In Monday's class we discussed Europe's arguably first "modern" poet, Charles Baudelaire. In our discussion of Baudelaire's writing, we focused on his preoccupation with city life and appreciation of a newly emerging mass society. In consideration of Baudelaire's respect for modernity, I would like you to watch this brief 10 minute introduction to a BBC documentary on the rise and fall of Detroit (it actually has a hopeful message). This is an absolutely fascinating film and if you are interested in the topic, the full version is available on youtube. (Sorry I can't embed in Blogger for some reason!) The video link is below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReqG6qbx_c0
Detroit is presented in the documentary as the "birthplace of the American modern." In the height of its prosperity it was eerily called the "Paris of the mid-west" as it was the location of unprecedented urban growth. In its post-industrial life, however, it has left a landscape of abandoned buildings and the highest employment numbers in the country. Detroit is of course just a single example, but it shows the fragility of such a rapid, urban growth.
In your opinion, what are the potential positives and negatives of living in a mass society? As we invest more in technological and scientific progress, is the dream of modernism going to bring society to a better place? Is there a positive side to living as an anonymous "man of the crowd"? Is community still possible in city life? You can respond to the video and prompt in any way that you feel is most productive.
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The common motif of decay is the clearest connection between Charles Baudelaire and the state of Detroit today. Detroit presents itself as a symbol of the failure of capitalism and progress, of thought that has left society physically ravaged. Baudelaire’s works represent moral decay; how the anonymity and ennui that Baudelaire writes on have made man more vulgar, perhaps less human. Baudelaire seems to revel in the loss of humanity; he makes vulgarity and shock a theme in his works. So how are the two connected beyond the superficial motif of decay? The link is that they are intertwined; that the physical decay of a city society feeds into the moral decay of society; that the capitalism that produces the moral decay also abandons the people of the city to physical decay. In Baudelaire’s case it was the success of capitalism that produced the moral decay of the city; however, the abandonment of Detroit by Capitalism feeds into moral decay through violence and crime. It would seem that the city is inherently prone to rot the human soul, that the pastoral innocence of the pre-modern era has been forever lost by the steady plow of industry and progress. It is therefore the city that is inherently evil, and Capitalism is the force that creates the city.
ReplyDeleteThere are both positives and negatives for living in a mass society. For starters, a negative would be the fact that Detroit is basically falling apart and it’s now being brought to my knowledge because of this class that I am taking, but prior to the viewing of this film I knew nothing about it. When we live in such a mass society it is easy for things to get over looked. They brought up the tragedy of September 11, and how so many people donated and helped clean it up but Detroit hasn’t been assisted and a lot more people have been affected. In my opinion because our society is so big it’s easy for a city like Detroit to get swept under the rug, not enough attention was brought to it so we were unable to assist. Whereas September 11, it was a national security problem so everyone knew and everyone wanted to help.
ReplyDeleteOn the upside, a mass society allows for a mass of ideas. Now that the problem with Detroit is out there we as a society can come together and figure out the best way to go about things and to fix Detroit up. Also as far as technology goes, we need to focus on using our advances in technology to help fix up what is already around us. Don’t ignore it, enhance it.
I found this particular video very interesting and held a lot of valid points describing the well known city of Detroit that I did not previously have knowledge on. I was unaware how wealthy Detroit was at one point and how it was known to be described as the “birthplace of American modern.” I do believe there are both pros and cons of living in a mass society. Some of the positives of living in such a technological savvy environment include plenty of consumerism, mass production, and births of new businesses which allow for plenty of economic growth and vast amounts of wealth accumulating quickly for both the city and many of its people. However, like we saw with the fall of Detroit, such rapid growth can cause a city or town to become overpopulated and many of the people in the lower and poverty stricken classes are made very aware just how well off the upper class is in comparison to them. This inequality of classes can produce some negative things in metropolitan cities like Detroit such as gangs and an increase in crime, poverty, and overcrowded schools, homes etc. Detroit is also a very good example of how many people flee a city once it has failed economically. We see this in Detroit today with the city built to hold 2 million people where now it only holds about 800,000. Desertedness, devastation, and abandonment are all effects of many fleeing the city and looking for work and a new life elsewhere away from problems of a mass society’s downfall. As we gain more insight to newer and better technology, our world of modernism has the potential of bringing society to a better place, but it is how this technology is treated that will predict the outcome of society. If the people of America utilize the technological advances for new and innovative things such as ways to save energy, help with cures in the medical field etc. then yes, I feel as though it will bring society to a better place. However, if we abuse these new technological advances, society will become more polluted with more people wasting their money buying fancy SUVs and wasting away on drugs , guns, and illegal mischief. The people of America also can make or break the “community-like feel” in a city. I feel as though a community is still possible in a city as long as the people in the city are willing to come out of their shells and be friendly towards one another and provide a safe and healthy neighborhood for everyone around them to live in. If people do not try to allow for a setting in which they get involved and extend their hands to help each other then I think a community setting is far from happening in that regard.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is the bigger a place is the harder it can fall. This significant advance in technology, the Ford car, gave Detroit immense short-term economic benefits. But with this lucrative business comes a rise in competition and strive to do more and better. Cars 100 years ago are mere skeletons of what is out there today. With so much growth in the automobile industry around the world, the Motor City seems so insignificant. I’m not really sure on whether it makes society a better place, but I know I enjoy air conditioning and power locks.
ReplyDeleteAs for being an anonymous “man of the crowd,” I think it is a very individualized preference. While Miley Cyrus may enjoy living in the spotlight, I personally like blending in with my surroundings. I enjoy meeting new people, but I don’t need everyone to know who I am. Look at UConn as it’s own little city. It’s not hard to find sub-communities within the larger university. I live physically in the community of my floor in the dorm. Then there are more special interest communities, such as clubs and sports teams.
I personally enjoyed this video clip about the rise and fall of Detroit. I was unaware of what was actually going on in the city. The fact that Detroit flourished so quickly led to overpopulation, poverty, and destruction. These negative aspects of living in such a mass society led to Detroit’s demise. Of course, living in a mass society and in a time of technological advancements has its benefits. Advancements and innovation in technology is helping our modern society in many ways that are beneficial to all. However, if we abuse these advancements, many other cities could fall in the way Detroit did. We have the power to keep a community-like feel in cities if people are willing to help their communities. Technology is a tool that can help us in life but we cannot lose ourselves in these advances or a community will eventually be obsolete. If everyone can adapt with the pace of innovation, then the world will benefit in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the 1st art of this documentary on Detroit. I didn’t have a clue to what was actually going on in Detroit today. I assumed it was like any other major city in America, populated with many people and enjoyed a good economy. These two preconceived notions I had could not be so far from the truth for this city. There are currently only 800,000 people living in Detroit, a low number compared to its heyday in the 20th century. It was at one point the "motor vehicle" capital of the world. That cannot be further from the truth in today's world. Growing up on Long Island, which is part of the tri-state area, so close to New York City, I have experienced a lot of positive and negatives of a mass society. One positive is that because there are so many people living in such a small area there is plenty of mass production and consumerism. You will always find what you’re looking for in a city. It adds a lot to a state's economy. At the same time, there are negative drawbacks as well. One example of this is crime. Because there are so many people living in a small area it is nearly impossible for people to stay entirely safe. There is always people out there looking for trouble and this can really turn a lot of people away from moving to the city.
ReplyDeleteThere were certainly many cacophonously parallels between Detroit and Baudelaire’s modern city in his Les Fleurs du Mal. The way Detroit was described as being wiped out, abandoned and destroyed essentially compared it to a deserted warzone. The physical abandonment of Detroit reflects mass warfare and mass destruction that Baudelaire wrote about in his poems. Baudelaire critiqued contemporary ideas, especially in Spleen LXXVIII, warning readers of the loss of individualism and purpose. Detroit can be seen as a drastic and tragic example of the downfall of modernism. This is an example of technological and scientific progress ultimately devastating a city.
ReplyDeleteAs urbanization increases, there are some drawbacks besides the decay evidenced in Detroit. Eventually individualism decreases. Being among countless people diminishes one’s sense of uniqueness and individualism. It is much easier to go unnoticed when immersed in a crowd. Although this generally means a rise in anonymity, some people can certainly still flourish in this environment. Many people turn this into a positive and think of crowds as exciting. Additionally, jobs once performed by men and women are replaced by machines, and the skills of those people are often not appreciated. Communities can still exist, but this mostly occurs outside of cities. Because life is so fast paced in modern society, many communities are probably less intact and important than they once were.
I think when people talk about the threat of modernity and technological progress they fail to see the world in terms of the systematic way in which it progresses. Technology is not evil, nor is capitalism, or innovation. Instead these forces follow a chain of evolution, much like the evolution of man that also works for the way society functions and operates. In theory technological progress is unavoidable, but instead of seeing the future in a dystopic sense, characterized by the “rise of the machines.” I think it is instead important to see the future in much the way Gene Roddenberry did with his vision of Star Trek; as an accumulation of the positive effects technology has, and will have on the world. True, urbanization has classically wrought with it the rise of poverty, disease, and a discouraged and underemployed work force. But these problems, again, are unavoidable. They simply are a result of a chain of societal evolutions that value survival of the fittest. Although this seems unfair, we must remember that when things evolve they move towards reaching a higher potential for survival. As technology shapes the world we will see instances of its failures, but in the long run, we can expect a world much better than the one we have today. When people speak of the havocs that technology carries, they often fail to recognize how the average person living today has standards of living hugely beyond a person living just a hundred years ago. In a sense, you could say that the average person handles “natures call” in facilities that even the greatest kings would not have had the luxury to afford in past centuries. Furthermore, when considering the way in which technology has reduced people to just “another man in the crowd,” we, instead of feeling disheartened, need to embrace this fact. Its okay to not be important, after all, all our lives can ever hope to be is a small speck of dust on the time-line of all humanity. Instead of considering this fact, the eloquent way in which Dr. Manhattan, of Watchmen, phrases’ his realization that life is in fact:
ReplyDelete“Miracles. Events with astronomical odds of occurring, like oxygen turning into gold. I've longed to witness such an event, and yet I neglect that in human coupling, millions upon millions of cells compete to create life, for generation after generation until, finally, your mother loves a man.”
We should all find joy in the very fact that against unbelievable odds we exist. Even if some day all we will be is another face on a street, on a block, in a city, we still are ourselves.
Advancements in technology and science seems like it is obviously a positive step for society. The new technologies that we enjoy on a daily basis, such as ipods, help people to go about their day with constant amusement. Larger scale improvements such as cars help people to reach new places quickly that in the past would have required long trips. At first glance it appears that these are only positive for people. However, after watching the documentary on Detroit it is clear that their are major unintended consequences of all of our wealth and advancements. In a capitalist society people are encouraged to make as much money as possible and buy things so that other people know that you are wealthy, this is good when times are good. Today the economy is not going so well and people are still buying which leads to increased poverty as was shown in Detroit. There are other negative consequences of these advancements as well, such as the toll industrialism is taking on our environment in the form of global warming.
ReplyDeleteA mass society can be very affective if run right or it can destroy itself. For example Detroit use to be very successful, however now it is falling apart and needs a lot of help to bring itself back up. People over look Detroit in this mass society because they have bigger things to deal with, or they think they do. Detroit needs help but no one seems to care or seems to offer help to bring them back up. However, during 9/11 everyone helped out at the crash site and helped bring New York back to its feet. 9/11 was a security problem so it was a huge deal to the American people, but on the other hand in a lot of ways America runs through Detroit. When they aren't doing well the economy isn't doing well. in this mass society no one seems to notice or want to help out Detroit. They are all about themselves unless it is a natural disaster or a security issue. People seem to not care about the economy in this mass society when nothing disastrous is happening. Technology can help out this country in so many ways and can help bring Detroit back to its feet. We just need to know how to use it and not abuse it. We need to use it for the right things, and use it for things that will being this economy up. We don't need to use technology to improve our military instead we should use it to fix what is already here!
ReplyDeleteLiving in a mass society, though there are many benefits, I have found that it is very easy to overlook things. I never knew about the situation of Detroit before watching this video. I very much enjoyed the clip and watched it a few times over, however it was very upsetting to me to see that, even with this huge society that we live in, no one has taken action to help the situation. I was unaware of how wealthy Detroit had been in the time the automobile was invented. It thrived off Mr. Ford’s business and grew to a great capacity. However, once that technology was over passed by another, the decline of the company and community came. This aspect is still relevant in today’s society. Technology is what we thrive on. We all want the next big thing, whether it is the new Ipad, a Blueray DVD player or a huge flat screen television. And the reality of it is that with more and more new technologies being developed the old ones will eventually diminish and cause other cities to decline.
ReplyDeleteGrace Mellor
ReplyDeleteI think that living in a mass society as both positive and negative aspects. Like in Detroit, the average man may thrive at first, earning more than enough money to support a family comfortably, but the consumerism created breeds greed and entitlement. By raising the standard of living, society creates these pressures that makes it difficult for an individual to survive on anything less. In Detroit hundreds of beautiful buildings were built at the height of the economy and now because they can't be maintained they're lost forever. These abandoned buildings breeds crime and depreciates neighborhoods to the point that no one wants to live there. I believe that investing so much time and energy into technology gives greater value to material things and devalues individuals emotions and relationships. So much of a person's day revolves around the maintenance of physical possessions and earning an income that it's easy to lose sight of the important things in life, such as friends and family. If everyone is just a "man in the crowd" than why should society care about the individual?
In theory, modernism and mass society is the utopia of civilization. It provides the opportunity for greater social networking, the movement of ideas and the development of new technology. However, as people move together, the form more similar societies. As a result of their decision to reside communally, they are also forced to surrender some of their liberties as humans. Baudelaire expressed disgust for mass society because the man involved lost his individuality as a result of becoming “a member of the community.” He was afraid that man would cease to be a member of society and instead become just ‘society’ with no unique thought. In some ways he was right. In the dorms on campus, you are not allowed to make noise after a certain time during finals. This rule was established to benefit everyone during the stressful studying time, but it takes away the freedom of speech in its most literal sense. This is one of the liberties that any UConn student has to sacrifice in order to be a member of the on-campus housing cohort. If you stray from the accepted behavior too many times, you are expelled from the cohort and forced to find another living situation. However, this rule does not reflect my personal needs, but rather the needs of the entire student body. I cease to become an individual person and instead represent a group of people.
ReplyDeleteRight now I don’t have a problem with the noise rule. I find it very beneficial to be able to study in the quiet and not be distracted. However, Baudelaire worried that one day, man would be so comfortable existing in his society that he would no longer care what liberties were being encroached upon. He also worried that it made society lazy. Behavior had been prescribed in a pattern for man already and this behavior was constructed to the benefit of the society and not to the individual. The individual doesn’t worry about creating an identity because one has already been prescribed due to caste, occupation and geographic location. I think that it will be very interesting to see where civilization continues in its quest for technology and modernity.
The positives of living in a mass society is the capability of having everything at your fingertips. It is very confusing to differentiate between the pros and cons of living in a mass society, since it really depends on one's personality. For example, one may like the ability to encounter all different types of people on a daily basis as something they want in their community, while others do not. Some may like the feeling of being an anonymous face in a crowd, while others wish to stand out. Some may like a night life in a city such as NYC, which never sleeps, while others want to retreat to their quite homes in a suburb or countryside. Living in a mass society provides a multitude of job opportunities, which some people want to live close to while others want to commute. To me these pros and cons are indistinguishable, and really depend on the lifestyle people want.
ReplyDeleteThe modernism of technology and society as a whole works very much the same way. Some people enjoy new developments, while others think that mass production and technological advancements spoil the very definition of uniqueness, art, and life itself. For a simple example, the ability to mass produce clothing with the invention of the cotton gin and the spinning jenny means that millions of people can own the same shirt. Where is the uniqueness in that? Another important factor in mass production is that having material items is no longer something special that results in happiness, but a momentary pleasure which quickly fades when a new gadget of intrigue comes about.
To me the video represents how the modernization of the world has both good and bad aspects which often travel hand in hand. While Henry Ford's invention of the car lead to the ability for people to travel individually in long distances for work and pleasure, it also increased pollution, much like the urban success and decline of Detroit can both happens so quickly. Nothing in this world is without consequences. While modernization leads to a new world of amazing creativity, it also takes away from the creativity of the past.
The current state of Detroit, while depressing, is by no means unique or unprecedented. It appears to be the most modern form of a tale told in hundreds of industrial cities; London and Manchester in the UK, Paris in France, or Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Alternatively, one can look more to the future, at cities already on their way to this stage of development in China and India. Or, one can even look close to home: Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven. Such cities are driven by goals that are not conductive to long-term stability or the quality of life of their inhabitants. Oftentimes they have very attractive public appearances, even impressive skylines. But ultimately, they exist for the purpose of profit and production. While not 'bad' goals in and of themselves, the fact that they dedicate themselves so fully to this end results in the rapid, fleeting booms they experience, followed by decades, even centuries of decay. The cities of Europe recovered in that they became sites of great culture, often culture that developed out of the squalor their residents lived in. However, in the case of Detroit, and other American cities, the option exists of simply leaving, abandoning the mass society they represent and retreating to suburban life. In other cases, they seek refuge in pristine, untainted cities to develop arts and sciences within, such as Seattle or San Francisco. Though Detroit suffers as a result of these flights, they show that community is possible, even within the vast populations of cities. All they really need is a common element, something that binds them together, and makes the population think of itself as a single unit.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think there are positives and negatives to living in a mass society. When a city like Detroit, rises so quickly with the invention of the car,and an assembly line, it almost has more to lose. This is clearly seen now, since the city is not thriving at all. I think living in a mass society where everyone thrives and depends on one particular technology and invention is bad and can lead to the downfall that Detroit saw. No one ever knows how to recover and has nothing to fall back on when things go sour. While this is the case, living in a mass society can be a great thing to some and not to others. Like Anita said, everything is at your fingertips, but your alone at the same time, you never really see people you recognize on the street since you are just one in a crowd of hundreds of people.
ReplyDeleteAlso, within a mass society, new technological advancements are always developing. Our society is constantly being pushed forward, into a more modern realm. I definitely think it brings society into a better place but also effects it negatively in many ways. The car, for instance, is one of the greatest invention of all time, but has been polluting our planet for decades and just recently a new invention, the hybrid, is trying to decrease the damage the car has caused. Also, other developments that have shaped our society, is the computer, the internet and cell phones. While these developments are incredible and have really pushed our society forward, it has caused interpersonal communication, face to face to decrease. People no longer truly talk to eachother. Conversations are constantly being filtered through technology, which i think is really hurting society. Like i said before, living in a mass society you are one in a crowd. When you throw a cell phone into the mix, people really dont recognize that a person is there. People today would rather talk into their cell phone than talk to actual human beings on the street. Although I believe these inventions in technology were revolutionary in shaping mainstream society, i still wonder how much more could be invented and whether these new inventions would effect society like the car industry destroyed Detroit.
In your opinion, what are the potential positives and negatives of living in a mass society?
ReplyDeleteMass society fueled by industrialism creates a vast amount of jobs, jobs that are at the mercy of corporations, such like Ford. Another example of this is Flint Michigan, where outsourcing turned a bustling city into a ghostly crime scene. I guess I would have to say that I am not a fan of mass society, because when people are grouped in such large populations, they become numbers, and not people. The executives of General Motors (Flint) had no trouble shutting down their plants and moving them to Mexico to get cheaper labor. Thousands of people were put out of jobs, but they were just numbers. I think that the positives of mass society are greater productivity and profit, when at its peak. But the negative side of this is the question of who it’s benefiting. More often than not, it isn’t the citizen/consumer.
As we invest more in technological and scientific progress, is the dream of modernism going to bring society to a better place?
I think that the more we invest in technological and scientific progress, the worse things are going to get. We’re going to have to deal with a lot more public debates about profit vs. what’s really best for us. For example, scientific and technological progress brought on the corporate food industry and GMOs. As a result of this, food has become less about health/nutrition and more about profit. Mass production, sadly, doesn’t translate into what’s best for us as consumers. The life expectancy of Americans has dropped significantly because of the food we eat.
Is there a positive side to living as an anonymous "man of the crowd"?
There is, aside from becoming just a number, you can change your image and be whoever you want, whenever you want. No one knows you, no one can question you. But…as fun as that sounds, it would get old fast, and very lonely.
Is community still possible in city life?
I think that you have to create smaller communities within city life. I don’t see it being possible to turn a whole city into a community, like you could a small town. ESPECIALLY in this day and age, where people don’t communicate face to face anymore, we have facebook, cell phones and email. It’s harder to meet new people nowadays, at least that’s how I see it.
In a mass society, there is potential for growth, but with growth comes decay. Detroit gives an excellent example of this trend. As scientific and technological fields grow, parts of society are going to become advanced but many areas are going to be left behind, including many people. There were millions of people in Detroit and then the majority of them were gone. The production lines no longer needed workers and other areas were affected as well. People cannot live where they cannot make money, so they must move on. Detroit is an example of an entire city being left behind. People know that it exists but little is done to make the situation better there. Detroit is an example of a “man in the crowd” (but more like a “city in a nation”). Being a “man in the crowd” gives an individual a certain amount of privacy in their anonymity. However, this can also lead to problems. Being in the crowd makes it difficult for people to show their individuality; this defines who they are and what type of person they are. Detroit has become lost in the crowd, much like what anonymity gives to an individual. It has also lost what defines it and what created it, like in that excerpt from the film, the automobile’s beginning was lost and disrespected.
ReplyDeleteLiving in a mass society can potentially be extremely beneficial or totally chaotic and destructive. The United States is known for consumerism, we buy and consume more goods than any other country. This is of course only possible through mass society and having a massive amount of businesses and goods. Detroit was initially successful and thriving with its growth, however there comes a time when mass society can ruin an entire area and the encompassing people's lives. When there’s an overwhelming amount of people, the availability of jobs decreases and more people become unemployed. With a high unemployment rate people will not spend as much money or consume at the same rate that once stimulated the economy, as seen in Detroit. Businesses decline and close and eventually people leave altogether, choosing to look for jobs elsewhere. Without jobs people are also more likely to turn to crime, or unlawful acts to support themselves. All of this side effects of mass society can be seen in Detroit.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of living in a mass society kind of scares me when I think about it. In a mass society people get lumped into a big picture instead of being seen as individuals. In our society we are told that we are special and that we should each be our own person but at times it doesn’t seem like it matters. We get lumped into stereotypes just because of our hair color or favorite band even though that may be the only similarity shared. However in a mass society there is more privacy. With so many people it is easy for someone to get lost in the crowd and become anonymous. This leads to the development of a private life. During the times when everyone lived in a small town everyone knew everyone and everyone’s business. There was no escaping the gossip and judgment of one’s peers. In today’s society I think it is almost impossible for community to exist in city life. There are so many people and with the face-paced environment I feel that not many people take the chance to get to know each other. Especially now when technology has become so advanced that most people are now afraid of face-to-face human interaction. We are more comfortable texting someone or listening to our iPods to avoid contact. I think that in order to have technology make the world a better place we need to find a compromise between technology and old-fashioned communication.
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