Unit 3 - Applications of Political Philosophy
Learning Goals
By the end of the unit you should
1. Demonstrate an understanding of different types of social movements in and outside Canada.
2. Apply learning about social movements and local charities to participate in service learning.
3. Analyse the role the media plays in influencing social discourse on political and social issues.
4. Examine the effects of governmental policies on individuals.
1. Demonstrate an understanding of different types of social movements in and outside Canada.
2. Apply learning about social movements and local charities to participate in service learning.
3. Analyse the role the media plays in influencing social discourse on political and social issues.
4. Examine the effects of governmental policies on individuals.
Introduction: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
All issues that we will be dealing with will have some connection to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I would like you watch the short video linked here on The Charter and then visit The Charter linked here. Read The Charter and choose 1 right you think is most important. Be prepared to explain to the class why you think so and how you connect to it.
Unit 3.1 Helping the Poor
3.1 A) Helping the Poor
Poverty in Canada | |
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Why is the rise of housing costs in Toronto and Vancouver specifically troubling for the poor? How can it be addressed? What will it take to fix the situation?
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3.1 B) Racial Wealth Gap
Watch the Netflix Explained "Racial Wealth Gap" and reflect by answering the following questions:
1. What are the causes of the "Racial Wealth Gap"?
2. What are some ways that greater wealth equality can be achieved?
3. Are governments equip to deal with these issues?
1. What are the causes of the "Racial Wealth Gap"?
2. What are some ways that greater wealth equality can be achieved?
3. Are governments equip to deal with these issues?
3.1 C) Indigenous Poverty
Read the article linked here about the lack of clean water on Indigenous People's at Curve Lake and other communities face. Why is there no clean water? What can be done to get people clean water?
Then watch the first video from 2015 and their lack of clean drinking water, then view the second video from 2019 and what has and has not changed.
Then watch the first video from 2015 and their lack of clean drinking water, then view the second video from 2019 and what has and has not changed.
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Political Issues Fair - 15% Due December 15th
Politics Fair Assignment | |
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Our society faces many pressing issues and in order to better understand those issues, you will follow the essay step - by - step process to research 1 of these pressing issues and create a display and subsequent presentation that demonstrates your understanding and solutions to said issue.
Unit 3.2 Social Activism
The following is an overview of some Social Movements. We will go deeper as the unit progresses.
Social Movements | |
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3.2 A) Gender
gender.pptx | |
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Watch the below video about Canada's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
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Watch the following video about the #MeToo Movement and then visit the website linked here to find out how you can get involved and why this is so important.
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Visit the following link to Women in Canadian History and choose one you feel is important and be prepared to tell the class about her.
LGTBQ2+ & Politics
View the Research Co. poll done on Canadians and its results here. What do you think this says about the attitudes of Canadians towards the LGTBQ2+ Community and are you surprised by anything here?
Read the short article from CBC linked here. What issues are LGTBQ2+ people facing in 2021? What are some ways we can address these issues?
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Watch the video on the importance of elections, governments and jurisprudence on issues important social issues.
UPDATE: In his first day in office, Joe Biden signed an Executive Order that adopts the latest Supreme Court ruling's more expansive inclusion of LGBTQ rights under sex discrimination protections.
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Trudeau's Apology
3.2 B) Anti - Racism Social Movement & Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Critical Race Theory | |
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What is the message here from Kaepernick and Nike? Do you think it is positive that Nike is using Kaepernick as a spokesperson for its brand? What are the positives and negatives of this?
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Watch the BLM history and note 3 things you did not know about the movement's history. How has it sought to positively impact the lives of Black people around the world and specifically in the US?
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Read the Yale University study linked here. How can you engage in social activism? How can you support causes like BLM that matter to you? How do they make you feel? Reflect on these questions.
Read the CBC article on Asian Racism since the beginning of Covid - 19 linked here. What has this study and the racism that Asian people have faced in Canada say about Canadians and Canadian culture?
Note: Netflix has a series Colin in Black and White that I suggest you take some time to watch.
Read the CBC article on Asian Racism since the beginning of Covid - 19 linked here. What has this study and the racism that Asian people have faced in Canada say about Canadians and Canadian culture?
Note: Netflix has a series Colin in Black and White that I suggest you take some time to watch.
Unit 3.3 The Media
Some History of Media Influence
Visit the US National Archives linked here and choose 1 propaganda poster that appeals to you (just from its image).
A) Then, before reading about it, reflect and note down why it appeals to you and why might this government propaganda be effective?
B) Then read about it and see if the propaganda was directed at you and if its appeal to you was its overall purpose.
A) Then, before reading about it, reflect and note down why it appeals to you and why might this government propaganda be effective?
B) Then read about it and see if the propaganda was directed at you and if its appeal to you was its overall purpose.
Orwell's 1984
Read the passages from George Orwell's 1984 on knowledge. How are they applicable to today?
1. “Sometimes, indeed, you could put your finger on a definite lie. It was not true, for example, as was claimed in the Party history books, that the Party had invented aeroplanes. He remembered aeroplanes since his earliest childhood. But you could prove nothing. There was never any evidence.”
2. “The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’ And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. ‘Reality control’, they called it: in Newspeak, ‘doublethink’.” |
3. “To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word ‘doublethink’ involved the use of doublethink.”
4. “The frightening thing, he reflected for the ten thousandth time as he forced his shoulders painfully backward (with hands on hips, they were gyrating their bodies from the waist, an exercise that was supposed to be good for the back muscles)—the frightening thing was that it might all be true. If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, IT NEVER HAPPENED—that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death?” |
Canadian News Media and Politics
Media in Canada | |
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Read the short article linked here and watch the video on what is going on in Rogers right now and why it should matter to you.
The Art of Selling Lies
Together we will watch the PBS Documentary on Propaganda linked here. Answer and answer the questions below.
1. What is symbolic communication?
2. How is symbolic communication used in propaganda? 3. What is BuzzFeed News? 4. "When we don't think its propaganda it works best as propaganda." Explain. 5. How has the church employed propaganda? What does this say about institutions? Why is this significant? 6. How does emotion work in propaganda? 7. l Explain this. |
8. What are examples of some patrarical stereotypes that are reinforced?
9. "Capitalism creates envy." Explain. 10. Fairey "deracialized' Obama. What does this mean and how do you feel about tit? 11. How is art freedom? 12. How can news media be considered propaganda? 13. How has social media perpetuated hate? How is it intertwined with politics? 14."Anything that satisfies or resonates is going to be really compelling." Explain what this means to you. |
Spreading Misinformation Online
Look at the study linked here on the spreading of misinformation online. Who is most likely to spread it and believe it? - Note: You do not need to read the case studies with the methodology. Then look at voter demographics linked here. What does this tell us about the important the importance of examining closely what we spread online and how it will effect government construction? How does it relate to spreading propaganda? |
5 Filters of Mass MediaList Chomsky's 5 Filters of Mass Media.
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Attacking Truth
You have seen the advent of Fake News and attacks on the media. We have learned how media can be used to propagate for both world leaders and corporations, but what about directly attacking truths or for political gain. Read the article from The Guardian linked here and list 3 conspiracies that are not true and that could be harmful to society. Also, why is Fake News harmful to society? How can attacking 'truth' be detrimental to society?
Last Week with John Oliver
Disclaimer: This video rates at 14A: 14 Accompaniment - Suitable for viewers 14 years of age or older. Viewers under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. May contain violence (may be graphic in some cases), coarse language or sexually suggestive scenes, or any combination of them. Equivalent to the United States PG-13.
While Watching think about: What are ways that online news media can disproportionally negatively influence communities whereby English is not their first language and may not have access to factchecking or trusted media?
Misleading Information in Action
Read the article linked here and decide which of the falsehoods in Trump's Tweets seem the most convincing. Explain why you think so.
Unit 3.3 Healthcare
Healthcare | |
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Read the article on wait times in Ontario from this link. Then watch the videos below.
Watch the American Video on Canadian Health Care. What makes Canadian medicine successful? What can be improved? How can it be improved?
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Canada's healthcare system is public. Should healthcare workers be mandated to get vaccinated? Watch the two videos here and be prepared to share your opinion. Read what hospitals are doing and what hospitals think here.
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