| TABLE OF CONTENTS | |||
| Mad Max Home | Part One: Bartertown | Part Two: Crack-in-the-Earth | Part Three: Conclusion |
| Rationale | Bartertown: Questions | Crack: Questions | Assessment |
| Instructional Objectives | Bartertown: Plot | Crack: Plot | Conclusion: Plot |
| Materials and Equipment | Bartertown: Notes | Crack: Notes | Sample Essays |
| Instructional Procedures | Mad Max Links | Return to APCG Unit III | Return to APCG Home |
INSTRUCTOR'S NOTES
This is point to stop and evaluate Bartertown:
Is this a Community?
What are the apparent Political Propensities of the Citizens?
What is the Social Contract ie the overall Collective Value System of this Community?
Which category of ideology would Bartertown fit into? Why?
What institutions or individuals perform the System Functions of Bartertown: Articulation?
Recruitment? Socialization?
What is the Gate? What defines the Gate? What institutions or individuals are part of the
Gate?
What institutions or individuals perform the Process Functions of Bartertown: Aggregation?
Policy-making? Adjudication?
What is the State? What defines the State? What institutions or individuals are part of
the State?
What institutions or individuals perform the Policy Functions of Bartertown: Regulation?
Extraction? Distribution?
What is the Bureaucracy? What defines the Bureaucracy? What institutions or individuals
are part of the Bureaucracy?
Is Bartertown a eufunctional system or a dysfunctional system according to Easton: can it
Adapt? Achieve? Maintain?
THE COLLECTIVE VALUE SYSTEM OF Bartertown
“I created all this. I built this town. Where once there was a desert, now
there’s a city. Where once there was robbery, now there’s trade. Where once
there was anarchy, now there’s order.” - Auntie
1. REACTIONARY
A. RADICAL RELIGIOUS MYSTICISM: symbolism, emotional, fanatic, dogmatic
Auntie lives above the city, dispensing law and justice
Master lives below it, providing fuel
RESURRECTION OF A LEGENDARY MYTHIC PAST -
reliance on scraps of former civilization
the sign on entering Bartertown: 'Helping Build a Better Tomorrow"
(Auschwitz: "Arbeit macht Frei"?)
B. GLORIFICATION OF VIOLENT STRUGGLE
CULT OF VIOLENCE
Ironbar’s thugs and their ceremonial garb
Max’s weapons
Thunderdome as spectacle for the crowd
FORCE AS THE ONLY LEGITIMATE FORM OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Thunderdome: “Two men enter; one man leaves.”
Max’s test of skill before the “deal” with Auntie
Max’s dispute with Master over the car
UNABASHED ADMIRATION OF THE “WILL TO POWER”
Auntie and the Collector’s appraisal of Max after the “test”
Pig Killer’s appraisal of Max: “Things are gonna change around here!”
Auntie’s claim that she created Bartertown after being “a Nobody, a
Nothing.”
2. ELITIST
A. NATURAL HIERARCHY
ACCEPTANCE OF INEVITABLE INEQUALITY
Auntie lives above the city, Master lives below it
Master rides on Blaster
CREATION OF “STRONG IDEAL TENSION” WITHIN THE STATE -
the ongoing conflict between Auntie and Master/Blaster for control of BT
Master’s question: “Who run Bartertown? Answer: “Me Big Chief Arab!”
crowd binds the State to the Rules: “Two men enter, One man leaves.”
B. LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE
PYRAMID OF LEADERSHIP
Auntie lives above the city
the Collector sits higher than the crowd
Master/Blaster on the scaffolding in Underworld
Master riding on Blaster’s shoulders
the crowd climbing for views on Thunderdome
Ironbar lowering Master down with the pigs
“DIVINE” LEADER: INFALLIBLE, MESSIANIC
Auntie’s claim: “Who wrote the Law?”
C. RACISM AND EUGENICS
scant evidence of this, altho
PigKiller's branding, Master's mistreatment?
(compare this the the way the crippled and mentally handicapped in the Crack-in-the-Earth
are treated)
3. SUBJECTIVE
A. MORAL RELATIVISM
ARBITRARY RULES
Auntie’s conspiracy against Master; “bending” the rules
Thunderdome and the Wheel: “Break a deal, face the wheel.”
RESPECT FOR THE PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE VICTOR
“Bartertown” - a place where anything can be bought, sold, or traded
Max’s stolen property is considered the Gyro Captain’s
Max’s car and Thunderdome itself
Master/Blaster’s answer as to the car: “Him strong, him break neck.”
(all evidence that property is possession dependent on the ability to defend it, not legal
title)
B. DUTY OF OBEDIENCE: CONFORMITY, DISCIPLINE, AND SUBMISSION
Ironbar’s thugs and their ceremonial garb
Master’s attempt to make Auntie submit in public
Socialization through simple, repetitive rules
C. RULE BY COERCION: ENFORCEMENT OF ORDER THROUGH VIOLENCE, TERROR, AND LIES
punishment by death, “gulag”, or sentence to the Underworld
Auntie’s conspiracy against Master; “bending” the rules
Master’s attempt to force Auntie into submitting in public
4. TOTALITARIAN
the Water Dealer’s admonition when trying to sell Max the tainted water
(it appears as though everyone in Bartertown lives by the same precepts as those which the
town was built on--"every man for himself")
5. EXPANSIONIST
does expansionism necessarily mean "militarism"?
how many of the residents of Bartertown appear to be soldiers?
permanent mobilization for war in the chase for Max