Here's my comment:
Hi Olivia!
I liked your post on Westwood and your exploration of the concept of Neoliberalism. When you were talking about the stores dangling like "bait," I couldn't help but think of the Marxian concept of class and how the "city is a tool" for legitimizing capitalism and making it very attractive. For many who may not like their jobs, or working at all, shopping and consuming goods makes the city and capitalism in general worthwhile. I think the way you described these consumer centers (the mall) is precisely what Marx described when discussing the "city as a tool", like we learned about in the "Axes of Difference: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality" lecture (Wilford 2012). Adding on to your discussion of how consumerism helps define "self-worth" as it relates to "buying power," he ability to purchase and consume really does seem to have a gratifying effect for most people as they feel they are of a high enough class to do so.
I also really enjoyed your exploration of buses being an anti-neoliberalist entity. I completely agree that the fact that these buses are a social good, that they don't completely fit into strict neoliberalism. I live in Irvine (when I'm not at UCLA) and the bus routes are basically non-existent. They have received so many budget cuts, they literally don't take you where you need to go and many don't even run anymore. Literally, in those situations, there is no other choice but to own a car and I think really reinforces the class differences and puts those who can't afford a car in a very tough position. Perhaps, it is also a reflection of the area (Irvine is a pretty expensive place to rent/buy a home), so perhaps the residents do not need the buses or want to pay taxes for them. I'm glad that Los Angeles has a nice working bus system that allows everyone to get to where they need to be. I feel like many people think of taking the bus as unideal though (in contrast to driving a car) though because you mentioned, it goes against the neoliberal concept that we are all surrounded by everyday. I might be going out on a limb, but I think that many richer people (like you mentioned) would rather take their own car because it shows their status outwards that they can afford to maintain their car and don't need to rely upon this anti-neoliberalist entity (the bus). This also leads to the radical individualism that we discussed in the beginning of class.
Another thing I noticed from your photos is that there really is a strikingly obvious lack of public spaces, which is another central point in Neoliberalism. I never really noticed it before, but really there is no place for people to just meet and hang out, unless it involves shopping. Spaces are strictly designated to be for shopping or residential in this area.
Really great post! It was very enjoyable for me to read and I think it was the perfect place to examine neoliberalism, as the whole Westwood area is pretty much stores, which are all about economic development, progress and profit and not much else haha! It really shows you how the money of the city is going more to helping the economy grow, rather than common goods for all, which would be more on the social democracy side. I also enjoyed seeing your perspective on buses being the social democratic side of the city peeking through the neoliberal focused shopping area of Westwood! Great post :)
Hope you have a great winter break!! :) If you want to check out my blog, here it is: http://metromotleyla.blogspot.com
Hope everyone does great on their finals and has an amazing winter break! Thanks for reading! :)
Happy Holidays!
