HCJ Seminar Paper - John Carey - 'The Intellectuals and the Masses'

‘The Intellectuals and the Masses’ was written by John Carey to illustrate the population explosion, to which the intellectuals blame the ‘masses’ for. Any modernist books that were written, were to exclude the newly educated people from the 19^th Century when educational reform took place.

The Revolt of the Masses:

The ‘masses’ are known as the lower class, to which the people are not considered to be individuals they are only seen to be a part of this mass.

The majority of examples within this book are made by intellectuals who state why the ‘masses’ are a highly negative factor to civilisation.

The increase in population within the UK is described as "the essential disaster of the 19^th Century" by H.G.Wells. Wells explains three consequences of the population increase:
1) It causes overcrowding as everywhere is full, for example, trains, cafes hotels, parks etc.

2) It is seen as intrusion by the intellectuals because the crowd has taken over the places originally made for the best.

3) Due to the masses being the bigger party, they have a kind of dictatorship.

It is said that hyperdemocracy has created the modern state because the masses feel it is no longer necessary to have a political representative so they represent themselves, which the intellectuals then say is threatening civilisation. This becomes threatening because the intellectuals no longer have full control over the masses which they at one time had.

Within ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ written by Nietzsche, Zarathustra says, "Many too many are born and they hold onto their branches too long". Meaning he only wants the people who are willing to be different from the norm to survive and too many commoners are reproducing. People are taken within the masses and aren’t considered to be individual.

Nietzsche also stated, "everywhere the mediocre are combining in order to make themselves the master". The intellectuals were worried by the masses growing in power and influence, however they were making sure it did not get out of hand by writing new forms of work, which the masses were unable to understand as they were deliberately exclusive. The intellectual’s viewpoint on education was that it gave the public what the intellectuals wanted.

Popular newspapers were a major threat to the intellectuals as newspapers such as The Daily Mail were created for the masses. Northcliffe viewed newspapers as giving the public what they want. Newspapers introduced a new culture, which the masses followed and therefore bypasses the intellectual. Within these newspapers, stories of human-interest stories were very popular, as they included stories of everyday life, business and politics, which related to the masses. F.R.Leavis stated, "films, newspapers, publicity in all forms all offer satisfaction at the lowest level".

The masses had the same level of enjoyment while reading popular newspapers as the intellectuals had while reading sophisticated writing.

Newspapers then began to cater for women, which all men but mainly intellectuals highly disliked. Northcliffe said women readers are worthy of attention, which also created a threat for intellectuals as newspapers encouraged women to better themselves. "Are you visiting women? Don’t forget your whip." This quote from Nietzsche clearly illustrates how he viewed women.

Leavis said, "culture is at a crisis unprecedented in history", meaning no other period has seen this change of status between social classes. There was only a small minority of people who were capable of appreciating fine art and literature but this minority was being expanded due to more and more people being educated. This led to the intellectuals producing a class of literature that was only available to those intelligent enough to understand it, because once again they were then superior to the masses. Nietzsche states that ‘education should remain a privilege’ which supports the actions of the intellectuals.

D.H.Lawrence said, "only the higher forms of life live, the lower merely survive", and a similar suggestion from Nietzsche is that, "life in the modern state is a slow suicide". There was a lot of thought by the intellectuals regarding elimination of the masses, as it was considered "no more dreadful than the fall of leaves in the autumn". Yeats even said, "sooner or later we must the families of the unintelligent classes".

Modern art was said to be the divider between two classes; those who can understand it and those who cannot. Modern art was used so people can understand more of who they are.

Rewriting the Masses:

You will never see the mass in the physical sense and Nietzsche imagines he mass as a heard of animals, which strips them of human status. It is said that you can tell whether an individual belongs to the mass or the intellectuals. ‘Mass man’ is seen as lower class and therefore common.

The Mass Observation by Tom Harrison was carried out so that 30 observers used an impersonal notation when identifying human specimens. They would identify people by gender, age and social class. (M 45 D would be a male of 45 who is unskilled.) Masses were also considered as bacteria in a similar way that Hitler considered Jews as a bacterial disease. Hitler said, "only when we have eliminated the Jews will we regain our health".

The masses are often seen as crowds because they are dangerous. These crowds are seen to have the same characteristics as women: irrational, impulsive, emotional, and irritable.

Freud explained that the individual, on becoming mass man throws off the repressions of his unconscious instincts. He says that the intellectuals see the mass as being preoccupied with fact and mundane realism. The invention of the camera proved the way the intellectuals see the masses. The camera was in reach of everyone and was very popular among the masses. Taking a picture meant the image was what you see, and nothing more needed to be understood about it, it was fact.

George Orwell was a journalist and explained that he became aware of social classes at the age of 6 when he was forbidden to play with children who were working class. He once had no problem with the children but growing up with this mindset meant he then became enemies with them. He said, "all I knew was that it was lower class sweat I was smelling and the thought of it made me sick". This shows how 19^th Century society manipulated people into disliking the lower class. Only the individual can appreciate high culture and mass civilisation threatens to destroy the individual.

The Suburbs and the Clerks:

In the 1900s there was a significant increase in the number of suburbs and the number of clerks. The increase in suburbs was due to developments in modes of transport, which were in turn cheaper.
Intellectuals were known to have lived in old-style green outer suburbs, which were no longer present due to the greed of the landowners of this time that wanted to keep building houses and buildings in place of the greenery.

It was said that the educational level of the clerks was relatively low because education for the majority in Britain did not exceed basic skills.

The clerks were also unequipped to appreciate high culture therefore the intellectuals did not favour them either. This matter was mad worse when Northcliffe aimed the Daily Mail at the clerks.

"The rejection by intellectuals of the clerks and the suburbs meant that writers intent on finding an eccentric voice could do so by colonising this abandoned territory."

Natural Aristocrats:

Nietzsche said, "men are not equal, and the mistaken belief that they are is to blame for the degeneracy of Europe". He also says, "one has a right to be a philosopher only by virtue of one’s origin".

Being a natural aristocrat means having a secret kind of knowledge which only intellectuals can posses. Intellectuals say you should only trust what your body tells you.

Bell explains that, "civilisation depends on the existence of a small group of people of exquisite sensibility, who know how to respond to works of art and who also have refined appreciation of sensory delights such as food and wine".

　

The masses were very much feared by the intellectuals because they were viewed as a crowd. The only control the intellectuals could hold over the masses was language, which is why they produced new works in order to exclude the masses and to, in effect, keep them stupid so their superiority remained.

WINOL - Week 4 Report - 'Autumn Trends 2010'

This week was our opportunity to start producing features, which we had more interest in. A fashion feature was very appealing so research was underway to get more of an idea of how to style a fashion feature. Claire and I came across a ‘how to’ fashion video on the Elle UK website:

http://www.elleuk.com/elletv/(channel)/FASHION/(playlist)/Fashion-School/(video)/how-to-capes

The style of this video inspired us to create a feature similar to this in the sense that the model stayed in the centre of the screen, with the clothes changing at a quick speed and fast music, without any voice over. It needed to be relevant so the trend was set to be autumn clothes, which were to be our own. Our model was Elsa Findlay, who we approached through a friend and was more than happy to model for us.
The T.V studio seemed suitable to film this feature so we had the help of the production team to help us with elements such as the green screen and lighting.
Our thoughts to begin with were to have Elsa positioned in one place, and slight movement from her but the clothes to constantly change illustrating many outfits for the autumn weather. The background was planned to be white however we were soon informed that this would not work with the green screen, which is how we came to have 3 different backgrounds. As we were demonstrating nightwear for autumn, a wardrobe was the background to which we had clothes draped over the clotheshorse. We had brought leaves in specifically for daytime outfits but also found an outdoor image of an autumn scene, which the leaves complemented well, and for the evening outfits, the image of a lit street was used.

The camera remained in the same position whilst recording and we ensured Elsa’s positioning stayed the same also by markings on the floor. She was filmed for a small amount of time in each outfit, which made editing quite simple, as we needed short clips. To begin with, each outfit was only to be shown once, however, it was then decided to have shorter shots and to keep going back to all the outfits to make the feature energetic.

In the Elle video a remix of a current chart song was used and we were looking to have an upbeat current song also played throughout the video but were aware of copyright rules and regulations, and were told we needed permission to use certain songs. Ellie Goudling – ‘Starry Eyed’ accompanied the video very well however, after asking for permission from the owners of a website to use the karaoke instrumental version of this song failed because this video was going to be published, we found a song from

www.freenotesmusic.com

.

Not having a voice over was agreed before making the feature, and after it was created we felt it did not need one, but it was advised to write a voice over, as it would make the feature better. Our written article for this piece was used as a guideline for the voice over as we tell the audience what they will need to survive the autumn weather. Two versions were kept of this feature, with and without a voice over and I have to say I prefer it without a voice over. 　

WINOL - Week 3 Report

After last week, our editor wanted an off-campus navigation feature produced also aimed at the first year students, as well as two further staff profiles. The team was kept the same, Claire, Jake and I, and we followed a similar plan as the week before, looking for relevant and interesting people to include on the profile page. We decided to interview Neil Marriott, the Director of Winchester Business School, and Kate Gardner, Student Union Entertainment Officer. These interviews remained in the same style as the previous week – Q & A followed by quick fire questions.

To introduce our ‘off-campus’ navigation feature, the piece to camera was done by Jake again to keep these two features consistent and we filmed this at the View Point in the town centre, so the whole of Winchester was in the background.

As this feature was aimed at first year students who have just moved to Winchester, we were looking to include the stereotypical places most associated with students, such as, pubs, clubs, supermarkets with the best value for money etc. However, in doing this we remembered we could not film or name individual shops or restaurants as that would be seen as advertising. We were advised not to name any places individually in order to play it safe, so in the voice overs, places best for students in Winchester were described very vaguely.

Last week we were advised to include interviews in the piece to bring more into it, but because we could not name places – shops and restaurants - individually we decided not to interview anyone to prevent advertising – best meal deals for example. The only interview we thought would have been relevant was someone from Winchester’s Cathedral, but unfortunately no one was available to do so therefore we did not include any interviews. However, we were asked in the debrief why no one was interviewed and also why none of the places in Winchester were named. We were then told we could have done both of those aspects, we just needed to know the right way to go around it so that our piece remained neutral.

Editing was still an issue this week as once again we had problems with many of the computers when logging and capturing our footage. Our deadline was Wednesday morning, the same as the previous week, which was difficult to work to, as there was not a lot of time left to edit by the time we had filmed everything in Winchester town centre.

WINOL - Week 2 Report

The first WINOL week was very daunting. We had our first features meeting on Monday at 2:15 with our editor, who asked us all for our ideas and said she’d like navigation around campus feature made for first year students who had just joined the university. This year the features team wanted to begin including staff profiles on the website of important people around the university, and they wanted two profiles for the website every week, which we also started looking into.

Claire, Jake and I took on the navigation feature and began by booking out a camera and tripod and planned where we would film – where was most important to help first years find their way around. We chose, Reception, Student Union, library, Main Building, Food Hall etc.

To initiate the feature Jake presented a piece to camera outside reception, with ‘The University of Winchester’ sign behind him. We had been told not to include signs in packages if we can help it, however, not including one in this instance may have caused confusion to people outside of the university.

As we are students of the university we assumed we did not need permission to film buildings on campus, but thought we’d better check just in case and it turned out we did, so we approached the managers of each building and asked permission to film.

This was also only our second time using Final Cut Pro to edit anything and we had two days to edit this feature, so were feeling under pressure to finish this and two staff profiles.

While we were editing, we started to research people around the university who would be interesting to include on the features page of

www.winol.co.uk

.
We decided to e-mail the Student Union president, Seb Miell, and managed to arrange an interview for the following morning. As well as carrying out a standard Q&A written piece, we thought of filming quick-fire questions. We asked Seb his age, where he was born, to describe his job as president, future ambitions etc, while the quick-fire questions were more like, Pepsi or Coke? Football or rugby? Night in or night out? We did the same thing for the second person we chose, which was James Knight, who is captain for the university’s football team. The quick-fire questions were edited so that the questions would scroll on the screen in the style of a typewriter then the interviewee would appear stating their answer.

The main complication with editing was the computers, as we had to use a firewire to connect the camera with the Apple Mac, in order to log and capture our footage. But many of the connections would not work so it took us a while to get started on editing all three packages.

Once we’d finished editing the navigation feature, our editor checked it before we exported it and suggested we include interviews from people around the university to add more information and to also put a voice over in to describe all the places around campus rather than having just visual. Our deadline was the end of that day, so in order to put in these additional aspects that had to be moved to the following day. The manager of Waterstones, next to the Learning Café was more than happy to be interviewed, and we got a few words from Martin Filler who works in the Food Hall.

Editing these interviews took a while, as we wanted GV’s over the interviewees however, we did not get any of Waterstones so had to go back at the last minute to get shots of books from different angles etc.

Our Navigation around Campus feature was much improved by the interviews and voice over as it was move captivating and informative for our audience – first year students at the university.

　

HCJ - Freud

Sigmund Freud is known for his theories on the unconscious mind, psychoanalysis and for suggesting that motivational energy for humans derive from sexual energy. Free association was a technique that Freud discovered. It was a technique used within psychoanalysis to help patients learn about themselves and how they feel, and was used as an alternative to hypnotherapy.

• We live in a Freudian world whether we like it or not.
• Freud was seen as a sexual renegade - this damaged our idea of ourselves as noble creatures.
• Freud's ideas contrasted those of the Enlightenment, because he believes we aren't controlled by rational things, whereas philosophers such as John Locke said humans are born with a 'blank slate' and it is the through experience that we gain knowledge.
• He viewed sex as a motivational factor for our actions.
• Women were seen to envy the penis; because women did not have penis' they saw themselves as bad and thought they had been castrated. As a result of this, women loved their father more because he had a penis, and rejected their mother as she lacked this.
• Freud thought that "self-love" as a race was a barrier to science in 3 ways:
  - It stopped people accepting that the earth was not the centre of the universe.
  - Darwin's theory of evolution.
  - The conscious brain was not in charge.
  
• The UNCONSCIOUS is the key to Freud:
  The mind is divided into 3 parts:
  - The Id - this operates on the pleasure principle and reacts from symbols.
  - Ego/Self - which is based on the reality principle; how to satisfy pleasures. (The origin of consciousness)
  - And the Superego - this has internalised rules of parents or society. (As Reich states, 'the policeman inside your head'.)
  
• Freud said there are 5 stages of development:
  1) Oral stage - mouth - premature weaning could lead to problems - eating, smoking drinking etc.
  2) Anal - toilet training
  3) Phallic phase - Obsessed with penis or lack of. Women's need for domination. (Oedipus complex)
  4) Latency - Sex becomes unimportant until after puberty.
  5) Genitals


• The battle between the Superego, Ego and the Id can result in REPRESSION which is when people lock their painful memories into their unconscious mind.
• Problems relate to difficulties in any of these phases:
  - Sublimation - turning sexual energy into something else, art/ sport for example.
  - Displacement - shameful thoughts, turning them into something else/someone else.
  - Projection - sending feelings onto someone else. (E.g. Initiating a fight)
  - Rationalisation - returning to an earlier stage of development. (E.g. Fetal position for comfort)
• The key to psychoanalysis is that you are hiding something form yourself. Freud claimed that he had found a way to deal directly with the unconscious, the Id.
• Hypnosis, pressure method, free association and dreams are examples of this.
• Ultimately these were methods to let off steam, because we could never escape the unconscious.
• Freud believed that aggression could never be eliminated, the idea was to try and control it.
• 'The group wants to be dominated' - there's a fear that no-one is in charge. There's a craving for a parent figure. (Now that 'God is dead'.)
• Freud said that civilisation was there to control people's desires.
• Freud said that in groups, people never gave up their libidinal feelings to their leader and the aggressive instincts to others outside the group.
• Attacks on Freud:
  - Scientific predictions could never be proved as Freud was so vague. 'You hate your mother.'
  - No proof that psychoanalysis works.

HCJ - Friedrich Nietzsche - Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who wrote, 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'. Within this he explained that individuals should aim to be the 'Ubermensch' (Overman). Nietzsche wrote this book with the aim to teach humanity about the Overman and how this must be the meaning of the earth. The Overman is seen as someone who is free from all the prejudices and moralities of human society, and who creates his own values and purpose. Nietzsche suggests that values are what create human beings and that we are to blame for creating high values and consequently having to live up to them.

Nietzsche displays his thoughts and values through the character of Zarathustra. Zarathustra values struggle and hardship, as he believes sacrifice is essential in the journey towards the Overman.
Zarathustra is disappointed as he is unable to talk to all of the people in the marketplace, but then focuses on the people who do listen as he sees them as separating themselves from the 'herd'.

Religion is not considered positive in 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'. Christianity is seen as a hatred of the body and of this earth. Believing in Christianity is like denying the body and earth by believing in the spirit and in an after life. Escaping is something Zarathustra thinks people do through Nationalism and mass politics if their bodies are weak or sick. He suggests that those who are strong enough struggle but those who are not strong enough give up and turn to religion or democracy in order to escape from themselves and their weaknesses.

"The old saint has not yet heard in his forest that God is dead."

"God is dead" is a well-known statement from this book, however the meaning of this is sometimes misunderstood. Neitzsche meant that the shared cultural belief in a God in Europe had died, as oppose to the literal death of God.

It is implied that being rich or poor is seen as too much of a burden to people and could be seen as another way of escape by hiding behind your financial status.

Zarathustra describes the three metamorphoses of the spirit:
Spirit ® Camel ® Lion ® Child

"The weight bearing spirit takes upon itself all thse heaviest things:

In the lonliest desert (once the Spirit is the Camel) the spirit then becomes a lion; it wants to capture freedom and be lord in its own desert. The lion is capable of creating new values, but to create itself freedom for new creation, that the might of the lion can do. The child is innocence and forgetfullness, a new beginning, a sport, a self-propelling wheel, a first motion, a sacred yes. The spirit now wills its own will."

Zarathustra emphasises the importance of sleep and states; "sleeping is no mean of art". It it enforced that you have to stay awake in order to sleep for the whole night. He also states that you have to overcome yourself ten times a day as this causes a fine weariness and is opium to the soul. As well as overcoming yourself you have to discover ten truths a day, otherwise you will seek truth in the night too.

Nietzsche's aim of this book, I believe, was to illustrate to people that they do not have to follow the crowd and that to try to be the Overman was a better way to live their lives because they would have a journey to overcome to reach that goal, instead of using religion and democracy to hide behind.

WINOL Feature: Autumn Trends 2010

HCJ - William Randolph Hearst 2

William Randolph Hearst was born on April 29th 1863 in San Francisco and was an only child. His father, George Hearst, was one of the tens of thousands of men lured to California by the promise of gold. This was known as the ‘Gold Rush’, which took place through the 1840s and 1850s. Mass immigration occurred after around 55,000 people travelled to the Californian gold fields. Due to the masses, one in ten people died in the drive west across the continent. People became inventive and violent and acquired the viewpoint that the further west you went the more American you were.


America had two types of newspapers to begin with, both known as the Penny Papers but one was political and one commercial. Political parties financed the political papers. George Hearst won The Examiner in a poker game, and he used this as his cheerleader for his campaign.

In 1846 the New York newspapers organised The Associated Press, which aimed to be objective due to it supplying content for a variety of papers with widely different political allegiance.

In 1887 William Randolph Hearst took over The Examiner and transformed it by reducing the stories, doubling the size of the headlines and eliminating the advertisements. Also, above the masthead, he put endorsements and circulation figures. Illustrations were then introduced because, “they attract the eye and stimulate the imagination of the lower classes and materially aid comprehension”. Hearst improved the writing within The Examiner by making it far more focussed and urgent. E.g. “Butchered As They Ran.”

In 1896 Hearst poached the Yellow Kid from Pulitzer, who inspired him, and for a time two newspapers both had the Yellow Kid and were described as the ‘Yellow Papers’ (This is where the term Yellow Journalism comes from), which is today’s equivalent to the ‘Red Tops’.

The Journal and The World even battled to solve crimes. They would offer rewards for anyone with any evidence towards a current unsolved crime in order to solve and publish the story first.

William Randolph Hearst is ultimately famous for the Spanish War. In 1897, as the insurrection continued to build in Cuba, Hearst sent one of his best reporters and illustrators to the island. The reporter complained in a letter that he had not heard a shot fired or seen in insurgent. The illustrator who had also been sent to Cuba had said, “Everything is quiet and there will be no war”. Hearst replied, “Please remain, you furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war”.

Hearst created the models for modern, popular/tabloid journalism, which is the style that is used amongst UK newspapers today such as the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and The Sun.

Hearst & Kane

Citizen Kane
& The Life of William Randolph Hearst

• Citizen Kane was an influential newspaper publisher.
• He built his own version of Xanadu. The original was the summer capital of Kublai Khan’s Yuan Dynasty in China, after it was decided that it should be moved to Beijing.
• Xanadu is the fictional estate of Charles Foster Kane. It gets its name from the real ancient Mongolian city Xanadu, known for its splendour.
• Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California, is the obvious inspiration for Xanadu, due to the Hearst/Kane comparison in the film.

In the Film:

• "Cost: no man can say."
  Xanadu is built on a private mountain.
• Kane built it for his second wife Susan.
• Xanadu is used in the opening and closing scenes of the film, it is where Kane dies.
• "Rosebud"
  The meaning of this isn’t fully revealed: it is printed on the sledge he was riding before his mother sent him with her banker Thatcher.

Myth of the American Dream:

• The film was one of the first to depict the American Dream as anything less that desirable.
• When Kane was removed from the securities at home, e.g. fully content playing in the snow at his parents lodge, he is given what could have been considered an American Dream. (Financial affluence and material luxury.) These things however do not make Kane happy.

Materialism

• Kane is a rapacious collector: excessively greedy and grasping: predatory.
• By purchasing so many extravagant goods, Kane attempts to fill a void created by all the people who left him throughout his life. The only meaningful possession he has is the snow globe reminding him of the sledge.

‘The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst’:

• William Randolph Hearst was America’s greatest media proprietor. He invented ‘yellow journalism’.
  Yellow Journalism: (or yellow press) is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines and sensationalised stories to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal mongering, or sensationalism. By extension ‘Yellow Journalism’ is used today as a pejorative decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.
  Origins of ‘Yellow Journalism’: Pulitzer vs. Hearst
  the term originated during the American Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century with the circulation battles between Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal. Both papers were accused by critics of sensationalising the news in order to drive up circulation, although the newspapers did serious reporting as well.
  Pulitzer and Hearst are often blamed or credited for drawing the nation into the Spanish-American war with sensationalist stories or outright lying.
  However, the vast majority of Americans did not live in New York City, and the decision makers who did live there probably relied more on staid newspapers like the Times, The Sun or the Post.
• Hearst owned more than 10% of U.S daily newspaper circulation and more than 15% on Sundays, was one of the country’s leading magazine and radio-station owners and had great influence in Hollywood.
• Hearst rapidly built up the Examiner.
• He was known for hiring away the competitions biggest stars and for surrounding his opponents almost before they were aware of his presence.
• Hearst’s time as a great publisher and unsurpassable market leader ended shortly after WW1, when his publications began to be squeezed between better quality titles and racier tabloids.
• Therefore his strength rested on the accumulated mass of his circulation in many cities around the country, and on his films, newsreels, feature services, newswires, specialist magazines such as, Good House Keeping and Cosmopolitan and radio stations.

"Representing the People":

• "That he had proved to his journalistic colleagues that he was capable of writing good copy from the front was of no political consequence whatsoever."
• "While the news from the fronts had boosted circulation, the new revenue did not begin to cover the added costs of putting out special war editions, sending correspondents to Cuba and the Philippines, and cabling back to their dispatches to New York."
• "[Hearst] intended to end his political career in the White House."
• "During the Spanish-American War, Hearst and Pulitzer had raised the wholesale price of their papers from 50 to 60 cents a hundred."
• "As the evening Journals and Worlds disappeared from the streets and advertisers demanded rebates, Hearst’s and Pulitzer’s editors were left with two choices: to accede to the boys’ demands or use strong-arm tactics to get their papers back in circulation."

"Candidate of a class":

• "Still an outsider – no opposition or standing in the city, state, or national Democratic Party. Hearst had only one link to the electorate and the Democratic Officials who chose candidates: his newspapers."

"To establish himself as a force in the national party and potential running mate for Bryan in 1900, he needed to find a way to make his voice heard outside of New York and San Francisco. The most effective way to do this was by starting up a new newspaper in the nation’s second largest city, Chicago."

A Day of Canvassing

I sent an e-mail, was told to phone, then told to phone back later that evening and was then given a date and time. You could say that I was lucky in arranging a day to follow my local MP on his campaign for the general election.

Arriving early for my 10:00am start on Wednesday 22^nd April, I waited for the Conservative Member of Parliament for Fareham. On the phone I was told to meet Mark Hoban and his team in the car park of the White Hart Pub in Portchester where I could then simply observe or assist with their canvassing.

A woman in a red car was already parked when I pulled into the pub but as it was still only 9:48am I decided to wait until more people arrived until I got out of the car. I recognised Mark Hoban from his picture as he pulled into the car park not long after this. He approached me straight away to introduce himself properly, shook my hand and explained what was going to be happening for the day.

Sue Bell and Nick Walker, who are both councillors for Fareham Borough Council, also came to introduce themselves and discuss some points with Mark. All in all there were six of us helping Mark with his canvassing for the upcoming election.

As Portchester is my hometown, I knew roads fairly well and could have walked to most of the places, but it was easier and quicker to drive and follow the three cars. We drove to the first neighbourhood of the day where I was given the ‘literature’, which consisted of three piles of leaflets. I also had the privilege of wearing the Conservative rosette.

The unspoken rule applied when going from door to door. Once we’d knocked the door, we’d step back and wait roughly 20 seconds for someone to answer the door and if no one came, we’d post the literature through their letterbox.

‘Sorry we missed you’ leaflets were being posted through a few of the doors due to most people being at work. So we knocked on the first door and I stood slightly back first of all so I could get more of a feel for the situation.

"Hi, we’re with Mark Hoban the Conservative MP for this area and we were wondering if you’d be voting for us on May 6^th?"

From this we’d take their response and tell Sue, who would make a note of it on the many pieces of paper she was carrying. Sue had records of the way people had voted in the past, or if they even voted at all. Politics is not a strong subject of mine so I was surprised to see this as I was under the impression that all data regarding votes were kept secret.

Having the names of the residents in each house made a difference when talking to them. When addressing them by their last names they seemed to respond positively knowing they were being treated as individual citizens rather than just a vote.

Within some of the houses, young people answered but the majority didn’t state the way in which they were voting. In a few cases people would wait until we’ve asked who they were voting for to state that they did not live at that house and they were simply cleaning it or there to do the gardening.

A row of houses were raised and the front of the first house was covered in plants and flowers. The elderly man who lived there was sat in his porch enjoying what was a lovely day. When asked if he would be voting Conservative in the general election he shouted:

"I’m not voting, what a load of rubbish."

It became obvious to me that local issues affect Portchester more because it is more of an elderly community. When walking from street to street I noticed a number of posters put up in people’s windows that said ‘Hands off our car park’. Nick Walker would approach the majority of houses with these posters up because a rumour had been spread about Portchester Community Centre.

The centre has been standing for many years but is now deteriorating and is in need of refurbishment. Fareham Borough Council has been putting ideas on the table for renovation of the centre but some suggestions mean the car park will no longer be in use. The amount of posters up around the community meant Nick Walker spent most of the morning going to each house, setting the story straight that no plans had in fact been finalised.

After being informed of the misleading story, many residents were then happy to speak to Nick about other issues and were far more responsive.

As there were only six of us, I spent time with everyone and ask a few questions. But I was shocked to find out that once other parties had been canvassing, if their literature was not posted fully through the letterbox, the next party would take leaflets out with the hope that it would increase their chances of receiving more votes.

We then went to another neighbourhood, still in Portchester and even more ‘Hands off our car park’ posters. As there were so many Mark decided to go to these houses too, and at this point I was walking with him to see how people respond to their Conservative MP.

When people opened their doors, Mark would ask if he would be receiving their vote and if not would be intrigued as to why. He would mention the poster they had in their window and would ask what they knew about the situation. When stated that the closure of the car park was a rumour, a woman said, "Oh…I didn’t realise".

It’s amazing to see how much a local issue can sway people’s voting preferences. People began to listen when Mark was explaining what the local council is in fact trying to do, instead of what the rumours are suggesting.

Radio News Story 4

To here the full story click here

Script:

More than ten thousand hospital appointments have been missed in Andover War Memorial and the Royal Hampshire County Hospital between April and September.

Winchester and Eastleigh NHs Trust are now asking patients to notify hospitals is they can no longer make an appointment.

Missed appointments will not result in patients being referred back to their GP.

A patient from the Royal Hampshire County Hospital explained how it could affect him.

Radio News Story 3

To here the full script click here


Script:

A ‘wheels to work’ scheme is being introduced in the Winchester district to help sixteen to twenty five years old, who have limited access to public transport, get to work, college or interviews.

This scheme allows young people to borrow mopeds for a maximum of twelve months which will cost twelve pounds per week.

Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council have given funding for twelve mopeds to be fully taxed and insured, so young people, who cannot afford their own cars, have some means of transport.

News Day 2 Bulletin

To here the full bulletin click here


Script:

Two robbers threatened a cashier on Sunday night in the Shell garage on Weyhill Road, Andover.

The employee gave the men the remaining money in the till after being threatened with a metal bar and a firearm.

It is known that the men drove away in blue Renualt Clio, but detectives are encouraging anyone who was at the petrol station, near the time of the incident, to give any information they have to help with the enquiry.

Potholes are causing a dramatic increase in the number of insurance claims due to damage on cars and bicycles.

To repair all major potholes on our roads one hundred and forty million pounds will be deducted from the council’s budget, as each pothole costs seventy pounds to repair.

The AA has been tracking this increase for the last two years.

Two hundred thousand pounds has been awarded to Fareham Borough Council in order to create an Eco-town within Hampshire.

The Eco-town will consist of seven thousand new homes, schools, shops, community centres and a large amount of open space.

Money will also go towards a new ‘green’ development site, which will focus on green space and renewable energy.

Executive Leader for Fareham Borough Council, Sean Woodward, said this will have a positive impact on local neighbourhoods.

AUDIO

Money will be raised for homeless charities as people take part in ‘Winchester Walk for the Homeless’ on Sunday the 9^th of May.

Fifty thousand pound is hoping to be raised by people walking to sites such as the Itchen River and returning to Winchester Cathedral.

Celebrations will be held at the Cathedral between 12 and 3:30 for people who have taken part.

News Day 2: Eco-Town

To hear the full story click here

Script:

£200,000 has been awarded to Fareham Borough Council in order to create an eco-town within Hampshire.

The eco-town will consist of 7,000 new homes, schools, shops, community centres and a large amount of open space.
Money will also go towards a new 'green' development site which will focus on green space and renewable energy.

Executive Leader for Fareham Borough Council, Seàn Woodward, said this programme will have a positive impact on local neighbourhoods.

William Cobbett & Charles Dickens - HCJ Lecture

• Cobbett: Born in March 1763 and died in June 1835. He was known for being a pamphleteer, farmer and journalist.
• His main belief was that in order to end the poverty of farm labourers, there needed to be a reform in the government and an abolition of ‘rotten boroughs’ – Boroughs which could gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament.
• Cobbett was an anti-radical who became a radical. The thing that changed him was the plight of farm workers in the early 19^th Century. He thought that rapid industrialisation was going to destroy traditional ways of life.
• Cobbett spent about 20 years abroad, in America and France, in the army but when he returned from war, he was shocked at the state of the countryside.
• "When farmers became gentlemen, labourers became slaves."
• Cobbett has no time for the government that taxed farmers, or the army who he says, are free loaders, or the church and it’s tithes.
• He was nearly 60 when he began writing Rural Rides.
• He then went on to write the Political Register which was read by the working class.
• A tax on newspapers led Cobbett to publish the Political Register as a pamphlet, which had a circulation of 40,000.
• He was put in Newgate prison for sedition and fled to America to avoid another jail term. Cobbett was charged with libel three times after returning.

　

• Dickens:
• Charles Dickens was born 7^th February 1812 and died 9^th June 1870. He was an English novelist.
• He was interested in particular times in Reform. Oliver Twist is a good example of this, as it was concerned with the Benthamite Utilitarian Poor Law, which he saw as an oppression regime for people.
• In Bleak House the particular abuse that he’s bothered by is the Court of Chancery – and the law cases that went on for generations and cost a fortune. But it becomes a metaphor for all that’s wrong with Victorian Society.
• Dickens was disappointed with the law.
• As a writer he is calling on his reader to act. "Dear Reader! It rests with you and me whether similar things shall be or not."

• A tale of two revolutions – and two perspectives – Urban (Dickens) and Rural (Cobbett)
• England did well from the French Revolution – it was very expensive during Napoleonic War – income tax was created in 1799 to pay for the war effort.
• British Naval power was absolute (certainly after 1805) and the blockades of the French ports destroyed French trade and created a boom for British exports – to such an extent that British manufacturers were actually clothing the French Army.
• With the other European armies occupied, the British started building it’s empire – India, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka – trading monopoly with South America
• The Transatlantic Trade – enormously profitable for Britain – 16^th Century one million slaves transported from Africa to America – 17^th Century three million – 18^th Century seven million. Abolition of Slavery Act 1833.
• Textiles made up 60% of exports. Coal output doubled between 1750 and 1800.
• Manchester went from 17,000 to 18,000 people from 1760 to 1830. The city was seen as revolutionary, it was something that had never before been seen. Marx and Engels.
• Cotton was key to the Industrial Revolution – the raw material came from the slave plantations in the American South – but it was the modern Lancashire which produced the finished article – mainly for export.
• Inventions (Gas light) allowed process to be done in enormous factories by mostly women and children.
• The end of the war meant end of the boom – this caused widespread unemployment and a steep fall in wages. In response to this the government brought in the Corn Laws which put in a tariff on imported grains.
• Conditions in towns and cities were dire – most people lived in slums and Cholera was common.
• The penalty of brutal repression on any sort of dissent and strict penal penalties (exportation – tolpuddle martyrs) was effective in short term
• Peterloo (steamed from Waterloo) Massacre – 1819 Manchester – cavalry charged a crowd of 60,000 demanding parliamentary reform – 11 people died.
• The protesters demanded that growing industrial towns of Britain should have the right to elect MPs. Less than 2% of the population had the vote at the time, and resentment was sharpened by the ‘rotten boroughs’ such as the village Old Sarum which had 11 voters and two MPs. Manchester and Leeds had none. Reform Act 1832.
• Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 meant that bread became cheaper but wages could be lowered because workers could survive on less.
• Farming:
• Enclosures had ended the idea of landholding peasantry – and there was nothing to stop the transfer of the workforce from non-industrial to industrial.
• Population had been rising only slowly or not even rising – from about five million people at the end of the 17^th Century until the middle of the 18^th Century.
• (Seminar notes – Cobbett wants to see people working for a living on the countryside – but there is no countryside left)
• After 1770 is started to rise dramatically – doubling every fifty years after that – although Cobbett disputed that with evidence of the populations in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
• Swing Riots – Rural labourers opposed to the use of new advanced technology such as threshing machine

• The Poor:
  The poor were looked after by the Speenhamland System which was devised as a means to alleviate the distress caused by high grain prices.
• Means Tested was a top up for wages, which was dependent on the number of children a family had and the price of bread.
• The immediate impact of paying this poor rate, fell on the land owners of the parish concerned.
• New Poor Law Act 1834. The Act that stated that no able-bodied person was to receive money or other help from the Poor Law Authorities except in a workhouse.
• Bentham argued that people did what was pleasant and would not do what was unpleasant, therefore if people were not to claim relief, the relief had to be unpleasant. This was the core of the argument for ‘stigmatising’ relief, making it in the happy phrase of the time, ‘an abject of wholesome horror’.
• The Act effectively criminalised the Poor

• Ireland (Act of Union 1801)
  Joined UK in this year
• During the years of famine, Ireland was a new exporter of food, armed troops escorted the crops to the ports to be exported to England. The export of livestock actually increased during the famine years.

　

Facebook Abuser

Reading the Sun today, I came across a story which I found quite disturbing mainly due to the lack of public awareness.

Dyanne Littler was engaged to a man who she met on Facebook and thought she knew well. It turns out that she knew little about him because police chose to keep his criminal past a secret. Peter Chapman raped and murdered a 17-year-old girl, but Dyanne knew nothing about this until police informed her, luckily before she married him.

Dyanne Littler deserved to know the truth about the man she was about to marry, but he became a danger to society, as no one knew the truth, which brought him that much closer to almost hurting someone else.

Peter Chapman uses a fake identity on Facebook to talk to females. This is how he met Ashleigh Hall the 17-year-old girl, who he murdered. Ashleigh’s mother asked Facebook to install a panic button, so girls can report men who they think may be dangerous. Facebook have rejected this request though. Something like a panic button would make social networking sites, like Facebook, that much safer for young girls who can be easily manipulated. I find it odd that Facebook have rejected this request because the more the site is misused, the worse the reputation of Facebook will be.

Newsday 1: Student Accommodation Proposal

To hear the full story click here

SCRIPT:

Winchester landlords may need approval from local authorities if they wish to turn new properties into student digs.

The government plan to give local authorities the power to stop landlords placing three or more tenants, who are not related, in a new property.

Fiona Boothe, Branch Manager of Personal Homefinders, explained what may come of this proposal.

AUDIO:

"I think this would have a far more, more of an impact on the students themselves, every year we struggle in Winchester to house the students and there's never enough student accommodation. So this will have a devastating effect on the students far more than it would landlords, 'cos landlords would just adjust, to the type of tenants they will get."

The Philosophical Views of Kant and Hegel

Kant was an 18th century German philosopher who was born in 1724 and died in 1804. Kant was the last influential philosopher of modern Europe in the sequence of the theory of knowledge during the enlightenment. He believed in democracy and had strong views regarding the Rights of Man which is clear when he states, "There can be nothing more dreadful that that the actions of a man should be subject to the will of another."

Kant's most important book is the 'Critique of Reason' which is written with the aim to prove that knowledge cannot always transcend experience however knowledge is in effect a priori and is not always taken from experience.


German idealism is similar to the Romanticism movement, and Kant was the founder of German Idealism. Characteristics of German Idealists are as follows:

- The critique of knowledge as a means of reaching philosophical conclusions is emphasized by Kant and accepted by his followers.
- There is an emphasis on mind as oppose to matter which in the end leads to the assertion that only mind exists.
- There is a passionate rejection of Utilitarian ethics (greatest good for the greatest number) in favour of systems which are held to be demonstrated by abstract philosophical arguments.
- They made innovations in theory, but they did so in the interests of religion.


Kant uses the term priori which means we have knowledge prior to experiencing things. Kant's theory states that if the mind can think only in terms of causality, then we can know prior to experiencing them that all objects we experience must either be a cause or an effect.


Kant made a distinction between these terms, 'analytic' and 'synthetic', and 'a priori' and 'empirical'. An 'analytic' proposition is one which the predicate is part of the subject, for example, 'a tall man is a man' or 'an equilateral triangle is a triangle'. However, all propositions that we know only through experience are 'synthetic'. 'Synthetic' means something is made up of several other things, so here take the example of a cake, in order to make a cake you need flour, eggs and sugar, which therefore demonstrates that the cake is synthetic. An 'empirical' proposition is one which we cannot know except by the help of sense-perception, either our own or someone else's who we trust. And lastly, 'a priori' proposition is one which is more likely to have a basis other than experience. Here Russell gave the example of a child learning arithmetic where they may use objects to illustrate numbers. So 2 marbles plus 2 marbles equals 4 marbles, however, when the concept is understood the marbles are no longer needed.

Kant established a question to prove that although the law on causality is not analytic, it is still known as a priori. He said, "How are synthetic judgements a priori possible?" Meaning how are unnatural judgements possible if you have knowledge based on something other than experience?

Kant's philosophy on space and time is that they are not concepts they are forms of intutition. With this he created 12 categories which are derived from the forms of the syllogism. All of the categories are possible and are all subjective like space and time.

Also within the 'Critique of Reason' Kant states there are only three proofs to the existence of God:
- The ontological proof which defines God as the most real being;
- The cosmological proof which means if anything exists then an absolutely necessary Being must exist;
- And the physicotheological proof which means the univers exhibits an order which is evidence of purpose.

The other philosopher we have been looking at was Hegel, 1770-1831.

Hegel concluded the movement in German philosophy which started with Kant.
Hegel saw that nothing is ultimately and completely real except the Whole. One of Hegel's famous statements is 'the real is rational and the rational is real'. An empiricist will view certain aspects to be facts when they are irrational.

Hegel's idea that the Whole is completely real leads him to state that the Whole is called the 'Absolute' which is spiritual.
He has a metaphysical outlook to which he distinguished himself to other men with two aspects; one is his emphasis on logic and the other is the triasic movement called the 'dialectic'.
Two examples are given to illustrate his dialectic methods:
- He assumes that the Absolute is Pure Being'. No qualities have been assigned to the Being so it is nothing.
- And this leads to assuming the Absolute is Becoming but nothing becomes from this.

Hegel has set out a process which is essential to the understanding of the result. He says it is impossible to reach the truth except by going through all the steps of the dialectic. Imagine knowledge as a triangle to which there are three aspects of gaining knowledge. This process begins with sense perception, whereby there is only awareness of the object.
Then through sceptical criticism of the sense, it becomes purely subjective. To conclude it reaches the stage of self-knowledge where the subject and the object are no longer distinct. It is said that the highest form of knowledge is self-conciousness and the Absolute must possess this quality.

Hegel also believed that nothing was wholly false and nothing that we know can be wholly true. The Absolute is thought thinking about itself.

He explains that you cannot distinguish between ethical sense and the logical sense as logical perfection consistss of being a 'perfect' whole without independent parts but united like a human body.

Another one of Hegel's strong beliefs is that there is no freedom without law, so wherever there is law there is freedom.

As Hegel was a German philosopher, he believed that the German spirit is the spirit of the new world. Many people may disagree with Hegel when he states that there is no real State in America, because a real State requires a division of classes into rich and poor. He then goes on to say that the State is the Divine Idea as it exists on earth.

'The State is the reality of the moral idea'. If the State existed only for the interests of individuals, an individual might or might not be a member of the State. It is said that the duty of a citizen is entirely confined to upholding the substantial individuality and independence and sovereignty of his own State.

Hegel's next statement was very interesting, as I think it may contrast other philosopher's beliefs. 'It is good to have wars from time to time, [because] war is the condition in which we take seriously the vanity of temporal goods and things.'

HCJ Blog - JS Mills & M Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft was a British writer, philosopher and feminist. Her feminist views are likely to have steamed from her childhood, as she had an alcoholic father, and Mary had to protect her mother from her father, as well as looking after their household. She could not understand why her mother would not protect herself against her husband. This lead Wollstonecraft to believe that if women were educated like men they would be respected members of society also, instead of following a lifestyle which has been established by men.

Wollstonecraft had the same outlook as Locke, as she believed that everyone is born with a blank slate and with the right education, anyone can be intelligent and reasonable beings. In her book the ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’ she states that women are naturally weak, which therefore illustrates that women can never be equivalent to men but with the right education they can be of similar status. She also explains that the constitutions of civil governments have put obstacles in the way to prevent the cultivation of the female understanding. In the Eighteenth Century, it was normality that women were inferior to men. ‘Men have the opportunity of exerting themselves with dignity and of rising by the exertions which really improve a rational creature – however the female sex are born with certain sexual privileges, but few will ever think of ways of acting beyond the call of duty to obtain the esteem of a small number of superior people.’ This is due to the lack of education as well as the lack of encouragement by society at this time.

Wollstonecraft says that women are similar to the rich in the sense that they are to be observed, to be attended to and to be taken notice of with sympathy is what they seek. However she also makes the comparison of women and the poor, stating that if you teach them to read and write and you take them out of the station assigned them by nature. John Stuart Mills was a philosopher who worked on liberty, justified freedom of the individual. It was Mills who introduced the first bill to give women the right to vote, as he thought it was only fair to give all citizens the right to vote.

Liberty meant the protection against tyranny of political rulers. Mills saw power as necessary however he did see it as dangerous as the rulers could use their power against their subjects. Mills stated that rulers needed to be identified with the people and that their interests and will should be the interests and will of the nation.

Mills believed that people in their private dealings should be free as long as no-one is being harmed. If someone is in fact being harmed then the state can interfere. Offence was down to opinion so only if you were provocative towards someone in order to get them to commit a violent act against another individual, could the state step in.

John Stuart Mills also explained that if 99% of people were in agreement the 1% should not be silence. He felt very strong about equality, as did Mary Wollstonecraft.

John Wilkes was our first liberalist. Liberalism is a political orientation that favours social progress by reform and by changing laws rather than by revolution. Wilkes wrote an ‘Essay on Women’ which was his most famous writings.

Local Council Meeting 18-02-2010 7:00pm

Attending a local council meeting wasn’t exactly thrilling, however I must admit I did not realise how formal it was going to be. I was expecting a couple of chairs in a room with one person leading the discussion, but when we bowed to the major my expectations changed.

The major stated that the main aim for the meeting last night was to establish the budget. To begin with 10 questions were answered by one of 10 councillors sat either side of the major, then if necessary other councillors were able ask further questions.

Question 5 asked, “What arrangements are being made to enable prospective tenants to view properties before they agree to the tenancy?” Councillor Coates said in response, “Our main priority is to ensure maintenance for the properties is upheld to a high standard.”

Question 10 asked, “Why has a house in Jesty Road, which has been on the market for over 18 months, been withdrawn from sale?” Councillor Coates said the sale of this property has been delayed due to advice from appointed agents and health and safety regulated works have been carried out to make this property safe. He said that this property had not been withdrawn from sale.

As the major said that the meeting could potentially go on until 11:00pm we decided to leave early and therefore missed the discussion about the budget. Overall I found it was an interesting experience.