Cultivating Garden Final Argumentative Essay

Dependence is one aspect of life which we cannot run away from. Human beings are dependent on others, just as nations depend on other nations. However, if the dependence is not handled or treated with the sensitivity it deserves, then cruelty, violence, inequality and other unjust social practices emerge. The inequality in life produces two classes of individuals, the masters and the servants, the employers and the employees, or the providers and the dependants. Candide’s philosophy, which advises us to “cultivate our gardens,” can be a breakthrough from the social injustices that result from careless handling of dependence. Biblically, a garden is the ultimate source of livelihood. If we can cultivate our gardens, by carefully playing our part in the best possible way, then we must certainly walk away from the social injustices associated with the selfishness and insensitivity of the masters and employers. The three articles discussed here-in depict high levels of dependence and the social evils resulting from the carelessness in handling it. In the article “Work Rules,” William Greider analyses the relationship between the masters and their servants, where the servants always depend on the masters for their livelihood. As a result, the servants are submissive to their masters who, on the other hand, are quite insensitive in dealing with the servants. The masters constantly subject the servants to mistreatments and harassments. The masters do not show even the slightest respect to their workers. Because of the mistreatments and lack of respect, we expect the servants to react -- an act of “cultivating their own gardens.” However, the employees are not cultivating their gardens, as most of them accept the injustices and are passive at work. They are also passive politically, which is bad for democracy. Andrew Bacevich’s article “The Real World War IV,” depicts how America depends on other countries for oil. Because America does not want to become subservient as the employees in “Work Rules,” it uses its wealth and power in order to achieve what it really needs -- the cheap oil. Amy Chua’s article “A World on the Edge” shows various cases of inequality, dependence, and mistreatments that the servants are subjected to by their insensitive bosses. The bosses/masters are the economically powerful ethnic minority while the servants form the numerically powerful impoverished majority. As a result of the mistreatments, the servants rise up violently, an act of “cultivating their own gardens.” However, the servants “cultivate their gardens” in a destructive way as they violently react against the injustices. We can therefore state vividly that when servants/employees are subjected to constant mistreatments by their powerful masters/employers, they backlash against their superiors violently and the society suffers to a great deal.
In most cases, the employers/masters are not concerned about the well-being of their employees, even though the masters depend on the servants’ labor for their own prosperity. This lack of concern translates into disrespect and subsequent mistreatments. “A World on the Edge” starts with a striking story -- the brutal murder of Chua’s aunt, Leona. The story reveals how “masters” constantly mistreat “servants.” The author recalls how her aunt used to mistreat the servants and she says, “I had found the male servants’ quarters, where my family’s houseboys, gardeners, and chauffeurs were sleeping on mats on a dirt floor. The place stank of sweat and urine. I was horrified” (Chua 126). Here, the master does not care about the conditions of the workers. When Chua informs her aunt about the conditions of the servants, the aunt laughs and shows complete lack of concern. Aunt Leona laughs at her niece, suggesting that her niece is naïve and idealistic. So, Leona assumes that she herself is wiser, and thinks that “this is how the world works.” It turns out that she is tragically mistaken. Because she doesn’t question “how the world works,” she doesn’t see that she has an obligation to be fair to her employees, and so she is murdered. Even though the servants depended on Chua’s Aunt Leona for their livelihood, the mistreatments were unbearable and they murdered her, knowing clearly that they would lose their jobs – the main source of their livelihood. Aunt Leona suffered because she forgot that the master-servant relationship goes two ways. Leona was obligated by the relationship to treat the servants fairly; fair treatment is a right, not a favor. This concept of mistreatment without concern is also seen in the article “Work Rules” where the masters mistreat their servants without considering the results of such mistreatments. The author tells us about a young team leader at Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky who denounces inhumane conditions at the factory. Tracy Giles, the team leader says, “Four team members in my area were out of work for shoulder surgery. If you are a temporary worker and you are injured, you are sent home and there is another person waiting at the door to get the job.” (Greider, 255). The employers do not care about the health status of their workers. All they care about is the material benefits they derive from the workers’ sweat. Because the employer does not benefit from a sick worker, the worker is fired and the job immediately given to another person. Like Aunt Leona and American employers, the U.S. has shown a dangerous lack of concern about the well-being of countries that does not give in to its demands. In Basewich’s article “The Real World War IV,” America is seen to depend so much on oil from the Middle East. However, instead of being submissive and respectful to the Persian Gulf countries, America resorts to the use of force due to its military might. It is said, “…the commitment of the U.S. forces to protect the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf … greatly enhanced the ability of the United States to project military power into the region” (Basewich 58). U.S. always is interested in keeping its access to oil. However, it does not care about the concerns of Middle East. What matters to America is the achievement of its goal, the same way as the employers discussed above. Both the employers and the U.S. assume that the world works in the same way just as Leona thinks. They believe that those with power naturally mistreat those without it. This, I can say, is shortsightedness and lack of imagination as they cannot see the long-term consequences of their actions. According to Candide’s philosophy, Leona, the masters/employers, and the U.S. are “cultivating their gardens” in the wrong way. They are very selfish and materialistic as they care only about their own welfare, and not the welfare of their servants.
The materialism and selfishness of the masters, who are not ready to share, undermine social justice. Chua’s “A World on the Edge” is centered on capitalism and excessive materialism which have created two economic classes of individuals -- the rich and the poor. The poor are the servants of the rich and the economic gap between them continue to widen. The rich are highly materialistic and are not ready to share with their servants. As a result, the poor servants continue to depend on their rich masters and they become direct slaves of the masters as they submit to the masters’ exploitations and mistreatments. This on its own is a social injustice. It makes the servants to remain poor as the masters continue to be rich, widening the economic gap between them. This social injustice caused by materialism then leads to a second kind of injustice – violence. Two types of violence are depicted in the article -- violence in itself and violence directed against ethnic groups that are seen as privileged by the resentful poor. The rich masters are the major targets of robbery and violence. When asked why the Chinese (the wealthy minority) are the targets of robbery and violence, a police officer confesses, “they have more money” (Chua 125). This backlash against the wealthy minority is a social injustice too. Excessive materialism is also shown to breed social injustice in Greider’s ‘Work Rules.’ Because of their greed, employers extend working hours and force workers to work extra time. Joseph is fired simply because he could not work overtime. The results of this greed, it is said is “several cases of resignation that may feed social resentments and acquisitive envy; the continuing conflicts pitting workers against coworkers; and the deleterious influence upon democracy itself” (Greider 254). Greider is more worried about the workers’ training to be subservient. This undermines the democracy and at the same time breaks the families. Most workers, unlike Joseph, submit when the employers force them to choose between their families and their jobs. Like the employers Greider describes, the United States itself is driven to injustice by its materialism. Bacevich’s “The Real World War IV” reveals that, “What Americans demanded from their government was … more choice, more opportunity, and above all, greater abundance, measured in material terms. That abundance depended on assured access to cheap oil – and lots of it.” (Basewich 53). This is the reason why America is willing and very ready to use force in Middle East so as to achieve its selfish desires. America does this without showing any sign of respect to the Middle East, just as the masters who have no respect to their servants. For the masters to live in harmony with their servants, away from the social injustices, change is inevitable.
The economically powerful groups (both the masters and America) must change the manner in which they relate with the economically less privileged groups (servants/employees and the developing nations). The employers must realize that they highly depend on the employees, just as America depends on the oil suppliers. Both the groups need each other and should treat each other with a lot of care, respect, and sensitivity. This is the best way of avoiding the violence associated with the backlash. The economically powerful should take care of their social obligations when “cultivating their gardens.” America should open up its eyes wide and avoid the collisions. Bacevich’s “The Real World War IV” tells, “American shortsightedness played a role in creating the war, and American hubris has complicated it unnecessarily, emboldening the enemy, alienating old allies, and bringing U.S forces close to exhaustion” (Basewich 69). With its military might, America did not think that the Middle East would react against its interests. However, this is now true, as the “enemy” has found the grounds to launch attacks on U.S. The 9/11 attack is an enough confirmation. If America could handle the Middle East countries with the necessary sensitivity, such conflicts and violence would not arise. It’s however not late, America needs to embrace the use of soft power in its relationship with other countries. The masters in both “Work Rules” and “A World on the Edge” must also change the manner in which they relate with their servants in order to avoid the violence. It is this poor relationship that claimed the life of Leona. William Greider reminds us, “People are not things. They are autonomous human actors, not mere ‘resources.’ They cannot be reduced to physical inputs, even if they assent, because they are conscious, responsible agents of self, endowed with inalienable rights and inescapable liable for their behavior, legally or otherwise.” (Greider 260). According to Greider, workers should not be mistreated even if they agree. They must be handled with a lot of care and concern, and their rights must be respected. Every individual has inalienable rights which involves life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The employers should therefore provide liberty and allow their workers to have the pursuit of happiness. This can be achieved by avoiding such things as forced overtime work, which forces the workers to neglect their families. The success of any company is vested in the employees. For the realization of full success, the employers must change their style of relation.
As seen in the three articles, the economically advantaged groups always subject their subordinates to constant mistreatments. They also lack respect to the workers and what the workers do. Workers may be optimistic; however, the little injustices that the employers subject them to, in their everyday lives, always demoralize their efforts. The great levels of inequality make people to depend on others in order to earn a living. Those who are depended on take this as an opportunity to exploit the dependants. The same is applicable to developed nations which exploit the developing nations. Due to this dependence, the masters or providers feel that they are so superior that they do not need to respect the servants. The end result is a conglomeration of social injustices. Violence always occurs as the oppressed servants try to pull out from the oppressors. The only solution is that, “We must cultivate our gardens in the best way.”