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LissetteDuranFirstPaper 8 - 09 Jul 2012 - Main.LissetteDuran
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
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Contributing Member of Society | | | And then I became a member of a more affluent one. I have classmates that are CEOs of companies. I have friends who take spontaneous vacations to Europe over the weekends. I watch Broadway shows from the orchestra level. And I have watched my mom use the $250 bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label in our closet to sweeten her morning coffee. I have learned a lot from this community too. For one, it helped me realize that the world was bigger than my backyard. I learned what you could do with extra and what it was like not to need. | |
<
< | Law school makes it a problem for me to continue to be part of and contribute to both. Before law school, I traversed these communities almost seamlessly. I could tell my high school and college classmates about running through open fire hydrants on the corner and about the drug dealers on the corner. And my Washington Heights friends loved hearing about the roundtable discussions with famous people and the Hamptons trips (and that the affluent, too, had their share of problems). My involvement in one never jeopardized my existence in another. I was able to bring what I learned from one community to enrich and inform the other. | >
> | Law school makes it a problem for me to continue to be part of and contribute to both. Before law school, I traversed these communities almost seamlessly. I could tell my high school and college classmates about running through open fire hydrants and the drug dealers on the corner. And my Washington Heights friends loved hearing about the roundtable discussions with famous people and the Hamptons trips (and that the affluent, too, had their share of problems). My involvement in one never jeopardized my existence in another. I was able to bring what I learned from one community to enrich and inform the other. | | | Yet law school’s definition of contribution is so rigid. Apparently they are mutually exclusive—you can only contribute to one at a time. Thus, here I find myself hastily trying to choose between my communities. Should I strike with my father or should I sit there angrily as the other students do because they are interrupting? In a way I feel like I am splitting before I even take the job that has me on the wrong side at two in the morning. |
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LissetteDuranFirstPaper 7 - 08 Jul 2012 - Main.WilliamDavidWilliams
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
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Contributing Member of Society | | | I struggle with figuring out how to satisfy all of my concerns and interests into one career too. On one hand, I love public interest work and my whole life has been invested in it. On the other hand, I want as you have pointed out, to help out people who were there for me during my childhood and now. If I take a job at a corporate law firm, I can do this but likely at the expense of some of my values. There may be a firm that somehow fits with all I want to accomplish in my life, but I realize that this may be a pipe dream. | |
<
< | I want to buy my mother a nice car and a house as a small payment for all she has done for me. It's hard to come from a single parent background and not feel invested in making sure that parent is okay in life. My father has not contacted me since I was two years old, and the child support checks were intermittent. I owe so much to her. She is getting older and is disabled, so I want to help her sooner than later. | >
> | I want to buy my mother a nice car and a house as a small payment for all she has done for me. It's hard to come from a single parent background and not feel invested in making sure that parent is okay in life. My father has not contacted me since I was two years old, and the child support checks were intermittent. I owe so much to my mother for persevering despite this. She is getting older and is disabled, so I want to help her sooner than later. | | | There is a lot of disillusionment in families that never really had someone make it. My family has always pushed me to be successful and believed in me, but most of my aunts work in fast food and I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. I still remember talking about how much money in tips I made while working at Sonic in high school, only to have my cousin take my money. His mother made him give it back, but I feel bad because I want him to have a better life too. |
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LissetteDuranFirstPaper 6 - 08 Jul 2012 - Main.WilliamDavidWilliams
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
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Contributing Member of Society | | |
Eben, I realized that when I started writing this paper the first time, I wanted to write about myself and the difficulty in trying to balance these two communities. What I ended up writing about the more vague sense of contribution. I wanted to take my experiences to show why each community is important to me and why I do not fit into the binary the law school creates. Instead of outright choosing, I want to focus on learning and taking everything I can, in. Hopefully, 2L & 3L will have a little more of that. Thank you for a great class.
\ No newline at end of file | |
>
> |
Lissette -
I struggle with figuring out how to satisfy all of my concerns and interests into one career too. On one hand, I love public interest work and my whole life has been invested in it. On the other hand, I want as you have pointed out, to help out people who were there for me during my childhood and now. If I take a job at a corporate law firm, I can do this but likely at the expense of some of my values. There may be a firm that somehow fits with all I want to accomplish in my life, but I realize that this may be a pipe dream.
I want to buy my mother a nice car and a house as a small payment for all she has done for me. It's hard to come from a single parent background and not feel invested in making sure that parent is okay in life. My father has not contacted me since I was two years old, and the child support checks were intermittent. I owe so much to her. She is getting older and is disabled, so I want to help her sooner than later.
There is a lot of disillusionment in families that never really had someone make it. My family has always pushed me to be successful and believed in me, but most of my aunts work in fast food and I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. I still remember talking about how much money in tips I made while working at Sonic in high school, only to have my cousin take my money. His mother made him give it back, but I feel bad because I want him to have a better life too.
On the other hand, I have had some amazing opportunities in my life. As a fraternal twin brother from a low income background, a plethora of organizations were willing to give us full scholarships to take part in programs like the YMCA. People were willing to help us. I even was in a United Way commercial at a young age because people were intrigued by our story. I was blessed to attend great institutions and to teach as a part of Teach for America and later at a KIPP school.
I'm writing all of this to tell you that I'm really proud of you. I know it has been difficult but reading your story inspires me. There are probably some things you never tell anyone because it is part of your family struggle too.
It is okay to have a variety of career interests. It is your life and only you define it. What makes you happy will not be the same as what makes someone else happy. I am glad you are making your own trail.
Take care, thanks for sharing, and I look forward to working with you in the future.
-- WilliamDavidWilliams - 8 July 2012 |
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LissetteDuranFirstPaper 5 - 08 Jun 2012 - Main.LissetteDuran
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
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Contributing Member of Society
-- By LissetteDuran - 16 Feb 2012
I have lived in a one-bedroom apartment with four other people. | |
<
< | And I have fallen asleep to the gentle sway of my classmate’s yacht. | >
> | I have fallen asleep to the gentle sway of my classmate’s yacht. | | | I have gone hungry. | |
<
< | And I have had dinner with President Clinton at Madison Square Garden. | >
> | I have had dinner with President Clinton at Madison Square Garden. | | | I have had to share textbooks in a classroom of 40 students.
And I have watched the stars, in astronomy class, through my personally assigned telescope. | |
<
< | I have done a lot of things. But no one experience, event, or interest defines me. I believed that in law school I would acquire more interests and find more ways to get involved and learn. Yet the mythical dichotomy that exists here is daunting. Not only do they make you believe that you have to choose one—either public interest or corporate law—but you also have to choose quickly. It seems as though students’ minds are made up as soon as they pick up their CLS book bag from orientation. | >
> | I have done a lot of things. But no one experience, event, or interest defines me. I believed that in law school I would acquire more interests and find more ways to get involved and learn. Yet the mythical dichotomy that exists here is daunting. Not only do they make you believe that you have to choose one—either public interest or corporate law—but you also have to choose quickly. It seems as though students’ minds have to be made up as soon as they pick up their CLS book bag from orientation. | | | The question posed is always the same: Are you going to help the poor and be a contributing member of society, or are you going to help the rich get richer?
But it has never been that simple. I refuse to look at the world in such a binary when I am walking proof that there is some gray. | | | And then I became a member of a more affluent one. I have classmates that are CEOs of companies. I have friends who take spontaneous vacations to Europe over the weekends. I watch Broadway shows from the orchestra level. And I have watched my mom use the $250 bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label in our closet to sweeten her morning coffee. I have learned a lot from this community too. For one, it helped me realize that the world was bigger than my backyard. I learned what you could do with extra and what it was like not to need. | |
<
< | And I want to continue to be part of both. Before law school, I traversed these communities almost seamlessly. I would go from a trip to the Hamptons with my Andover classmates to running through open fire hydrants on the corner with my friends from the block. I could go from my suit and Movado watch to my Jordans and hoop earrings. My involvement in one never jeopardized my existence in another. I was able to bring what I learned from one community to enrich and inform the other. | >
> | Law school makes it a problem for me to continue to be part of and contribute to both. Before law school, I traversed these communities almost seamlessly. I could tell my high school and college classmates about running through open fire hydrants on the corner and about the drug dealers on the corner. And my Washington Heights friends loved hearing about the roundtable discussions with famous people and the Hamptons trips (and that the affluent, too, had their share of problems). My involvement in one never jeopardized my existence in another. I was able to bring what I learned from one community to enrich and inform the other. | | | Yet law school’s definition of contribution is so rigid. Apparently they are mutually exclusive—you can only contribute to one at a time. Thus, here I find myself hastily trying to choose between my communities. Should I strike with my father or should I sit there angrily as the other students do because they are interrupting? In a way I feel like I am splitting before I even take the job that has me on the wrong side at two in the morning. |
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LissetteDuranFirstPaper 4 - 06 May 2012 - Main.LissetteDuran
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
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<
< | | | | Contributing Member of Society
-- By LissetteDuran - 16 Feb 2012 | |
>
> | I have lived in a one-bedroom apartment with four other people.
And I have fallen asleep to the gentle sway of my classmate’s yacht.
I have gone hungry.
And I have had dinner with President Clinton at Madison Square Garden.
I have had to share textbooks in a classroom of 40 students.
And I have watched the stars, in astronomy class, through my personally assigned telescope. | | | | |
<
< | Introduction
We all want to be contributing members of society. It is one of those lofty goals like equality and world peace. But what does it actually mean? How can we contribute? And, does everyone?
Absolute Society
It is hard to believe that we all belong to one great club where admission is free and exclusion is based on the sentiments of the whole. Yet, we often refer to one large society. I take it that this society is very much like Robinson’s civilization. It is some type of “idealized sense of what makes us human.” But what are these ideal factors that make us one society? Are they shared beliefs, goals, or understandings? If we look to our political discourse today, it would be difficult to pinpoint which one of these we would agree on.
Why is the content of
political discourse a useful way to establish the boundaries of
social structure? I don't feel any less part of the same society as
Republicans or Conservatives who inhabit Manhattan than Democrats or
Socialists. Whether I am part of the same society as Texans, on the
other hand.....
I think we have tricked ourselves into thinking that we can be joined as one absolute society. We hold this society sacred. For us, it sits next to absolute truth and absolute justice as the attainable end of an eternal struggle. Because to concede that as a people we are fragmented and can have irreconcilable differences would be to undermine our idealized notion of how we progress. We need to think that we move as one and that no one is left behind. So, we believe that we progress as a "people", or as "Americans", or as any other extremely large grouping. When in reality, we progress as individuals and as small societies. Some get far in life and some inevitably die out. Our progression and success is measured in relation to those of others.
Our belief in one society is therefore ungrounded. To say that we progress as one would go against how we measure progress. We are a conglomeration of societies. And as a whole, we share nothing but space.
I don't see the
"thereforeness" about this. I didn't read an argument, just a series
of assertions, some prefaced by "I think," and some not. I don't
know that these formulations are wrong any more than I know they are
right. If you want to depend on them, you should support them
somehow.
Multiple Societies
If we are just various different societies in proximity, then the question becomes to which societies do we belong? I believe that we are all born into a society. As we mature and create relationships, we become members of others. As the number of your individual memberships grow, it becomes more difficult to maintain the memberships of the previous societies. This cycle is inevitable. Yet, we are judged by our handling of it. With each new membership comes a test of belonging.
Given these
difficulties, why haven't you defined "society"? It seems to me you
are deliberately using it in a non-standard
way. | >
> | I have done a lot of things. But no one experience, event, or interest defines me. I believed that in law school I would acquire more interests and find more ways to get involved and learn. Yet the mythical dichotomy that exists here is daunting. Not only do they make you believe that you have to choose one—either public interest or corporate law—but you also have to choose quickly. It seems as though students’ minds are made up as soon as they pick up their CLS book bag from orientation. | | | | |
<
< | Now at the end of my schooling, I am dealing with these tests. Although I think that memberships can be held simultaneously, this conception is challenged on a daily basis. I am a part of the Columbia society yet, I am still part of the Washington Heights society. I am part of the rich schooling society but I am still a member of the poor. But I can no longer traverse these societies seamlessly. The memberships I have added on often create tension with my previous ones. I find this tension mostly when reconciling my home society with my school one. Right now, I am part of the Columbia society. I am the privileged law student tackling the questions our very expensive law books create for us. But right outside, is my other society. This one is less privileged. It is composed of people--including my father--holding signs denouncing the unfair treatment of workers by the Columbia administration. Their picketing outside of JG does not bother me, that is, unless I am trying to read for class. | >
> | The question posed is always the same: Are you going to help the poor and be a contributing member of society, or are you going to help the rich get richer?
But it has never been that simple. I refuse to look at the world in such a binary when I am walking proof that there is some gray. | | | | |
<
< | My reaction to the boycotters outside is sustained by the way the Columbia society treats nonmembers. Although it sits in Harlem, Columbia prides itself in the difference between them. When Columbia's world and Harlem's worlds interact, it is usually through an Anthony Pallone email. Their differences are highlighted as negative. Those emails are a constant reminder that "they" are not part of "this society." | >
> | My first issue arises with defining society. I do not believe there is one absolute society to which we all contribute. Instead, we belong to various different communities. We are all born into one community and as we mature and create relationships we become members of others. My refusal to fit into one of those neatly packaged categories stems from my membership in very different, yet very important communities. | | | | |
<
< | For those who traverse various different societies, these tensions force us to choose to which society we will belong and contribute. | >
> | I was born into a poor community. I have seen my neighbors leave IOUs on bodega counters anticipating the arrival of insufficient welfare checks. I know what eviction letters look like. And I know what eviction letters feel like. I can recognize the inner frustrations of a young kid dressed in hand me downs too big for his body but too small for his dreams. I love this community. I was raised in it. I learned humility, hard work and how to make a lot out of a little. | | | | |
>
> | And then I became a member of a more affluent one. I have classmates that are CEOs of companies. I have friends who take spontaneous vacations to Europe over the weekends. I watch Broadway shows from the orchestra level. And I have watched my mom use the $250 bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label in our closet to sweeten her morning coffee. I have learned a lot from this community too. For one, it helped me realize that the world was bigger than my backyard. I learned what you could do with extra and what it was like not to need. | | | | |
<
< | How do we choose? | >
> | And I want to continue to be part of both. Before law school, I traversed these communities almost seamlessly. I would go from a trip to the Hamptons with my Andover classmates to running through open fire hydrants on the corner with my friends from the block. I could go from my suit and Movado watch to my Jordans and hoop earrings. My involvement in one never jeopardized my existence in another. I was able to bring what I learned from one community to enrich and inform the other. | | | | |
<
< | Although I do believe that memberships in different societies can be reconciled, I have yet to figure out how to reconcile mine. The more college/law school/graduate school friends I have made, the less Washington Heights and Harlem friendships I can maintain. The more I immerse myself into this Ivy League bubble, the less I find myself understanding and sympathizing with the people and the struggle I knew back then. | >
> | Yet law school’s definition of contribution is so rigid. Apparently they are mutually exclusive—you can only contribute to one at a time. Thus, here I find myself hastily trying to choose between my communities. Should I strike with my father or should I sit there angrily as the other students do because they are interrupting? In a way I feel like I am splitting before I even take the job that has me on the wrong side at two in the morning. | | | | |
<
< | Law school makes this decision even more difficult. They create binaries--nonprofit or corporate; make money or make change--that I think are detrimental to the way we process the societies in which we live. There is an assumed permanence to these choices that I think is unrealistic. You don't relinquish your membership to one by joining another. You can choose the corporate or nonprofit sector and switch. Especially as attorneys, since we are engaged in practice, we have the ability to change what we do with more ease. | >
> | After two semesters here I have decided that I do not have to choose. I will be part of and contribute to both communities. I will continue to contribute to the community in which I grew up by sharing their stories. I will continue putting our stories on wikis and newspaper pages so as to not let people forget we exist. I plan on working hard to make sure my community has better access to opportunities. And I will also contribute to my affluent community. I will bring in my experiences from Andover, Penn and now Columbia. I will learn about big businesses and understand how they work so I can help my friends when the time comes. | | | | |
<
< | I think that the first step to achieving this goal of "contributor to society" is to define a society. Instead of trying to conform to one general undefined society, we can define one specific society and focus on that. We can use what it does to gauge what we want it to do and then tailor our contributions to those desires. | >
> | Until then, I am going to take advantage of the law school’s buffet of choices. Instead of focusing on what side of the spectrum I land, I am going to run across it. I will take a little non-profit, a little corporate, a little government and see if I can shape my practice to look and feel a little more like me—a little rich, a little poor, and everything in between. | | | | |
<
< | At the end, I think that we are all contributing. It is easier to say to society in general because figuring out to what and how is too difficult. Nonetheless, I still think it is an exercise worth doing. | | | | |
<
< | Maybe "society" here is
a synonym for "community"? Read that way, the draft has some greater
coherence for me, but it still seems to me unclear what the central
idea is, or how it's being developed. I think going back to the
outline and trying to identify the central idea is the right place to
start. | | | \ No newline at end of file | |
>
> | Eben, I realized that when I started writing this paper the first time, I wanted to write about myself and the difficulty in trying to balance these two communities. What I ended up writing about the more vague sense of contribution. I wanted to take my experiences to show why each community is important to me and why I do not fit into the binary the law school creates. Instead of outright choosing, I want to focus on learning and taking everything I can, in. Hopefully, 2L & 3L will have a little more of that. Thank you for a great class. |
|
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LissetteDuranFirstPaper 3 - 15 Apr 2012 - Main.EbenMoglen
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | It is hard to believe that we all belong to one great club where admission is free and exclusion is based on the sentiments of the whole. Yet, we often refer to one large society. I take it that this society is very much like Robinson’s civilization. It is some type of “idealized sense of what makes us human.” But what are these ideal factors that make us one society? Are they shared beliefs, goals, or understandings? If we look to our political discourse today, it would be difficult to pinpoint which one of these we would agree on. | |
>
> | Why is the content of
political discourse a useful way to establish the boundaries of
social structure? I don't feel any less part of the same society as
Republicans or Conservatives who inhabit Manhattan than Democrats or
Socialists. Whether I am part of the same society as Texans, on the
other hand..... | | | I think we have tricked ourselves into thinking that we can be joined as one absolute society. We hold this society sacred. For us, it sits next to absolute truth and absolute justice as the attainable end of an eternal struggle. Because to concede that as a people we are fragmented and can have irreconcilable differences would be to undermine our idealized notion of how we progress. We need to think that we move as one and that no one is left behind. So, we believe that we progress as a "people", or as "Americans", or as any other extremely large grouping. When in reality, we progress as individuals and as small societies. Some get far in life and some inevitably die out. Our progression and success is measured in relation to those of others.
Our belief in one society is therefore ungrounded. To say that we progress as one would go against how we measure progress. We are a conglomeration of societies. And as a whole, we share nothing but space. | |
>
> | I don't see the
"thereforeness" about this. I didn't read an argument, just a series
of assertions, some prefaced by "I think," and some not. I don't
know that these formulations are wrong any more than I know they are
right. If you want to depend on them, you should support them
somehow. | | | Multiple Societies
If we are just various different societies in proximity, then the question becomes to which societies do we belong? I believe that we are all born into a society. As we mature and create relationships, we become members of others. As the number of your individual memberships grow, it becomes more difficult to maintain the memberships of the previous societies. This cycle is inevitable. Yet, we are judged by our handling of it. With each new membership comes a test of belonging. | |
>
> | Given these
difficulties, why haven't you defined "society"? It seems to me you
are deliberately using it in a non-standard
way. | | | Now at the end of my schooling, I am dealing with these tests. Although I think that memberships can be held simultaneously, this conception is challenged on a daily basis. I am a part of the Columbia society yet, I am still part of the Washington Heights society. I am part of the rich schooling society but I am still a member of the poor. But I can no longer traverse these societies seamlessly. The memberships I have added on often create tension with my previous ones. I find this tension mostly when reconciling my home society with my school one. Right now, I am part of the Columbia society. I am the privileged law student tackling the questions our very expensive law books create for us. But right outside, is my other society. This one is less privileged. It is composed of people--including my father--holding signs denouncing the unfair treatment of workers by the Columbia administration. Their picketing outside of JG does not bother me, that is, unless I am trying to read for class.
My reaction to the boycotters outside is sustained by the way the Columbia society treats nonmembers. Although it sits in Harlem, Columbia prides itself in the difference between them. When Columbia's world and Harlem's worlds interact, it is usually through an Anthony Pallone email. Their differences are highlighted as negative. Those emails are a constant reminder that "they" are not part of "this society." | | | At the end, I think that we are all contributing. It is easier to say to society in general because figuring out to what and how is too difficult. Nonetheless, I still think it is an exercise worth doing. | |
<
< |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:
Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules for preference declarations. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of these lines. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated ALLOWTOPICVIEW list. | >
> | Maybe "society" here is
a synonym for "community"? Read that way, the draft has some greater
coherence for me, but it still seems to me unclear what the central
idea is, or how it's being developed. I think going back to the
outline and trying to identify the central idea is the right place to
start. | | | \ No newline at end of file |
|
|
LissetteDuranFirstPaper 2 - 16 Feb 2012 - Main.LissetteDuran
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | Introduction | |
<
< | My family has always urged me to get an education so that I can be a contributing member of society. Growing up, I watched those in my community drop out of school and resort to less legal alternatives to provide for the community. I have also watched the few that have completed their studies, leave and never look back. They both contribute to a society but one is chastised while one is revered. Thus, if we are a one-society state, how do we contribute to it? | >
> | We all want to be contributing members of society. It is one of those lofty goals like equality and world peace. But what does it actually mean? How can we contribute? And, does everyone? | | | | |
<
< | Do we live in a society or societies? | >
> | Absolute Society | | | | |
<
< | It is hard to believe that we all belong to one great club where admission is free and exclusion is based on the sentiments of the whole. Yet, we often refer to one large society. I take it that this society is very much like Robinson’s civilization. It is some type of “idealized sense of what makes us human.” What are these ideal factors that make us one society? Are they shared beliefs, goals, understandings? If we look to our political discourse today, it would be difficult to pinpoint which one of these we agree on to makes us one society. | >
> | It is hard to believe that we all belong to one great club where admission is free and exclusion is based on the sentiments of the whole. Yet, we often refer to one large society. I take it that this society is very much like Robinson’s civilization. It is some type of “idealized sense of what makes us human.” But what are these ideal factors that make us one society? Are they shared beliefs, goals, or understandings? If we look to our political discourse today, it would be difficult to pinpoint which one of these we would agree on. | | | | |
<
< | I think we have tricked ourselves into thinking that there are actually factors that join us as one absolute society. But, to concede that as a people we are fragmented and can have irreconcilable differences would be to undermine our idealized notion of how we progress as a people. We believe that we progress as a "people", or as "Americans", or as any other extremely large grouping. In reality, we progress as individuals and as small societies. Our progression and success is measured in relation to someone else's. We determine who contributes and who does not by comparing the different members. Thus, saying that we progress as one society goes against how we measure progress. | >
> | I think we have tricked ourselves into thinking that we can be joined as one absolute society. We hold this society sacred. For us, it sits next to absolute truth and absolute justice as the attainable end of an eternal struggle. Because to concede that as a people we are fragmented and can have irreconcilable differences would be to undermine our idealized notion of how we progress. We need to think that we move as one and that no one is left behind. So, we believe that we progress as a "people", or as "Americans", or as any other extremely large grouping. When in reality, we progress as individuals and as small societies. Some get far in life and some inevitably die out. Our progression and success is measured in relation to those of others. | | | | |
>
> | Our belief in one society is therefore ungrounded. To say that we progress as one would go against how we measure progress. We are a conglomeration of societies. And as a whole, we share nothing but space. | | | Multiple Societies | |
<
< | If we are just various different societies in proximity, then for students/young people, the question becomes to which society do we contribute? | >
> | If we are just various different societies in proximity, then the question becomes to which societies do we belong? I believe that we are all born into a society. As we mature and create relationships, we become members of others. As the number of your individual memberships grow, it becomes more difficult to maintain the memberships of the previous societies. This cycle is inevitable. Yet, we are judged by our handling of it. With each new membership comes a test of belonging. | | | | |
<
< | I believe that we are all born into one society. As we mature and create relationships, we become members of others. As you become a member of more societies it becomes more difficult to maintain your membership in your previous ones. | >
> | Now at the end of my schooling, I am dealing with these tests. Although I think that memberships can be held simultaneously, this conception is challenged on a daily basis. I am a part of the Columbia society yet, I am still part of the Washington Heights society. I am part of the rich schooling society but I am still a member of the poor. But I can no longer traverse these societies seamlessly. The memberships I have added on often create tension with my previous ones. I find this tension mostly when reconciling my home society with my school one. Right now, I am part of the Columbia society. I am the privileged law student tackling the questions our very expensive law books create for us. But right outside, is my other society. This one is less privileged. It is composed of people--including my father--holding signs denouncing the unfair treatment of workers by the Columbia administration. Their picketing outside of JG does not bother me, that is, unless I am trying to read for class. | | | | |
<
< | Can we be simultaneous members? Do we lose membership to one society by becoming a member of another?
Can you be both part of the Columbia society and the Harlem society?
Tensions
--unions boycotting while I am trying to study | >
> | My reaction to the boycotters outside is sustained by the way the Columbia society treats nonmembers. Although it sits in Harlem, Columbia prides itself in the difference between them. When Columbia's world and Harlem's worlds interact, it is usually through an Anthony Pallone email. Their differences are highlighted as negative. Those emails are a constant reminder that "they" are not part of "this society." | | | | |
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> | For those who traverse various different societies, these tensions force us to choose to which society we will belong and contribute. | | | | |
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< | Since we are very different societies in proximity, how can we contribute? Do you have to choose between them? | | | | |
<
< | I think that our educational systems force us to choose. They are institutions that overlook these distinctions and stray away from our fragmented realities. Thus, I believe that they do not equip its students to traverse seamlessly through the different societies of which they might be a member. | >
> | How do we choose? | | | | |
<
< | Schools create their own societies. They are their own bubbles shielded from the realities of the outside. For the most part, the rules you learn within them can only be only applied within that society. Schools make it difficult to be members of different societies simultaneously. You are taught one thing, one certain way, and are allowed very little wiggle room to bring in your own experiences from your various memberships. | >
> | Although I do believe that memberships in different societies can be reconciled, I have yet to figure out how to reconcile mine. The more college/law school/graduate school friends I have made, the less Washington Heights and Harlem friendships I can maintain. The more I immerse myself into this Ivy League bubble, the less I find myself understanding and sympathizing with the people and the struggle I knew back then. | | | | |
<
< | Let’s take Columbia. Columbia sits in the middle of Harlem. These are two separate societies, in proximity, but with very little overlap. I find that when Columbia’s world and Harlem’s world interact, it is usually through an Anthony Pallone email. The differences between these societies are seen as negative. Columbia’s society is always seen as helping, not coexisting with, that of Harlem’s. Those emails are a constant reminder that “they” are not part of “this society.” | >
> | Law school makes this decision even more difficult. They create binaries--nonprofit or corporate; make money or make change--that I think are detrimental to the way we process the societies in which we live. There is an assumed permanence to these choices that I think is unrealistic. You don't relinquish your membership to one by joining another. You can choose the corporate or nonprofit sector and switch. Especially as attorneys, since we are engaged in practice, we have the ability to change what we do with more ease. | | | | |
>
> | I think that the first step to achieving this goal of "contributor to society" is to define a society. Instead of trying to conform to one general undefined society, we can define one specific society and focus on that. We can use what it does to gauge what we want it to do and then tailor our contributions to those desires. | | | | |
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< | Thus, for a student who is a member of both, how can you contribute to both? | >
> | At the end, I think that we are all contributing. It is easier to say to society in general because figuring out to what and how is too difficult. Nonetheless, I still think it is an exercise worth doing. | | | | |
<
< | As both a Columbia student and a member of Harlem, it can be very difficult to reconcile the two. Particularly, as a law school student, I have been stressed with the decision between corporate and nonprofit—the choice indicating which membership will be relinquished. I am not convinced that memberships in societies are mutually exclusive. However, I do believe that your contribution to one will inherently be a detriment to another. Schools do not prepare you for the existence in many societies. They create uniform students who, if they can contribute, contribute to a mystical society. It makes sense when you think about the graduates who move out of their neighborhoods into ones that have memberships similar to those at their schools. | | |
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LissetteDuranFirstPaper 1 - 16 Feb 2012 - Main.LissetteDuran
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Contributing Member of Society
-- By LissetteDuran - 16 Feb 2012
Introduction
My family has always urged me to get an education so that I can be a contributing member of society. Growing up, I watched those in my community drop out of school and resort to less legal alternatives to provide for the community. I have also watched the few that have completed their studies, leave and never look back. They both contribute to a society but one is chastised while one is revered. Thus, if we are a one-society state, how do we contribute to it?
Do we live in a society or societies?
It is hard to believe that we all belong to one great club where admission is free and exclusion is based on the sentiments of the whole. Yet, we often refer to one large society. I take it that this society is very much like Robinson’s civilization. It is some type of “idealized sense of what makes us human.” What are these ideal factors that make us one society? Are they shared beliefs, goals, understandings? If we look to our political discourse today, it would be difficult to pinpoint which one of these we agree on to makes us one society.
I think we have tricked ourselves into thinking that there are actually factors that join us as one absolute society. But, to concede that as a people we are fragmented and can have irreconcilable differences would be to undermine our idealized notion of how we progress as a people. We believe that we progress as a "people", or as "Americans", or as any other extremely large grouping. In reality, we progress as individuals and as small societies. Our progression and success is measured in relation to someone else's. We determine who contributes and who does not by comparing the different members. Thus, saying that we progress as one society goes against how we measure progress.
Multiple Societies
If we are just various different societies in proximity, then for students/young people, the question becomes to which society do we contribute?
I believe that we are all born into one society. As we mature and create relationships, we become members of others. As you become a member of more societies it becomes more difficult to maintain your membership in your previous ones.
Can we be simultaneous members? Do we lose membership to one society by becoming a member of another?
Can you be both part of the Columbia society and the Harlem society?
Tensions
--unions boycotting while I am trying to study
Since we are very different societies in proximity, how can we contribute? Do you have to choose between them?
I think that our educational systems force us to choose. They are institutions that overlook these distinctions and stray away from our fragmented realities. Thus, I believe that they do not equip its students to traverse seamlessly through the different societies of which they might be a member.
Schools create their own societies. They are their own bubbles shielded from the realities of the outside. For the most part, the rules you learn within them can only be only applied within that society. Schools make it difficult to be members of different societies simultaneously. You are taught one thing, one certain way, and are allowed very little wiggle room to bring in your own experiences from your various memberships.
Let’s take Columbia. Columbia sits in the middle of Harlem. These are two separate societies, in proximity, but with very little overlap. I find that when Columbia’s world and Harlem’s world interact, it is usually through an Anthony Pallone email. The differences between these societies are seen as negative. Columbia’s society is always seen as helping, not coexisting with, that of Harlem’s. Those emails are a constant reminder that “they” are not part of “this society.”
Thus, for a student who is a member of both, how can you contribute to both?
As both a Columbia student and a member of Harlem, it can be very difficult to reconcile the two. Particularly, as a law school student, I have been stressed with the decision between corporate and nonprofit—the choice indicating which membership will be relinquished. I am not convinced that memberships in societies are mutually exclusive. However, I do believe that your contribution to one will inherently be a detriment to another. Schools do not prepare you for the existence in many societies. They create uniform students who, if they can contribute, contribute to a mystical society. It makes sense when you think about the graduates who move out of their neighborhoods into ones that have memberships similar to those at their schools.
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