reefer!

the movie Grass is narrated by Woody Harrelson and is very educational, so i recommend it. it's about propaganda. today, my teacher was getting on my nerves because i felt like i had valid and relevant contributions to the discussion and he either ignored me or dismissed whatever i said. at least, that is how it felt to me, but i could just have p.m.s. today we discussed issues surrounding privelege, who has it and why? is it human nature to place people into hierarchies? it is a way of imposing order and structure which equals security. we watched a film which discussed the concept of race as a floating signifier, which means something to the effect that there is nothing solid or permanent to the meaning of race. it is never static. classification of people according to concepts of race is actually about power and maintaining order. it stabilizes culture and provides structure. problems arise when a principle of classification is used to justify a system of power and exclusion. the thing i seem to be learning more and more and more and more is this: nothing is permanent.