The article written by Deborah Brandt called “Writing For A Living” was very interesting. Brandt discusses how the economy is shifting into a knowledge-based economy. She also states that knowledge and literacy are not synonymous; which I found particularly interesting. Much like earlier, she talks about capitol and what it does to the economy. Capitol in her terms is simply knowledge. That knowledge is what you can bring to the table; whether it be creativity or the other forms of capital you have. Overall, Brandt focuses in on how important writing and literacy have become in the workplace and that they are going to be essential skills going into the future.
I thought that her opening statement in regards to a knowledge economy was very rhetorical. Brandt states that “In the knowledge economy, wealth is created by generating and leveraging knowledge.”. To me, that sounds like she is going to delve into the art of persuasion. The only way to achieve wealth is by acquiring knowledge. Which seems contradictory because how can you achieve knowledge and generate knowledge, when knowledge is the transactional currency. I suppose that is where she suggests using the art of persuasion. You have to use what knowledge you have with the art of leverage and persuasion to acquire more knowledge. So to me, that sounds like, you have to falsify the knowledge you have to whomever to succeed in acquiring new knowledge. It just seems very paradoxical but according to this knowledge economy, a necessity.
This made me think of another English class from the other day. Our English advisor visited me again, and we were talking about the importance of the English major itself. Maybe she was trying to be persuasive as well but nonetheless hitting on a lot of the same topics. She was discussing how employers want English majors because they have more knowledge. Knowledge in terms of exercising critical thinking and understanding what other people are saying. That is also why she said that so many people double major with English as well because it shows employers that you have that sense of knowledge. I just thought this article aged well having that I experienced what she was arguing in class the other day.
Overall, Brandt doesn’t think that knowledge is fundamentally the answer to this new economy. She finds that there are exploitations and that knowledge is obtainable by everyone. Literacy affects the human capital and knowledge that every individual possesses. At the end of the day, Brandt is stressing the importance of literacy and knowledge of how it is evolving the workplace; she also realizes that there are risks that come along with this evolutionary workplace, and if the workplace evolves the writer, the writer may be out a job.
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