Walter Benjamin "Theses on the Philosophy of History"

Walter Benjamin "Theses on the Philosophy of History"

The view points of Junger and Benjamin are similar and different in others. In the terms of photography they are amazed at what can be caught in a camera. However the back ground on each author makes them somewhat apart. For example Junger mainly takes about photography via looking at pain, and Benjamin look at photography as a new technology and methods that the technology can be used.

I think junger refers to the camera as a “evil eye” because his background. As I mentioned before that junger wrote about pain because he was in pain and saw how the new technology killed a lot more people more quickly and brutally. This is why junger refers to the camera as an “evil eye” however Benjamin’s view are different. I feel as if Benjamin feel that the camera is a more advantages was, but does not mean as much as picture did in the old days. He also see’s technology as a good things.

On Pain

On Pain

Post liberal refer to the period of transformation of liberal education into specialized education.The progress refers to the period, where there was an introduction of technologies into the world which helped to transform human being through forms of specialized training.
Photography is the "evil eye" according to Junger, because it is a way of expressing our unusual brutality of seeing. " Ultimately, it is a kind of evil eye, a type of magical possession.

The "specialize" education and the "worker type" were within the education system and transformation of human life through technology.  The transformation on the part of worker's type was initially felt as a loss and also eliminates sensitivity, while specialization has a form of limited education and more focused.

It does protect a man from pain, to some extent, but not total protection where the individual has no other alternative than to remain loyal. Meanwhile, pain is inevitable 

I agree with Ernst Junger's thesis that pain is the central experience in human life . Individual lives engages in series of activities and we tend to stay in contact with pain through experience as we are growing up. " This observation explains why modern sensitivity relates to pain as a power to be avoided at all cost, because here pain confronts the body not as an outpost but as the main force and essential core of life"

Nazism

Nazism

Major corporations in Germany benefited during the Nazi regime. Especially in the first few years of the Nazi regime, Hitler believed that automobile production was the key to reviving German industry (much as it had become the cornerstone of American industry). Companies like BMW profited under the Nazi regime. BMW actually stands for Bavarian Motor Works, it was founded in 1916 producing airplane engines for the German air force. This origin can be seen in the BMW emblem which is actually a plane propeller spinning against the blue sky. After the Treat of Versailles was signed in 1919, a stipulation of the treaty made it illegalto produce airplane engines in Germany for five years. The company switched to making motorcycles and cars, part of the reason why BMW’s are so powerful is because they started off by taking stripped down airplane engines and putting them in cars and motorcycles. After 1924 they were allowed to resume making engines. During the Nazi era after 1933, production of airplanes increased dramatically. The No. 2 person in the Nazi regime was Hermann Göring, the head of the Air Force (Luftwaffe), which was a key element in the German strategy of warfare the Blitzkrieg (lightning war). BMW now admits to using as many as 20,000-30,000 slave laborers during the Nazi regime as well as producing military equipment for the Nazis.

The passage means how corporations in Germany benefited during the Nazi regime. Companies like BMW profited because they produced airplanes engines for the Germany air force.  After the treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, it was illegal to produce airplanes engines in Germany for 5 years. BMW then started making motorcycles and cars but then resume to making engines again. During the Nazi era productions of airplanes increased. BMW admitted to using many slaves to produce military goods for the Nazis.I chose this passage because I really like BMW cars. It surprised me to know how the BMW Company goes back in history. From making airplane engines to making cars, motorcycles and even military equipment. It shocks me how the Nazi influenced these major corporations to make weapons for violence or war. What really bothered me is that the BMW Corporation admitted to using 20,000 to 30,000 slave laborers during the Nazi revolution. This explains Hitler’s and Herman Goring priorities and self interest. To have innocent individuals or slaves produce violent weapons for them. It demonstrates form exploitation from these leaders’ behalf.

Max Weber: Politics as a Vocation

Max Weber: Politics as a VocationThis passage is talking about bureaucratization. What he is trying to say is that the specialization of a particular task within a government system is bureaucrat. For example as time goes on the world get more developed and new cabinets are formed to take care of the growing problem. One example of this In the united states is the creation of FIMA, Before hurricane Katrina there was no FIMA. After the hurricane and the effects of the ill prepared gulf created FIMA so the federal government can take care of the problem in a more specialized way.

I picked this quote because I think that speciation can be look at increase in technology because a new system is in place and this time of technology also relate to Junger’s thought regarding technology and how it can protect the human’s to resist pain.  

The Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic

In the lecture on the Weimar Republic, I found the comparison between the failure of the Weimar Republic and the difficulties in establishing democracy in the Middle East quite interesting. We as Americans are so used to thinking of democracy as applicable to all societies and all eras that we are confounded when it fails. Of course, this is not to say that it is not a noble form of government. It is just that coming from our culture, we fail to appreciate that conditions must be right for democracy to flourish. This was exactly the mistake in attempting to establish U.S.-style democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan, as these are countries with no history of democratic governance. Not only had these countries been under totalitarian rule until fairly recently, but in the case of Afghanistan and other Middle East countries there is also the tradition of Islamic fundamentalism to contend with.

It is intriguing to speculate on the reasons that the Weimar Republic ultimately failed and gave way to the Third Reich, since "on paper" it seemed like the ideal democracy, ahead of even the United States in terms of voting rights. But as in the Middle East, Germany was incredibly unstable politically and economically after the first World War. I wonder if this post-war instability gave rise to extremist sentiments on both the left and the right, making moderation unpopular. Considering that both far left-wing (KPD) and far right-wing movements existed at this time, it is interesting that by 1933 the far right came out on top with the Nazis establishing a one-party state. Perhaps for Germans, losing the war, losing much of their territory, and being forced to pay damages for the war fostered the extreme nationalistic sentiment the Nazis were known for.

One question that the Weimar Republic's failure brings up is why Germany was eventually able to establish a democracy after World War II, which exists to this day and is on par with other developed nations. Conditions in the country were certainly disastrous after World War II, just as they were after World War I, probably more so. However, this time around, the economic infrastructure of Europe was rebuilt thanks to the U.S.-sponsored Marshall Plan, and so with less economic desperation, Germany may have been more open to democracy. I believe this points to the economic collapse of Germany after World War I as a chief reason for the failure of the Weimar Republic.

Luxemburg's Essays

Luxemburg's Essays

Luxemburg disagreed with the views of V.I Lenin. Lenin believed "that the working class by itself was incapable of bringing about a true socialist revolution." Luxemburg argued "that a general strike had the power to radicalize the workers and bring about a socialist revolution." Luxemburg was famous for her philosophy or spontaneity.

Luxemburg believed a "Social democracy is simply the embodiment of the modern proletariat's class struggle, a struggle which is driven by a consciousness of it's own historic consequences. The masses are in reality their own leaders, dialectically creating their own development process. The more that social democracy develops, grows, and becomes stronger, the more the enlightened masses of workers will take their own destinies, the leadership of their movement, and the determination of its direction into their own hands." If I was present around this time, I would of agreed with Luxemburg's views, in a sense that the working class needs to be able to make their own decisions so that they can learn from them, and learn from their mistakes. This relates to politics today because in the United States the workingmen and women are losing the fight to survive and live in this country, which seems to be a capitalist country. There seems to be more poor and rich rather than the median of being middle class. 

The Blue Angel

The Blue Angel

In Blue Angel, The main characters were Lola and Professor Roth. Roth is a respected professor and Lola is a dancer and singer at a local speakeasy or bar. Roth sees his students frequently visiting the speakeasy and he goes there one night to confront them. When he gets there, he is seduced by Lola and falls in love with her. They begin an intimate relationship that his co-workers and principal soon find out about. He is then fired from his job. But this doesn't stop him from going to Lola and proposing to her. She accepts, but soon their relationship becomes difficult. Roth is unemployed and Lola is the only one earning an income. This brings distance and troubles in their relationship. Lola flirts with other men and Roth doesn't bring this up because he realizes he doesn't hold much weight in the relationship financially. Education levels also create trouble between them. Roth being an educated professor and Lola being a dancer and singer leave these two love birds on two different levels. In the end, Roth dies. 

This is classic lust at first sight. Roth saw someone he wanted and didn't think rationally. In my opinion, he was not in love, he was in lust. Once they both got to know each other and their daily lives had to become one, it soon became clear they were not such a great match after all and they were not as in love as they thought.