POST 2: THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

1. Read the definitions and fill in the gaps with suitable words.

PROGRESS

1. Forward movement, as toward a goal . Advance .  Development . Increase / growth =

                                    =======>> Quantity

2. Gradual betterment . Steady / Progressive improvement of society / civilization / humankind.

                                    =======>> Quality

2. Brainstorming: Here is a list of questions you must ask yourself about the notion. Complete the blanks.

What type of progress?

technological / scientific / social / cultural / artistic / economic / educational / medical / ecological / environmental / political / nutritionnal (...)

Who are the people concerned?

individuals / companies / governments / politicians / students / scientists / artists / asiosiations / NGO / charities / trade unions / labor unions / religious authorities / teachers /(...)

Which period of time is concerned?

the past / the present / the future/ utopia / uchronia / dystopia (...)

What is at stake?

medical issues / physical performances / technical advances / innovations / dehumanization / domination / environmental issues / animal rights / place of woman in society / race relations / social inequalities / economic opportunities / globalization / oppening / global warming / work / (...)

What are the advantages and disadvantages (= drawbacks) / the pros  and cons / the upside and  downside?

Some progresses might be very advantageous for us as human beings like technology progresses but it might also go against of ecologic progresses for example, and impact it in a negative way.

Is it profitable (= advantageous / positive )  or is it potentially dangerous  ( unsafe / nagative )

for human beings? Why?
I think that it is not potentionaly dangerous for human beings but for our environment it sure will be. We only make progresses in a way to make people's life better so everything is going to be alright for us but everything we do is for our own comfort but it actually distroy the planet itself.

Is the impact positive or negative?  For whom?

The impact is positive for us but negative for the planet itself.

Can we afford to reject progress  or can’t we do without it (nowadays & in future)?
If we stopped progress now lots of search work would deasapear and it would create lots of troubles in our society so I don't think we can stop it.

Can’t we improve on the idea of progress commonly accepted in our modern world and consumer society? If so, how?

3. Build up your vocabulary

Complete the grid during the school-year with words and phrases suitable for the notion

UPSIDE / THE PROS	TYPES OF PROGRESS	DOWNSIDE / THE CONS
Enable  people to work  more efficiently  / improve our living standard  / ...	Technological progress	Cut people off from the real world /  lose touch with nature  / ...
Increase the knowledge  of  the world  / discover new materials  / ...	Scientific progress	Raise  ethical issues  /  create new inequalities  /  ...
Upgrade education  /  reduce gender and racial discrimination  / ...	Social progress	Lose traditional values  /  disrupt conservative lifestyles  /  ...

POST 1: A Cartoon by Patrick Chappatte, The International Herald Tribune - 5/16/2008

THE IDEA OF PROGRESS

A Fanatic Geek at the Cannes Film Festival

(by Patrick Chappatte, published in The International Herald Tribune on 05/16/2008) 

Chappatte ( born Patrick Chappatte in 1967 in Karachi, Pakistan ) is a Lebanese-Swiss cartoonist who draws for newspapers as Le Temps, Neue Zürcher Zeitung(Sunday edition) and the International New York Times. 

He also worked as an illustrator for the New York Times and as a cartoonist for Newsweek. 

Many of his cartoons reflect events in Swiss and international news, such as the 9/11 attacks, the rise of the Swiss People's Party, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. 

Since 1995, Chappatte has worked in graphic journalism, or comics journalism, a genre of reporting using the techniques of graphic novels. His reports were published in several newspapers, including the New York Times; one was turned into a short animated documentary in 2011. 

In 2011 and 2015, Chappatte won the Overseas Press Club of America’s Thomas Nast Award for best cartoons on international affairs.He's the only non-American to have won this prize.

This document is a cartoon  made by Patrick Chappatte and was published on May the 16th of 2008 in The International Herald Tribune.

At first sight, we can make out celebrities walking on Cannes' festival famous red carpet, we can tell it from the building in the background, on which is written CANNES underneath the Canne's Festival symbol: the Palme d'Or.

In the backgroung, we can see paparazis taking in picture some star couples posing and waving at them while walking up the stairs of the red carpet.

In the second ground, we can see a policeman trying to hold thefans behind the red cord. They seem to be histericaly cheering their idols, they're probably yelling and beging for autographs.

In the foreground, we can see a glamorous woman well dressed with lot of make up and her hair done, she might be a famous actress; next to her stands a man in jeans, leather jacket and sunglasses who seems to be a film director or actor, he is signing an autograph to a young boy wearing sneakers, jeans and a white shirt with the @ logo on it that make us think he's probably a geek. 
The  "geek" owns a speech bubble in which he says : << I love your movies. I've pirated them all!>>. He seems to be overjoyed and proud of what he has done while the "director" seems to be frustrated by it, and the "actress" doesn't seem to care about it, she's kinda haughty. 
Actually the geek doesn't seem to be aware of the situation: by pirating the movies he robbed the director, but this last one cannot overeact to this because first, he has an image to keep at the risk of making controversy and cannot yell on every fan that don't watch films properly/ legally; on second hand, lots of people do watch pirated movies ( or on streaming) because of many reasons like accessibily thanks to internet or even financial reasons because not everybody is abble/ can afford to go to the cinema every time they want to watch a movie.
The cartoonist wants to make people aware of the fact that watching movies on internet is illegal and is unfair for the ones that spent a lot of time working on it because it makes their work unpayed. He uses the Cannes Festival to make it more striky because it is a world wide known festival, but the cartoon only remains as a drop in the ocean because of the practicality of movies circulating on internet.
We unfortunatly also find the exact same problem with downloaded music...