SPIRITUALITY, FAIR TRADE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
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05	November 2013

Downward Mobility

Text 1: "We are insecure by constitution. We fear pain and rejection. We fear the collapse of meaning. Ultimately, we fear death. Contemporary society aggravates our fear and insecurity. We worry about crime, environmental disaster, and nuclear and industrial accident. September 11, 2001, marked the globalization of insecurity: a sensation of physical insecurity has now spread to people who once felt safe."

Response 1: This was a pretty loaded paragraph but it had a lot of thought-provoking and interesting ideas that I agreed with. The one that first caught my attention was "we fear pain and rejection", because this is one that I can best resonate with. As a perfectionist and over-thinker, I can completely agree that one of the things I fear most is rejection. While many people won't want to admit that they are constantly seeking approval from others, it is only in human nature to want to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Actual Text 2: The idea that some are important while others don't count explains how public policy and institutions work. "Unimportant" people are nameless and two-dimensional for "important" people who do not identify with them and feel no obligation to do unto them as they would have others do unto themselves.

Response 2: I think this is one of the truest statements in the article, let alone we have read in the class. There is a small minority of "important" people that make all of the decisions and are considered the elite. It's a frustrating, never-edning vicious cycle because those who have the opportunity and power to make change are a part of the elite and therefore would not do anything to jeopardize their status or money. I feel it is very true that those said elite people have a hard time sympathizing, or even attempting to sympathize, with the "unimportant" vast majority because they have an undeniable sense of entitlement.