Blog from 11/17/09 class: specialized labor

In this class we discussed Robert Ellickson's section on specialized labor, particular the story of the Rancher and the Ranchette, and the issue of what is the most efficient and welfare maximizing way to go about building the fence.  Since the Rancher is obviously thinking, "I do all the work and you get the benefits?"  Here we see that it is cheaper and more efficient for the Rancher to build the fence but then the Ranchette gets all the benefits. 

This reminds me of a similar situation (also a roommate situation) that 3 of my friends are in at the moment.  Long story short, all 3 of these women lived together for a year (we'll call them roommates A, B and C), then roommate A moved out.  Upon moving out she cleaned up her room, as expected, and removed all of her belongings.  Two months later, roommates B and C moved out, at which point they asked roommate A to return to help with the cleanup, since she had not received her part of the security deposit back.  She stayed to help, but did not stay the whole time since it was not her stuff to move and she felt she'd cleaned enough.  Well, once everything was done and the time came for the security deposit return roommates B and C were billed $150 for necessary repairs (on an unrelated note, it was a shock it was not more) so roommates B and C determined that since they spent 9 hours cleaning and roommate C did not spend that much time ( i think about 2 hours) that she should have to pay the $150.  What is interesting about this relationship to the specialized labor concept is the question of how much was the time the different roommates spent cleaning worth?  Was the 7 hours the roommate who had already moved out worth $150 or were roommates B and C a little bitter that it all came on them since they were the only ones remaining on the lease?  This point may not be not entirely a reflection of specialized labor but I did find some connecting similarities.

On a side note, the conclusion to the whole story was that now, roommates B and C do no speak to roommate A because she refused to pay the amount and B and C would not agree to split the cost.  Not exactly the most welfare maximizing ending. 

Old blog point from class notes on 10/13/09

"Unless the 'rhythm' of group life is punctuated by moments of deviant behavior...social organization would be impossible." 

-Robert Ellickson

This quotation taken from class on Oct. 13, 2009 reminded me of an example how deviance is relative; they vary across cultures, time, context, etc.  I attended boarding school for the last two years of high school.  It was a small school of only 200 students and almost all of us lived on campus, in dorms with our teachers, coaches, deans.  Everyone who participated in the academic aspect of this community, essentially lived together as well. Therefore, rules for appropriate behavior were established. 

In this community one was not allowed to be on their cell phone or have headphones in unless they were in their own room, or be in another person's room after 11 p.m.  There were certain times that were designated for required studying.  What relates all of this to the Ellickson quotation is that these rules and norms only worked because the community as a whole believed in them.  We had students who were taught by administrators to enforce the rules but there was also the honor code within the school that students, even those without official positions in the school, we enforce the rules on one another.  It was when students broke those rules and norms that they were punished and taught the correct way or often students would be expelled.  This made the community stay close and tight-knit through fear and loyalty and it was those breaks in "rhythm" that reinforced the norms in the society, which perpetuated and maintained organization within the group. 

Law & Authority: Same sex marriage

In today's class we discussed the concept of Law & Authority and how it relates to the Puritans and the Massachusetts Bay Colony.   Within this concept of Law & Authority we briefly covered orthodoxy vs. congregational independence, which is how to regulate/control a society, how to reconcile the theme of sameness and difference.  This immediately made me think of an issue that was discussed in my book review book, Nudge.  Thaler and Sunstein (the authors) present the idea of privatizing same sex marriage, meaning that "marriage" would be for private institutions, not for the state, thus opposing or supporting religious organizations would be free to create their own rules/regulations in regards to who can marry who. Thus, allowing the status quo to maintain itself--kind of--in a particular society (the U.S. in this case) while also allowing those who deviate from that to be satisfied as well.  It's an interesting concept to say the least considering that, aside from the financial benefits of marriage, it is not necessary. 

On the "Plague Mentality"

Speaking of Foucault's take on the "plague mentality", did you know that not only is the third floor of very own Warren Olney Hall empty due to a smaller incoming class but also because of H1N1.  Yep, that's right, Mills College is prepared for quarantine from Swine Flu.  So if you fall ill, prepare to enjoy the view from the 3rd floor porches of Warren Olney.  

This preparation on the part of the college, based on today's class, leads me to believe that perhaps Mills has already started the planning and preparation for the strategies and policies it might have to implement in the event of a widespread H1N1 epidemic. 

Social Control on Twitter?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99094257

http://www.apa.org/topics/iraqiabuse.html

Speaking of Facebook stalking...

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/more-employers-use-social-networks-to-check-out-applicants/?scp=8&sq=social%20control&st=cse

I thought this was particularly interesting given our brief conversation regarding Facebook today. Apparently it can make or break a job these days. I'd think twice before posting just anything.