tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67592338077754718862024-01-02T23:06:23.166-08:00Jaimmie RileyJaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-52049412412070164452012-01-14T01:16:00.000-08:002012-01-13T21:19:16.734-08:00yeah, I was a drama geek.... only extracurricularly<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WiMHViEWrdU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-74439503794442550392012-01-13T21:06:00.000-08:002012-01-13T21:09:16.191-08:00Videos from Travels to Rwanda & Uganda<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/REzrpWX6aTg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9w0cGBBDlqw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-52009099728773641372012-01-12T07:25:00.000-08:002012-01-12T21:01:14.357-08:00NO SCRUBS - A Call to Advertisers in Affiliate MarketingIn every industry there are aspects that work and ones that need to change or be integrated out. <br /><br />Affiliate Marketing is an extremely lucrative business: basically you have the advertisers who have the campaigns they need promotion on, and you have the affiliate publishers who provide you with promotion. <br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LMWQQYjhcRY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />TLC describes a scrubs as a guy who thinks he’s fly but he’s also known as a busta. Well, scrub in the Affiliate Marketing game has just as bad of a sentiment as TLCs version… or maybe even worse. This is when an advertiser hides transactions and leads from the reporting in order to increase their revenue margin, while supposedly easing the mind of the publisher with the promised payout. However, that publisher is not getting that payout in reality if there are scrubs, and it lowers the overall margin the publisher is receiving. <br /><br />Now, if you’re in the Affiliate Marketing game… you’re probably asking why this girl has not mentioned Networks yet. Well, imagine everything I said, and then pretend the publisher now brokers out this campaign to another publisher [which is what Networks essentially do]. If this publisher [or namely network] takes a margin and a scrub the less the campaign will convert for the publisher and their traffic will essentially be giving free money to the guys from the top of the path, while those at the bottom lose the fruits of their labor.<br /><br />If split testing is possible, do NOT hesitate. You never know what is going on in the backend… unless you’re my publisher :) Then you really should be thanking yourself you’re in good hands. Transparency is my name and sales are my game… I just wish the rest of the industry felt the same.<br /><br />*this post was originally written for <a href="http://jaimmieleadcola.tumblr.com/">http://jaimmieleadcola.tumblr.com/</a>*JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-44154985761223375272012-01-11T21:12:00.000-08:002012-01-13T21:14:07.873-08:00Little Lion Man [Mumford & Sons Cover] - Jaimmie Riley<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/95XTI2Z80U4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-13483315961169396692011-12-13T12:10:00.000-08:002012-01-13T17:07:03.152-08:00the "do's and don'ts" of Kingston, Ontario... in Arabic<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IAZIEm0ZeJM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />In my final year of University, I took an Intro to Arabic class as a part of my Global Development Studies portion of my degree. This video was a final project, detailing the "do's and don'ts" of Kingston, Ontario: the town in which my University is Located.<br /><br />Excuse the brutal accent and the REALLY SLOW talking lol.JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-34805217305819246992011-11-11T17:12:00.000-08:002012-01-13T17:19:50.624-08:00Bieber Mashups... oh yes, it's true.Stand By Me Baby - Mashup between Justin Bieber and Ben E. King - by Jaimmie Riley<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/72Zc-rVK3nQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Baby, Stand by Me Beautiful Girl - Mashup between Justin Bieber, Ben E. King and Sean Kingston - by Jaimmie and Stefan for the African Caribbean Students' Association (ACSA)Culture Show 2011<br /><br />Pardon my mic not working the entire time lol<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-7JSBWqgnEw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-42173139661529861612011-09-10T20:10:00.000-07:002012-01-13T17:12:22.906-08:00You Are my Sunshine (cover) - Jaimmie Riley<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BeDNvPCx4BQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-15370078143929344592011-02-16T10:26:00.000-08:002011-02-16T10:29:12.680-08:00Skin Lightening Poster<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5450939423/" title="Skin Lightening Poster for SOCY 233 by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5450939423_6ae19ebdef.jpg" width="499.5" height="750" alt="Skin Lightening Poster for SOCY 233" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-9601513681147501732011-02-06T19:12:00.000-08:002011-02-06T20:33:53.714-08:00re-VULVA-lutions<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5423322237/" title="re-vulva-lutions: by the world by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5013/5423322237_bc9676ff44.jpg" width="500" height="391" alt="re-vulva-lutions: by the world" /></a><br /><br />This year WEC and the producers of Queen's Vagina Monologues 2011 have decided to host a double feature! Not only will they be doing monologues from Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues, but will be performing new monologues in re-VULVA-lutions.JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-63093734959314453342011-02-06T18:53:00.000-08:002011-02-06T18:54:14.720-08:00ACSA's Black History Month Calendar<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5414172484/" title="Picture 10.png by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5414172484_451832a75e.jpg" width="415" height="500" alt="Picture 10.png" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-21965329625822326232011-02-03T14:44:00.000-08:002011-02-03T14:48:58.419-08:00Queen's Celebrates Black History MonthFind the Article online at <a href="http://www.queensu.ca/news/articles/queens-celebrates-black-history-month">QueensU.ca</a><br /><br />Queen’s history is full of people who have made a significant impact on their community. Robert Sutherland, Karl Bennett and Alfred Pierce are three such individuals who are being recognized this month as part of the African and Caribbean Students’ Association (ACSA)’s Black History Month celebrations.<br /><br />Starting February 3, students, faculty and staff can participate in a variety of events to celebrate the cultural backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals such as these. Whether it’s for education, supporting a good cause, participating in a workshop, or attending a concert, there are many ways to be involved.<br /><br />“The events are meant to educate, celebrate and remind the Queen's community of important figures and events, and the roles they played in attaining and maintaining freedom in many parts of the world today,” says Jaimmie Riley, ACSA’s Educational Officer.<br /><br />This year, the ASCA is working to show the Queen’s and Kingston community that “Black History is Everyone’s History”, and how this shapes and informs society as a whole.<br /><br />A panel discussion next week on Canada’s immigration policy aims to encourage dialogue about Canada’s attitude toward immigrants as reflected through public policy decisions and the experiences of immigrants.<br /><br />“Immigration is an issue that concerns each and every person living within Canada’s national boundaries,” says Kris Singh, PhD student and event organizer. “It is crucial that discussion of this issue is encouraged at all levels of society.”<br /><br />The panel will include Professor Sharryn Aiken of the Faculty of Law who specializes in migration law and policy as well as Gosia Kierylo Malolepsza, PhD Candidate whose research focuses on race, public policy and human rights in Canada.<br /><br />List of Events:<br /><br />Chancellor Dunning Trust Lecture<br />Thursday, February 3 5:30pm, Goodes Hall 348<br />Topic: “Poor Black Communities and the Global Trope Urban North America’s New Space of Exceptionalism”<br /><br />QCRED Movie Screening and Discussion<br />Thursday, February 3 7pm, Dunning 12<br />Movie: Tongues United<br /><br />Radio Documentary by Queen’s alumna Anna Thomas<br />Monday, February 7 7pm<br />Part 1 of 3 – CFRC 101.9FM<br /><br />Ban Righ Center & ISKA Concert & Workshop <br />Tuesday, February 8 5:30 – 7:30pm, Ban Righ Centre<br />Come highstepping with Sheesham & Lotus. Enjoy a light supper and a concert/workshop about the history of instruments such as the fiddle, banjo, harmonicas, jaw harps, bones, patting juba and more.<br /><br />Panel Discussion on Immigration<br />Tuesday, February 8 6-8pm, Watson Hall 517<br />Panel discussion of Canadian immigration policy in relation to race and racism, featuring Professor Sharryn Aiken, PhD candidate Gosia Kierylo Malolepsza and others.<br /><br />Rhythm of Africa<br />February 10 6-8:30pm, QUIC (2nd floor of JDUC)<br />Join QFTC & the ACSA as they celebrate African culture with music, food, and a silent auction with all proceeds going to QTFC’s school project in Kenya. <br />Tickets: Early bird - $6; At the door - $8.<br /><br />Music Workshop with Blake Carrington<br />Sunday, February 13 10am-6pm, Performance Lounge, JDUC<br />Workshop on lyrics and editing with Carrington and his cameraman, “Bobby Fresh.” <br />Tickets: $5 or free with the purchase of a ticket to Carrington’s all-ages concert.<br /><br />All-Ages Blake Carrington and DJ Romeo Concert<br />Sunday, February 13 9pm, Elysium Nightclub<br />Blake Carrington, Toronto-born rap artist in performance at Elysium Nightclub. <br />Tickets: early bird - $15, regular - $10. <br />Contact: Jaimmie Riley or Rochelle Burke<br /><br />Radio Documentary by Queen’s Alumna Anna Thomas<br />Monday, February 14 7pm<br />Part 2 of 3 – CFRC 101.9FM<br /><br />Kingston Interval House Movie Screening<br />Tuesday, February 15 6:30pm, QUIC (2nd floor of JDUC)<br />Discussion with writer and director Sobaz Benjamin (Movie: Race is a Four-Letter Word)<br /><br />QCRED presents Welcome to Africville by Stolen from Africa<br />Wednesday, February 16, JDUC<br /><br />Radio Documentary by Queen’s Alumna Anna Thomas<br />Monday, February 21 7pm<br />Part 3 of 3 – CFRC 101.9FM<br /><br />Queen’s Black History Month Display can be viewed in the Upper Level of the JDUC, Queen’s Centre & Mac-Corry throughout the month of February.JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-3217374325451457412011-01-17T21:43:00.000-08:002011-01-17T21:44:53.377-08:00Terrorism is in the Eye of the BeholderFueled by a national idea of manifest destiny, the United States of America (USA) has believed its expansion of control and power has been inevitable. As such, the imposition of their hegemony throughout the world was considered natural and necessary for this self-fulfilling prophecy. However, is the driving vehicle of capitalism, as a western conception, natural and necessary for the success of countries? It has proved to be working for the Western World, justifying its necessity through their economic modernization. Even poverty has been considered a part of the process: “But at least for the next several decades, the discontent of poorer nations does not threaten world destruction. Shameful as it undoubtedly may be, the world has lived at least two-thirds poor and one-thirds rich for generations. Unjust as it may be, the power of the poor countries is limited”(Galenao). The western world had transferred the divisions of labor to a global scale- hence the development initiatives, like family planning, are the bourgeoisie's attempt to suppress the turmoil within and overall power of the proletariate<br /> <br />With the belief in the superiority of capitalism and western lifestyle it is cumbersome (to the west) as to why “Castro continues to enjoy the support of the masses,” and Cubans need “to face up to the fact their union with Castro is turning out badly.”(Chomsky, xiv). Disagreement and challenge to this opinion, in a Cubans case by supporting Castro, put those countries in ‘the others’ category: there exists the west and the rest. The United states, according to Chomsky, has a mafioso method for coercing compliance: Chomsky’s Mafia doctrine states, the godfather does not tolerate disobedience and uses his goons collect the debt and set a precedent: disobedience is not acceptable. Despite inflicting terror, these actions are in the interest and protection of the american peoples and their freedoms from the possible threat to their private property rights.<br /> <br />It is the terrorist that is then defined by the west and shouls be considered a social construction that helps emphasize and stratify the difference between ‘us and them’. When, in reality truths and idioms can be social constructions which challenges the binaries of right and wrong, good and evil, capitalism and communist, freedom-fighters and terrorists.JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-85379352193862993832011-01-06T20:09:00.000-08:002011-01-12T11:16:41.992-08:00ACSA Glow Jam 2011NO COVER ALL NIGHT :)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5349777496/" title="ACSA's Glow Jam by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5006/5349777496_a0d4034ba6.jpg" width="386" height="500" alt="ACSA's Glow Jam" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-63930524117083363472011-01-03T15:14:00.000-08:002011-01-24T20:08:05.299-08:00BLAKE CARRINGTON coming to KINGSTON!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5386064891/" title="ACSA Presents Blake Carrington Feat. DJ Romeo by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5386064891_9360bc6e56.jpg" width="386" height="500" alt="ACSA Presents Blake Carrington Feat. DJ Romeo" /></a><br /><br />Prior to the club Blake Carrington will be at Queen's to provide a workshop on lyrics alongside his cameraman “Bobby Fresh” who will provide the editing aspect of the workshop. Later that night the videos will be streamed at the club for your enjoyment, with Blake performing alongside his DJ, DJ Romeo.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5329170835/" title="ACSA Music Workshop by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5329170835_ca6276676b.jpg" width="412" height="420" alt="ACSA Music Workshop" /></a><br /><br />First of all my biggest influence is Damien Goodwin he’s my dad, a Rapper from Buffalo, NY whose nick name is D Dot Tee. He came up in the old school era, and he had a promising career but got lost in the street life. Everything from drugs to alcohol took over my dad’s life. As I got older I saw that he wanted to change his life after being caught up in that lifestyle for so long. My dad is now 15 years clean from everything. My main influences would be; Martin Luther King jr, Malcolm X , Mohammed Ali , 2 Pac , Ray Charles, The Black Panthers, and most of all Harriet Tubman. The common thing about all these people wasn’t just their skin colour it was the dream they shared with the world and never quit until they got their dreams and point across to the world. Now I’m one of those people. I will be teaching everything I’ve learned from these heroes. Their success started with following their dream. Making an impact, and never giving up, they are the key elements in making any song successful… from writing to making the beat and even coming up with the idea.<br />- Blake Carrington Dare to Dream<br /><br />My influences are Spike Lee as a director in so many different things and Hype Williams as a music video director. I will be talking about the different aspect of the film industry, the importance of networking, having a team, and the business side of it and my experiences plus a bio about my experiences. I have been working with Blake for some time now, and have edited, directed various videos, and performances for him, (i.e.) Goodmorning. I have also worked with Dancehall recording artist Movado, as videographer during his Canadian tour. As such I will demonstrate briefly some editing techniques I use when creating music videos. One day I hope to work with such greats as Spike Lee, and Hype Williams, and be recognized for my creativity, and forward thinking within the industry. <br />- Bobby Fresh Oui Self MadeJaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-86397077044958551582011-01-02T07:22:00.000-08:002011-01-03T15:42:34.605-08:00Big Tits. Great Tits. Small Tits. Fake Tits.I remember being 9, playing basketball during recess, when the class clown snapped my bra. <br /><br />I remember being 10 at summer camp. We only had a communal shower and we were not allowed to wear our bathing suits (...to ensure optimal cleanliness?). I was the only 10 year old with a C-cup, and I could see all of my cabin-mates notice.<br /><br />I remember being 13 at summer camp. I was going to free-swim and an older boy, 14 or 15, asked me my age. I blushed and when I told him he replied, “you have really big boobs for a girl in grade 8.”<br /><br />I remember being 16 when the term “titty-fucking” became popular.<br /><br />I remember being 19 and after 3 hours in the operating room and an easy week of recovery, I went from an E/EE-cup to a C-cup. A month later I even had my scars photographed for Vagina Monologues!<br /><br />I remember being 21 and at work, when I see a guy I used to “get intimate” with in first year. Later he asks, with his buddy in toe, “how big were your boobs before the reduction again?”<br /><br /><br />*Published in Queen's Feminist Review 2010JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-36216039023178463032011-01-01T18:24:00.001-08:002011-01-02T14:05:52.369-08:00Symbolic Ethnicity is a White PrivilegeA Reflection on Mary C. Water’s Article, Optional Ethnicities: for whites only?<br /><br /> “Symbolic ethnicity is a term coined by Herbert Gans (1979) to refer to ethnicity that is individualistic in nature and without real social cost for the individual”(Waters, 199): According to Waters, in America, it is only possible for whites to experience symbolic ethnicity, as “discrimination and social distance attached to specific European backgrounds has diminished over time.”(Waters, 199). Thus, this can lead white people (people from European decent) to the assumption that “all identities are equal and all identities in some sense are interchangeable”(Waters, 201). Furthermore, that the systemic racism, white-hegemony and white-privilege that exists, continues to perpetuate eurocentrism, stereotypes and xenophobia. <br /><br /> It is natural for anyone to have questions about what they cannot understand: it is clear that white-americans cannot understand what is it to be a non-white American. Yet, I see it as deeper issue of ignorance and indifference to the non-normative. When discussing white privilege, Flares remarked that, “Whiteness is everything yet nothing: everything because whiteness is the normative but unmarked standard by which reality is judged or interpreted without much awareness of the process; nothing because it is perceived by whites as inconsequential in defining who gets what” (Flares, 34). Flares and Waters both agree that to be non-white embodies a dichotomy or ‘anti-thesis of whiteness’, and when white is normal everything else is not. <br /><br /> Waters states that State regulation regarding racism is always needed, and I argue this is true; however, Water’s comparison to capitalism fell short of an inspiring metaphor and she neglected to suggest favorable regulation. Still, as many of current State regulations themselves perpetuate systemic racism, it is the responsibility of the State to question and amend these regulations. <br /><br /> Despite agreement with large concepts of Water’s article, the strength of conviction is questionable. It is important to question the statistics and essentializing statements made by Waters in her article as they are made without citation; for example in the first paragraph on page 203, she discusses a typical Black students experience with racism without reference to where this knowledge was ascertained from. <br /><br /> As educational officer of the African Caribbean Students Association (ASCA) it continues to be a major goal of the executive to end ACSA’s racialized identity as a black club. As Waters states, “much of what happens among students on campuses involves a low level of tension and awkwardness in social interactions” (Waters, 202), and this statement speaks true to what the club struggles with. When planning events it is always a question of how to encourage non-ACSA members to participate: especially with events like Black History Month and Culture Show. As educational officer my primary responsibilities are soul food sundays (our general meetings) and Black History Month; it is ACSA’s challenge to have the Queen’s community take ownership of Black History Month, recognizing the importance of black history as Canada’s history and the world’s history (don't forget that history in the making!). Furthermore, through my time at Queen’s there have been reported actions of racism: like the islamaphobic comment made my ASUS president Jacob Mantle, or when a Professor was shoved off the sidewalk followed by racist taunting from the pack of three engineering students. However, as a white student, it is rare for me to experience forms of racism at Queen’s.JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-5711841770768748102010-12-31T22:52:00.000-08:002011-01-02T08:57:53.107-08:00my personal FAVOURITE Beer : Steam Whistle Pilsner<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5309059642/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5309059642_728186f34b.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="steam whistle" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5308471061/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5308471061_29b52d33c2.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="steam whistle" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5308470385/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5308470385_c93729dc57.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="steam whistle" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5309056166/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5309056166_f67a7de5c0.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="steam whistle" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5309055456/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5247/5309055456_07c958c1a2.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="steam whistle" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5308480785/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5007/5308480785_1f0e0e6d9e.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="steam whistle" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5309066952/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5309066952_d2664629f7.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="steam whistle" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5308478719/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5308478719_d83ecd1620.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="steam whistle" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5309065028/" title="steam whistle by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5004/5309065028_05209b10ee.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="steam whistle" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-87510430243936592882010-12-30T22:21:00.001-08:002010-12-30T22:21:55.899-08:00MySpace.COM/Jaimmie Banner<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5296898887/" title="bannerJaimmie.jpg by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5296898887_6690911e0b.jpg" width="500" height="136" alt="bannerJaimmie.jpg" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-89816243597836394232010-12-29T19:45:00.000-08:002011-01-01T20:01:06.171-08:00http://www.cs.queensu.ca/newsletter/newsletter2009.pdfhttp://www.cs.queensu.ca/newsletter/newsletter2009.pdf<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5314220747/" title="Picture 18.png by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5009/5314220747_8d01db6817.jpg" width="500" height="266" alt="Picture 18.png" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5314220877/" title="Picture 19.png by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/5314220877_344acfb920.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="Picture 19.png" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-53801429959704213682010-12-28T17:53:00.000-08:002011-01-01T17:55:36.053-08:00Priscilla Queen of the DesertPriscilla Queen of the Desert <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5313900241/" title="Priscilla Queen of the Desert - Toronto 2010 by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5313900241_8f7f9a6d63.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Priscilla Queen of the Desert - Toronto 2010" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-65686396625897969702010-12-22T22:25:00.000-08:002010-12-30T22:43:06.604-08:00Red Bull THRE3STYLEz<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5308450411/" title="RedBull THRE3stylez by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5308450411_1f7161e8f1.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="RedBull THRE3stylez" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948758937/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/4948758937_9bbba0d3cf.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5308445355/" title="DSC_0028.JPG by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5308445355_32b1be26b1.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_0028.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949347526/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/4949347526_166bd7b920.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948758255/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/4948758255_a7024ccb3d.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949347232/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/4949347232_d083ed4356.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949347108/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/4949347108_645eb8123d.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948757637/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/4948757637_13c5011029.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949346586/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/4949346586_5424bcfbf4.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948757347/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/4948757347_e54750fda1.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948757037/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/4948757037_934266e54e.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948756439/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/4948756439_512dfc6b53.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949345012/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/4949345012_bd26f48dfe.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949344392/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/4949344392_4c987070bb.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948754841/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4948754841_0dec8d5b98.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949343816/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/4949343816_353a2d78d7.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949343416/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/4949343416_f87ed86070.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948754145/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/4948754145_66e8f9c90c.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948753831/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/4948753831_0da27b4212.jpg" width="383" height="500" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948753411/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/4948753411_df5c7e90a1.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4949342392/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/4949342392_2e01edb11d.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948753119/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/4948753119_8f93f894f9.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/4948752969/" title="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/4948752969_2fc78e6a89.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="Red Bull THRE3STYLEz" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-70803386553587993682010-12-18T18:40:00.000-08:002011-01-01T18:46:02.318-08:00Global Development and the Idiom of Community: A Collision of Global and Local DiscourseGlobal development since colonization has been influenced by the idiom of community. The collision of the global and local discourses of development, is impacting the implementation and outcomes of the narrative. This paper will discuss colonization and the invention of modernization and community, and how the assumptions about community, market, tradition and ‘the other’ effect the process of development. <br /><br /> The idea of development through modernization is rooted in European colonialism and would create “direct confrontation of 'civilized' Europe with 'savage' and 'barbaric' peoples”(Asad, 1973:264), in the decades to come. Who they colonized and what those societies adopted can have future implications for international relations (Anderson, 2003: 176). The revolution of modern science and technology in Europe consolidated their hegemony, ensuring their dominance (Asad, 1973:264). As the period of colonial rule ended, the technological and economical gaps continue to widen, making the dichotomy of wealth among nations into a global concern. This encouraged the continuation of colonial structure through agents of development continues since the rise of community development in the 1950s, allowing:“authoritarian intervention which was selective and arbitrary; the neglect of the very poor; a bias against women; the submission of technical expertise to the interests of control; and the difficulty that bureaucrats have in accepting multi-task workers and female authority –have all endured.” (Lewis, 2000:374)<br /> <br />The theory of modernization was solidified by W.W. Rostow’s Five Stages of Growth, in which he technically defines the transition of a nation-state from traditional to modern. Rostow views traditional society as a synonymous starting point for all nations and as a hinderance to modernization; with pre-Newtonian, unenlightened ideals creating a ceiling for development, Rostow believes this explains the current gap between rich and poor nations (Rostow 1971: 9).<br /><br /> Mauss, on the other hand, helped cement the idiom of community, defining “community as the bearer of gift, home to barter, share values and embedded relations” (Hayden 2003: 360). As, “an idealized and necessary source or site of quasi-sovereignty, collective authorship and ethical capacity” (Hayden 2003: 368), the community structure is perceived as no only compatible, but critical for sustainable and successful development. This assumed natural structure continues to play its role in development since the age of European-lead colonization(Mosse 1999): “The task of development doctrine was to provide a foundation for state policy and, in so far as the doctrine was developed from Comte to Mill, the developmental ideal of policy came to be that of developing a community” (Cowen & Shenton 1996: 57). <br /><br /> In rural third world development, these communities are presumed in disjunction with the modern world, confined and bound to their land. Their isolation and separation from the state ensures their traditional, natural lifestyle: they have not been constructed by political and historical forces. To ensure sustainability, these communities were seen as needing a form of self-governance. Initially, government intervention would be available to “support economic and social advancement would underpin the very gradual political maturity of ‘African peoples’”(Lewis, 2000: 302). However, static definition essentializes and homogenizes communities, will hinder the success of development objectives like self-governance: if one cannot recognize diversity, one cannot accurately represent the community.<br /><br /> When community is idealized as natural structure, it ignores stratification, and even conflict, within the target society. In the example of Zimbabwe CAMPFIRE project for wildlife management, a respondent was states: “Politics has affected CAMPFIRE. It would have been better if development projects had nothing to do with the councillor or politics”(Mapedza & Bond 2006). This project could not sustain itself, as the elite minority had would not invest in the regulated commons without reciprocity. It is assumed, that “The political elite represent, to a greater or lesser degree, the interest of the mass of the people” (Asad, 1973: 265). However, as the CAMPFIRE example demonstrated, the presumed transparency and effectiveness of political representation of a community is rendered null through elite capture (Derman 1995, Mapedza & Bond 2006, Matzke). The tyranny of elite capture ensures the benefits received from the state or NGO are not distributed to all facets of the community, ensuring the power and economic dominance remain in few hands. As such, these assumed high levels of consensus within the community, do not recognize how various institutions and idioms have influence. The idea of community, is presented as a simple abstraction (Li 2002), and hence easily entangled with seemingly compatible idioms of the market, tradition and the ‘other’. <br /><br /> Marx defined the market “as the site of abstraction, commodity transaction, rational actors, and disembedded and disentangled relations” (Hayden 2003: 368). The market, as per Adam Smith, assumes individuals are rational actors who will act in their own best interest causing the market to naturally regulate itself. The ‘village community’ would be considered the best form for regulation with taxation or rent collection (Cowen & Shenton 1996: 51). The market, is assuming the community to be one cohesive unit, and thus benefit as one(Neumann 1997 ). However, like in politics, the market is captured by the elite class. As Malthus puts failures of the market in development on the over-extraction of rent or tax. While social hierarchies may contribute to that, it is clear that community, as a natural entity, cannot be a factor causing negative repercussions. <br /><br /> Heavily influenced by Thomas Malthus’s Tragedy of the commons that hypothesizes, “humans will increase their numbers beyond their means of subsistence until famine, war and disease wipe out the excess”, development seeks to close the commons to ensure sustainability. As, traditional societies are most often associated with being subsistence based, sustainability is often considered natural value and practice (Li 2002). However, communities deemed as ‘traditional’, can also be seen to lack the means and will to ensure the protection of their commons.<br /><br /> Traditional is considered a natural feature of rural developing communities that involves practice as well as values. However, this traditional knowledge has been heavily influenced by development agents who have instilled new practices and values, or conformed them to fit the development model. For example, “The notion of ‘traditional’ land tenure is largely a result of colonial governance, rather than an ancient feature of African property relations”(Neumann, 1991:573). Local communities have also ‘invented tradition’: “set of practices, normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past”(Hobsbawm 1983:1-2). <br /><br /> The idea of nationalism, a product of colonialism, also rise to traditional ‘minorities’ and ‘ethnicities, as opposition to the forces that changed society and hence reclaim what was taken in the past (Anderson, 2003). However, as “All communities larger than primordial villages of face- to-face contact (and perhaps even these) are imagined. Communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined (Anderson, 2006:6). <br /><br /> In the idiom of traditional wrongly lies the idiom of indigenous. Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are the earliest known inhabitants of a geographical region. However, as discussed previously, homogenization of communities, does not recognize different ethnic groups and stratification (Derman, 1995). “We can see local indigenous societies as subject to some of same troubling politics of class, ethnicity, and gender that confront us” (Neumann 1991:577): From such a general definition, the ‘indigenous’ is often convoluted within ‘community’(Sylvain 2002). Like the imagined fictitious traditional communities have demonstrated, development agents hold the power to the benefits of trusteeship. The development narrative must recognize this imbalance and seek to minimize its power relationship.<br /><br /> ‘Traditional’ and ‘indigenous’ have allowed for the construction of ‘the other’: those inherently different or opposite from the modern west. The idea of the ‘other’ has enabled the west to define their modernity and superiority in contrast with the developing world. In defense, communities have self-orientalized, with the creation of, the preciously discussed, imaginary community (Hobsbawm 1983). The other has been so strongly constructed that people even act in accordance to the illusionary role in order to take advantage of the development programs through legally recognized indigenous status or gaining the attention of development agents (Neuman 1997). <br /><br /> If properly facilitated, it is possible that these contradictions can open up space for debate and reshape the assumptions of the other. Unfortunately, the juxtaposition of the local and global discourses do not turn into realities on the ground(Sylvain 2002). Trustees and NGOs,“seek to introduce long-term conservation directions into societies governed by short-term need fulfillment and development imperatives. This contrast between long-term conservation perspectives and short-term political imperatives is not of course simply a first world/third world contrast; it is an internal political conflict within the societies of the first world themselves” (Derman, 1995:213). Social and historical factors become either secondary or of little relevance to the western idea of development. With little being done to subvert the dominant paradigm (Leach & Fairhead 2000), one can predict development will continue to make changes and create tensions it did not set out to accomplish.<br /><br /><br />References:<br />Anderson, B. 2003. Nationalism and Cultural Survival in Our Time: A Sketch. In Dean, B. & Levi, J.M. (eds.), At The Risk of Being Heard: Identity, Indigenous Rights, and Postcolonial States, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. 165-190. <br />Asad, T. 1973. Two European Images of Non-European Rule, Economy and Society 2(3):263-277. <br />Cowen, M.P. & R.W. Shenton, 1996. ‘The Indian Iteration and Conclusions” in Doctrines of Development. London: Routledge.42-59<br />Derman, B. 1995. Environment NGOs, Dispossession, and the State: The Ideology and Praxis of African Nature and Development. Human Ecology 23(2): 199-213.<br />Hayden, C. 2003. From Market to Market: Bioprospecting's Idioms of Inclusion. American Ethnologist. 30(3) August 2003:359-371.<br />Hobsbawm, E. 1983. Introduction: Inventing Tradition. In Hobsbaum, E. & T. Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1-14. <br />Leach, M. & J. Fairhead. 2000. Fashioned Forest Pasts, Occluded Histories? International Environmental Analysis in West African Locales. Development and Change, 31(1): 35-59. <br />Lewis, J. 2000. The Imperial Politics of Inclusion: Community Development and Social Engineering 1948-53 & Conclusions. Empire State-Building: War and Welfare In Kenya 1925-52. Oxford: James Curry: 298-374. <br />Li T. M. 2002, Engaging Simplifications: Community-Based Resource Management, Market Processes and State Agendas in Upland Southeast Asia. World Development. 30(2): 265–283. <br />Mapedza, E. & I. Bond, 2006. Political Deadlock and Devolved Wildlife Management in Zimbabwe: The Case of Nenyunga Ward. The Journal of Environment & Development. Vol. 15 Num. 4 December 2006 407-427.<br />Matzke, G. E. and N. Nabane 1996. Outcomes of a Community Controlled Wildlife Utilization Program in a Zambezi Valley Community. Human Ecology 24(1): 65-85.<br />Mosse, D. 1999. Colonial and Contemporary Ideologies of 'Community Management': The Case of Tank Irrigation Development in South India. Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 33, No. 2 (May, 1999), pp. 303-338 <br />Neumann, R., 1997. Primitive Ideas: Protected Area Buffer Zones and the Politics of Land in Africa. Development and Change 28(1997): 559-582.<br />Sylvain, R. 2002. "Land, Water, and Truth": San Identity and Global Indigenism. American Anthropologist 104(4): 1074-1085JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-56507803909496362822010-12-13T22:39:00.000-08:002010-12-30T22:41:54.877-08:00The carbon footprint of a coffee bean...<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5175628788/" title="IMG00220-20101112-1438.jpg by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5175628788_4cd5820551.jpg" width="500" height="373" alt="IMG00220-20101112-1438.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I don't know how great it is for a company that prides itself on its environmental practices... then boasts about the large carbon footprint it takes to make each cup of coffee.JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-77337981216522719192010-12-08T14:42:00.000-08:002011-01-01T14:46:13.825-08:00HCI Prototype - iPod iCalendarAndroid used to build high-fidelity prototype for HCI adjustments.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimmie/5313910374/" title="HCI Prototype Flow Chart by jaimmieriley, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5045/5313910374_27770ce590.jpg" width="386" height="500" alt="HCI Prototype Flow Chart" /></a>JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6759233807775471886.post-78460551060804303572010-12-05T08:45:00.000-08:002011-01-02T08:53:03.033-08:00A Summary and Analysis of Hernando De Soto’s Mysteries of Capital“The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else” by Hernando De Soto, is a book about the transformation of dead capital into live capital through the institution of formal property rights. De Soto believes by integrating the extralegal agreements into a unified formal property rights system, the world’s poor will be enabled through the creation of ‘fictitious commodities’. Being a Peruvian himself, the majority of De Soto’s examples are specific to his Peru and various other Latin American countries. Written in 2000, Hernando’s book is from the context of Latin America during the 1990s where the world was recovering from the oil shocks, and debt crisis of the 1980’s and resulting in prescriptions of neo-liberal politics encouraged by the IMF. Peru particularly, had over 50% of it’s population under the poverty line. As the president of the Peruvian Institution of Liberty and Democracy he is primarily focused on capital formation for developing nations, and has been a major influence in economic and legal reform of Peru. Currently, less than half of peru live below the poverty line, and so it seems positive economic change has been made.<br /><br /> In De Soto’s book he claims there are five ‘mysteries of capital’: The mystery of missing information, the mystery of capital, the mystery of political awareness, the missing lessons of US history, and the mystery of legal failure. His obvious focus is on the Mystery of Capital, however the others are the basis for his argument, his evidentiary support. This essay will discuss each of De Soto’s ‘mysteries’, and it’s strengths and weaknesses, then conclude with my opinion on De Soto’s theory of development and prescription for social change.<br /><br /> In ‘The Mystery of Missing Information’, De Soto demonstrates his different, more practical and observational, approach to economics. He quotes Ely Devons saying, “if economists wished to study the horse, they wouldn't go and look at the horses, They’d sit in their studies and say to themselves, ‘what would I do if I were a horse?’” (De Soto, 15). De Soto would not do his research this way, and instead did years of field research around the globe; “Over the past five years, I and a hundred colleagues from six different nations have closed our books and opened our eyes- gone out into the streets and countryside's of four continents to count how much the poorest sectors of society have saved. The quantity is enormous. But most of it is dead capital”. This is what De Soto claim’s to be the missing information, dead capital. If the world’s poor could realize this dead capital into live capital they would have opportunity similar to what many micro-loan institutions do today for hopeful, yet poor entrepreneurs, with no initial capital to realize their goals. This, however, raises questions about the quality of De Soto’s research. Even among 100 colleagues, research on six different nations in 5 years seems barely touched.<br /><br /> De Soto, recognizes the stereotype placed on third-world nations by Westerners. Eighty percent of the world is considered poor, however “80 percent majority is not, as westerners often imagine, desperately impoverished” (De Soto, 15). De Soto is saying that while dichotomies of wealth do exist, the ‘poor’ do have possessions but lack the ability to produce additional value from those possessions. The eighty percent is still surviving, however, De Soto wishes to enable that part of the population to realize their assets, in order to properly join the capital game. <br /><br /> How much will it enable the individual? While the capital, altogether might add up to quite a hefty sum, it does not mean split between all the owning individuals that it is enough to truly enable entrepreneurship from the slums. Furthermore, it has yet to be proven that encouraging the poor into capitalism will help alleviate poverty. In fact, the development theory of Post-Development would argue that this method is the wrong, neo-colonial approach to development. As such, this calls into question the appropriateness of his theory.<br /><br /> At current there are political roadblocks that stand in the way of your average person gaining legal property rights. De Soto tried an experiment, trying to register a business to sell T-Shirts. His researchers “spent 6 hours a day at it and finally registered the business-289 days later” (De Soto, 18). Not only does it take too much time to properly register a business, but the cost alone in this case was thirty-one times the minimum wage of that country, and to top it off, the owner also risks losing the property (as they are now surprisingly more susceptible to government laws). These hurdles to formal property registration are why there so many extralegal sectors exist in these slum dwellings. However it is these “extralegal social contracts have created a vibrant but undercapitalized sector, the center of the world poor… these new entrepreneurs are filling the gaps in the legal economy as well” (De Soto, 28). This is why De Soto has hope for the poor of the world. He believes that “in the midst of their own poorest neighborhoods and shantytowns, there are - if not acres of diamonds- trillions of dollars, all ready to be put to used if only the mystery of how assets are transformed into live capital can be unraveled” (De Soto, 37).<br /> Although this hopeful attitude towards poverty is positive, and while altogether the sum of slum property is enormous, has De Soto, a capitalist forgotten what capitalism is all about? Capitalism is for the individual actor, acting in their own self-interest. He never answers how the individual living in the slum can accomplish this. I’m weary to accept their property value will amount to enough. <br /><br />The Mystery of Capital is the most important part of De Soto’s book, where he explores how to revive this dead capital; his solution is formal property rights. De Soto, explains what he means by active capital drawing on Smith references saying “for accumulated assets to become active capital and put additional production in motion, they must be fixed and realized in some particular subject ‘which lasts for some time after that labour is past. It is, as it were, a certain quantity of labour stocked and stored up to be employed if necessary upon some other occasion’ ” (De Soto, 42).<br />There is so much potential for the poor, but they will only realize this potential when they are able to gain Property Rights; “what the poor lack is easy access to the property mechanisms that could legally fix the economic potential of their assets so they could be used to produce, secure or guarantee greater value in the extended market” (De Soto, 48). Specifically De Soto has six effects of formal property rights has brought to West and have allowed for generations of generation of capital; fixing the economic potential of assets, integrating dispersed information into one system, making people accountable, making assets fungible, networking people and protecting transactions.<br /><br />Fixing the economic potential of assets allows for a standard interpretation of the human- attributed economic and social value of such asset; “it represents the invisible qualities that have the potential for producing value” (De Soto, 50). With such potential realized, the property can now be an investment, or be even be realized as collateral. De Soto thinks this to be important because without the ability to leverage assets, one is unable to produce surplus value. “Legal property thus gave the West the tools to produce surplus value over and above its physical assets”(De Soto, 51). This is important because as De Soto said, “money does not earn money. You need a property right before you can make money” (De Soto, 64). <br /><br />Integrating dispersed information into one system is a difficult but integral part of property rights. It took about one hundred years for the West to have fully integrated property rights. “The reason capitalism has triumphed in the West and sputtered in the rest of the world is because most of the assets in Western nations have been integrated into one formal representational system”, and most of the world’s nations have yet to integrate extralegal property agreements into one formal legal system” (De Soto, 53) <br /> <br />Making people accountable will create individuals from the masses. (De Soto, 54). Formal property rights allow one to realize previous impossibilities De Soto admits that after instating formal property rights, rights and laws are more impersonal and one forfeits “the ability to lose themselves in the masses” (De Soto, 55); you are now legally linked to your property. Formal property rights have allows assets to be fungible, setting a global and national standard for trade, and allows for the easy flow of assets between individuals. In doing so it has enabled the networking of people, improving “the flow of communication about assets and their potential” (De Soto, 59).<br /> <br />Lastly, formal property rights have brought the protection of transactions to the West, which ensures all sales and purchase information is transferred and records of transaction are kept. Yet, De Soto also stated, “a great part of the potential value of legal property is derived from the possibility of forfeiture”, (De Soto, 55). It is also possible that while this could alleviate others, it could cause huge loses for the rest. It brings up the question, which is the lesser evil?: a greater dichotomy with less but more extreme poverty, or or greater amounts of poverty with a lessened dichotomy? I am unsure if this is truly a working solution.<br /><br /> Our third mystery is, consequently, why there a lack of political awareness surrounding this issue: Why have the governments not tapped into the potential of the poor? This is because the recent mass urbanization that has been occurring around the globe. De Soto states “for better or for worse, people outside the West are fleeing self-sufficient and isolated societies in an effort to raise their standards of living by becoming interdependent in much larger markets” (De Soto, 70). As such, this is a problem we must accept as inevitable and address. Particularly urbanization must be addressed as these countries lack the institutions to deal with the mass migration to their urban centers and they are resulting in “the fragmentation of their property arrangements and the unavailability of standard norms that allow assets and economic agents to interact and governments to rule by law” (De Soto, 76). Marx would say that this is the bourgeoisie keeping the proletariate from utilizing the tools of the bourgeoisie, politically alienating them. <br /><br /> Despite the lawless stereotype of the slums, it is clear to De Soto that the poor want to be integrated into the system. This is shown through their actions: “people are spontaneously organizing themselves into separate, extralegal groups until government can provide them with one legal property system” (De Soto, 73). However, there are so many other issues and poorly run institutions that property rights has been left behind and remains outdated and extralegal agreements flourish, (De Soto, 74). “In Brazil, for example, the construction industry reported mere 0.2 percent growth in 1995; yet cement sales during the first six months of 1996 soared by nearly 20 percent. The reason for the apparent anomaly, according to a Deutsche Morgan Grenfell analysis is that 60 to 70 percent of the regions construction never makes it into the records”<br /><br /> Lastly, De Soto focuses on the US as his western example of the transition from developing to developed, as it was just “more than 150 years ago, it (the U.S.) too was a third World country”. Just like developing nations now, the United States experienced massive migration, explosions of extralegal activity, political unrest and general discontent. De Soto does not want the third world to slavishly imitate the US transition to formal property rights but rather take the “primary lesson is that pretending extralegal arrangements do not exist of trying to stamp them out, without a strategy to channel them into the legal sector, is a fools errand”(De Soto, 150).<br /> <br />De Soto believes that we, of the West, are too focused on the disparity of other nations that ‘we’ forget how ‘we’ made the transition from a extralegal to formal legal system. In 13 years, De Soto claims he has visited every property-related institution in the advanced world; to his shock, non of them ad thought about formal property rights and their role in economic development; “my primary concern, however, was not property rights per se but “meta-rights” - access or rights to property rights. Although we had many subjects of mutual interest, such as how to reengineer a record-keeping organization so as to integrate information gathered in the field into one database, or how to develop procedures to digitize boundaries on base maps, the property experts could not tell me how to bring people who hold their assets by extralegal arrangements into the legal property system”, (De Soto, 106). However, he still does praise the history of the west saying, “In every country, it was the result of a few enlightened men deciding that official law made no sense if a sizable part of the population lived outside it.”<br /><br />De Soto discussed the final mystery, the myth behind why the extralegal cannot be integrated into a formal legal system: and that is due to the corruption within the extralegal system. Trying to avoid being getting caught is taxing enough in itself (De Soto, 155). People want the security of a well-run and integrated political and legal system. In conclusion, there are so many particulars to the legal property system in the West that it is important that the developing nations come to realize their own property system by integrating their extralegal sector into a legal and over the years the intricacies of a more-developed property system will emerge and integrate into all sectors of society.<br /><br />Overall, Hernando De Soto’s theory about formal property rights for the world’s poor lacked convictions. Riddled with metaphors and flowery language, for example “most of us are like the six blind men in the presence of an elephant: one grasps the animal’s searching trunk and thunk the elephant is a snake; another finds tail and thinks the elephant is a rope; a third is fascinated by the large, snail-like ears; another embraces its leg and concludes that the elephant is a tree. No one views the elephant in its totality and thus they cannot come up with a strategy for dealing with the very large problem at hand” (De Soto, 74). While language to appeal to the average reader is important it diminishes from his argument dragging out topics reliant on the reason and logic of old wives tales.<br /><br />De Soto made it seem as though extralegal systems did not exist in the western nations when in fact they are plentiful. For example in Canada, the largest agricultural production is of an illegal plant marijuana. Said to trade more than seven-billion annually, it’s sales are three times as large as wheat (Macleans.ca).Furthermore, countries in the west have ‘third-world’-like living situations in their own countries, just not to the same magnitude. Maybe the problem is trying to model development after an imperfect and constantly changing model. This is why I found De Soto’s constant reference to US history to hinder his argument, as he does not fully explain why the US and other Western nations have been so successful in their development. The solution thus, seems over-simplified, and like other theories he criticizes, he is negating the importance in other institution reform for the specific western-like, industrial development he is aiming for. <br /> <br />While, I do agree with De Soto that the ‘west’ unfairly stereotypes and homogenizes the ‘the rest’ of the world, especially the poor, and that the poor could benefit from having more readily attainable formal property rights, I do not believe that this is the sole solution.Being educated and raised in the west, like De Soto, it was easy for me abroad to notice the differences or even similarities between ‘their’ and ‘my’ milieu. However, I believe that there is a difference between recognizing that things are different and glorifying one over the other. As I have mentioned previously, De Soto glorifies the direction that the United States and its citizens have taken. While he may encourage each country to make change in their own manner specific to their population, De Soto still has an overall sense of a meta-narrative leading to US-like development. And it begs me to ask the question if De Soto, being Peruvian but educated in Europe, if he understands his fortune and milieu makes it impossible for him to truly understand the needs of the majority of his country, because he cannot separate his bias adoration for western-style life. Especially, during our current recession it seems pertinent to ask if formal property rights, especially those that lead to live capital through credit, loans etc., lead to more entrepreneurs or more Willie Loman’s?JaimmieRileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00842182464006358799noreply@blogger.com67