The mentality Muslims have is very similar to the mentality we have. It is us against them. They feel that they are being attacked by a single race and single religion and we feel the same way. This hatred is driven by fear. We feel unsafe especially after being attacked and it makes the country as a whole feel safer when we have extensive military over in the middle east. If there was military here everywhere I walked shooting innocent civilians I would hate not only them but who they represent as a whole. This would make me hate an entire group of people with out even knowing them. This seems to be understandable basic human instinct.

Everyone wants to feel safe. When your country has been attacked by someone else and innocent loved ones have been killed you need someone to blame. You find out who did it and you hate them, this is a natural reaction. Even if the hate is unreasonable or undeserved you need something and someone to hate or want to know why they did it or your loved one died for nothing. Suicide bombers avenging deaths may have unreasonable hate and their actions seem irresponsible but understandable depending on their individual situation. I am not saying suicide bombings are ok just that I think I can see where the extreme actions can come from.

I think religion and resources are two huge parts of this war. I think the government would like you to think that the only reason we are there fighting because there are terrorists and they attacked us but there are so many more subplots to this war. We have a huge military far superior to any other military force in the Middle East much like the advantage we had in the Vietnam War. However we are sending more and more people all the time expanding this war to different countries, first Afghanistan, then Iraq, maybe Iran now? It seems to me from a distance that we are looking for reason to invade countries at this point and I think a lot of it has to do with their resources.

Also I think American likes to play the role of a world police. There is intensive genocide and people dying all through Africa however we focus on terrorists groups in the Middle East. I understand we are fighting in the Middle East because they attacked us, but we are spreading ourselves too thin. We go into different areas and try to instill our religion and democracy as if all countries should do what we do because we are always right. I do not think that is the case. People in the Middle East have an entirely different culture than us and it is not our business to tell them how to politically run their country. I understand stopping Sadam Hussein and his evil doings but instilling a new government and virtually telling them how to run their country is not our job.

I do not think we should be the moral leader and police of the world. First off it is very expensive to do that and we live in a bad economy right now. And if our economy is bad and our country is not doing well, that is more reason we should not be telling other countries what to do. We are not exactly the superpower we once were and we are not exactly the most morally correct people as well. Protecting our country and citizens should be the goal. I understand the reaction to stop evil when we see it but we can not stop everything in a world like today it is just too hard. There is too much bad out there to stop and it is a never ending goal. I am not saying we should go back to isolationism but having our nose in everyone else’s business is not the best thing for our country especially at this time. I respect everyone that is fighting for our country and is in the military because I know it’s a tough job.

Slave labor is attractive to large corporations because it is so cheap and profits increase. To end it the best thing to do is to somehow make it less profitable to use slaves; however that is next to impossible. I do not know how affective boycotting slave made products has been or could be but that is the first step because you are directly cutting into companies wallets. It is always great when a large corporation agrees to fair trade because they have chosen morality over profits in this world of cut throat competition and global capitalism which is a very tough thing to do. I think more companies should do this and one all companies agree to fair trade the playing field is level and a new morally sound competition will be in place with no corporations having an edge over another. Some companies are taking steps and I hope others do so in the near future.

Eating the second piece of chocolate or not eaten it is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The fact is most chocolate is produced from West African slaves is the issue. Steps you can take personally go much further then not eating chocolate. Just to spread the word and be aware of what you purchase and what you are actually doing in general. It’s not good to be tuned out. If you do not know where the things you buy come from then find out. We eat and drink things that we have no idea what is put in it and no idea where it came from. The video opened my eyes to the fact that is it our responsibility to know where the things we eat comes from and even further it is our responsibility to inform those who are ignorant to care and think about where the things they use come from as well.

I totally agree with the fact that learning language in high school is not a very affecting step in teaching students or Americans to be bilingual. If you are going to teach a language the best strategy is to be totally immersed in it for a period of time like visiting a foreign country or to learn from a very young age. I think if American public schools want kids to learn different languages they should be taught in preschool or elementary schools because it is much easier to learn then.
I think someone who has the ability to speak several languages is very attractive to employers because it is something that is very difficult to learn. It is underestimated how important communication skills are, as an employer depending on the situation I would usually higher someone slightly less qualified but had excellent communication skills or was bilingual then someone who was more experienced. This is because I feel experience can be achieved but excellent communication is much harder to get.
I think one of the things holding us back is that it may be hard to find bilingual teachers who want to teach at public elementary schools. They are known for being low paying jobs and usually someone who has bilingual skills is more useful doing something else. A solution could be the government could use some tax money to stimulate that particular job for several years and if it worked the proportion of high school graduates who were bilingual would be much higher. Then it would not be as hard to find a bilingual person because a higher proportion of people who have that skill.
Also a question to ask is what language to teach. I think many parents would argue that they would not want to have their tax money used to teach kids a language. They would feel that money would be better spent teaching math or science. Other parents would disagree and say language skills are important, because of this conflict no direct moves have been made. I think as English because the global language people, especially Americans become less motivated to learn other languages. However so many more opportunities are present when you know another language that are looked over.
I learned Spanish for 4 years in high school but no hardly any Spanish today. I have heard of people who went to Spain for a few months and learned more Spanish then I had in four years. I think that is the best way to learn the language rather than learning grammar from a textbook.
In conclusion the current structure of language offered in high school is not a great way to increase communication skills in high school graduates. More kids should learn the language earlier or have opportunities to go to a foreign country and learn.

Affirmative action may not be the best way to get a job but it is better than Nepotism. Affirmative action only affects ten percent of jobs and it gives lower class people who would not normally have an opportunity because of nepotism a chance to break through. If they broke through than their family is now reaping upper middle class benefits, their children get a better education and it may solidify upper class lifestyle for generations to come. I think it is good to give people a chance who would not normally even if they may not be as qualified. I have been given a job that I was not as qualifies as others but that just made me strive to worker harder to prove to others I actually deserved the jobs and I think this is commons with most people who get a job due to the benefits of affirmative action.

Nepotism is much more unfair than affirmative action but much more difficult to prevent. I agree that most jobs I got and most jobs people I know have gotten were mainly because of who we knew not necessarily what we knew. However since I was young it has been preached to me to form relationships and network almost as much as it was to learn and good grades. Every person I knew that gave me a job was because of a relationship I went out of my way to earn. That was not given to me. If I was an employer I would feel more comfortable hiring someone I knew and I knew they would be a good employee than someone who may be a little more qualified but I just met. I think it is human nature because you feel more comfortable with people you already know. This is why it is so hard to prevent.

I think welfare is and was created to keep the economy balanced and keep a balance between consumers and producers. When we are in an economic slump people usually do not spend very much money and in turn businesses and corporations that make many of consumer consumption will suffer. That’s why the government has programs in place like social security, welfare, minimum wage, unemployment, among others. These programs are relatively static and inelastic except for social security which seems to be depleting as time goes on. These programs are very important in keeping our economy stable if they were not in place then in a tough economic time like we have now middle class would shift to lower class and the lower class would shift to the lowest class with the upper class being relatively unaffected. This money from the government is pumped into our economy for a purpose and whether or not our economy is doing well there will always be a minimum wage and welfare.
I do not know if it is necessarily a good thing but I know if protects us from having a huge great depressions although some argue we are approaching one. Another way of looking at it is that poor people that collect welfare have little motivation to go out into the real world and get a job. I think that can be true because it is like a security blanket knowing that you have money for your next meal, not glorifying unemployment because I know it is not a lot money. But lets face it, it is very tough for a low class person collecting welfare to turn around their life and get a well paying job in today’s world. Most jobs come from a connection or networking and most companies would be hesitant to hire someone with a lower class tract record. That is why affirmative action is in place. It is sometimes the only opportunity they get. Overall I think people are most motivated by dignity. Poor people do not want their neighbors to be paying for their health care and other people’s tax dollars to be paying for their food. They feel a sense of dignity from human nature to know whether or not they earned something or deserve it and I think we need to emphasize that when it comes to the motivation of lower class citizens. Sometimes they need to be thrown out of their comfort zone to compete in today’s world.
Overall I think welfare has pros and cons, the pros is that it helps keep the economy stable for everyone but a con is that it can cause lower class citizens to lose motivation. Although everyone is different that seems to be the main point.

I think the census is most likely created and conducted by white people, because the majority of the country is white and the majority of people that are in control and make decisions are white. This is why it does not surprise me when people are color get mad or offended by things on the census. It is tough to please everyone with anything that you do and this is a good example of it. No matter what term you use to refer to someone, someone will be offended. It is just a form to fill out to help the country out with demographics. No one is trying to offend anyone by it. The Census is a pure statistically analysis to help better our country. I can understand it being confusing if you are multi-racial I would not know what to do then. I would honestly probably put down whatever benefited me the most.