In Smiths writing, I again found it interesting when he wrote on how the commerce of towns by farmers, merchants, and other such people in the more re-surging societies from the dark ages into the later medieval and pre industrial era. The idea that merchants and farmers built up the economy under the barons and lords and kings and made more of a difference is impressive. The people in this time period maintained livelihoods with the smallest aspects of life, a whole sheep for rent for a year sometimes in Scotland it said. Things taken for granted today were so difficult to attain in that time period and its strange to think of how things were priced then, and how they're priced now. We have so much and can have so much and maybe thats what Smith was getting at, that we can get these things but our predecessors would have been happy with a sheep for a year. You can make things last longer than you think and live off the land more successfully than you would have thought. Smith says you can reach a higher status and encourages its allowance, but he also makes it clear that its also just as good and maybe even more simple to be simple.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Blog post week 4, Swift and Smith
I really enjoyed the satire by Swift and the second reading by Smith on the commerce of towns and how it improved countries. Swift seemed to mention the degradation of society in Ireland and how to improve it in a satirical way through the children. It was definitely a good change in the reading and more interesting to read. That goes the same for the Smith reading. Swift didn't actually write on something I could relate to my life experiences or situation but I just found it to be something I could get into and understand his meaning in the writing. Swift talked about the problems in Ireland and how a way to fix it basically seemed to be to sell and or eat excess children spawned from prostitution. This was a little bit funny if I understood it correctly.
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I also enjoyed reading swift Swift. I thought it was very interesting and I like how he presented his argument in a satire. Swift is angry with Ireland's politicians, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, the tyranny of the English, and finally the poor state of most of the Irish people. I think this can relate to many people today because of the fact that people are fed up with the government on the conservative side of politics, and on the more liberal side people are fed up with the difference of income between the wealthy and the poor. I also liked the points you made about smith. Well done in this post.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you liked both readings. Swift, of course, is one of my favorites, and many have noted that Smith's more narrative writings are surprisingly entertaining. I think that you do hit on an interesting point here that both writers, in an indirect way, address: appreciation for what we do have. Both Swift and especially Smith were living at a time when a few countries were just starting to enter a level of wealth that had never before existed. People in the richest trading countries of the Renaissance were not necessarily richer than the Romans. This was finally beginning to change in the 18th century. Perhaps this was why both Swift and Smith were sympathetic observers of poverty. For the first time, it became clear that this was not an inevitability, but that trade and economic development could improve things.
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