Response 5

Manuel Castells: Occupy Wall Street: Harvesting The Salt Of The Earth
“It`s time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY, we`re doomed without it.” (Castells 160)

Literally: This passage is literally saying that it is time that the people who make up the country make the decisions about what is best for them, not let big corporations or people with money tell the people how to live their lives otherwise the people will be the ones who suffer.
Intellectually: This passage makes me think about how big businesses and people in power with lots of money tend to make all the decisions when it comes to which laws are put into effect as well as having a huge influence on how the government is operated. Corporations can have a huge toll on society and know how to control the people who are not making as much money as them.
Emotionally: This passage is absolutely accurate in stating that we need a democracy because corporations are taking over without caring about how to benefit everybody, not just themselves. Corporations are aggravating me since they have lost all humanity and won`t stop till they get what they want. Now is the time for everybody to have a voice, which is why we need to bring democracy back.

Lewis Mumford: The Automation of Knowledge
“The fact is that this system as a whole, if I may use the academic slang of the day, has no `feedback’ and therefore no method of evaluating its deleterious results or correcting its mistaken postulates.” (Mumford 268)

Literally: This passage is literally saying that since automation has no feelings and can not exchange words about what defects it may have, then there is no way of knowing exactly how to fix it. In humans, however, usually the flaws are visible but if they are not, then there are several ways of detecting them due to communication.
Intellectually: This passage makes me think about robots every time I hear the word automation but I know that automation can include a huge range of technology. Automation often limits human interaction and can cause many people out of a job if the technology created can do that job faster and more efficiently than a human can.
Emotionally: This passage makes me feel sad that one day technology will consume our lives and we will be so involved in our technological devices that we will forget about everybody else. The really scary part is that it has already started with this generation.