Prompt from Alan!

Choose one of the following questions to write about.

Question One:

In Alan Bowne’s 1985 play Beirut the lower east side of Manhattan has been isolated as a quarantine zone. There is an unnamed plague among the population which fits all the 1980’s worst fears of a super communicative AIDS. As a result, the U.S. has become something of a police state dividing people in to “Positives” those with the plague and “Negatives” those who are unaffected.  Two weeks ago, the governor Edwards of Louisiana was describing plans for reopening businesses in the state. He said testing for Covid 19 was essential so that employers would know which employees had had Covid 19 and were immune and which employees were not. That way the employees who were immune could be put in the jobs in at the front desk and have contact with customers and others while the employees who had not had the virus could be put in jobs “in the back.”  

Imagine what this plan could mean for different people? What kind of segregated spaces might be created for “Exposed” and “Unexposed” persons? Does this allow a discrimination against people who due to age, or preexisting condition can not endure Covid 19 and acquire that immunity?  Does it count as a disability if one cannot risk Covid exposure?

 

Feel Free to read the play,

https://oneactingthingaday.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/beirut.pdf

 

 Or watch the film Daybreak that was based on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acBpWp13Rsg

 

 

 

Question 2:

 

          We talked some in class about the potential for social differences among cyborgs “What happens if I can afford to get the cybernetic arm with sensory connections that’s sleek metal and glass, but you get the prosthetic hook?” Let’s take this idea further and consider what happens as prosthetics/cybernetics move even further out of health care into the consumer market. We already see this as the case in how for example health insurance will cover glasses and contacts but not corrective eye surgery unless it is life threatening. But for this question let’s consider cybernetic limbs and implants of inorganic nature. Most consumer products are designed planned obsolescence. Think about how long a pair of shoes, or an automobile last. Don’t even get me started on the short life of a computer or a smart phone. These revolutionary technologies that change the world yet in only perform for a couple of years before it’s time to upgrade. What happens when cybernetics and prosthetics need t be upgraded every couple of years?  Will there be easily detachable cybernetics, or will people repeatedly need to go under the knife?  Last night my smart TV froze because it needed a firmware update that took a half an hour. It was frustrating because I wanted to play a fifteen-minute exercise video, a minor irritation. But what if your smart arm stops responding while it connects to the cloud. . . while you’re on the freeway?  Also consider how so much technology has moved to the subscription model? These days we own less and less. We subscribe to movies, to music, essential applications. What would it be like if we have to license a part of our own body? What if we can no longer afford that low monthly subscription of $9.99 for our eye, our leg, our liver?