In “Making it in America,” Adam Davidson explains what is occurring in factories in America today. Currently, American factories are producing more goods per factory than in the past, while factory jobs are disappearing. He also humanizes what is happening in today’s factories by providing a specific example of a company, Standard Motors with a factory in Greenville, South Carolina and interviewing workers and the Chief Executive Officer there. Davidson provides the reader with the context of their personal lives and the opportunities they have. One worker with whom he speaks is hurt by these trends, one that is helped by them. He adds emotion to the issue by getting to know people involved; their dreams as well as their fears. He also …show more content…
This increase in automation has also allowed companies to produce more because these sophisticated machines can work faster and more precisely than people or even prior machines can. Davison first interviews Maddie. She tells him her life story: She was a good student, but got pregnant at the end of high school and could not afford both college and childcare. She tells Davidson how she would love to move up in the company and work in an office to design parts, not press buttons to make them. She wants to be able to buy her own home and take family vacations. She also is afraid of losing her job because she realizes that she can’t work her way up from her job since she has not learned to create complex computer programs like the skilled factory workers can. Davidson adds that “it feels cruel to point out all the Level-2 concepts Maddie doesn’t know.” The reader feels sorry for Maddie that she seems to have no way to achieve her goals in life and is stuck making $13 an hour until her job is eliminated which likely will occur when the cost of the machine to do her job drops in price or shipping fragile items becomes more …show more content…
Sills explains how it is determined whether the company outsources production of a certain product or make it in America. Sills tells Davidson: “the main thing I think about is survival.” Parts that need skilled workers have to be made in America to assure quality. Standard Motors needs the highly skilled workers from the United States to assure quality of their parts, so “even if Mexican or Chinese workers could do Maddie’s job more cheaply, shipping fragile, half-finished parts to another country for processing would make no sense.” Parts that don’t need to be high quality are outsourced because the company simply can’t afford to make everything in the United States. Industrial profit lines can be lower than ten dollars per product, and materials are costing more and more. If companies don't cut costs, they either would have to charge more for their products, which could cost them a significant amount of clients, or lose millions by decreasing their already minimal profit margin. Maddie also is concerned about being replaced by a robot. “One day, they’re not going to need people; the machines will take over. People like me, we’re not going to be around forever,” she says. In addition, sometimes a worker is cheaper than automation. Davidson explains that Maddie’s job is likely safe since Standard, like a lot of other companies, doesn’t want to invest over $100,000 to buy a machine to
Ravisankar begins his essay by focuses on America’s need one finding the lowest prices products. The problem he identified is by addressing the problem of workshop conditions and lack of pay . Ravisankar assumes his readers are consumers in America. His purpose in this essay is to inform America about the horrors of workshops and inform them are doing more harm than good. In order to accomplish, he appeals to Pathos by addressing the lack of humanity towards workshop workers.
The Cottage Industry, also known as the Domestic System has shifted to the Factory System, but how did this change affect its workers, and what were the major differences? In an interview with George Brookings, a factory owner, we will discover these changes and impacts. Brookings is a cotton and wool factory owner, who was able to experience the transition from the Factory System to the Domestic System. When Brookings was questioned about life using the domestic system, he answered, “As a child, my family and I were accustomed to the Domestic System. Textile making was done in the comfort of my own home, and my family and I could work at whatever pace we desired.
In Alan Dawley’s, “Class and Community”, Dawley portrays the transformation of Lynn, Massachusetts through the depiction of shoemakers and how the Industrial Revolution shaped their community’s overall way of life, and how a simple town of artisans became an epicenter for a nation the was becoming an industrial powerhouse. “Equal Rights” and community went together in Lynn as they both demand respectability and living up to certain standards. Before the central shop, most any land or building was a means of production, but once they came into the picture, they became the symbol for production. The pursuit of “equal rights” in Lynn made them a “microcosm of the industrial revolution” because everyone was fighting for the same cause, not just men, but both sexes. The treatment of the employees by factory owners was so unjust that people set aside other problems and struggles and came together under one cause, to fight something bigger than themselves.
Jordan Whitmore History 121 December 1, 2015 Carl Jensen’s Stories That Changed America: Muckrakers of the 20th Century Carl Jensen was an author, newspaper reporter, advertising executive, and professor at Sonoma State University. He also founded Project Censored in 1976, a research project on news media censorship, and acted as the director of the program which has remained an important part of the University’s journalistic curriculum since its inception. The techniques used by Jensen to teach journalism have been accepted and used by colleges throughout the country based upon their exceptional quality and standards. Jensen was a strong advocate of the idea of freedom of speech and expression espoused in the First Amendment of the U.S.
Journal Entry: America The Beautiful In the documentary, America The Beautiful by Darryl Roberts, he is trying to understand what causes us obsess with physical beautify and not appreciate what truly makes women gorgeous. Throughout the documentary, Roberts follows twelve-year-old Gerren's modeling career and makes inferences about how a child is a new and impossible standard for older women to live up to. During the duration of the film; impossibly skinny and unhealthy models, beauty cosmetics, and marketing advertisements are analyzed to try to decipher what society makes women conform.
The industrialization of America had a monumental impact on the citizens. With change comes the upsides and the downsides, so there were critiques such as Henry George and Edward Bellamy. Also this was a time of change for woman, questions regarding ‘place’, purpose, and morality were too brought to light.
In the Book “Fearless” Adam Brown is the main character and grows from a young boy who loves to do crazy out of the blue stunts to one of the top and most trained SEALS in the United States. ADam Brown Achieved his American Dream but probably not the way he wanted to. Adam went through a “Dark” time in his life that ultimately got him to became the best of the best. This is how his story when and how even if it was hard he still got to achieve the dream he longed for. From the “Dark” times, to the pain he went through, and finally the end of his journey.
At the turn of the 20th century, America was in the midst of a new era of growth. During the Second Industrial Revolution, millions of Americans saw the rise in technological innovation and the corporation. Those who made it rich in America did so by mass producing goods, like Andrew Carnegie and steel. In New York City, the arrival of thousands of immigrants per day allowed a labor-intensive industry to prop up among a land restricted area. With new inventions and ways to manufacture goods, mass amounts of cheap labor, and a pro-business government the economic conditions involving the garment industry in New York City during the Second Industrial Revolution was one of major, but sometimes volatile, growth with mass inequality.
THE TRIANGLE FIRE: THE DEADLIEST INDUSTRIAL DISASTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY Triangle Shirtwaist Company In a tragic event accruing in the early 1900s, resulting in the deaths of 145 factory workers, ultimately led to the development of several laws and regulations that would better shape labor condition throughout the United States. In the paperback “The Triangle Fire” written by Jo Ann E. Argersinger, there are numerous primary sources with personal stories reflecting how this heartrending event shaped survivors of the Triangle Fire. Life in the Shop, All for One, and The Roosevelt I Knew are three primary sources within the text that reveal the labor conditions before and after the fire, perspectives of workers themselves, factory
Immigration is one of the best and worst things to happen in America. During the time when immigration was at its peak, Ellis Island was the place that most immigrants went to. They also had to deal with starting a whole different life in a new country. With having to deal with traveling overseas, having to start a brand new tough life, dealing with the overpopulation at Ellis Island. They also had to deal with the grueling work and hours in the factories which most worked at.
Summary of “Making It in America” In the article “Making It in America,” journalist Adam Davidson discusses the topic of the struggles of the current job economy in America, specifically in the manufacturing industry. He uses three different aspects to discuss this with the reader. Davidson uses the overall progress, decline, and fluctuation of the manufacturing economy, the people in the factory he went to and their stories and remarks, and informs the reader of the long term change and effect that the manufacturing economy has seen over the years to help the reader get to better know the topic.
In “Better than Human”, Kelly mentions that it will be a trend for robots to replace humans on most, or even every working position in the near future as a outcome of the development of automaton-related technology. “We need to let robots take over”, Kelly assures, “they will do jobs we have been doing, and do them much better than we can (Kelly 311)”. With his observation of the invention of Baxter, he is persuaded in a great extent that humans will acquire new jobs as their old jobs get replaced by automatons. This newly invented robot surprisingly contains several epochal features, disregarding its extremely low price compared to its predecessors. With its benefits, Baxter can be promoted easily and applied to many industries, decreasing the costs of production and even re-generating the market eventually.
Due to automation and robotics, around five million jobs exist with 300,000 people estimated to already be employed in industrial robotics.
Since the early 1980’s, the beginning of the third industrial revolution is under way fueled by the internet, machinery advancements and artificial intelligence. Like the past two industrial revolutions, this one promises to deliver its share of victims. As processing power is getting faster, allowing for better AI, it is likely that machines, robots and drones will replace human jobs with some economist predicting 47% of jobs at risk. Looking at these numbers, it is easy to forget the benefits such as more productivity and the increase in job opportunities in the software and engineering sectors. The governments also play a part in it as well, creating a better transition to the new age.
Modern Times was an eye opening film that illustrated the results of an increasing industrialization along with devastating effects leading to the Great Depression. The main concerns during the time period in which the movie was released was unemployment, poverty, and hunger. Charlie Chaplin, director and star of Modern Times, demonstrated all of those factors with the addition of emphasizing how humanity was compelled to being in factories and machines, relating to the idea of the “American Dream” and/or the “pursuit of happiness”. The Tramp was a cheery and hopeful man, even though he often found himself in odds with society and the people around him. Chaplin believed that mechanic labor should have benefited humanity, but the opposite occurred and removed it from the individual.