Nielsen, Makayla S00561651 Business-1050-042 3/25/2013 Assignment 18 Standard Six 1. The author of the text is Studs Terkel. Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. Some of his other works would include: The Good War, Touch and Go, and The Great Divide: Second Thoughts on the American Dream. 2. The text is about a steel worker and his view on his life. It discusses the work, what the man would like to do with his life, what his hopes and dreams are for his children, and goes over how he handles his work and life. The authors intention was clearly to open up the world of the working class to those who are “effete snobs.” 3. The text was written in the year of 1972. Some major events going on at the time were: the Munich Olympics terrorist attack, Nixon signed the Black Lung Benefits bill, and Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. 4. The text was supposedly written in the U.S. One other great idea originating from the U.S. at the time was the Equal Rights Amendment was passed and provided equality of the sexes in the U.S. 5. The text is relevant to the study of modern business because it depicts the life of the bottom laborer. There are those that live higher in the industry and those who are on the bottom. All work for the same business, others more physically and others more mentally, so it is not just the top people a business needs to look for, but for those who perform the physical duties as well. 6. The text made me feel grateful for my level of education and for my ability to further my professional potentials. My understanding of the literature was highly understandable, I could see the workers point of view and could understand exactly what he was talking about. My grasp of Critical Thinking has expanded into thinking not only about the business itself, but what can we do for those who make the business run from the bottom laborers to the top pencil pushers. Questions 1- 12 1. Who was “Doctor Spock”? (Nothing to do with Star Trek) What does Mike mean when he says his daughter ‘doctor spock’d’ something? a. Doctor Spock was an American pediatrician who wrote a book about babies and child care. He was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to understand the children’s needs and family dynamics. Later he became an activist in the anti Vietnam War and led others into joining these movements. So when Mike says his daughter ‘doctor spock’d’ something, he is referring to her psychoanalysis of what she needs and possibly towards an activist like manner. 2. Why is it hard for Mike to take pride in his work? a. It is hard for Mike to take pride in his work because he is only making the steel. He never sees where it is going, nor does he get to be a part of the finished product. There is no credit for his part in making the steel, and with no credit there is no pride. 3. How is pulling steel similar to many typical jobs of the 21st century? a. Pulling steel is similar to many jobs of the 21st century because in a sense the jobs are a repeat of what was performed the next day. In a restaurant, the store opens, people are served, and the store closes. In the construction industry you open, build something, and then close. Open, run, close day in and day out as the never ending cycle. Not only that but you don’t think about the work while working. The mind becomes numb and in a sense the body goes into “autopilot” to complete the task. Only when starting and when nearly finished do people recognize how tired they are. 4. Are there any symptoms in our society that indicate workers are unfulfilled, alienated, from the purpose of life? a. There are some symptoms that indicate workers are unfulfilled, alienated from the purpose of life. When a man must go out to find his own fulfillment rather than receiving it from work or home, it is easy to say he is alienated from the purpose of life. Rather than living and enjoying what he has, he lives in misery and that is something that life is not meant to be. 5. What kinds of things would help or improve Mr. LeFevre’s self esteem? a. Mr. LeFevre’s self esteem could be improved if he were given more time with his family. He discusses how he would like a 20 hour work week to do more with his life rather than just work, drink, and wait until next Sunday. 6. What do people resort to, when they cannot find fulfillment in work and family? a. People will typically resort to something that will provide them with fulfillment. Some find it in drinking alcohol, others find it in drugs, or some may find it in a more higher standard such as art, film, or another manner. 7. Explain how untapped talent such as would-be Lord Byrons, Walt Whitmans, Roosevelts, and Picassos might be lying undiscovered, working unfulfilled in steel mills, or factories? a. If the individuals had more time to do what they please rather than performing the stress and strain or the work in order to provide for their families, they would be able to further develop their talents and be able to enjoy their lives more as well as potentially rise to a greater potential. 8. Explain how millions of unfulfilled laborers could become the source of future Hitlers and Stalins? a. The unfulfilled laborers could rise up in anger and provide the Hitlers and Stalins in a sense. Through unfulfillment and the desire to be better than the effete snobs who run their working hours and payment, the laborers may rise up in a strike but if one could provide an influential leader, the strikes may become greater and more powerful so that they take on the business and the people who live in power in order to dominate over them. 9. Why does Mike say “….. the people in power fear the leisure man”? a. When Mike says “…the people in power fear the leisure man” it is because he believes that those in control of the industry or business won’t let the laborer have time for leisure because they fear that they could become the potential Hitlers and Stalins, or that they could become greater than themselves by being the next Roosevelt, Whitman, or the next Lord Byrons. They fear becoming the lower status so they keep the poor man poor. 10. Look up Communism in the Glossary. What does Mike mean when he says “Communism…. It’s the intellectual’s utopia, not mine.” a. Because the intellectual will look at the good of the community as well as their own personal profit. But in doing so they become blind to the needs of the laborers and forget that they too are part of the community. So when Mike says its not his utopia, he means: because it doesn’t look for his personal profit he has no desire for it. 11. Besides beer, what other things do people do to escape reality? (Today in the 21st Century) a. Today in the 21st Century, there is not only beer for people to do to escape reality, but drugs have also come to play a major role. Or for those who have higher standards there are a multitude of escape routes. For one, movies. To be able to watch a moving picture and to escape reality for those brief hours while being enveloped into the imaginary world of another is an easy way to escape reality. For some, the arts are a splendor of escape. Creating something as your own, or as some like to put it “playing God”, is a wondrous way to escape reality. The list goes on and on for escapes. 12. Why does Mike want his son to be an effete snob? a. Mike wants his son to be an effete snob so that he doesn’t end up pulling steel or working in a factory. So he may have all that he dreams of having rather than living in the constant day to day misery of the same routine in the same mind numbing manner. 10 Vocabulary 1. Muses a. To think about something in a deep serious or dreamy and abstracted way. 2. Effete a. Characterized by decadence, over refinement, or overindulgence. 3. Posterity a. All future generations. 4. Wholly a. Totally and in every way or to the fullest extent. 5. Automation a. Replacement of human workers by technology. 6. Liberate a. To release a person, group, population, or country from political or military control or from severe physical constraint. 7. Bonderizer a. A machine that will coat steel with a corrosive preventing substance. 8. Oppressed a. To be a source of worry, stress, or trouble to somebody. 9. Pseudo a. Not real, but pretending to be real. 10. Continuum a. A link between two things, or a continuous series of things, that blend into each other so gradually and seamlessly that it is impossible to say where one becomes the next. Works Cited "Studs Terkel." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013 "The Year 1972 From The People History." What Happened in 1972 including Pop Culture, Prices, Events and Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013 Terkel, Studs. "Mike LeFevre, Steel Worker." Critical Thinking, Readings from the Literature of Business and Society. By Edward G. Engh. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 183-91. Print