In a country that’s founded on immigrants uniting to escape religious persecution, it’s ironic to find individuals now a days with such narrow paradigms when it comes to similar matters. With regards to immigrants coming to the united states – from mexico, Europe, asia – wherever, it seems Americans too easily want to push them off and make them feel like they are intruding. This country is where anyone can find the ‘American Dream’. That’s what makes our country so great. You can come from elsewhere and encounter better life in America, right? Absolutely, so why is it that citizens so easily want to cast people out. The United States welcomes people of all races, religions, cultures, essentially everyone. It’s in our constitution, it’s written into law. Immigrants have as much right as domestic born citizens to utilize this country and it’s resources to the fullest of their potential. And why shouldn’t they? The thing I don’t understand is why people are so concerned with selfishly harboring what they have without sharing so that others might reap some benefit. Too many American’s think that they are the only ones who are truly right in pursuing the American Dream. And with this, they want to shut everyone else out. Maybe not directly, but it doesn’t require words to make someone feel unwelcome. Think about Arizona State’s immigration law, SB 1070. This law requires that immigrants carry their documentation on them at all times, and if they don’t it’s a misdemeanor. Furthermore, police may randomly stop anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant. I don’t know how you could make this look anymore like racial profiling. Now I’m not one in support of illegal immigration, but think about what kind of damage this is doing to the relationship between legal residents who look Mexican American, and are getting profiled on a consistent basis. What kind of impression are these people getting? They’re getting questioned, I.D’ed – they are being made to feel unwelcome. American’s are too easy to take what we have for granted. Simple pleasures, like the freedom to go for a walk with your girlfriend, or take your kids to the park. Simple things that American’s just assume are an expectation from life. These are the kinds of things we assume are universal freedoms, but they truly are not. We can’t look at our lifestyle and say this is how life should be. Maybe it should, that’s certainly true. As Americans we have arguably one of the best qualities of life out there. But whether we think this universality should be existent doesn’t matter – because it most certainly is not. People around the world can’t nod their head in agreement over the pleasures we so easily indulge in, because shelled off in this microcosm of a universe we call America, we forget that people are not as fortunate as us. And so if they want to come over, and if they are willing to take the initial step to completely pick up their lives, in hopes of finding truth, freedom, and the American dream, who is anyone to tell them otherwise.

I thought that besides all of the information that we were given, playing the song Don’t Drink the Water by Dave Matthews band really made the message sink in. I am personally a fan of DMB and knew that the song was about that but it really hit me reading the lyrics slowly with the pictures going along with it. I have travelled out West many times throughout Utah, Arizona, and Nevada and I have personally seen the poverty that these people go through. They live on reservations in shacks and trailers and have little huts that serve as their means of business where they sell things ranging from handcrafted jewelry to trinkets. What I couldn’t get over thinking is who is actually going to stop at one of those places. First off it is a very remote area where at times we would be driving and not see another car for 10 minutes, and secondly they all sell similar things so what are the chances of someone stopping there and buying from them then another Native American down the street. The point I am trying to make is there is no way whatsoever that these people can support themselves with these stands and are living in horrible poverty, in the wealthiest country in the world. After we have taken what was rightly theirs and created on the largest mass genocides in the world’s history, we could at least set up a government program to support these people to live above the poverty line. I found it very depressing as well to see the statistics regarding women being raped and the high teenage suicide rates. I am proud to be an American and love this country but seeing all of that stuff really made me just re-evaluate what our country was built upon and it is disgusting to see our country turn a blind eye to this situation of hardship we have caused, ultimately ruining these peoples lives and their generations before and after’s lives. As I said before I am proud to be an American and would not want to live in any country over ours, but to be honest this class along with last weeks on Iraq just opens your eyes to see why there are many countries who hate the United States of America with justifiable reasons. We have become the strongest and wealthiest country in the world by suppressing the weak at the expense of others. What I think is the most depressing is that we could at least have the decency to realize the mistakes we made and do something to help these people out and make it right in the future. Unfortunately the government and our school system turns their shoulder on this situation and not address it at all.

I felt that the information regarding the opposite sex, women, was interesting but not that surprising to me. Everyone always talks about how women are consistently less satisfied and tend to not climax during sex so the percentage differences was not something that really surprised me. To be honest I just was intrigued to hear about what would be said about the male stereotype. I will openly admit that I consider myself someone who is proud of being a man and usually turned off immediately when I hear something regarding a feminist rant. The class was anything but that; I listened the entire time and found myself constantly agreeing with what Sam and Laurie had to say. It is so true regarding the sexual tendencies of our society being molded around a man’s view. As someone who has slept with multiple people in college, I found myself recently being past that phase. At first when I may have been turning perfectly attractive nice girls down I thought to myself “What the hell are you doing? Is there something wrong with me”. The fact that I even asked myself that question is problem number one with out society. We are all so caught up in the sexy lifestyle and a media that is obsessed with sex that we have predetermined notions for what our sex life should be. Like Sam said everyone thinks everyone else is having so much sex, when in reality they are not. As I thought more about why I had been turning certain girls down it was because I believe I met a girl that I fell in love with. I realized that there was someone who was legitimately one of my best friends at school, who I also had a sexual attraction to. I realized that getting drunk at frat parties and hooking up with girls who I could care less about their name at the end of the day meant nothing and I truly do believe that it is pathetic that our society not only condones this behavior but encourages it. Don’t get me wrong I love to have a good time and in a few hours I’ll be enjoying my Friday night like a college student should, but I really do feel that the main issue in our society is the fact that I had this thought in my head that something was WRONG with me for turning down that behavior. Maybe it’s because I am maturing and coupled with the fact that I felt that way towards a specific girl but I just find it deeply upsetting that our society has lead us to play these mind games between men and women’s relationships. Once again this class never ceases to amaze me, Sam and Laurie were dead on with almost everything they had to say, especially regarding girls dressing up to go out with heels and no jacket etc. There is never a dull moment in Soc 119 and Sam’s class is truly the epitome of why I am so glad I go to a school like Penn State.

I believe this question addressed has to be answered in two different parts. First, I believe that the reason interracial relationships are such a big deal is obviously because of racism. Whether it is latent or evident prejudice, the reason why people get so worked up over interracial relationships is because dating someone or making them your significant other is the true test of dedication. Anyone can cover up their feelings to be politically correct around another race, but it takes a whole other level of trust and acceptance to enter an interracial relationship. Besides the internal battle to unconditionally accept another race as completely equal and the same as yourself that people may face when going through qualms of an interracial relationship, there are also many outside forces that unfortunately deter persons from pursuing another race or ethnicity. The main factor I believe is parental pressure. The reason why interracial relationships have been increasing recently in my opinion is because the generation above us is becoming less and less racist. When our personal generation has children I do honestly believe that the issue of an interracial couple will be significantly less important and stressed as it was in the past and still is today. For example, I know that my mother who is one of the most accepting and least racist persons I know would look at an Asian, Black, Hispanic, or Jewish girl the EXACT same as a White Christian (which I am) girl as long as I was happy. That being said she still says to this day if she had met a Black man rather than my White father, regardless of his intelligence, personality, monetary status, etc. she knows that her own father (my grandpa) 100% would have not attended the wedding and her whole life’s relationship with him would have changed. It turned out that she met my Irish and Scottish father and that issue has never been really addressed with her dad, but I know if it came down to it and she met hypothetically an exact Black version of my father she would have still dated and married him because love transcends color and race. This is the second issue that I think is so wrong with interracial relationships along with society’s view to relationships as a whole. Whether it is through race and socioeconomic status pressures or the garbage sexual moral values the media promotes, everyone is too worried about what others think. In the words of Sam “We’re all gonna die”, and relationships are just one of the aspects of life to think about this quote. Be with who YOU are happy with. If you are truly in love with some one the last thing in either one of your minds should be each other’s race. Personally I find it pretty upsetting that someone who loves another person should have to deal with outside forces such as family members, friends, and looks received in public, but that is why we don’t live in a perfect world. Just an ending note to think about, next time you see an interracial couple just hold your judgment or look. If that’s they’re own personal life decision don’t go out of your way to put them down. Life is too short to be anything but happy.

Although selfish is a very difficult adjective to group all people in this situation in with, I believe there is certainly some degree of selfishness that comes along with the act of having a high number of children while having an income that clearly can not support it. There are always of course exceptions to the everyday situation, but as a whole it is hard to deem someone responsible who is constantly having more and more children while they are on welfare. If they cannot support themselves and their current children already, there is no reason whatsoever that a family should be allowed to bring another life into this world. This conscious decision to have a child while on welfare can only be considered selfish, as it disregards the betterment of not only society but also doesn’t take into the fact that you are bringing another person’s life into the world. A child deserves to be brought into a life where they can be loved for, properly cared and nourished, and ultimately be put on the right track until they can fend for themselves. Someone who is on welfare certainly cannot provide all of these aspects to the fullest that a newborn deserves, and if they cannot see the importance of that over the benefits of collecting more money from welfare than there is certainly moral and ethical issues wrong with this person. Being called selfish would be just one of negative adjectives that would justify this persons behavior. Of course all decisions aren’t as clean cut and blunt as I just presented such as “should I have the baby for more welfare money or not?” and although this may be a little exaggerated it has to be seriously considered when making decisions such as having unprotected sex and risk starting another life into a family that can simply not sustain it. The dictionary defines being selfish as “lacking consideration for others”. Besides lacking consideration for the child you are bringing into the world, there are other people in the world who need those help and welfare resources. Of course I am not generalizing all people who are in these situations with many kids on welfare because life circumstances sometimes bear unforeseeable cards. But that being said if someone purposefully brings another life into a world knowing that they will be reaping the benefits of welfare, I don’t see how that person cannot be considered to be selfish. The world as a whole cannot improve without each person making own personal decisions to better society and standard of living. I would say that there definitely is not a benefit to society or someone’s personal life to bring a 5th child into an already family of 4 who are being supported by welfare and all in all my answer to the question is yes, it is a selfish choice.

When I think of life around the world outside of the environment I am so accustomed to I certainly feel an amount of guilt. It is extremely hard to imagine kids in other countries living their everyday lives without the necessities and benefits we take for granted everyday. For example, the ability to have running water, a bed to sleep on, and food to eat each day is something that comes without much hard work and effort as college students. While we are more worried about which pop quiz we have in a class or who has updated their facebook statuses to what, other citizens in 3rd world countries only task each day is to survive by collecting food or building a mud hut, or as Sam used in class the example of the difficulty just to earn 1 dollar in a country such as Haiti. So I ask yourselves as Americans to not only be proud in the country and land of opportunity we have but also remember that in other parts of world they are truly living in a society you would think would not exist on the same planet. I find it very difficult to not at least feel compassion for the kids that are born into those countries and situations. Who is to say that just because I luck of the draw was created into a white, upper middle class, educated family am I any more deserving of all people in a country such as Haiti. That being said free will always takes a part and I have done all I needed to succeed and be in the position I am, but that has nothing to do with me being “smarter” or “above” a kid in Haiti who works I’m sure one 100x harder than me just to scrap together pennies. People truly do need to realize how unbelievably fortunate we are to live in this country, and beyond that be sitting in class at Penn State. I totally agree with Sam’s statistic that everybody in the room was in the top 3% of standard of living and opportunity compared to the world. The question than becomes what can we do with that statistic and I believe the most important thing is just to remember it. Everyday when you are doing daily and basic things don’t take it for granted and if you can spread your conscientious thoughts to others. Let them know not only how lucky we are compared to the rest of the free world and also inform them that there are plenty of kids kidnapped into human slavery still going on today. I felt very ignorant that I did not know such injustice was going on in the processing of products we use without thinking such as a cell phone or eating a bar of chocolate. It is our duty as the top 3% to go through life making others realize the opportunities we have and open their eyes to how other people are living in other countries.

At the end of class last week I loved the video that Sam showed referring to us all as “monkeys” and simply just as other animals that inhabit our planet earth. This is a very interesting way to think of society as a whole. I completely agreed with many of the points made in the comedic yet also serious video. For example one of the best points illustrated in the video is how we have become a world too smart and worried for our own good. If we were not worried about what others would think or react to our decisions, the world would be a much simpler place. Another very interesting point was that the humans are the first “monkeys” to worry about being happy. All other animals are content with just merely living. This is the single most important factor that I believe has led to the reasons why are world is so great at some times and places and why it is so problematic in others. The ability to realize and pursue happiness is not only one of the great fundamentals our country is built on, but ultimately a principle that all humans have been living off of since they could make rational decisions. However on the other hand, this need to be happy and not merely content is certainly the reason for many worldly problems discussed in the video. From jihad wars to international oil trade problems, these world issues are caused because humans are too worried about what others will think and ultimately if they themselves will be happy with what others are thinking. For example, to make ourselves’ feel happier it is always easy to put someone down and lift our own ego. This can be applied to today’s racial problems and even as far back as the Europeans taking over the indigenous people’s land that is today America. I found myself today thinking of the monkey video when Sam was discussing whether people’s socioeconomic situations are based on their own personal decisions in their life or whether their environments and other outside factors have had more of a determining their lives. How with all of the differences and problems there are in today’s society does it come down to the fact that we are all monkeys living in a simple world that has been far too complicated? Trying to keep that themed question I got from the video in mind during today’s lecture, I realized how absurd it is to think peoples’ situations are based solely on their own personal decisions. I am not saying that it is solely based on an individual’s environment and that they can not make personal choices that will influence the outcome of their life or status, but to think there is no difference between people is completely ignorant. If life were as simple as the monkeys, everyone would be in a neutral environment and separated solely by their own decisions; but as we were shown by the video life is far more complicated than just being monkeys.

The difference between a “white” comedian and a “minority” comedian all comes down to political correctness. For the sake of this argument we will simply make it a white versus non-white issue, throwing all groups of black, brown, Asian, Hispanic, and others under the category of a “minority”. If a minority comedian goes out and pokes fun against other races including their own, it is considered OK and acceptable among a group as large as our Soc 119 class because no one feels nervous or awkward. The question then arises that if we are all equal, why does this underlying tension arise in the classroom when the roles are switched and a white person is telling the jokes. In this progressive world that we live in I like to believe that when our generation looks at another person they do not see any differences between themselves and someone else of another race. As we discussed in class it is absurd to think we are so different, considering 99.99% of our DNA is all the same. I believe that this tension and uncomfortable feelings all are drawn from the past, something we all need to move past. The reason I believe everyone feels uncomfortable for a white person to tell a joke is because it is assumed that white is the “dominant” race and that this white person is picking on those who are under him or poking out racial differences that the media or history has made to be negative. The truth is that is absolutely ridiculous to feel any different when a joke is being told by a white person or a black person or a green or blue person for that matter. There is no right or wrong. Someone’s differences should never be looked at as negative because who’s to say that they aren’t the “normal” look and you yourself are different. I like to look at the whole situation in the same perspective of famous comedian Dave Chappelle. On his TV show Chappelle’s Show he performed a controversial sketch that involved poking specific stereotypes at White, Asian, Latino, and Black people (his own race). Chappelle received a lot of criticism and negative publicity over this issue, as people felt he went over the line with some of the comments and overall stereotypes he portrayed. He responded by saying that it was all in good fun and that of course he was just portraying stereotypical racist views in a comedic way, something that no one should have been offended by especially because he “equally” made fun of all races including his own. To be completely honest we all need to realize that we are living in year 2011. We are all the same humans inhabiting earth and unless it is malicious, there is no harm done by all of us laughing together at each other.

When seeing this video post I immediately agreed with the person posing the question. It is intriguing why people group together and surround themselves with people of similar race and cultures. Although there are certain eclectic societies and specific instances all over the world and in Penn State where diversity is shown and racial barriers being broken on a daily basis. With that being said, still in the world that we live in that encourages branching out to different cultures and to become diverse, if someone walks into any lunch room in a public elementary school there is a reason why it seems with the exception of a few, a line can be draw separating the races into their own cliques. This is the same reason why when you walk into the Intramural building at Penn State there will most likely be a court filled with just Asian kids playing each other. This reason is the human knack for comfort. Whether we realize it or not, we subconsciously favor things similar to our surroundings and us. Therefore when we are put into a situation such as Penn State with thousands of kids who are from many different paths and ethnicities than us, we tend to join groups and social spheres of people that are very similar to us because it is the comfortable thing to do when put into a foreign situation. Even if someone goes out of the “normal” way and surrounds themselves with those as a majority who are different, such as a “black” brother in a very “white” fraternity, they will tend to assimilate with those around them just from being put into that environment. This assimilation is not an issue of race or trying to act a certain culture, it is an issue that is common among all humans and that issue is once again the need for comfort. As a result I think that the reason we see people grouped up together in certain racial cliques in the HUB is due to a psychological reason throughout all humans. This is an issue that is caused by humanity as a whole, not certain individual groups. Which goes back to last weeks talk of who has the right to draw the lines for the individual groups we call race, and as we saw in class it is impossible to clearly draw the line without leaving broad exceptions. After thinking about this topic and drawing from information Sam has discussed during class, the next time I see this situation I am going to conscientiously remember that we are all the same people separated into comfort zones, rather than different people grouped into their own social scenes. Although our world is constantly changing and becoming more progressive towards accepting diversity, there will always be people who are slow to venture out of their comfort zone. Resulting in the answer to the overall question once again being that the comfort zone deals with psychological human traits rather than racial or ethnic differences.

I felt that Sam’s class activity of dividing up our students by physical racial differences was a great illustration in strengthening the argument that there is no true separation between races. As we saw in class, two very intelligent 4.0 students struggled to determine fellow peers’ ethnic backgrounds, and at times were completely wrong. While observing, I realized that you could not fault the students for incorrectly grouping kids in races that they were not because there is no clear line that truly separates these groups. In the advanced world that we live in today, it is absurd to think we can simply choose races into cookie-cutter mold categories such as “White”, “Black” or “Asian”. There is a vast range of differences within one category; for example simply being classified Asian does not tell you truly what this person is like. They could be from all over the continent and physical characteristics would greatly vary between someone who was from Japan and another person who is from India, technically part of the Asian continent therefore classifying those people as Asian. Another reason why it is extremely difficult to classify certain races is because when racial barriers were first being constructed, most societies kept to themselves and only married and had children within their own race. From the “Mulattoes” in the days of slavery to common current day mixed racial humans, this common mixture of races causes offspring and future generations to be in their own unique class. Generalizing someone in a unique biracial situation to a certain acceptable race would be incorrect, as that person cannot accurately clarify himself or herself wholly as that race and may be missing some of their heritage as well. As a whole, it is outdated and inaccurate to try to generalize race into separate categories because there are too many differences.
What I found really interesting from the activity was the fact that it really emphasized the issue of being one race with differences, rather than being considering different races. As you looked along the line of people in front of the class, there were extremely similar patterns between people’s skin, hair, and facial features. Dr. Richards really got the point across to me when he discussed how you would not realize these vast differences if you were to walk across the world rather than fly or sail across the world and notice immediately the huge differences between a place such as Hong Kong and London. We are all the same people and although there are certain characteristics that can be pointed out within certain areas of the world, those people are unique in their eyes or skin tone for an evolutionary reason. In order to survive, human bodies over time had to acclimate to their environment. We are all one common group of people living in different environments and it is a shame to see history and the media influence people in to thinking that fellow men and women are of a different breed or “race”.