The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith

Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

Assignment 1

In his essay “Playing God in the Garden,” Michael Pollan says that

genetic engineering overthrows the old rules governing the relationship of nature and culture in a plant. For the first time, breeders can bring qualities from anywhere in nature into the genome of a plant—from flounders (frost tolerance), from viruses (disease resistance) and, in the case of my potatoes, from Bacillus thuringiensis, the soil bacterium that produces the organic insecticide known as Bt. The introduction into a plant of genes transported not only across species but whole phyla means that the wall of that plant’s essential identity—its irreducible wildness, you might say—has been breached. (404)

Hence, biotech is something new and unprecedented in the world of growing vegetables. As Pollan shows, debate exists around the safety of genetically modified produce. Make an argument about whether agriculture should incorporate biotech crops into the food chain, or if we should refrain from biotech and instead use other farming methods, such as organic or conventionally grown food (which involves pesticides). What kind of farming is best for humans to pursue and consume, and why? What are the advantages of biotech, and what are its potential dangers? What might the benefits of organic growing be? Quote from Pollan’s essay where appropriate to support your project, or argument, and be sure to express your opinion while not using personal pronouns. Instead, give evidence from the text to “back you up.”

(Suggestion: Try to avoid merely summarizing Pollan’s main points, but instead focus on having a project, or argument, and use his points as support. A way to avoid too much summary is to give no more than a couple of quotations in each paragraph.)

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In his essay “Work Rules,” William Greider says that most people have a “shared powerlessness” (219) in working for someone else. He goes on to say that the way to correct this powerlessness is for people

to “own” their own work. That is, individually and jointly, they own the place where they work. They accept responsibility, collectively, for the well-being of the firm. They authorize the managers who direct things, but all participate in the rule making and other important policy decisions. They share the returns from the enterprise and agree upon the terms for sharing. None of these structural changes exempts anyone from the harrowing competition of capitalism or the demand for effective practices and productivity. (219-220)

In other words, the responsibility of employee ownership, according to him, can improve the quality of people’s work lives, including their wages. In Michael Pollan’s “Playing God in the Garden,” different kinds of workers are depicted, from farmers to biotechnology lab technicians. Do the farmers who Pollan talks to “own their own work”? What about the Monsanto employees? Greider suggests that “eliminating the artificial dividing line between master and servant would open…possibilities for individual fulfillment” (226); is such a “dividing line” apparent in Pollan’s text? Make an argument about whether work, in farming, might represent a master-servant divide, and how to remedy such an imbalance in society. (Feel free to disagree with Greider and suggest that there is no dividing line.)

Note: Try to quote from both Greider and Pollan, in the same paragraph. When doing so, you may find it easier to give a Greider quotation first, and then one from Pollan.

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Assignment 3

Toward the end of Eric Schlosser’s essay “Global Realization,” he says that in the German town called Plauen, “every Wednesday night, a few hundred people gather at The Ranch for line dancing” (517). He adds, “For a few hours the spirit of the American West fills this funky bar deep in the heart of Saxony…and the old dream lives on, the dream of freedom without limits, self-reliance, and a wide-open frontier” (517). But does the McDonald’s Corporation truly encourage self-reliance in the various countries where it opens? How would William Greider view the way that McDonald’s does business? What, if anything, might McDonald’s have in common with biotech companies?

If we assume that biotech farming and fast-food franchises both function according to a certain model of work, explore whether they operate under the model of a master-servant divide, or if they encourage self-sufficiency and independence (the worker-as-owner model). Should biotech and globalization—as seen through the actions and practices of the McDonald’s Corporation—change so that people benefit more? If so, how might this change occur? Make an argument about the responsibilities that biotech companies and fast-food chains have in providing food and employment for many of the world’s people.

You must quote from all three texts—Michael Pollan, Greider, and Schlosser—in this essay; provide quotation from more than one author at a time in your body paragraphs, to make connections. You also need to have a project.

Note: To avoid repeating what was said in Paper #2, use original quotation.

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Assignment 4

In her essay “ A World on the Edge,” Amy Chua says,

The global spread of markets and democracy is a principal aggravating cause of group hatred and ethnic violence throughout the non-Western world. In the numerous societies around the world that have a market-dominant minority, markets and democracy are not mutually reinforcing. Because markets and democracy benefit different ethnic groups in such societies, the pursuit of free-market democracy produces highly unstable and combustible conditions. (108)

She is suggesting that “when free-market democracy is pursued in the presence of a market-dominant minority, the result, almost invariably, is backlash” (108). We see such violent backlash happening throughout the world, exacerbated by globalization. In Eric Schlosser’s “Global Realization,” McDonald’s’ presence has also led to instances of backlash. One is therefore led to wonder if a “market-dominant minority” might exist in the case of McDonald’s in Europe. Is its presence there as potentially catastrophic as Chua predicts such a market-dominant minority, coupled with free-market democracy, might be elsewhere? Chua argues that the pursuit of free markets and democracy “can proceed only in deep tension with each other” (113), but is she correct in that assertion? Markets and democracy are typically seen as helpful for society, and yet she shows how the opposite is often true. Using globalizing fast-food chains as an example, make an argument about the circumstances that are necessary for free-market democracy to thrive, and discuss how it sometimes fails. When are markets and democracy beneficial, and when do they lead to backlash and ethnic group hatred?

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Assignment 5

Karen Armstrong, in “Does God Have a Future?”, suggests that having a notion of God serves several important purposes in human lives. It can, however, also lead to a feeling of oppression, and of being controlled by a power outside the self. This leads some to reject God. What kind of religion would be most useful for a group of people that is trying to globalize? What conception of God would be detrimental for those people? Make an argument about the best sort of religion to pursue when a nation is becoming a free-market democracy. How can such a country be self-sufficient, with the greatest well-being possible? Use the lessons given by Armstrong, in her essay, to enhance and complicate your reading of Amy Chua. Which belief systems are best when a nation is becoming a free-market democracy, which philosophies are to be avoided, and why? In this essay, pose a very original, independent argument about what religious thought should be merged with globalization.

Note: For the sake of clarity when connecting, use Armstrong first, and then Chua in paragraphs; logically, it makes sense to present an abstract theory (Armstrong) first, applied to a real-life example (Chua). In some paragraphs, though, it may work better for you to connect in the reverse order.

Important: When quoting Armstrong, determine which theologian or religious school of thought is being discussed. You will need to mention those people by name—in other words, the positions in her texts are not necessarily her own, but instead are ascribed to by others.

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Assignment 6

The happiness researchers in Jon Gertner’s “The Futile Pursuit of Happiness” suggest that “a life without forecasting errors would most likely be a better, happier life” (174). But we continually make the mistake of overestimating happiness, and choosing things that we think will improve our lives, when in fact, they don’t. One researcher, George Loewenstein, says, “’If you had a deep understanding of the impact bias and you acted on it…, you would tend to invest your resources in the things that would make you happy’” (Gertner 174). What exactly are the things we should “invest [our] resources in”? In looking at Karen Armstrong’s “Does God Have a Future?” and Amy Chua’s essay “A World on the Edge,” think about the various “resources” that people devote to being happy. Are there ever instances of “miswanting” (Gertner 165) in how countries strive to achieve free-market democracy? Do religious believers sometimes make “forecasting errors” (Gertner 173) in choosing a particular God and way of practicing a faith? Make an argument about what exactly in life should be pursued to make people happy, and how to avoid miswanting and forecasting errors in people’s quest for contentment.

Aim to be as specific as possible in citing certain examples of things to be cultivated for well-being, and why those particular elements will help bring joy into people’s lives. The more precise you can be in this essay, rather than being general and vague, the better.

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