It is ludicrous that we are polluting our own water supplies and spending vast amounts of money to extract all of the natural gas in our country only to export it to other nations. If Barrack Obama claims that the only reason we are fracking into our country is so that we do not rely on any foreign oil than it is absurd that companies are trying to make a profit from our gas! Since we are one of the richest countries in the world and probably are one of the most energy consuming nations in the world it seems to me that there is no point in selling it away to other countries when we clearly need to use it. So it seems like the only people actually benefiting from this fracking are the big energy companies that are just making a huge profit by selling it to other countries. They get tax cuts to sell to other countries? That does not seem to make sense, but then again as Sam has said time and time again our country is run on a system of legalized bribery. This is definitely evident in what is happening in our nation now.
This situation seems very similar to what is happening in the Middle East. People (us) are coming into the Middle East and stealing one of their most valuable resources for their own use. It is wrong for us to invade other nations simply because their land is richer in natural reserves than ours. I know war over resources has been around since the dawn of man, but ethically it just does not seem right at all. And as Sam also said I feel like we are only in Libya because of the fact that our closest ally, the British, have so much at stake in that country. If England did not have anything in Libya I doubt we would even have thought about launching an offensive.
The point is that each country should deal with the resources they are given. We have enough gas in our own land to refrain from stealing it from other nations, but that does not mean we should sell it to other nations so that big corporations can profit.

This writing is almost poetic in its form and I enjoyed reading it a lot. It shocks me how well cultured these inmates are and how most of them have developed into great writers, but I suppose I would be a great writer too if I spent most of my day doing just that.
But I digress; this piece really shows how much you can learn while spending your life in jail. I have realized after reading a lot of these letters from the inmates that they always seem more “free” and in touch with themselves after spending a lot of time in prison, which I suppose is necessary to do when you have to spend your life somewhere like that. Get busy living or get busy dying. This writing shows that they learn a lot more about others too while being locked behind bars. There was another piece written about how an inmate learned the importance of family and this is very similar to that. It seems as though through prison C has a newfound respect and knowledge of women. Every woman deserves everything that is stated in this letter, but sadly not all men are like this. I have my own faults and may not be the best boyfriend ever, but I feel like I meet more of these than the average man who is normally just a jackass to all women he meets. He talks about opening up which is something I feel like a lot of men are scared to do even if it is to a significant other or best friend. Guys really need to step out of their “man box” if you will and see that being nice to women and opening up to someone you like is perfectly acceptable and it should be encouraged. Every guy wants to fit that “macho man” image that you see in the media and it really is not what women should seek in a guy. Guys should see that being sensitive, kind, and a genuinely good guy should not be frowned upon. Despite guy friends making fun of you for being “soft” or a “pussy” it really is the way to go when trying to impress and stay with a girl.

This shows a lot about how prison life actually is on the inside rather than what everyone perceives because of what we are shown on TV and what is reported in the news. After Sam and Laurie’s lecture on the lifers it really did open my eyes to what they are really like and why they are actually in there. I did not know that some of the people in there had not even committed any murder and some of them were even just teenagers. Getting life in prison can separate whom your true friends are and who does not have enough time to deal with you. The people that support you throughout your sentence and write at least every once in a while are the people in your life you should really appreciate. It also amazes me that he describes assholes he knows that are still in touch with their families. I am surprised that the connection we have to families is strong enough that even when someone has abused you throughout the years your family will still keep in touch with you. It seems to me that this guy has prison figured out. Everyone needs support whether they are in prison or not. I have been through a decent amount in my life (nothing compared to any of these men I am sure), but I know that if I did not have my best friend to open up to and support me I do not think I would be half the man I am today. The fact that he is in prison being a father like figure to the newbies who are just a few years younger than him is almost admirable. I am still in touch with a few of my high school teachers, which I think definitely does speak for someone’s character if teacher’s are willing to keep in touch with you after high school. However, I do not know how many of them would keep in touch if I went to prison for 10 years and I cannot imagine many of them would. This letter reveals a lot about the good guys in the penitentiaries in PA.

This is one of the more interesting videos or blogs I have seen in World In Conversation yet. I have never really thought of our education system as flawed until this video opened my eyes. The fact that our public education system is based on a system made in the 18th and 19th centuries is an outrage. Times are always changing and it is a shame that the people in charge of education reform are not noticing that. Public education is too organized and almost industrial as he puts it for it to actually be helpful or useful. He talks about how everyone is allocated into a grade based on age when in reality there are people who are very smart who are younger, there are people who only work well in groups, and there are people who only work well when actually performing an action. The latter of the three he also did not touch on. There are many people who are much better at learning when they are interacting and performing actions rather than just sitting in a classroom taking notes in a lecture hall. Which is what all classes have really been transformed into. Taking notes. Public education has made it so that most classes are just teaching to the tests that are required to take, rather than giving examples and letting students learn on their own.
This brings me to my next point, which is why it will not change. Sam has said in multiple lectures that the budget cuts will cause devastation for Pennsylvania schools and students. There are 40,000 students here and I have barely heard a whisper of anyone actually wanting to take action against it. Even though there are budget cuts in sight and it is clear that the public education system is severely flawed no one will really take a stand and do anything about it. It is how we are socialized. Us Penn State students would rather sit back and smoke or drink rather than take a stand for something that needs to be changed. It is an awful thing but sadly I do not see this changing any time soon.

Until watching this video I was really totally unaware that handicapped people took so much offense from the R word. I use it in my everyday speech whether it is to describe myself for making a mistake or calling someone else it because I disagree with a point they are trying to make. Society today clearly states that it is okay to use this word without suffering any repercussions but obviously this word should be as looked down upon as others such as “spic” or the “nigger”. Mentally handicapped people probably hear this word used around them every single day and while I agree that no one who uses it uses it with any mal intent it still should not be used in our every day speech. The video shows that even powerful political figures have used this word freely and without regrets until they are called out for the use of it like the President’s Chief of Staff. The use of hurtful words to represent bad things in society is pretty evident. This is very much like how the word gay is used around us like it is no big deal. While using the word gay would not be offensive if you called a homosexual it. It has gained a negative light to it because of the way people are using it. If I call something gay then it normally is describing something that is not cool or stupid. I am guilty of using both of these words like it is no big deal but it really is a shame that society has shaped everyone to believe that its okay to say these words. The video talks about trying to ban the word from federal use, which seems like impossibility since the mentally handicapped are technically, according to the law, “mentally retarded”. It is going to be really tough to keep these words at bay since they are already being used so widespread. Perhaps one day in the distant future society will teach everyone that the words are wrong and the invisible strings will make sure that these words are used mush less frequently, but I cannot see this happening any time soon.

In this passage W has done a lot of self-reflecting. He rewinds back to his childhood to find the cause of all of his problems. W realizes that it is not his father’s fault, drugs, or his childhood that led him to his incarceration, but instead it was his sexual nature that drove him to a life of crime. Sex led him to lying, buying illegal substances, and hurting whom he cared about most. But perhaps it could go even deeper. Maybe where he grew up did affect him in a small, but definite way. He claims that a lot of his friends grew up to be successful in life and with their careers, but maybe that is just because they all managed to break out of the invisible strings of living in North Philly. North Philly has a lot more violence than say Yardley, where I grew up. W says that just because some boxers left North Philly with illustrious careers that it was possible for him to do the same thing. But the percentage of boys who grew up in North Philly who became boxers to channel the violence in a legal way has to be a very small amount. Violence drove some boys to take up boxing, but that does not mean it still does not affect them or W. It is amazing how well W has thought out why he is there and how he can step out of his own shoes and see the bigger picture. His life could have gone another way, that much is obvious, but the “invisible strings” shaped him to do what he did to go to jail for life. Those strings are very tough to change and or break. After 24 years in jail I am sure there is not a lot else to do besides sit and reflect on your life and past experiences, but I am still impressed how he could view his problem so sociologically. It is great that he is sending out letters to warn other young people about the dangers that sex, or in his case, sex addiction can lead to.

This is the third time I am seeing this video (psych 100 and psych 221) and it still gets me every time. Conformity is a very strong part of our society because human beings are such social creatures. Socialization forms the individual and conformity is a part of that. As humans we care a lot about whatever anyone else thinks of us. This is shown in the spotlight effect, which is when we think people are paying closer attention to us then they actually are. We think others are judging us with every step we take, but that is simply not true. In a city or on a crowded street people are not even very likely to notice us at all. Conformity shapes how we act, how we dress, what we eat, and everything we do. We want to talk, eat, and act like everyone else. This is also shown in the Asch Line Study. In this study participants would have to judge the lengths of lines and tell which one is most similar. A very simple task, but when the confederates in the study would say the wrong answer then the participant would also say the wrong answer even when they know it is not right. In another variation of the study the participant would write down the answers on a piece of paper instead of saying it out loud and in these cases the participant would put the right answer since they are not afraid of being judged by others. This is called normative social influence, which is when we act a certain way so that a group will like us more. As humans we want people to like us so it is not a ridiculous concept that we will do whatever the rest of the group does to fit in. I am sure that if I were in the elevator, or another similar situation I would do the same thing as the people that fell into the conformity. As entertaining as this video is it really does shed some light on how much of an effect conformity can have on people.

I never realized how much freedom we all really have in our life. All the decisions that I make in my everyday life could be taken away instantly if I was thrown behind bars. But there is also the fact that every decision we make is not really our own decisions since the “invisible strings” that are formed through every situation we have been in affect them all. How we have been raised, our culture, and school life affects everyone’s everyday “free” choices. Even with all of these “invisible strings” we still have so many more freedoms than anyone in jail. We really have become disillusioned by every choice we are given; Where to eat, what to do, when to work out, have a snack, or whatever we want.
The whole concept of complete freedom is almost laughable. Our day to day life is pretty much the same from week to week. Especially as college students, we wake up go to class, eat at the same time every day, do homework, and hang out with friends during the nights. Everything is so organized in our lives that it begs the question do we even really have complete freedom? If you miss class and fail then the school will force you to drop out or throw you out. We do not even really have the freedom to choose to sleep in and skip class.
Our great nation, the United States, always proclaims to be the freest nation in the world when in reality it is far from that and is in fact one of the most regulated nations in the world. People cannot even grow a plant found naturally on this earth but can own a firearm which could kill someone. There is also the fact that while I am 18 I can enlist in the army and be responsible for holding a firearm, but cannot even have an alcoholic drink. That is absolute crap. We can be responsible enough to take another man’s life, but are not responsible enough to have a drink at the local bar? This nation is far from the freest nation on the planet and hopefully people will start to realize that in this nation.

Soc 001