Chapter 7 Summary: The smell of Greeley, Colorado is unmistakable, the smell of meat, manure and death. Greeley is a small meatpacking town, very similar to what once were the meatpacking districts of Chicago before industrialization took over and forced all the small companies out of business. The same process as in the fast food restaurants were applied to the meatpacking companies, to industrialize. The skilled, and highly paid butchers were being replaced by migrant workers who only had to stand in one place and do one thing all day, for half the pay. Slowly unions and smaller companies were pushed out of business by these huge industrial giants who, between three companies, controlled almost the entire beef market, among others.
Chapter 7 Quotes: "Holman and Anderson designed a production system for their slaughterhouse in Denison, Iowa, that eliminated the need for skilled workers. The new IBD plant was a one story structure with a disassembly line. Each worker stood in one spot along the line, preforming the same simple task over and over again." (p.153).
"I met hard-working, illiterate, religious people willing to risk injury and endure pain for the benefit of their families." (p.165)
Questions/Responses:
- How does the blatant disregard for human safety and well being show how the road to profit can cause people to loose track of what is right and wrong?
- I've noticed that not only to the people who are in power, but to the people who aren't the easiest way is often the best, and most celebrated by all. By having everyone do the easiest possible job, you can pay them less and they can come right in and work instead of having to teach them how to work and having a period where they adjust.
- How does this laziness connect back to the degenerating backbone of America and how the basic work ethic is slowly dissolving and being replaced more commonly by foreign, often undocumented workers who are willing to not only work hard, but for a much lower price then we are?
- How does our reliance on our government to support us even when we aren't working and contributing to society in any positive way give in to this breakdown posed in the last question?
Chapter 8 Summary: The floor of the slaughterhouse was covered in blood, i had to wear knee high boots with my pants tucked in. As we toured the facility we saw workers silently doing their jobs, not talking to each other for fear that they might fall behind. The cows are brought in and a single man is responsible for stunning each one, while another is responsible for cutting their throats. In these types of environments, injury is common and because most of the workers are illegal, these injuries often go unreported. Women are subject to sexual harassment while men take methamphetamines to keep up with the work because they believe it makes them work faster. Often health violations and other safety precautions are ignored or simply fined. The companies use and abuse their workers, forcing them to work even while they are injured. All in the name of making a bigger profit.
Chapter 8 Quotes: "The line speeds and labor costs at IBP's nonunion plants now set the standard for the rest of the industry. Every other company must try to produce beef as quickly and cheaply as IBP does; slowing the pace to protect workers can lead to a competitive disadvantage." (p.175). "Once strong and powerfully built, he now walks with difficulty, tires easily, and feels useless, as though his life were over. He is forty-six years old." (p.190).
Quotes/Responses:
- In what ways does the way these meat companies treat people connect back to the way they portray them as being treated?
- How does the misuse of underprivileged "Americans" by these top tier meat producing companies go unpunished and what does this show about the structure of America, where the rich get away with inhuman treatment and the workers are forgotten and ignored?
- Because of the profit and the tax money that comes from these companies, they can never really be shut down. They are needed and when it takes too much work to replace them and reform them, the powers at be would rather just turn a blind eye and ignore the problem and pay off those who don't do that. That is the American system at it's finest.
- Because of the necessity of these companies, is it safe to regard these people as expendables as these companies so clearly do? Is their sacrifice really worth it?
Sam,
ReplyDeleteExcellent writing for almost every precis.
Strong questions and thoughts, meaningful "gems".
My favorite line was from post HW 3 - "If the Surgeon General suddenly told us that running was terrible for you, then almost everyone would quit."
Three suggestions:
1. See if you can elevate your writing a bit - keep a bit of the "conversational tone" but make it sound sharper, more succinct, more precise.
2. For instance in the Freakonomics response you ramble a bit and sometimes contradict yourself - or in the Food Diary you say "I don't like to keep track" and then talk about how you calorie count. I think I can figure out what you mean but the writing lacks cleanness, in these places.
3. The word "lose" is different than the word "loose". It should be spelled looz" because "lose" should be pronounced "lowz". But you have to learn to spell it the normal way, you make the same spelling error at least 4 times already.