Men With Guns contains in it many of the essential ingredients for a feudalist economy, some being more explicitly demonstrated than others, but important and evident all the same. In a feudalist society, distinction between private rights and public authority oftentimes disappeared and local control tended to become a personal matter. Feudal leaders often took over the responsibility for the economic security of "their" territories and dictated how resources were to be produced and used. There was also generally a contract of some sort between the workers and the bosses, such that the bosses could then more easily count on the "faithfulness" and obedience of the workers. Under a feudalist system, the bosses are able to exhibit hegemonic power over the workers as the workers have few options or choices. As this film demonstrates, workers can either work, starve, and or be killed. There are really no other good alternatives, and thus the bosses can extract all monopoly rent and continue to exercise feudal exploitation. This absence of "free choice" is one of the most essential ingredients in separating feudalism from other types of systems, such as capitalism. Another characteristic of feudalism is that those in charge often hired other individuals to enforce their established rules and to keep the workers under control (for example Knights).
Many of the above stated characteristics are present in Men With Guns. However, it must be mentioned that Sayles chose to focus less on the actual production processes involved in feudalism (as he did in Matewan), and instead give the viewer a more in-depth sense of the conditions that push people into the feudalist system and how it can be perpetuated. Through the viewing of the...
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...er their conditions, as workers. Furthermore, unfortunately even with the formation of the union nothing is guaranteed. We see this in Matewan where the union was apparently unsuccessful in its mission. In Norma Rae we, as the viewers, can only hope that the established union would in the end prove to be successful.
From all of this, therefore, we can assume that with nothing whatsoever in place, and thus the lack of information for the workers in Men With Guns, the workers would instead have to continue living a life without much choice under the feudalist system that was in place. Their choices being: starvation, being murdered, or living alone in the wilderness deprived of any of their traditional commodities, accustomed standard of living, or cherished culture. Unfortunately, many conditions presented in this film are still occurring and evident today.
Victims of a new wave of political beliefs, namely collectivization were enforced by Stalin and his followers in the name of Communism. Dolot convinces the reader that powerful forces of government made it clear to village farmers there was no option for them. They had no choice but to join the collective farm. It was a do or die situation; a matter of survival with the consequences of rebellion meant arrest, execution, concentration camps, or starvation.
The Posse Comitatus act (PCA) applies to active duty military, reservists on active duty, reservists on inactive duty for training, D...
The importance and job of each class fail to function optimally. The castles were rooted economically in the countryside which was intimately connected with the villagers. These villagers were the “social and economic units of rural Europe” (147) which illustrates the importance of the various classes in medieval Europe. Undermining the lower social classes will cause political and social upheaval as they collectively dominate the economic force in the feudal system. Few individual commoners mask the
The United States Army, in its current state, is a profession of arms. In order to be considered a profession, the organization must have an ethical code rooted in values, strong trust with its clients, and be comprised of experts within the trade. These experts are constantly developing the trade for the present and the future and hold the same shared view of their trade culture.
Throughout the history of the United States of America the continuation of misfortunes for the workforce has aggravated people to their apex, eventually leading to the development of labor unions.
The working class faced conditions in the factory that wealthier skill workers did not have deal with. These men were not in a comfortable financial situation at home, and could not find comfort in hazardous working conditions with the dangerous machines they had to operate. Workers were harmed daily and among these injured employees were children (Shi 62). Many of these children were as young as nine years old, and due to financial reasons their families sent them away to work in workshops, mines, and even in factories surrounded by dangerous machinery. Realistically, these children were doomed to working in a factory for their entire lives.
In the number one national bestseller “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, the abuse of guns become extreme. Guns imply control, fear, and power to a point where rebels will taunt the people in order to succeed these tasks. Overthrowing villages, killing innocent residence, and inflicting fear appear in many parts of the biography. While Ishmael was present in a village, “the rebels began shooting their guns at people instead of shooting into the sky. They didn’t want people to abandon the town…” (24). This shows how guns is equivalent to control as the rebels are able to force the inhabitants from fleeing the village. Another example include that “The rebel pushed the old man to the ground, put a gun to his head, and ordered him to get up.”
In 1878, the Posse Comitatus Act was passed with the intention of limiting the use of the Military in the recent decisions regarding black freedmen and their ability to vote. Obviously, this act has a much broader purpose and application, but the original intent was as stated. Additionally, the creation of the act was somewhat founded in the way Americans felt about the use of the British military and the way they were used against Americans prior to our independence (Somerville, n.d.).
The Posse Commitatus Act (PCA) was enacted within the United States to set limitations on the use of federal troops against U.S citizens to enforce state laws. The PCA takes the decisive authority to use the military as a Posse away from the local sheriffs and restored the authorization to the President. The military will essentially be used to substitute for lack of or inadequacy of local law
This film is based on the real life story of Crystal Lee Sutton and her involvement with Ruben Warshovsky and the organization of the textile workers at the J.P. Stevens Company in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina (Labor Films). Sally Field plays the lead role of Norma Rae (Crystal Lee Sutton) fighting poor working conditions at O. P. Henley Company in 1978. This company is a southern textile mill, working with a union organizer to overcome pressure from management, implied dangers, and the struggle to organize her fellow employees. Although, the film is very entertaining, there are many examples of labor and management interactions including unfair labor practices by management, unfair labor practices by the union, and the procedural process of unionization process.
Norma did a really amazing thing by standing up for workers rights and by not letting any of the obstacles she faced on the way stop her from her main goal. Unionization of the factory will help protect every employee and set standards of safety so no one will get hurt and also protect the amount they get
I won’t tell you how you’re wrong, but I will remind you of two things: First the FBI, at Waco, got their asses handed to them to begin with, and then in an unconstitutional move, condoned by the White House (Democratic Socialists) they employed the Military (an absolute violation of law, they called it limited assistance by national guard, not restrained by the Posse Comitatus Act) to first overcome and then Murder 76 Americans, many children. Like so many laws, after they are broken by those who make them, government, they front loads public opinion and withholds their illegal actions from the public and courts.
It has been said that the union work is one struggle after another, but union work also is the most rewarding legacy we can leave our children.
As mentioned previously war time creates hardships and sometimes those hardships are difficult to recover from. The outcome of the Mexican Revolution included millions of peasants being killed. Marentes describes peasants as hard-working, highly skilled agricultural labors. With the loss of so many peasants the harvest became scarce and many were lacking work. The Mexican government was unable to replenish resources and improve the way of life in Mexico causing ...
“But not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wie...