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NO MAN IS HIS OWN ISLAND

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An analysis of Judeo-Christian Ideology and Capitalism in Aldous Huxley’s Island Once upon a time in a far away land.. no wait, that’s not right. It was a dark and stormy night… no, that’s not right either. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Ah yes, yes there it is. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then, a couple of days later, God said, “Let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish in the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”. And just like that humanity was thrust forth into a downward spiral of domination, over-exploitation and consumption. Of course it is not all that simple: there were many different players, institutions and powers involved. However, the concept that humans are exclusively advanced and thus have a position of privilege on the planet, which has its roots in the Judeo-...
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My truth

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WARNING: The following blogpost is EXTREMELY personal and (for some reason I cannot understand) may be offensive to some. I'm just going to come out and say it. Three years ago I had an abortion. It was February and I returned home after traveling around the world with my best friend for six months. It had been the most epic six months of my life and, congruently, the most challenging. I missed my friends, my boyfriend, my bed and clean bathroom. But my trip home was temporary- the plan was to go back to Australia and finish our way around the world. Well, we all know what they say about the best laid plans.. Now I know what you're thinking right now. Girl returns home from traveling the world and has an abortion? What a floozy, she must have gotten impregnated by some random backpacker in Sydney, right? Fucking wrong and fuck you for judging someone you don't know. The truth is I was madly in love with someone. Someone who, as I've recently come to realize, h...
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Card-stock Catharsis

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Today was an emotional rollercoaster with loopidy loops and stomach drops galore. I felt like the universe was playing a game on me, throwing as many curveballs as possible during what is already an extremely (if not the most ) stressful time: I had to go to the bank three times because of my own absent mindedness, I waited in line at the post office for fifteen minutes twice , and almost (just for like an hour there..) failed a class. It seemed too coincidental not to be cosmic and I fell into a small bout of self pity. I texted my sister that I would need a miracle to survive the day but I had no idea what was in store. After a full morning on campus I got to work a couple of minutes late and fell easily into the shift. I had a couple of great customers at the bar and time passed smoothly until we were closing; it was then I realized I had taken my spare set of keys- the set without a key to the cafe. Kefira had to drive to my house and exchange the keys so we could lock...
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Social Work or Social Control? The Political Economy of Health

The last few decades have seen a boom in globalization and the spread of the capitalist economic system across the world. Deeply and intimately intertwined with this capitalist system are the hegemonic cultural beliefs and social structures that back it up, deeming it “common sense” or the “only way” of doing things. If that fails, state structures such as policy and military can intervene, forcing individuals to conform or face the consequences. The political economy of health aids in the reproduction and continuation of these hegemonic beliefs using science and technology as a means of legitimizing actions and controlling populations. In this paper I will use various theoretical frameworks of the political economy of health to argue that capitalism and biomedicine are in a dialectical relationship in which each one creates the conditions necessary to perpetuated the other.             The greatest determinant of health of a p...
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