Yay for Spring Break

Today is the official start of my spring break! Yay!!

So how does one start their spring break? By catching up on blogs, of course!

To start of with, you have to read this post by danah over at apophenia.

The article mainly covers the topic of narcissism, and touches on issues covering the search for fame, the value we place on fame (“I am worried that Paris Hilton is a more meaningful role model to most American girls than Mother Theresa ever was”), and how all this affects society. danah writes about how narcissism drives adolescent’s (in particular) use of social network sites, like MySpace. She also discusses religiosity (which many of my friends will confirm, always gets me to perk up a little). Nothing like a good dose of religiosity in the morning to get the blood pumping. I will say that I was surprised by the comment that “[w]hen i started seeing how people in rural America recovered from meth, i found one common solution: born-again Christianity.” That says a lot!

From a sociological perspective, I was interested in danah’s view on the role of Christian Industrial Complex and how it endorses the continued stratisfication of society. I actually agree with her statement that the “Christian Industrial Complex has risen into power in both politics and corporate life, but their underlying mission is the same: justify poor people’s industrial slavery so that the rich and powerful can become more rich and powerful.”

Read the article. As with most of danah’s posts, this is extremely thought provoking.

James Watkins also discusses the Christian Industrial Complex more over here. Watkins gives a brief overview of the issue over “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” and what may have been driving that. He also mentions some interesting insights into Christmas, in particular that in many New England towns, Christmas was prohibited by law. Watkins refers to this as the “forgotten history of Christmas.”