MetaFilter posts tagged with society

Everything you wanted to know about Marriage.

Ruthless Bunny — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:44:51 -0800

But were afraid to ask. A window into the world of Mad Men and our parents. I found this link on a Mad Men message board, but the book is too, too interesting. Mating charts, pictures, eugenics, what's not to like?

The Struggle For the Soul of Islam

reenum — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:29:06 -0800

Back in 2004, the Chicago Tribune published an investigative series about the state of Islam after 9/11. They hit many prescient topics, such as: - Islam's origins and how militant groups developed within the faith. - An anecdote about how hard line fundamentalists won over the congregation at a mosque in Bridgeview, IL. - The Saudi financing of militant groups. - Egypt's shift from moderate Islam to fundamentalism. - Tensions in Iran between hard liners and people yearning for greater freedom in society. - The growth of the International Muslim Brotherhood within the United States. - The story of Ismail Maasawabi, a Palestinian youth who became a suicide bomber in Gaza. - How Turkey has remained a moderate Muslim state. - The influence of madrassas in the growing fundamentalism in Pakistan. - The conflict between moderate and fundamentalist groups in Indonesia. - The spread of Islam in Europe. - An anecdote about an Islamic school in France. - How the children of Muslim immigrants to the U.S. balance these two cultures. -The role American foreign policy has played in the rise of fundamentalism.

Breastfeeding in Mongolia.

five fresh fish — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:40:04 -0800

Breastfeeding in Mongolia The author describes the ubiquity of breastfeeding and breast milk in Mongolia, and her experience over a three-year period of breastfeeding her infant in Mongolia and in the West.

The future of the news business

reenum — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:48:00 -0800

The newspaper industry is facing challenges, and what might be done to ramify the situation Newspapers have been an institution for over a hundred years, but are now under threat of being undermined by the Internet and other sources. This article gives a decent background of the current crisis faced by the industry and how the industry might respond to the threats the printed paper faces.

Immigration or Robots?

Extopalopaketle — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:50:53 -0800

Japan is facing a demographic crisis that will shrink the population dramatically. The Japanese aren't having babies, and the country won't accept immigrants to help bolster the population. Japan: Robot Nation looks at a uniquely Japanese solution. Cheat: Robots come in at the 15 minute mark.

employee ownership

kliuless — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:44:35 -0800

Reinventing the Firm - "drawing on Ronald Coase, a firm is a political response to an economic problem: managerial power and hierarchy is one efficient way of dealing with the uncertainties attached to the employment relationship. But this doesn't prevent us from considering alternative political settlements, that are potentially more democratic and more productive." also see: Clay Shirky, Ronald Coase and, err, me (previously 1|2|3 via mm & ev) Why the corporation?

Charles Perrow's Organizing America: Wealth, Power, and the Origins of Corporate Capitalism (2002) offers an historical account of... how the American economy came to feature the large corporation as its central business organization... Here's his summary statement:
Our economic organizations -- business and industry -- concentrate wealth and power; socialize employees and customers alike to meet their needs; and pass off to the rest of society the cost of their pollution, crowding, accidents, and encouragement of destructive life styles. In the vaunted "free market" economy of the United States, regulation of business and industry to prevent or mitigate this market failure is relatively ineffective, as compared to that enacted by other industrialized countries. (1-2)
...Perrow argues that in the United States the national political economy was led to create a system that gave enormous and very lightly regulated power to large organizations and corporations; that, once established, these organizations were very capable of defending their rights and freedom of action; and that the corporations exercise power at every level in American society. Corporations and large organizations wield micro-power over the tens of millions of Americans who work within them, meso-power over the environmental status of communities and regions and the consumption patterns of individuals, and macro-power over the direction that legislation and policy takes. And this degree of power is now deeply entrenched:
Belatedly, the Progressive movement of the early twentieth century sought to redress the power imbalances and the costly externalities for workers and communities. But the organizational infrastructure of the nation was not to be seriously disturbed or even ideologically challenged, up to the present. A society with small- and modest-sized firms, regional rather than national markets, and with civic welfare provisions that are a right of citizenship rather than a benefit of employment -- a society with wealth and power distributed widely -- is now out of the question. Large bureaucratic organizations, public and private, will be our fate for the foreseeable future. It might have been otherwise. (228)
And finally, Perrow argues that this system was not economically or technologically inevitable. Networks of smaller firms and organizations could satisfy the needs for efficient production and innovation that a robust and dynamic economy presents. And a substantially less centralized political economy would be favorable to democracy and modern quality of life.

notably, sarkozy is echoing and espousing these sentiments exactly: "We're living in one of those epochs where certitudes have vanished... We have to reinvent, to reconstruct everything. The central issue is (to pick) the way of development, the model of society, the civilization we want to live in." so, at his behest, stiglitz, sen & giovannini were tasked with framing out the issues towards a better measure of well-being. [1,2] as stiglitz sez: "GDP statistics were originally introduced to measure market economic activity. But they are increasingly thought of as a measure of societal well-being, which they are not... Our economy is supposed to increase our well being; it is not an end in itself." meanwhile, obama exhorts: "Normalcy cannot lead to complacency." cuz, at the end of the day, we're all in it together :P cheers!

Slap! Sir, I demand satisfaction

reenum — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:31:46 -0800

Few things in history are as compelling as the duel. Refined and barbaric at the same time, this practice has had a checkered history. The rules of dueling were codified by the Irish in 1777 in the Code Duello (summarized here), which was codified at Clonmel Summer Assizes in 1777. As evidenced by these documents, dueling was in practice prior to the Irish rules being drafted. The procedure and philosophy behind duels is illustrated in this article. Dueling gained some traction in America in the 19th century, culminating in the famous Burr-Hamilton affair. There are many more resources to find out more here. For a list of famous duels, you can check out this list. Lest you think men were the only ones dueling, here are a few short anecdotes of women dueling. Reportedly, dueling is still legal in Paraguay, as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

In Wal-Mart's Image

acb — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:00:58 -0800

How Wal-Mart's values are shaping America's economy -- and why this is a very bad thing:

Around the time that the young Sam Walton opened his first stores, John Kennedy redeemed a presidential campaign promise by persuading Congress to extend the minimum wage to retail workers, who had until then not been covered by the law. Walton was furious. Now the goddamn federal government was telling him he had to pay his workers the $1.15 hourly minimum. Walton's response was to divide up his stores into individual companies whose revenues didn't exceed the $250,000 threshold. Eventually, though, a federal court ruled that this was simply a scheme to avoid paying the minimum wage, and he was ordered to pay his workers the accumulated sums he owed them, plus a double-time penalty thrown in for good measure. Wal-Mart cut the checks, but Walton also summoned the employees at a major cluster of his stores to a meeting. "I'll fire anyone who cashes the check," he told them.

The Self Storage Society

backseatpilot — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:21:48 -0800

The Self-Storage Self (NYT) Single page link.

Dominick Dunne 1925-2009

reenum — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:00:06 -0800

Dominick Dunne died yesterday at the age of 83. was well known for his chronicling of the follies and crimes of the rich. You can read some of his pieces from Vanity Fair here.

"We dragged your sorry ass through the Underground Railroad."

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:47:55 -0800

Are the ties that bind gay men to straight women beginning to fray?

Kevin Smith on strip clubs

reenum — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:16:38 -0800

Kevin Smith on patronizing a strip club This story is an apt description of the "stripper myth" and how a lot of guys who frequent strip clubs think about the dancers.

Juvenile pensioners

rongorongo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:28:33 -0800

"I once proposed a solution somewhat tongue in cheek to the problem of pensions: turn retirement upside down ... people would be supported by society up to the age of 30. During that period they would study, travel, prepare for a profession, reproduce and give full-time care to their young ... After 30, they would work until they dropped dead or became incapacitated." Letter from physicist Cylon Gonçalves da Silva to The Economist in response to this original article on the problems of an ageing global population.

Tyler Cowen on why it's OK to pay for sex

reenum — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:18:25 -0800

Tyler Cowen on why it's OK to pay for sex The rest of the debate can be found here.

old school etiquette

lalex — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:10:32 -0800

"To you, my friends, whose identity in these pages is veiled in fictional disguise, it is but fitting that I dedicate this book." Old school etiquette from the inimitable Emily Post and others. Etiquette for Americans, by "A Woman of Fashion". The Etiquette of New York To-Day, by Mrs. Frank Learned. Encyclopaedia of Etiquette, by Emily Holt. The Secret of a Happy Home, by Marion Harland. Harland also wrote a generously annotated cookbook which includes many delightful bon mots: "Pork fat and pies kill more people yearly in the States than do liquor and tobacco," said a popular lecturer upon conservatism. Perhaps so; but I incline to the belief that bad pastry is answerable for a vast majority of the murders.

A boy called Sue

acb — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:37:39 -0800

A new US study, recently published in Social Science Quarterly, has shown that the more uncommon or feminine a boy's first name is, the greater the likelihood that he will end up in prison.

While Shippensburg University professor David Kalist's report in Social Science Quarterly shows that "unpopular names are likely not the cause of crime," he explains that factors often associated with those names can "increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency." Boys with unpopular, girlish or uncommon names often are ridiculed by peers, come from families of low socioeconomic status and face discrimination in the workforce based on a preconceived bias about their names, according to the study, which analysed more than 15,000 names.

Angkor Wat Edition

kliuless — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:42:27 -0800

Too Complex To Exist? [1] Paul Kedrosky has been pondering complex social systems and why they sometimes fail. Apparently it has something to do with "normalization of deviance," "tight coupling" [2] and "slack." [3]

To isolated dwellers in such a community, possessed of higher tastes and feelings, our Society may be made a priceless boon

jessamyn — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:24:23 -0800

"The design of the Society is specially to afford, to dwellers in remote parts of the country, by means of postal facilities, the advantages derivable from interchange of thought on such subjects of common interest as may be elucidated by the microscope." from the Journal of the Postal Microscopical Society c. 1882. It might interest you to know that the Postal Microscopical Society is still in existence and that there are other microscopical societies around the world. Now you can look at slides from the Victorian Era or present day without waiting for the mailman. [previously]

It's a wonderful day in the Neighborhood. Would you be my Comrade?

Benny Andajetz — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:24:50 -0800

"When masses of people who own the means of production work toward a common goal and share their products in common, when they contribute labor without wages and enjoy the fruits free of charge, it's not unreasonable to call that socialism."The New Socialism: Global Collectivist Society Is Coming Online, a provocative article in the new Wired magazine, examines the effects of the growing influence of online collectivism. I thought this might make for an interesting read and discussion by members of an online community.

The NRW timeline

tellurian — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:08:06 -0800

NRW 1946—2006. Short articles chronicling North Rhine-Westphalia. The site has one rather large shortcoming though, the video clips cannot be accessed (only available on VHS within the State!).

God, Memes and Steel

Artw — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:34:29 -0800

Jared Diamond on the Evolution of Religions. (SLYT)

The Great Divide

Elizabeth the Thirteenth — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 12:31:53 -0800

British academics Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett believe they've discovered the underlying cause of all modern society's ills: inequality. In their book, The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, they explain how health and social problems follow a strikingly similar pattern, being closely correlated with income distribution (pdf). To spread the word, they've founded The Equality Trust

Ancient Greece

netbros — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:24:40 -0800

Explore the History of the Ancient Greek World from the Neolithic to the Classical Period. Covering important topics, such as Art and Architecture, Mythology, Wars, Culture and Society, Poetry, Olympics, History Periods, Philosophy, Playwrights, Kings and Rulers of Ancient Greece.

Can you say Hero? The Life and Times of Mr. Fred Rogers

Heliochrome85 — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:09:23 -0800

Can you say Hero? The Life and Times of Mr. Fred Rogers One of the most influential people ever to grace television, Mr. Rogers was a neighbor to millions of children across the US. His legacy has left a long lasting impression on the fabric of society. With today's children being force fed Hanna Montana, and Joey 101, wouldn't it be nice if we could go to the kingdom of make believe, just one more time?

Humanism

plexi — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 12:59:22 -0800

The Virtues of Godlessness. "It is not the most religious nations in our world today, but rather the most secular, that have been able to create the most civil, just, safe, equitable, humane, and prosperous societies."