Emily, Unfiltered

 In the era of NAFTA, manufacturers relocated production to Mexico, where they could instill much lower wages with their much lower standards- leaving workers like those of "Sweat" displaced and despondent, waiting desperately on their tarnished American Dream.  The SCOTUS ruled in Janus v. AFSCME (2018) that government workers who choose not to join unions may not be required to help pay for collective bargaining, meaning that non-union workers were no longer obligated to pay "agency fees" to public sector unions even while receiving implicit benefits from their progress for workers for all. The impact of this at large has been predicted to cost unions tens of millions of dollars.  The weakening of unions would align with  it being more common to see that less voice is given to the people, while simultaneously vilifying them- as seen by Cynthia’s character. Cynthia risks her managerial position to provide inside information from the higher-ups to her friends still

“Let America Be America Again” was written during the Great Depression, amidst an era of great disillusionment- by Langston Hughes, a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance who endured rampant racism during his time living as a black man in the Jim Crow era of American history. Yet still, Hughes holds optimism in "Let America Be America Again", a certain patriotic belief that the America of his dreams can exist. The American Dream is bruised, he concurs, but he maintains an argument that through everything, it can be possible. Nearly a century after the poem was written, has Hughes’ hopes for America been fulfilled? Or is Langston Hughes’ dream of America too idyllic? Is it impossible? I think both are true, but more the latter. The "American Dream" that Hughes continually refers to has stayed the national ethos of America; the indoctrinated idea and pillar of American pride that in our country, success and hard work are proportionate.  But the hyper-relevance of

This blog is fanfiction of Gatsby and Daisy, but if they were Noah and Allie in The Notebook. And also if Allie did not choose Noah back.  It begins one late summer night, and both Gatsby and Daisy are 17. Gatsby's been working as a lumber mill worker, and Daisy's in town with her parents for the summer in their vacation house. He's invited her over to his barn, just like he has been doing the entire summer.  Gatsby is sitting in the living room, twiddling with an old clock when Daisy arrives. She's radiant. He stands up, handing her a small bouquet of orchids. Gatsby: Come on. I want to show you something.  They leave to take Henry Gatz's truck, which cranks as it moves along a dirt road. "Young and Beautiful" is playing on the radio. There is something special in the way that Daisy looks at Gatsby.  Henry Gatz's truck stops in front of an old abandoned house on a glittering waterfront.  Gatsby: Wait here.  Gatsby moves inside the house, and Daisy loo