ENG 2150 Gimme Shelter: the spaces we live in

Jackson Heights is currently the neighborhood I reside in and it is pretty clear to a new set of eyes, that this neighborhood has no dominant ethnicity.  Jackson Heights is a complete collage of languages, cultures, ethnicities, religions, and overall people.  You can walk the 35 blocks that is Jackson Heights and encounter little villages from around the world.  There is a predominantly Middle-Eastern area, as well as Colombian, Dominican, Mexican, Greek and African-American areas.  The biggest question is how did such a neighborhood become such diverse and cultured community.  I will be looking at the history of the neighborhood as well as look for trends that determine the cultures living in Jackson Heights.  Recently there is a wave of Asian-Americans newly residing in the community, which brings the question of what attracts different ethnicities to the neighborhood.

In George Simmel’s “The Metropolis and Mental Life,” he states, “…Because of the character of calculability which money has there has come into the relationships of the elements of life a precision and a degree of certainty in the definition of the equalities and inequalities and an unambiguousness in agreements and arrangements, just as externally this precision has been brought about through the general diffusion of pocket watches…” (328).  This statement defines the whole reasoning as to why New Yorkers are the way they are.  Simmel is stating that the capitalistic society that we live in, governed by money, has another major controlling factor: time.

Our lives are dictated by time and money.  Since the realization that our parents cannot provide everything for the rest of our lives, we go on a journey to obtain an education, which would then leads to more education, and ultimately a career.  However the main purpose of that career is for the obtainment of money.  Our status in society is dictated by the amount of wealth that we have, and so we spent practically all our lives working towards obtaining money.  However the almighty power of time restricts us.  We never have enough for time for anything, and as New Yorkers we know that fact too well.  We spend our mornings scrambling to our destinations and crowding throughout the city.  We are constantly governed by time, and are always conscious of it.  We have an exact schedule and have indicated times for everything, so much so that we initially judge one’s own character on the basis of punctuality.  If one does not respect an indicated time, then we assume lack of responsibility, disorganization and ultimately a bad connotation is associated with that person.  Finally we are slaves to the power of money and time, and are ordered around so precisely to maintain stability in our society.

Personally “The Stream of Consciousness” told us clearly that our feelings and emotions changed the way we perceive things.  The images above I believe help give some visual representation of what William James’s might’ve meant.  Both images show what is going on in the heads of two different people.  These two people could be looking at the same thing, and perceive completely differently. The first image shows a mass amount of pictures and words jumbled together, all coming from the single brain of a person, shown in the bottom middle.  It also shows more darkness, confusion and a continuous, non-stop flow.  The second image also helps understand James’s idea but in a different manner.  The seconds shows confusion as well but holds a clear, clutter of images, with more detail.  The comparison of these two images can help illustrate the thoughts of two people, both going through life.  Their feelings alter their perception of situations and objects therefore leading them to have completely different beliefs, thoughts, and images in their heads.

Both images can also accurately represent James’s idea that consciousness is complex.  Clearly the two drawings show different interpretations of one’s thoughts, ideas and feelings.  However what they do not represent is the idea the consciousness is better thought of as a stream.  The idea that consciousness is best perceived as a stream suggests change and a difference in one’s view of the world.  Although the first suggests the idea of continuity with its never-ending images that seem to be connected by a single line, there’s no way of telling if there is change.  We are only given the feelings and thoughts of the people now, at that moment.  We can assume that their emotions will change as they go through life but again there’s no single suggestion that indicates such development.