Disneyland, Family Fun, and the Latest Stage of Advanced Capitalism

During the Spring Break, we took our son to Disneyland in California. It was my first visit, as well as his. We were equally thrilled by the experience.

I am not a huge fan of artificial environments created for mass entertainment. Years ago when I first visited Las Vegas, the place utterly depressed me.

Maybe all the training towards a PhD makes us academics ill-disposed to the idea of popular entertainment. It’s as if the PhD diploma condemns us to watching boring artsy movies and pretending to get the deep dark meaning behind the strawberry scene… anyways, this entry is not about anti-intellectualism…

When in Vegas, I remember finding the place extremely tacky and fake. The air of over-the-top commodification bothered me so much!... It seemed like anything and everything was for sale. Especially the human beings! The amount of in-you-face human flesh became so unbearable for me that in order to tolerate those few days in Vegas, I decide to have a split personality disorder. Here is how it worked:

I imagined myself as an anthropologist doing fieldwork amongst this “weird” clan that was discovered in the deep Nevada desert. They slept during the day, stayed up all night. They lured and tricked the weaker members of their community into loosing their assets in labyrinths called the “casinos”. They liked to display bodies of the good-looking members of their clan in shows called “Crazy Horse”. They also liked to make pathetic models of the objects they liked from the civilized world, like the Eiffel Tower, Venice canals and the pyramids of Egypt. It felt like an extended nightmare with lots of glittery lights, dancing fountains and bouncing boobies…

Because of the rather bad taste on my palate from the Vegas trip, I was hesitant to go to the Disneyland, a.k.a “the happiest place on earth!” However, as guilty liberal parents, we didn’t want to deprive our only son of this experience, because of our moral and intellectual reservations. So, we went. And I’m glad we did!

Aside from spending some wonderful 10 hours, this visit churned the little political economist in me!

The moment we approached the parking lot, we were shepherded by a small army of “crew members”. These employees were all dressed up in the cutest uniforms. They would handle the crowds in the most efficient way, without making them feel rushed at all.

I swear thousands would pass through the main gates at every few minutes, yet the park displayed no signs of overcrowding, chaos or disrepair. Everything looked in great shape, despite the fact that the park was opened in 1955! The conditions and safety measures all around seemed impeccable!

I remember in Ankara, we took our son to a public recreational area in Golbasi once.  He still has a scar on his forehead from the playground there.

I imagine any place in the world with this many children and their overbearing parents would easily turn into a “Lord of the Flies” scene. But not in Disneyland!

The pricey ticket gives you access to all the rides, but the lines are long. People do wait their turns in a patient and orderly manner. Again, the “crew” works magic when it comes to shepherding the crowds in and out of the rides.

And the rides: They are amazing! The first one we went was “It’s a Small World” in the Mickey’s Toontown. It had little dolls from all around the world dressed in the most stereotypical fashion (i.e. geishas from Japan, belly dancers from some magic Arab lands, tulip holding, clog wearing dolls from Holland, etc…). Not much creativity, one might say. But, as we were gliding on a small sandal from one scene to the next, these dancing little dolls just mesmerized us.

I was amazed by the amount of craftsmanship needed to built and program these little dolls to dance and sing in such harmony. Contrary to Vegas, this constructed space of entertainment felt so real! And this sense of a “magic reality” followed us everywhere. It felt as if we were inside a three dimensional cartoon!

So, where is political economy in this?

If you’ve read thus far, bear with me a bit more. Here it comes:

When Disneyland opened in 1955, it had about 1 million visitors. Last year, it had almost 16 million! Tickets are around $80 a piece.  That makes $1.28 billion in revenues just from the entrance fees! Aside from that, you spend quite a bit of money inside on food, drinks, silly hats and other memorabilia.  We spent about $150.

I could not find the numbers but it must take armies of carpenters, puppet makers, gardeners, genitors, mechanics, engineers and maintenance people to keep that place up and running. From 8 am till midnight!

Seeing Disneyland consolidated my opinions about the dominance of the US in service sector. Essentially, Disneyland is all about selling a fictitious reality, a dream. And 16 million visitors each year are willing to pay for it!

California itself is the capital of this huge service sector. It is also the heart of the global entertainment sector. The studios –big and small- the artists –big and small- are the bastions of this empire. Tourism is completely catering towards the entertainment industry, feeding into the magical image of California and the America it creates.

After seeing Disneyland and California, I thought the US need not worry about the demise of its manufacturing sector. Let the Mexicans build the cars and the refrigerators. The Americans would do just fine, by creating magical realities and marketing it across the world.

Unfortunately, all this glitter of the service sector hides a rather dark side. For every actor or producer that makes millions and lives in giant mansions, there are tens of thousands of low-wage stagehands, stunts, waitresses and cleaners that earn pitiful wages with little or no benefits.

Lucky me, I just came across some data that back up my observations. According to OECD statistics, the US had the highest share of low-wage jobs among advanced economies.

This is not surprising, given the increasing predominance of the service sector in the US and its extremely inequitable wage structure. There is an astronomically wide gap between the leading artists and the stagehands. Similarly in banking, finance and insurance sectors, the wage gaps between the top and bottom are outrageous. Whereas in the manufacturing sector, the gap between engineers or administrators and the shop-floor workers had never been that wide.

Moral of this story: Take you kid to Disneyland, if you have the chance. It is a worthy experience, and the happiness and gratitude in your child’s eyes is priceless.

However, keep an eye on the grinding wheels of the service sector as well. Your happiness comes at the expense armies of low-wage workers.

Hopefully, we will be lucky enough to see another Great Transformation and labor mobilization in our lifetimes, like the early decades of Industrial Revolution. Similar to the 8-hour workdays and the child labor bans of the olden times, we need a new set of labor laws. These should provide a fair distribution of wealth that is generated by this new, post-modern economic sector.

The service sector might be the new locomotive of national economies, but it should take care of its constitutive components in a just, fair and equitable manner.

Wishing you all fun and pleasant lives as in Disney cartoons,

The California-enamored Academic Mommy

On Dichotomies and Fused Identities...

Esteemed Readers;

Nothing about Turkey is simple, easy, clear-cut, black-or-white…

Take it’s geographic location: Is it in the Mid East or in Europe? Is it Mediterranean?

How about the identity? Is it Eastern, Eurasian or Western? Is it Muslim or secular?

How free and emancipated are women? Are we traditional or modern?

Tons of academic and polemical debate is devoted on these... Yet, the jury is still out...

Here is yet another thorny subject: How gay friendly is Turkey?

I remember asking some standard tolerance questions on public opinion surveys (adopted from the World Values Survey), during my undergrad years in Istanbul.

The respondents were given some options of potentially dislikable groups, and were asked to pick their least favorite. Then, we would ask what basic rights and liberties they were willing to grant to their least favorite group.

Here is how the questions looked like:

Which group below is you least favorite? - people who drink a lot - people of a different religion - people of a different denomination - unmarried couples - people of a different race - homosexuals

Do you think …….. should have the right to vote? Do you think …… should have the right to run for office in the parliament Would you like to have …… as neighbors

Nearly in all surveys, homosexuals ranked as the top disliked group.

 Here is where things get fudgy:

Zeki Muren

This is the country where two of the top singers in classical Turkish music have openly defied homophobia. Both were loved and cherished by millions! 

And these were not some young, defiant millions. It was the very mainstream, traditional, middle-aged flock that appreciated the music of Zeki Muren and Bulent Ersoy.

Zeki Muren was openly gay. In the 1980s, he wore gleaming silver platform boots and hot pants at his concerts. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1996. To this day, my mother has tears in her eyes, when she hears Zeki Muren's voice…

Bulent Ersoy

Bulent Ersoy –may she have a long, healthy life- is a transsexual. Although she avoids political issues, she doesn’t shy away from taking confrontational positions either. Years ago she received a lot of heat for taking an anti-militaristic position on conscription in Turkey

What prompted me to write this entry was not Muren, nor Ersoy but the zenne tradition in Turkey. Recently, I had the chance to watch the movie, Zenne Dancer.  It’s a Turkish-German co-production, depicting a male dancer in Istanbul.

While giving the most homophobic responses to surveys, it is the same Turkish society that produced the tradition of men dressed as women, belly-dancing… It was an established, mainstream form of entertainment in Anatolia for ages!!!

            The movie was great! Those interested should not read the reviews but rather go see the real thing. On a topic this controversial, I think one should make the effort to receive the first-hand data, before reaching a conclusion. 

For a great essay on gays, transsexuals and zennes in Turkey, see the eminent author Elif Shafak’s article in The Guardian here…

In these miserably cold winter days, wishing you all some warmth in your hearts for all the human differences...

The heterodoxy loving Academic Mommy

Willie's Kindergarten Days!

Esteemed Readers,

August 18th was a very important day for our family. Not only was it Willie's birthday, but also it was his first day of school!

Willie is attending a real school now. Here is how a typical day goes by:

He lines up outside with his class at 8:30. With the bell, they walk into the classroom. Then, they take out the folders from their backpacks and hang the backpacks in the coatroom. There is this folder ritual every morning. Their teacher, the ever-smiling lovely Mrs. Banks, checks the folders for homework and notes for the teacher. Afterwards, they go and take their places on the carpet. Subsequent to morning greetings, they stand up for the pledge of allegiance.

Below are the words of the original pledge. I included this for my international readers, since like myself, they may not be too familiar with this interesting American ritual...

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Today, with gradual additions, it reads like this:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

So, as we can see, nation-state is alive and well, wherever we go...

After the pledge, the real stuff begins! They do a lot of reading exercises, sing along with the teacher, do writing and coloring. After each project, they pack up and put away their supplies behind their chairs in a very orderly fashion.

There are 23 kids in class. As I spent all morning with them today, I was amazed at how Mrs. Banks keeps on top of them all. She does this in a sweet but firm way. It's been only 4 days since the school started, but they all seemed to have internalized the rules and routines in the classroom. Kudos for Mrs. Banks! And she accomplished all this, despite the fact that her house flooded! I couldn't believe how she still could maintain such a positive spirit despite the $30,000 damage in her basement and an uphill battle with her insurance company. More kudos for Mrs. Banks!

Here are some lessons that I took from Willie's class today:

• In America, they really try to cultivate the kids as independent individuals very early on.

(There was one little girl in Willie's class, who cried for her parents during recess. No one paid attention to her, or tried to cuddle her. Eventually, I went by and tried to calm her down...)

• In America, rules are very important.

(Even when things seem disorderly, there is always an order and logic behind. The kids know where to sit on the carpet, how to sit, where to put their folders, how to browse books and read the pictures. In the end, good behavior yields pennies! The teacher gives a penny to good kids for saving in their penny jar.)

• In America, you need to eat your lunch fast!

(They have only 20 minutes for lunch. And this includes lining up, filling your tray, finding a seat, and opening your milk and other goodie bags. I was so impressed when I saw Willie filling up his tray and opening his of carton of milk all by himself!... And they give no straws!! (See the entry about independent individuals above) No babying around and drinking from straws in the lunch room. Today, Willie could eat just half of his meal (hamburger + baby potatoes) but finished all of his fruit (pineapple) and milk.)

• In America, elementary schools are run by women!

(Today, I barely saw 1 or 2 men around the school premises. The teachers were almost all women, the assisting staff were women, the involved parents (PTA folks) were women and the Principal is a really nice lady... In short, the elementary school is women's turf!)

Wishing you all a great Fall semester, and brilliant, independent students,

Academic Mommy

IR and the Two Cows: The Middle East Version

Esteemed Readers,

I assume that many of you are familiar with the two cow jokes in our discipline. Yep, the famous socialist cows, communist cows, American cows, German cows, French cows, etc... Here is a quick reminder: in the British version, you have two cows and both are mad...:)

Here is the Middle East version of this staple joke. It just came out in Foreign Policy magazine. I applaud the author for his wit, sense of humor and his ability to offend all parties equally.

Enjoy!

Iran:
You have two cows. You interrogate them until they concede they are Zionist agents. You send their milk to Southern Lebanon and Gaza, or render it into highly enriched cream. International sanctions prevent your milk from being bought on the open market.

Syria:
You have five cows, one of whom is an Alawite. Feed the Alawite cow well, beat the non-Alawite cows. Use the milk to finance your wife's shopping sprees in London.

Iraq:
You have three cows: one Sunni, one Shiite, and one Kurd. The first is milked by Saudi Arabia, the second by Iran, and the third smuggles its milk abroad. The United States picks up the manure.

Yemen:
You have two cows. Feed them khat instead of grass and neglect to milk them. Watch them fight each other.

Libya:
You have two cows. You wish they were camels. Feed them only your words of wisdom and kill them if they dare moo.

Hosni Mubarak's Egypt:
You have 10 cows. Neglect to tend to them, but prevent them from fighting Israel in order to get milk from America.

Post-Mubarak Egypt:
You have 10 cows who think they now own the farm. There's still no milk.

Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's Tunisia:
You have two cows. Beat them regularly and use the milk money for you wife's shopping sprees in Paris. When cows revolt, retire to Saudi Arabia.

Post-Ben Ali Tunisia:
See post-Mubarak Egypt.

Qatar:
You have one cow that has hundreds of udders. You use the limitless milk money to set up a television channel that broadcasts to other cows in the region being milked (except Saudi Arabia's)

United Arab Emirates:
You have two cows. You bring Filipino nannies, South Asian laborers, and Russian prostitutes to make sure they're well taken care of. Sell the milk to build the world's biggest shopping mall.

Turkey:
You have two cows and one sheep. You claim that the sheep is really a "mountain cow".

Israel:
You have two bulls. Pretend they are helpless calves.


Fore more countries and the full version of the article, click here

IR and Prejudice: The Unbearable Lightness of Stereotyping

Disciples of my area, International Relations (IR) are probably among the pioneers of political correctness. After all, we are the students of foreign affairs, which includes equal parts of hypocrisy and double-crossing served on a generous platter of “diplomatic language.”

Here is an example:

In our professional jargon, the proper way to refer to genocidal maniacs or narcissistic kleptocrats is “Heads of State in the Developing World”. Yet, despite the long years of socialization in this PC language as scholars, diplomats, civil servants, journalist and pundits, it is interesting how some prejudices and stereo-types can linger on rather bluntly.

Bearing in mind the very international audience of my blog –extending from US to Russia and Turkey to Singapore- I thought my readers would enjoy the stereo-typical images of their countries’ in the eyes of the British government!

Below excerpt is taken from the official documents of Tourism Bureau of United Kingdom. As part of their preparations for the 2012 Olympics in London, they have distributed this "info" to the British business, so that the businesses can “take into account the cultural needs” of their international patrons.

I suggest, don’t make travel plans for the London Olympics, before reading what the Brits think of you…;-J

· Cleanliness is of major importance to Austrians.

· Brazilians do not travel lightly.

· The French will begin eating only after someone says “bon appétit!”

· Russians may come across as cold and not very open or polite people.

· In America, time is a very important commodity. People “save” time and “spend” time as if it were money in the bank.

· The Dutch do not believe in lining up and show almost no consideration in public for a person’s status, gender or age.

· Koreans do not like to talk a lot during dinner.

· Don’t ask personal questions to a Brazilian.

· Avoid discussing personal matters or linguistic divisions with a Belgian.

· Mexicans drink huge quantities of soft drinks and beer. Good conversational topics are Mexican culture, history, museums. NEVER discuss the Mexican-American War, poverty, aliens, or earthquakes.

· The Japanese (particularly women) could be said to have a childlike air to them.

· Although Italians give little care to public places, they are scrupulously clean in their own homes.

· Don’t be offended by Argentine humor, which might mildly attack your clothing or weight.

· Koreans are not Chinese!

And I say: what should the rest of the world think, when they look at that odd-shaped building sticking out in London skyline? Typical British carnality?