The only way to promote a “free market” capitalist society in our country is to pay the same workers and the same wages that we have been for years and years. I think this has only recently become an issue due to the economic troubles we have here in the United States. How do you think we are able to pay for the goods we do at a cheap and low price? As Sam has pointed out in lecture we buy a pineapple for two dollars because there are workers out there that are willing to accept that wage. As much as I want these people to be able to obtain legal citizenship here in the United States and be a part of our country it’s just the way our system works. A lot of us wouldn’t be here going to college if it wasn’t for the so called “illegal” immigrants that work for low wages and help our economy in ways that many people do not realize. This is just the way things work and I don’t think free market capitalism can work in another way even though it may seem that it should be changed.

Much of the same parody goes on in South Park as other television programming whether it’s comedy skits or even recent movies like Borat. First off parodies like these most of the time are meant to actually expose the issue we deal with in society and not to promote racism. I think most of the people who watch these programs understand that. South Park is definitely a show that walks that line but it has an ingenious aspect to it in which it really in the end always tries to send the viewer a message about how the media and society perceive such touchy issues. As far as the issue of Mohammad goes, South Park has made fun of other religions countless times and it doesn’t seem racist to me that he would poke fun at Mohammad related to Islam. Remember these television shows are a lot of times trying to expose these issues and not promote them in a racist way.

Some of the things we talk about in class make me pretty cynical about the way our world works and the way countries like the United States can be greedy as well as unsympathetic in all parts of the world. These stories bring out the humanity in people and illustrate how kind one can be to another. I think it’s truly rare to see complete strangers donating organs especially in such an extreme circumstance. A kidney is a pretty important part of your body and it’s definitely not like donating blood or anything. It’s kind of like what Ian Rosenberger said in class. When you get out of college you know you want to make a difference but are you willing to make a difference as extreme as that? I know I wouldn’t personally and I consider myself a pretty sympathetic person.

I may be on the critical side of this but at first I questioned why this complete stranger would donate an organ of his body to an individual who he really does not have a strong relationship with. I wondered if he was single or just wasn’t normal. It’s kind of sad to question these things but the way society works I would think it is the norm not to just donate your kidney to a grocery store worker who you don’t have any significant contact with. I think it takes an event or some type of personality trait or humbling event in someone’s life to do something as humbling as this man did. He not only crossed the color barrier but he donating a piece of himself to a complete stranger. However, is this person a complete stranger to this man? It certainly didn’t seem so from his perspective. It’s amazing how he noticed the intricacies of the grocery store worker and how her personality as well as demeanor stuck out. How many people are there like that out there? I don't think many but we would definitely have a different world if we did have more people like this man. Even from the women’s perspective she obviously couldn’t believe this man was willing to sacrifice his health for hers.

The short clip of the boy who had a crush on a girl of a different ethnic background was an enlightening one. The ignorance of children is something we need to recognize more often. They aren’t exposed to the predispositions of other cultures yet and truly see people for who they are in a different sort of way. They are able to see past the color barrier because they haven’t encountered the barrier that separates them yet. This is something we are striving to do in this class even though ironically we technically are more mature and intelligent than children.

Unfortunately the way human nature often works is that the only thing that matters to us in the end is self preservation and I think that is what this student is getting at. No matter how many people die in a terrorist attack or natural disaster domestic or abroad I think it’s a common psychological response for people to go on with their daily lives if it hasn’t affected them directly. If a family member dies that affects the individual directly because they won’t be able to have that loving relationship with them anymore. That relationship with that person has diminished which in turn means a part of that person has diminished as well. True empathy is really what this class is trying to get at in my opinion. To get someone to care about the life of another of whom which they have no relationship with whatsoever but have the common connection of just being another human being. I think that is when true empathy is achieved.

Knowing the context of this man, that he committed first degree murder and is capable of this type of understanding and compassion is honestly absolutely shocking. The words of this man make us all look like we lack empathy to a great extent. This makes me think of the philosophical reasoning that once you lose everything, you have everything to gain. I mean this in the context of people like this man in prison as well as the people in Haiti. I can’t tell you the countless times we go day in and day out of our lives caring only about ourselves and ignore others even in the most menial sense. Whether it’s opening the door for another or helping someone pick up something he or she has dropped. The wonderful and simple tone in which he writes doesn’t make him sound like a criminal at all. It actually makes him sound like one of the most understanding people on the planet. Truly amazing to read words from someone behind bars for life and how human compassion does and should work.

It’s incredible what Haitians are doing in devastation only months after the Earthquake. They’ve made somewhat of an economy out of a tent city, something that resembles the ghettos during the Holocaust. I think we underestimate the power of human beings even in times of desperation. Today when Ian came in to talk to us about the real problem in Haiti things really made sense. The United States can’t be the “world’s policemen” forever. We can’t save an entire country by mere handouts. We need to help them jump start their economy by providing projects and businesses they can work with so one day they can be self sustaining.

It is pretty ironic that the first clip in the newscast was a beauty salon. However, don’t we all have the same basic needs and desires? Women all want to feel beautiful even in times of struggle. I remember hearing stories just like that about the Holocaust when growing up. These things that we obviously now take for granted were mere wishes for people like the Haitian survivors and now they can make those wishes of beauty come true. The man who sells movies and comedy skits to other Haitians for a mere 30 cents seems remarkable. Remarkable because he has the frame of mind to think of something so unique and so creative to pick the Haitian children up psychologically even if it is for a minute or two. The economics of Haiti’s tent run economy are truly interesting as it delves into a world of suffering but survival by any means necessary. I’m talking about economic survival of course and not immediate life threatening survival.

Sometimes the resilience that other people have around the world makes life that much more special and a lot of people don’t realize that. Americans ignorantly and blissfully a lot of times think that we are helping countries like Haiti but no were aren’t really helping them. Yes politically we are helping ourselves and Haitians in the very short term. Actually, we are really hurting them in the long run. We are giving them the tools to survive but not the tools to sustain. Sustaining a nation and surviving are obviously two different things. The worst part about this whole process is the money goes back to the United States. Who would have thought? If we truly want to help third world countries we need to stop making them third world countries! We need to help them pick themselves back up by giving them the “opportunity” to succeed instead of just the mere tools for survival. When you look outside the box it makes us look better in the eyes of the world too. This is because very few people know that the money funnels right back to us and we are framed to think we are helping countries that can’t help themselves. This isn’t true and only seems apparent because we don’t provide them with the tools to succeed.

I thought this was one of the most intriguing lectures I've ever been a part of at Penn State. The fact that Sam made this a sociological experiment made me "understand" where he was coming from. As most Americans I've been toying with this question for years. Why are we fighting? What are we doing over there? Shouldn't we be worrying about issues here in the United States. It finally makes sense. I knew we were there for oil and I'm Jewish so I obviously know and feel a certain way about Christianity here in the U.S. but I never really got to see behind the scenes. It's incredible who is running our government if you REALLY take a look, an inside look. Those clips are things I never saw before. Case in point, at the end of the day I don't think there was another option but to raise your hand. It's called empathy. It's called understanding human beings just like ourselves only in a different part of the world. It's unfortunate there are Muslim terrorists but its a religion just like Judaism, Christianity and others. Religion dominates society and it dominates the way our world is run. Sometimes its sad but unavoidable truth.

I think that the play performed in class definitely brought out an issue that I don’t think men for sure think about on a regular basis. I agree with this girl in the fact that men as well are their own person no matter their appearance and in a way I think that is the basis for this class. To see past the color or appearance barrier. As cliché as it may sound we need to see people for who they are without making some sort of disclaimer before meeting them just based on what they look like. It would be hypocritical for me to say that I am not a victim of this as I think we all judge people in a way before meeting or talking to them. However, I think after learning about different cultures, genders and races in this class hopefully people will be able to see each other for who they are instead of the color of their skin or what gender they may be. These are appearance factors which are unimportant when it comes to the actual character of a human being.

I think that there is much evidence that guys conform to the degree that women do but this comes up in different ways. However, I think that women are definitely influenced by the media more than men are or at least it seems that way by research and just walking around campus. Conforming to society and the media I think are two very different topics to address. Guys definitely conform to the idea of looking “buff” and going to the gym as much as possible as they think this will win women over. In other ways they are pressured by their peers just as much as women are to “out drink” their friends so they don’t look weak, to go out as much as they can also. These are all things that Laurie actually brought up in class yesterday that guys definitely conform to as well. Dressing isn’t so much of a way guys conform to society but their actions clearly display their conformity.

I suppose the American education system is really starting to believe Chinese will be a vital language to be fluent in. I have always been under the impression that because China inhabits the most people and has a relatively large economy it’s important to know the language for the future. I have to say I’m a bit surprised that the Chinese government is subsidizing the salaries of teachers that are coming here to the United States to teach. They seem to almost be receiving better benefits than other teachers here in the United States. However, China being the advanced nation that it is, it is not so surprising that the government wants to spread its influence. China is one of the global economic leaders and what better way to increase their chances at economic domination than teaching other nations their language.

The fact that stood out the most is the declining or “fading” language programs such as French and Spanish. These always seemed to be the most popular languages to take in grade school. I know my parents grew up learning these languages in school. Of course there are preparatory schools out there that teach an assortment of languages but obviously parents are paying almost college like tuition for their kids to go there. According to this article, we know Chinese is being taught in places that I thought were less educated areas of the country. Texas and Georgia certainly don’t sound like states that have children walking around speaking Chinese but apparently I may be wrong. Now these facts should be under some scrutiny and we should really question in which cities and schools Chinese in being taught in these states. How many children specifically are really learning the language? What measure can we have to determine that?

Also my impression of America as a melting pot included the idea Spanish was the next language behind English as the most popular here in the United States. Does this mean that is going to change? I don’t think so but I do think it’s a good thing for children growing up in this era to have more choices in school to pick the language of their choice. When I was in high school I was able to take Advanced Placement Spanish but definitely did not have the option of Chinese. It’s pretty incredible that more students are now taking the Advanced Placement test in Chinese than German. From a public relations perspective it seems as though the move has paid off for China’s program “Hanban” as hundreds of superintendents have had free trips to China and then have started language programs in their school districts. Turning this around to think about how English is taught is quite different. I feel as though English is taught universally but here in the United States we need to be mindful that we are much less advanced when it comes to language diversity.