For this assignment, I have gathered magazine articles, advertisments, as well as a comic strip and a poem from my graduation memory book. When brought together, these finds make arguments about the double edged sword of western society and technological advancements. That is, these finds put pressure on the promise of technology and western beliefs by sheding light on what is often lost when such "advancements" are made.
Generation Gaps
This advertisment for The Bendix Corporation is aimed at the "free love" generation of the 60s and early 70s. As it appears in Newsweek (May 10, 1971), this advertisment is geared towards people who are "hippies" looking for a change. Bendix is relying on the fact that a few of the nomads that have been living life on the back of their bikes and on what money they earn from odd jobs might be looking for a bridge into a steady pay check without compromising their politics. In order to appeal to this new market of workers, The Bendix Corporation urges hippies to become yuppies by capitalizing on these peoples desire to "do something" about the world's problems. Of course, Bendix's solution is: "technology can help." Bendix is empowering people by suggesting that, through their corporation, people can help end "man's age-old social problems" like "poverty", "prejudice," and "polution." What disturbs me is that this advertisment appeared in 1971, and the hippies/yuppies that Bendix "inspired" were not able to reduce any of the world's social injustices through technology. In fact, technology increaced the gaps between developed (those with technology) and underdeveloped nations (those without). Perhaps it isn't that easy to affect change from within the system.