Day 12: Markets and Citizens

Today we had our fourth day of class and the session was entitled "Markets and Citizens." In today's session we considered the appeal of the market, as well as its strengths and limitations. We addressed the question, "assuming that markets are the most rational means of connecting producers to consumers, should we as free citizens be entitled to buy and sell anything that we like?" We learned about the difference between governments and markets, market ideas and values, and ideas by supporters and skeptics of the market.

Afterward, we explored the idea of: Should the idea of the market be applied to all aspects of our lives? For instance, restaurant workers are tipped when they give good service. Should we treat lecturers the same way? Should it be possible to exchange a degree certificate for cash? Would a "baby" market be an efficient way of bringing "sellers" and "buyers" together for parents who don't want their babies? Is selling organs okay? We got into heated discussions about all of these prompts, which helped me learn a lot about different perspectives and how my classmates reason out different situations. Our classroom setting is very cool because it is a small space, which allows for a more close-knit discussion. Also, we all feel very comfortable with one another, so we are able to express our views without any fears.

This is Segolene, who is doing an internship for our Questioning Citizenship class. We are so entirely lucky to have her -- she does so much work to make our classes run smoothly, and she has also been a great friend. Additionally, since she is French, she is able to add a lot to our different discussion about citizenship!

After a lunch break including a visit from Tony who explained our SCOTLAND schedule, we went back to class to watch a documentary called "The Corporation" (2003). The documentary examined the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a "person."The film showed how it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. After the movie, we explored how markets are entwined with citizenship, and also questioned if markets corrode moral character. To do this, we split up into our video groups and had a debate! It's been interesting to discover just how much you can learn from one another in debate-based/discussion-based classes.

When class was over, my video group met for a little over an hour and we started making solid progress on planning out our video and what our overlying message will be. I'm very excited to see how it all plays out! After dinner, I tackled the scariness of laundry, which was altogether very confusing to figure out how to use the machines properly. There were what I can only describe as hieroglyphics on the machines that supposedly gave the instructions on how to operate the washers and dryers. Plus, there were literally swarms of Italian students wandering around the campus, which was slightly disorienting but also really cool... Italian is such a pretty language! The dryer didn't work very well so now I am left with my entire load laying out on the drying racks in the bathroom... could be worse I guess :)

It may be hard to see it in this picture, but those pictures just made no sense! And there were no word descriptions to clarify what the different settings actually were. Too funny :)