I am so ridiculously inspired by these two stories! Both definitely made me want to cry, and I'm not that much of an emotional person.
I was in shock and awe of the man who gave his kidney to the grocery store clerk. I would consider myself the type of person to do that, but I never really considered that there are other people who feel the same level of connection to others, even if they barely know them. It just goes to show that there is hope, and I'm glad that Sam thought to post these to remind us. Sometimes I come out of class feeling depressed about the state of the world just because people seem to hate each other so much. Clearly some sort of progress is coming along in the form of kindness. I wonder though if it would have made headlines on CNN if these two people had been of the same ethic background? Is that unappreciated kindness. Nice to see that it's always interesting when those who have radical differences come together and are kind to one another. Clearly the ideal would be that this is a commonplace. It amused me to see how very different the man and the woman's reaction to one another was. In the picture of the two of them he has a huge smile while she is semi-serious looking. I don't doubt how grateful she is or how happy she was but her way of showing it was very unique. They were very much the "odd couple". I wish there had been more from his children's perspective and what they thought of what he did.
The two little kids were absolutely adorable. The great thing about kids is that they are so universal. His reaction to her was great. I can remember the days when boys had cooties and they pulled girl's hair because they liked them. I agreed with the message of the video in terms of children. They shouldn't worry about color differences. The irony is probably many people from the United States probably wouldn't even see the ethnic differences between the children. It's pretty easy to group all "Asians" together. So it's a perfect example of how the world should ideally be though I wouldn't argue for being color-blind. Celebrate our differences, don't ignore them or degrade them. But it'd be great if everyone could just give themselves over to pure human connection, love, whatever sappy term you want to call it. It's really sad that at some point they'll lose the ability to love so freely. At some point, and it's a horrible point, someone somewhere will tell them that it's not okay. Clearly our human instinct is to love no matter what may make us different. I think children are brave for never caring that someone's skin is a different color or their eyes are different, or they eat different foods.

I can answer how we can judge other people we don't even know. It's because we don't know them. We fear the unknown. I highly reccomend watching the documentary "The Anatomy of Hate" it does a pretty good job of explaining why humans hate one another. I was always baffled by this topic as well. The unknown is scary. Hard to deny it. Honestly though with the flow of technology nowadays that shouldn't be the case. Our reach is endless and yet we are still scared of those we don't understand and don't take the time to learn. Which is ridiculous. But people can end up set in their ways. I'm sure psychology has studied how long it takes for humans to learn habits. Once those are set, what else are we to do? Not to sound like I want to brainwas children but acceptance should be taught early on. Yes parents will be against it for awhile but that's how it has to start. Start with your children and your family and let it grow and blossom out. Pay it forward. Then we can coexist.

That jus inspires me ot do more with my time on this earth. It is the reason why I spend every second of every day fighting the boxes that people put me in, put others in, put themselves in. People would not be in Sam's class if they did not think that a difference needed to be made. But then I see how much everyone talks while he is talking. How can they possibly be hearing his words? How can they possibly be hearing anyone else ever if all they do is talk? Listen. It does not take much. Why are you paying money for an education if you are going to be glued to your phone the entire time. That is a complete waste of your time. Fill your head with some knowledge. At lest when you look back on your life you can say you took time to learn more. Maybe pass that wisdom on to other people. Your end result is whatever you want it to be. So figure it out. Take time to think about it. Maybe you end racism. Maybe you are the catalyst for the end but it does not happen for another one hundred years. Who cares? It will happen.

I think the end goal for this is just like anything else. We exist because we do. What we do with our lives is entirely up to us. Either you feel inspired by life or you do not. Either you make a difference or you work your 9-5 and then die. Although I do not really think anyone can go through life without making a difference. It is impossible. Some people want to spread hate but others want to spread love. You can never see the fruit of the labors of your life but that does not mean they are not worth it. So maybe there is no end point. The only certain end point is your imminent death. What do you do in the time you have? You cannot even know what time you have. This is why religion exists. People want to know there is something next. Which I never understand. So what if there isn't a next life? So what if there is no heaven?

Freedom of speech is great. I always love when people get carried away with it. I feel sort of neutral about the immigration issue although I'm sure I have distant relatives who are trying to cross the border right now so I should care a bit more. I know he has every right to say the things that he says but it still pisses me off. If you ancestors came through Ellis Island, they didn't want to conform to the American norm. They worked hard not to give up their culture, language etc. How can you demand that of other people? If you go to other countries they don't say "you don't speak our language get the hell out". Well maybe they do but I feel like it's not so in your face as it is here in America. No one is going to take him seriously anyway. Anyone who agrees with him already had those opinions formed and the rest of us will either ignore him, shake our heads, or bow our heads in shame that we share humanity with this man.

I think a lot of the time, Sam just says what other people have been thinking all along but are either A) too afraid to say OR B) don't realize they were thinking it. Whenever he lets loose one of his "left-field" ideas I just sort of chuckle to myself because generally speaking there's always at least an ounce of truth to it whether anybody realizes it or not. Whenever people get offended by something that he says I can't help but wonder if they're just too scared to change their own opinion. To be HONEST, there have been many things that Sam has said that have changed my opinion. I've learned from him not to just blindly follow the things that my parents taught me. Since we've gone over the stages with Sam I feel as though the class has really made a difference for me. I've commented before about how being bi-racial puts me in an odd category. But after going over the stages it all just sort of made sense. It's like an out of body experience when I realize that I'm moving through the stages, and I accept which ones I'm in currently, where I would like to move to etc. Even if you think Sam smoked too much weed or never came out of one of his "connections with God" you have to at least give the man credit for making us THINK. If you come out of this NOT thinking then yeah, it's been a waste of your time but I can't see how it would even be possible.

The existence of games like this is just plain disgusting. As a woman I am offended, appalled, and scared. I have never been okay with violent video games to any degree and would never let my future/hypothetical children to play games like grand theft auto. It just sends a bad message overall. That may make me sound really old-fashioned and close-minded but I just can't help but be afraid of what it means for society as a whole. I keep asking myself the question "why is our society fascinated with these topics?". I suppose though that I could tolerate shoot-em-up games but NEVER a game about raping women. I wonder what Freud would have to say about the whole thing. Raping a mother figure...very oedipal complex. Japanese government really needs to step up and take responsibility for this. I feel like part of it has to be that they know that their country is benefiting from the gamin industry but that's not an excuse. Who in their right mind thinks it's okay to make a game like this? It's bad enough that there's violent porn that has the degradation of women in it, but video games are so much more interactive. The fact that CNN couldn't show parts of it disturbs me even more because just the few things they did cover were atrocious. I know there's no really good way to control what goes on the internet but I feel like countries need to band together over topics like this. While you're discussing oil issues, nuclear warfare etc. then definitely throw in a chat about how this is screwing up society. I'm probably actually going to keep an eye on this post to see how many men are willing to admit that they'd like a game like this. I don't doubt that there are plenty of men and women who would happily pay money for it. The part I found sick/amusing though was that it's a disembodied hand that does all the groping. I guess that's to make it more interactive for players because you can imagine yourself doing it but still. Chances are all the women in the game could not possible exist naturally. I never get why female characters in video games are always so disproportionate. You'd have back problems if you weighed 100 pounds and had a size D cup. Not realistic in the least. I guess that's the appeal though? I just don't understand the cause for any of this. I'm really hoping there's a stop put to this at some point. It's not even censorship to put a stop to it, it's just trying not to let society end up in a downward spiral. We have enough problems as it is.

First off, this guy is pretty much my new favorite person. I know EXACTLY how you feel! My mother is hispanic (mexican) and my father is white (polish). Everyone always mistakes me for white, Sam probably would even mistake me for white, and for the longest time I figured that my ethnicity was mexican but then I'm still on the white team. But like Sam said, you can be whatever you want to be. The ultimate goal is that you don't pick a side. Help connect the sides with your experiences. I think Sam only explains things the way he does so that it's possible for everyone to relate. That's the beauty of the privilege that mutliracial people have. We get all sides and that makes us stronger.

Like many of my fellow classmates have pointed out. There is no "winning" here. There's just a sort of personal "understanding" that comes about when you get to the humanitarian stage.We all just need to strive to be in that humanitarian stage for as long as possible. I'm usually not phased by the things that sam says in class until other people start gasping in horror and talking amongst themselves. It doesn't mean I blindly follow whatever he says as the absolute truth. I think it just means I've reached a point where there is no reason to be offended anymore.

Here's to hoping that most people are not bothered by this possibility that whites really will become the minority. I really do look forward to the day that it happens. Granted I may be old and senile by then but who really cares. I hope I'm around to see it. There's not really any way to stop it unless you try to exterminate groups and if that happens, I just give up on the human race altogether. As a person of mixed race I don't feel strongly about it either way, because I "win" regardless of the situation. I just want everyone to get along. But I have come to realize that maybe the cycle will repeat itself. Maybe after the switch takes place and we're used to it, colored people will start persecuting whites. Who's to say that it can't happen? History repeats itself. Humans haven't been around long enough to end the cycle. I feel like it could happen two or three more times and we still won't have learned. I went to see the anatomy of hate movie and it made me realize that most of the issues we have come from our fear of the unknown. So unless this switching in social roles comes with a deep understanding of one another, we may be doomed to fail at it. I hope that my children and children's children will have the opportunity to see something that is in leaps and bounds from what I've seen and experienced. I hope that since they will be of mixed race they will reach out to all groups. This shift in majority and minority status should not be seen as a way to "teach whites a lesson". That's not how it can be if we want things to get better. Everyone needs to do their part and realize their faults, the faults of society, and the world outside their boxes. No more getting revenge. No more grudges. So if this switch does take place by 2050, we only have a limited amount of time to make the personal and social changes that are needed. It's probably the greatest opportunity we'll ever have as a world society. A new generation of people who know what came before and want to change it. It'll be ridiculously difficult because parents teach their children their ways of hate. We can't stop them from doing it, because it is their rights as a parent. What we can do is take steps over what we can control. If I were to be part of that society, and people usually see me as white, I think it would be strange. I would feel lonely. I would feel underprivileged. But just because I walk into a room with my white skin on, I can have the opportunity to explain that I'm only white on the outside. On the inside I'm a million other things.