Saturday, March 5, 2011
The House of the Scorpion
Opium represents pure capitalism where only the most able and most ruthless acquire wealth (El Patron) at the expense of others who are less able or at a disadvantage (the people crossing the border into Opium being enslaved as eejits). The orphan boys working for the good of the people in Aztlan represents pure communism where they are expected to meet work quotas in exchange for room and board but are not paid based on individual performance or allowed to acquire wealth at the expense of others. Which economic system is more just in your mind and why? Can you list any contemporary examples of communism or capitalism taken too far or that work well?
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Not having completed the book, I would have to opt for the government that at least considers the common good, although the lack of rewarding hard work is not ideal. (If I were living in the McCarthy era, I would most certainly be blacklisted right now.) As far as current capitalist and communist countries that work well, I see none without serious flaws. If there were a pure socialist country out there, which there is not because they are all run by imperfect humans, I would put it on the top of my list...
ReplyDeleteNow that I have read the book I must say that, while the Lost Boys were being brainwashed to believe they were working for the good of the people, they were not. The system was full of flaws. They were not treated with respect and dignity. They were not looked at as individuals. They were merely robots with a job to do. I don't know if a PURE communist government would treat its people so harshly but, as I suggested in my post above, there is not a government on earth that is able to meet the PURE standards that their type of government is meant to embody. Something about the human quest for power and control that messes things up.
ReplyDeleteNick, your question is such a good one. I think it would be interesting to have students approach this book by answering your question before reading the book and after reading the book, kind of like what I did, kind of like what the K-W-L graphic organizers try to get students to do.