwaukie, one black and one white, for over a decade as they struggle to achieve the “American Dream”. This documentary reveals the struggle of some American families who work hard and follow the social order in the society, but have fallen as a victim in a struggling economy to a series of policy decisions made. The hand of policy ineffectively steered the lives of the two families featured, the Neumann’s and Stanley’s, despite their hard work ethic and sincere determination to succeed. There are many policy implications that played a role in this documentary, including those around education, institutional racism, taxation, overseas jobs and social security. However, the main factors that drive those policy implications are minimum wage, health care, the foreclosure crisis, and debt dependency. In this essay, I will go into in more details about those main factors that both two American families suffered from the series of economic depression.
McCandless reconstructs himself to “Alex Supertramp” which is marked by his rejection of materialism, as well as his journey to live on his own in the wild. McCandless puts his money all together on the sand and “put a match to it, one hundred twenty-three dollars in legal tender was promptly reduced to ash and smoke” (29). McCandless burning his money was a way of his need to be fully on his own without the use of anything relating to modern. McCandless is showing his hatred and separation from material things because he can't buy the things he need throughout his journey. McCandless follows the non-materialistic lifestyle to heart and does not accept materials and comfort.
Mike’s grandmother also tunes into her own natural instincts rather than society’s given standards, which is what makes her
Civilization: The West and the Rest, presented by Niall Ferguson, is a documentary in which Ferguson reveals what he calls the six killer applications which has helped Western civilization dominate over everyone else. These six applications are competition, science, property, medicine, consumerism, and work. Ferguson asks many questions over the course of the series as well as provides examples as to how Western civilization has surpassed other nations and empires. Ferguson’s main question in each episode is, “If we lose our monopoly over apps like these, could Western civilization be consigned to history.” This paper will analyze Ferguson’s questions and the examples he provides for the killer applications of competition, science, property, medicine, consumerism, and work, as well as his conclusions as to why the West has risen to the top, how the rest are passing up the West, as well as his conclusions to if the West can remain above the rest.
Both the authors agree that the west is most certainly the main superpower in the world today. There were arguments worldwide, that the cause for the poverty in communist and/or third-world countries was the result of the rise in Western prosperity and the West was therefore able to dictate the rules of the game. These factors, both in Totalitarian and Authoritarian states, began to bring China and Latin America down one by one. It could be seen that there was only one successful factor left on the world stage, Liberal Democracies.
The Navajo Indians emulated the pueblo. The shed their animal skin clothing for cotton and learned quickly how to farm. These people settled in between the Rio Grande and the Grand Canyon. They herded sheep and grew corn in the valleys. They were a peaceful group of people, and were one with their surroundings.
I could give you a million reasons why I won't be voting for Trump and attempt to get you to agree with me, but instead, I decided these 5 are enough to make anyone second guess their vote if they are deciding on Trump. With the election happening right in front of our eyes, it's only right to point out why he is not the right candidate for the next presidency.
How can Western Civilization avert decline and promote happiness and justice? In a world of political and celebrity scandals from the raunchy to the greedy, our culture is full of corruption and an obsession with fame. Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Sylvia Plath’s “The Colossus” both explore the West’s moral blindness and our paralysis of feeling and thought in the twentieth century. Western civilization is becoming a wildfire fueled by tragic ignorance, societal norms and corruption. This must be exposed in order for any cultural epiphany to occur.
The rise of the West refers to a period of time when Western Europe rose to power due to many environmental, political, and social factors. Many historians attribute the Rise of the West to the time period of 1450 to 1850. This power surge of Western Europe has been attributed to the global dominance of Western Europe and America in the 21 century. The interesting aspect regarding the Rise of the West is how Western Europe developed so differently from other parts of the world, leading it to be the superpower of the world. Over the past 50 years, the idea of the rise of the West has been closely re-examined. Prior to the 1950s, historians believed that the rise of the West occurred because it was destined to; because Europe is the best and
She certainly has.” Anthony smiled. He was already in a better mood than he had been when he had first entered.
People around the country are living in a very hard economic crisis that they have experienced since 2008. This difficult situation has created circumstances that cause people to lose their jobs and companies taking the options of laying off employees, creating a big impact in many families around the country. This situation has not improved at all in the last three years, which makes it very hard for anyone to find a job. The consequences for all these changes are affecting families’ lives in different ways emotionally, socially, and financially. According to the United States Department of
“Four Horsemen” is a documentary by Ross Ashcroft on the impending demise of today’s civilisation. “Four Horsemen” ends on a high note, an instruction – people should educate themselves and be aware of the government malversations that cripple economies, favour the wealthy and further repress the poor, and above all people should always question the system and look for ways to reform it. The documentary identifies the problem as the four horsemen of today’s modern apocalypse – the financial system, the rise of organised violence, the increasing poverty of billions, and finally the exhaustion of natural resources. The film presents itself as a recount of the fall of the ‘Western empire’ and how this situations demands reforms and action of
In Samuel P. Huntington’s article “The West: Unique, Not Universal,” he addresses his audience with a very controversial question: Is Western Culture universal or unique? Huntington elaborately opens up this question with research and examples to explain and persuade readers that the West will never be a universal culture for all, but rather a unique culture that will be accepted by those who appreciate it. For decades now, historians and scholars have debated with one another to determine who is right and wrong. However, from a handful of articles from different scholars, Samuel Huntington’s statement that the West is unique rather than universal is supported and even further elaborated on by these particular sources. A common understanding between all the sources, that must be noted, is that a civilization’s culture is not comprised of material goods but rather their culmination of their religion(s), values, language(s) and traditions. While although there are scholars out their that negate the West is unique, a large amount of scholars still argue and strengthen Huntington’s argument that the West has unique and exclusive characteristics that make them distinctive and rare.