I agree one hundred percent with what you said in your post. Everyone uses nepotism to some degree, whether it be to get a job, get into a good college, or just about anything else. It is ingrained in our society. Yes, people would be crazy not to use nepotism to their advantage. Networking is a term I hear all the time at Penn State. And it is no coincidence that one of the first things a prospective student is informed of is that one in every one hundred and fifty Americans has a Penn State degree. This is using nepotism as a promotion.
However, white women benefit the most from this policy. Therefore, it comes back around to benefiting white men, the same white men who claim that affirmative action is holding them back. Obama has the right idea with affirmative action. It should definitely take into account class. That Oprah video was really intense. I went to a high school that was only ten years old and had many technologically advanced capabilities, but even we didn’t have a swimming pool, let alone three. This is not something that is needed. I agree with the guy at the end, all schools all over the country should have equal funding. Take the extra money going to give schools stuff that isn’t necessary such as a swimming pool and give that money to schools that need that extra funding. This would greatly cut down the gaps in education and would be a big step forward.
The surveys given to high school students were very interesting. The results were not surprising at all. Of course no one placed themselves at the bottom of the social status rankings. No one ever thinks that they are not good at making new friends. If anyone did begin to think this about themselves, it would make them very depressed. This is not something anyone would do to themselves willingly. White people are always bashing affirmative action. Most of these people probably have not seen the numbers that Sam showed us. That only ten percent of all jobs are awarded by affirmative action. I use the word “awarded” because this is exactly what is being done. Affirmative action awards opportunities to people that would not have been given these opportunities normally.
I am a pretty intelligent person. Two of my friends who are not that smart are experiencing nepotism. One of them works at the YMCA nearby to his house. The only reason he got this job in the first place is due to the fact that his mom also works there. When new management was brought in, almost all of the workers were laid off except for my friend and his mom because the new boss was their neighbor. My other friend has switched majors multiple times and still has no idea of what he wants to do with his life. His family is rich and his dad has many clients. This kid should be set for life with the amount of job offers he gets from his dad’s clients. Nepotism is all over the place. All of us use it and benefit from it to a degree. All people want the best possible advantages for their children and family and friends. It is impossible to get rid of this so whether it is right or wrong, nepotism will never go away.
Your example of how business shapes the issues of immigration is perfect. It is true that by your boss paying lower wages to the Mexican workers, he is able to charge a lower price to his customers. If he had to hire American workers, then he would also have to pay them higher wages. He would then be forced to raise his prices for customers in order to keep the same income rates. I disagree with what you said about upholding the same standards of people allowed to come into this country no matter where they are coming from. This would not solve the illegal immigration problem either.
I used to think that illegal immigration was a serious problem impacting this country, but now after hearing the other side from Sam, I agree with him that it might balance out in the end. I used to think that illegal aliens received undeserved benefits from the government without being citizens. I also knew that they would be taking away jobs from citizens by accepting less pay. What I didn’t know however was that they do pay taxes just like the rest of us but unlike the rest of us they do not receive the benefits that come from taxes. The video showing the homeless and hungry immigrants in Queens was really eye opening. That man who sacrifices his whole livelihood in order to feed these people is really a special person. He realizes that he was in their exact same place when he first came to America and he wants them to have an easier time than he did.
The hypocrisy amazes me. I know for a fact that the klan tried to get permission to march in the streets of New York City, but they abandoned this pursuit after the mayor insisted that they could only march if none of them wore masks to hide their faces. This shows how these men are truly cowards. I think the woman who put the sign on her house saying Keep Out Hispanics is completely wrong. Though she may have the right to do this, she should not do this. She should not feel the need to display her controversial opinions. People should learn to keep their feelings to themselves and not broadcast them for all to see. If this sign belonged to a young white man, then I think he would have been faced with a violent response. This woman is protected by her age.
This lesson really made me think and question some of my beliefs. The clip of the klan members marching down the streets of Washington was surprising. Whenever I thought about the Ku Klux Klan, I always thought it was a small group of crazy rednecks from the south. But seeing the four million members all together really brought into focus how much power these bad people really control. Being Jewish myself, this kind of scares me a little. The klan is always associated with hating black people, but like Sam said Jews are also targeted by this group. I don’t understand how this group can be proven to conduct so many criminal activities and yet not face any criminal charges. All those members should have been rounded up while marching and face group charges of criminal conspiracy. They are a prime example of internal terrorism and yet most of these people believe all Muslims are terrorists.
I used to think that most if not all gay people chose to be gay. After this lesson, I still think that a few people choose to be gay. I will share with you an example. In high school a girl that I was friends with came out of the closet during class. She said that she was a lesbian. A few months later, that same girl that said that she considered herself bisexual. I now know that she has a boyfriend in college. This girl is obviously trying to choose what area of the orientation spectrum she belongs to.
But none of this matters because, like Sam said, in 500 years everyone will be brown anyway. I used to think that most if not all gay people chose, to a degree, to be gay. However, I say used to because after this lesson I have reversed my opinion on this, though I still think a good number of people chose to be gay. Also, I have a different opinion on the gay erotica topic than Sam does. Erotica, buy its very nature, is intended to cause arousal. Therefore, whether erotica is geared towards your sexual orientation or not, it still would arouse most people at least a small amount. It’s the same thing with gay porn. When the brain or the body is subjected to sexual situations, it will trigger arousal regardless of the nature of the sex. This is a natural response.
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