Discussion Week 12 After watching the lecture and answering the questions in your lecture journal,
Discussion Week 12
After watching the lecture and answering the questions in your lecture journal,
read the article by Dr. Osei-Opare,
watch the interview
and the clip from the show The Crown.
In 3-5 paragraphs on the discussion board answer the following questions:
What kinds of complications arose when former colonies cooperated with the Soviet Union, according to Professor Osei-Opare?
Did you agree with the Professor about the scene from The Crown?
What surprised you about Professor Osei-Opare’s experiences working in archives in Russia, Ghana, the United States, and Britain?
Lecture #2
What were some examples of the political and military stalemates that left the world divided by the Cold War?
Why do you think different countries prioritized different aspects of social welfare? Which priorities do you most agree with and why? Who do you think would get left out of the welfare programs or have fewer opportunities as a result of them?
What was the Common Market?
What was the GULAG?
After watching the video about Khrushchevki https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN-419d7vt4: Why do you think that many people felt like these were a great improvement over previous housing options in the Soviet Union?
Part II
https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/wp-content/uploads/1979/01/the-power-of-the-powerless.pdf
Read p. 5-20 (part III–part VII) about the greengrocer, and p. 25-37 (part IX-XII)
and answer the following question in 3-5 paragraphs in the discussion board:
What is the example of the greengrocer in this essay illustrating? Based on this excerpt from Havel’s essay, what does the “power of the powerless” mean, and how does that relate to the greengrocer?
Three sentence response to classmate Felix
The example of the greengrocer in this essay illustrates what people went through under the communist system or regime that was present at that time. The greengrocer displays in his shop the sign, Workers of the World, Unite!, and although at first glance it seems like he put it in because this is what he really thinks, that is not the case since he simply put it in to show loyalty to the leaders of the regime. This sign is an example of how people followed the post-totalitarian system without questioning it because they feared being seen as treacherous and then being imprisoned for it. On the other hand, this example of a greengrocer brings to the table the question of whether people support the system or if they are truly victims. If you are a person under the regime and you have children and a decent job that you cannot afford to lose, you will be forced to put a sign like this on your business so that the government does not perceive you as dishonest and punish you. At the end of the day, it can be seen as support, but if there are no other options and you have people who depend on you, maybe you would put up a sign like the greengrocer.
the sign: Workers of the world, unite! It has a very important hidden message because, just as the greengrocer put it in his store, other people in other businesses also put it in, even if they do not agree with what the sign represents. Basically, this made people live within a lie since they were oppressed and basically forced to demonstrate loyalty to a system with which many did not agree. This sign hid what people felt but did not dare to say, and that is why in this essay it is mentioned how thousands of people lived in a lie because they were not following their ideals but rather the ideals that the system had imposed on them. Maybe the greencocer passed by another business that had the sign and didn’t even read it, just as many people passed by his business and didn’t read it, but just knowing it was there was enough.
The “power of the powerless” means the power that the average citizen has within him and the citizen’s inner capacity to protest against a system. The essay talks about the creation of Charter 77. a creation that was motivated by the arrest of members of the rock band The Plastic People of the Universe. These musicians just wanted to be free to play the music they wanted and live within what they considered truth, not the lie that the system wanted to sell. Members of Charter 77 were against the government, and although they did not have any political position, that does not mean that they did not have the power to go against the system. I think this relates to the greengrocer because maybe a greengrocer on his own cannot fight against an entire elaborate system, but what would happen if thousands of greengrocers came together to fight for a particular cause? The power of the powerless refers to the power that the average citizen has to change things and go out to protest for a better country. If all individuals in a society, including greengrocers, begin to live as they really want and follow their truths, the system will not be able to go against everyone, and change will be inevitable.
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