Monday, January 23, 2012
Caveat emptor...
I just bought what is apparently repackaged laughing cow cheese spread as "President Brie". Honestly, given how much better this is than the typical yet extremely expensive processed cheese-food slices, I'm not that displeased. guess I'll have to get my umami fix via non-dairy sources for the most part. :P
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Briefly...on society's metabolism with nature...
So there seem to be vastly fewer garbage cans with for public (or quasi-public) access here (in comparison to a variety of locations in the US). Perhaps accordingly, there seems to be a slightly higher incidence of littering (compared to Portland, lol). However, litter also seems to be cleaned up more quickly (as is evident by a very high turnover in types of litter and how quickly given spots will transition from refuse-bearing to clean). So whatever they have going on here works...but I don't like carrying refuse for such long distances...
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Weber in Korea (on the separation between office and household)
One of Weber's strands of argument, found both toward the beginning of The Protestant Ethic and the essay on Bureaucracy is that modern, rational capitalism will be marked by a distinct separation between office and household. It is only with this separation that adequate rationalization of the capitalist firm is possible, because insofar as the office is integrated into the household, business decisions (or execution of bureaucratic duty, depending on the nature of the office) won't be maximally rational. Blurring between office and household introduces extra-rational influences into the process of decision-making (due to deference to both tradition and status) and partially subordinates capital accumulation to practices of consumption guided by dynamics of the household.
My experiences thus far pose challenges to Weber's thesis. My director's family, including her husband, sister, and mother, clearly share economic resources pertinent to the business (particularly cars), but they also volunteer oversight and care for their children at the school spontaneously and naturally. Moreover, the director often invites employees attend recreational activities, meals, etc., sometimes blending work into play, but sometimes not (clearly, this often enhances extraction of labor's productivity).
There are, however, caveats to my ability to draw conclusions from these experiences, given that I am trying to infer from my experiences with a single business and family. First, it could be that this particular firm (and/or the corresponding director and/or family) is just idiosyncratic. Perhaps in other Hagwons, businesses are more classically bureaucratically rationalized. Second, maybe this trend is specifically adaptive to the Hagwon system. When you have employees who are specifically disoriented after having traveled into a radically unfamiliar cultural context, the provision of a family-like environment can help these employees cope. And third, the Korean case might be born of specific, transient social circumstances rather than suggesting something in particular about which social arrangements are most successful among capitalist firms. Indeed, my director claims that Korea, as a whole, was poor very recently. Regardless of whether this is statistically true (every nearly every 'underdeveloped' area has a wealthy local elite), this suggests that her family went through a rapid, recent transition where their economic activity radically changed in just a few decades. Under such conditions, we would expect some degree of persisting 'economic traditionalism'.
My experiences thus far pose challenges to Weber's thesis. My director's family, including her husband, sister, and mother, clearly share economic resources pertinent to the business (particularly cars), but they also volunteer oversight and care for their children at the school spontaneously and naturally. Moreover, the director often invites employees attend recreational activities, meals, etc., sometimes blending work into play, but sometimes not (clearly, this often enhances extraction of labor's productivity).
There are, however, caveats to my ability to draw conclusions from these experiences, given that I am trying to infer from my experiences with a single business and family. First, it could be that this particular firm (and/or the corresponding director and/or family) is just idiosyncratic. Perhaps in other Hagwons, businesses are more classically bureaucratically rationalized. Second, maybe this trend is specifically adaptive to the Hagwon system. When you have employees who are specifically disoriented after having traveled into a radically unfamiliar cultural context, the provision of a family-like environment can help these employees cope. And third, the Korean case might be born of specific, transient social circumstances rather than suggesting something in particular about which social arrangements are most successful among capitalist firms. Indeed, my director claims that Korea, as a whole, was poor very recently. Regardless of whether this is statistically true (every nearly every 'underdeveloped' area has a wealthy local elite), this suggests that her family went through a rapid, recent transition where their economic activity radically changed in just a few decades. Under such conditions, we would expect some degree of persisting 'economic traditionalism'.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Pics addendum...
This is not as nonsensical as it might seem at first blush; we take out accident insurance, not "absence of accident insurance", right? :P:
I like macaroni of the Occident as much as the next guy, but...
Get fuckin' cruuuuunnnnk...
America: fuck yeah?
So...was drinking in the supermarket aisle where alcohol is purchased a problem? Was the exacerbating causal factor the over-sized display of overfilled glasses? :P
Coffee: it's serious here--you do not fuck it up!
Colonel Sanders: drastically multicultural here:
I like macaroni of the Occident as much as the next guy, but...
Get fuckin' cruuuuunnnnk...
America: fuck yeah?
So...was drinking in the supermarket aisle where alcohol is purchased a problem? Was the exacerbating causal factor the over-sized display of overfilled glasses? :P
Coffee: it's serious here--you do not fuck it up!
Colonel Sanders: drastically multicultural here:
Saturday, January 7, 2012
On privilege, briefly
So I mentioned earlier that I am preparing those of means succeed in competitive university application processes. I didn't know quite HOW privileged some of the kids are. I teach a pair (brother and sister) who actually have a dedicated driver for them. Like, distinct from any of the other household staff.
"Indeed, the aupair shan't be burdened with such trifles." :P
"Indeed, the aupair shan't be burdened with such trifles." :P
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