Comments for Aaftab1's Weblog

Comment on Post # 2 Newtopia by David

David — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:30:12 +0000

I though the concepts of your town were very interesting and this place has the ability to becaome a great place to live if everyone follows the rules you set out. However I do still think there is a strong possiblity you will have crime issues because you are a capitalist community and crime is generated by money. But if your police officers do their job I don’t think there should be a problem. I do like the fact that the town has to work and have certain specialties because that is very important if a community is to survive.

Comment on Post#1:Reading the Runaways by David

David — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:14:55 +0000

That was an interesting thought you had determining if the ads back then varied from state to state. You did a nice job with how you went into such great detail about the slave ads. I also agree that the language is very hard to understand sometimes because they used terminologies back then that don’t exist anymore. I was also surprised to hear that a slave ran away because he got into an argument with his wife and not because he hated his master and I laughed when when I read that.

Comment on Post # 2 Newtopia by Anna

Anna — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:50:29 +0000

I think that Newtopia is a very well layed out community with a lot of opportunity for producing new technology and inventions. I like how you have separated the housing developments from the factories, I think that this will help in the growth of the industries and reduce the potential for crime. The only thing that I am concerned about is the limit on children per household. I think that such a limit on reproducing would create violence and stress within the society. Also, another concern is the factor of contracting outside workers to farm the lands. I feel that if this work is being done by non-members, there is potential for tension or conflict to arise between them and the members of the community.

Comment on Post # 2 Newtopia by aseretroman

aseretroman — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:14:19 +0000

Although i agree with the capitalist-driven society, i too think that lack of religion would become a problem. Frist, with the amount of religious people in the world, i think it would be extremly difficult for you to attract residents into your society. I do agree that religion sometimes causes violence and misinterpretation. However, that issue over religious conflict has always existed and i dont think that limiting or removing the right of religious expression would solve anything. Aside from that, all the other factors in your society seem to have a lot of potential. Especially the even distribution of wealth and the continuous desire for techonolgical growth.
The fact that the the farms and factories are located on one side and housing and parks on another is a great idea. Your method on taxation and lobor sounds like it would really help prosper the community.

Comment on Post # 2 Newtopia by Victor Lee

Victor Lee — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:03:01 +0000

I believe your community was well thought out and drawn out in a logical manner. I like the idea of a capitalist-driven society. Giving the ability to interact outside the community gives newtopia a strong advantage in prospering. I believe having no central religion is a good idea in order to remove hatred from misinterpretations of multiple religions. However, without such faith, it would be hard to not have corruption. Strong moral and ethical values that stem from religion allows many to live honestly and for the betterment of others. Overall, the physical layout of the community is fantastic and well planned.

Comment on Post#1:Reading the Runaways by Anna

Anna — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:46:33 +0000

I thought it was cleaver how you decided to search by the three states: NC, VA, and NY. It is interesting to compare and contrast the differences of the slave ads and their conditions between the different states. I wonder how different the slave ads read in later years when NY became more of a home to runaway slaves.
I also agree with you about how the articles we read don’t give as much detail as the slave ads. They are very broad and don’t give any perspective into the conditions and actions that were really taking place between the slaves and their owners.

Comment on Post#1:Reading the Runaways by Aseret's comment

Aseret's comment — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:29:31 +0000

I really enjoyed reading your post because of the way you analyzed the relationships between slaves and owners. I also attempted searching by the slave’s skill level but i often came up with too many results. It’s obvious you did your reseach and some close reading. I would have never guessed that ‘drive a chair’ could reffer to a horse and buggy but considering the time and context, that could certainly be the case. I agree with you on the fact that these ads give more detailed and specific information about slaves than do the wikipedia articles. I found that the newspaper ads taught me more about that time period than articles.

Comment on Post#1:Reading the Runaways by sprnva

sprnva — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 04:19:54 +0000

It was interesting how you went into more detail about the slave’s relationship with their owner. It does make sense that slaves with higher skill levels would be more valuable to their masters and therefore, their rewards were higher. I had not thought about that before, that one slave was worth more to the owner than another. I had just assumed that slave owners treated all their slaves the same, that they were all just property to them. Your post made me think about this, and of course it makes sense. If one worker is more skilled, they are literally worth more money to the owner because their work makes the owner more money.