Verified Document

Passionate Declaration Howard Zinn Chapter 7, 8, Essay

Passionate declaration Howard Zinn chapter 7, 8, 9 Chapter 10-11 Summary response, making connection current events, school life. Zinn's Passionate declaration

Howard Zinn's text Passionate Declarations seems particularly important to read today, in light of what has been called the '99% movement.' This social justice movement is spearheaded by the numbers of many, many people who are striving to 'make ends meet' while others are fabulously wealthy and buy bracelets at Tiffanies. In one of Zinn's memorable examples, the author contrasts the cost of a luxury market watch with the income of an unemployed man who killed himself because he was unable to pay his bills (Zinn 151). Zinn does not deny the greatness of America and its ability to provide liberty and prosperity, but he is passionately outraged at the degree to which inequities have been allowed to fester. At a certain point, when the chasm between haves and have-nots becomes so great, any sense of possible 'equality' is lost. It is impossible for all but a lucky few to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

Government interference in the...

Yet the Founding Fathers were profoundly fearful of the influence of factions upon the political landscape (Zinn 170). These factions include powerful corporate interests, such as tobacco companies, that are able to use their money to curtail the negative publicity attached to their deadly product. Without government regulation, we would still be living in the world of the unfettered capitalism of the 19th century, with its sweatshop labor and children toiling beside their parents simply to make money (Zinn 171). Today, of course, such labor still exists, although the workers are often illegal immigrants. And major corporations can still price the cost of labor artificially low, as is manifested in the example of Wal-Mart, which can price consumer goods very cheaply because it staffs its stores with low-wage earners, often part-time workers without benefits. Fast food corporations deploy a similar model of labor exploitation to keep goods extremely cheap, and to feed consumerism at the expense of fairness and compassion to workers. The market alone is…

Sources used in this document:
Work Cited

Zinn, Howard. Passionate Declarations. HarperPerrenial, 2003.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Picture of Dorian Gray Tragically
Words: 1877 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Although Dorian has clearly been touched (figuratively) by Lord Henry, he immediately "falls in love" with the young actress he sees during a stage performance of a Shakespeare play. It seems to the reader that Wilde intentionally makes Dorian's feelings for Sibyl unrealistic and not true to Dorian's character by having Dorian come from nowhere with news that he is engaged to Sibyl, and then a few days later

History of Texas Questions, 2-3 Sentences Each
Words: 1265 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

History of Texas questions, (2-3 sentences each question), one page. Explain the Empresario system. What is it? And what is the purpose of it? After the successful Mexican War of Independence liberated Mexico from Spanish rule in 1821, the 1824 Constitution of Mexico joined Texas with the state of Coahuila to form the new state of Tejas y Coahuila. In order to increase the population within this unsettled frontier, and protect it

Food Wars Place of Publication: London and
Words: 1756 Length: 5 Document Type: Book Review

Food Wars Place of publication: London and New York Publisher: Verso Date of publication: 2009 Walden Bello's book The Food Wars is not a meaty book in terms of length, but it covers an issue all of us are and should be concerned with: food. Bello is certainly qualified to discuss this topic. He has a background in sociology and is currently a professor of that discipline at the University of the Philippines. With

Henderson the Rain King
Words: 999 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Saul Bellow Henderson the Rain King Saul Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976 for, among other things, the ability to give values a place side by side with facts in literature, unlike realism. The import of his work was seen as creating awareness that only the right values can give human kind freedom and responsibility, necessary foundations for building of faith in the future and a desire for

Women and Reform
Words: 1034 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Spheres and Suffrage During the period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were two spheres which separated men and women in society. This seems incongruous in our modern time where men and women interact freely and females have achieved positions of power in every branch of business, politics, and research. But, for women living in the 1800s and 1900s, they were limited in their potential by their

American Revolution in Different Perspectives
Words: 946 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

" This song is a call to fight. It notes that the English have plundered their houses and causes their families to run from their home. They refer to the villains as murderers and state that they should have no mercy because of this. The chorus of the song says, "Then chop with your swords, and constantly sing, Success to our Troop, Our Country, and King." Here the song is

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now