Blog Post 8 (for Thursday, 3\/27)<\/p>\n
In his article \u201cSmoke and Mirrors,\u201d Ted Steinberg describes a struggle between \u201cthose seeking to capitalize on the disaster\u2019s entertainment value against California\u2019s business class\u201d (104). The former hoped to capitalize on peoples\u2019 fascination with disaster by distributing reports, images and videos. One of the videos we watched in class on Tuesday was a dramatic recreation of the San Francisco fire, meant for consumers\u2019 viewing across the country, for example. The latter hoped to preserve San Francisco\u2019s reputation as a center of economic activity, worthy of investment. To that end, they sought to deemphasize the destructive capability of earthquakes in the Bay Area, and emphasize the many opportunities it offered in rebuilding. For example, John Marsh<\/a> wrote in his blog post: \u201cRozario quotes a writer for the\u00a0Times\u00a0<\/i>who noted that San Francisco\u2019s natural advantages (its location as a hub of trade for the entire west coast) ensured its recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n During the 19th<\/sup> century we often think of capitalism as driving towards a single, specific goal\u2014 perhaps Machiavellian utilitarianism, or just ruthless efficiency? I\u2019m not really sure how to sum it up. But in most narratives, capitalism seems uniformly against something, whether it be workers\u2019 rights, environmental preservation, or something else. In the Johnstown Flood, for example, the poorly maintained dam was symbolic of the lack of concern that capitalists had for their workers, and their disinterest in quality, so long as the job got done. Interestingly enough, the struggle that Steinberg describes demonstrates capitalism at odds with itself\u2014 both groups had money on their minds, but their means of acquiring it conflicted. It is apparent that there wasn\u2019t a single way to capitalize on the destruction in San Francisco.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not quite convinced of Steinberg\u2019s argument\u2014 or \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d\u2014 that the San Francisco earthquake and fire has been memorialized incorrectly because of some scheming businessmen. But this article has merit because it demonstrates how disaster narratives during the 19th<\/sup> century were shaped by the push and pull of economic forces. With two distinct groups struggling to warp the San Francisco earthquake and fire into vastly different stories makes this phenomenon particularly clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blog Post 8 (for Thursday, 3\/27) In his article \u201cSmoke and Mirrors,\u201d Ted Steinberg describes a struggle between \u201cthose seeking to capitalize on the disaster\u2019s entertainment value against California\u2019s business class\u201d (104). The former hoped to capitalize on peoples\u2019 fascination with disaster by distributing reports, images and videos. One of the videos we watched in … <\/p>\n