I think that there are many reasons why Americans don’t like illegal immigrants. As Americans we have been brought up to have this sort of national pride. Team America World Police says it best; “America, fuck yeah!” I compare the average American’s national pride and loyalty to that of an avid football fan. A Steelers fan lives and breathes Pittsburgh nation and wouldn’t dare give a hamburger or hotdog to any Ravens fan at the tailgate before the game. If the Ravens get a critical third down and their fans start cheering, we’re going to criticize them and tell them to shut the hell up while their in Pittsburgh, our territory. How dare they come over to our land and try to impose their ways! Yes I know this analogy is a little bit of a stretch and quite silly but it’s the last thing I could really think of seeing as this is our last blog of the semester. But getting back to my point, with our American pride comes a strong sense of dislike for other nations. In other words, we don’t think that people from other countries have the right to a) come over to America and b) take our jobs. This way of thinking is completely outdated and radical Americans need to accept that we essentially need immigrants to make America function to our fullest potential. Immigrants are willing to perform the jobs that lazy Americans don’t want or think they’re above. Like Sam pointed out in class it’s imperative that we keep track of our citizens, and illegal immigrants do cause some problems. I don’t think it’s fair that money is the reason why most illegal immigrants are denied citizenship. In my opinion if citizenship is easier to obtain more people will come to America; however, more competition will also follow. With more competition comes more efficiency and America would definitely be better as a whole if we were a more efficient nation.

I believe that nepotism isn’t a good thing, but it’s inevitable in our society. Like every professor tells us, it’s not about what you know but who you know, and after trying to find jobs and internships for the past five years I completely agree with this statement. My freshman year I went to all of the internship workshops to learn about how to structure my resume and cover letters, where to find internships and who to call. All of my applications went unanswered, that is until I asked my stepfather to help me out. After sending one email I was pretty much guaranteed an internship, with just the formality of meeting with my future boss laying ahead of me. For the people that believe that nepotism has to be put to rest, they have to understand that nepotism is prevalent is every aspect in American culture, starting with American politics. The reason our political figures get elected and reelected are because of nepotism. They are able to fund their campaigns by asking for helping from their friends, and their friend’s friends can help fund their campaign. I think we can all agree that nepotism isn’t right, but it’s something that isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Everyone has benefited from nepotism, and if we’re ever going to get rid of it then someone is going to have to give up some of the advantages they have received from it. So are you going to be the person to give up all your freedom and power to help others? Didn’t think so.

The past lecture called “Christian Invaders” was definitely entertaining and innovative, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite lecture from this year. This isn’t because I disagreed with Sam’s points, I actually tend to agree with a lot of the points that Sam makes while in class, I just thought that a lecture called “Christian Invaders” would have been more raw and controversial than what was actually presented to us. Sam’s best lectures as the ones that really “ruffle your feathers” and make you think about the topics outside of class. After the “coco slaves” lecture I went around and told all of my friends and family members about it, asking for their opinions on free trade chocolate. After the “needy penis” lecture I told all of my guy friends what I had learned and asked for all of their opinions. I know what Sam was trying to get us to think about when he presented this lecture to us, he wanted us to put ourselves in the shoes of Middle Eastern families affected by the United States military. His point was about their perception of people from the United States was very powerful and really made me think about who runs the government and really why people from other countries hate us so much. I would hate the United States too if they killed innocent civilians (1:29 ratio), destroyed property (the taxi driver’s truck), and claimed my land’s resources for their own. However, once Sam brought Christianity into the mix is where I got very lost. Personally I don’t subscribe to any type of religion. I love learning all about different religions. Honestly I was really excited for some hardcore Christian bashing. But in class Sam seemed to present really great points and videos to us that made an impact but would then say things like “Well we all know that isn’t true” or “that isn’t how the entire world is”. Those contradicting statements really took away the impact of the entire lecture. My friend was a TA for this class last semester and still comes to class with his girlfriend; his opinions about this lecture were very similar. He said that Sam seemed much more polished when giving this presentation, when last year his lecture was very raw and controversial. However, he said that there were students raising their hands almost the entire class to refute Sam’s claims, which is the reason why he decided to the lecture down. I still thought that this was a very good lecture, but definitely not the best one of the year. The way Sam was repping it made me think that he would just rip apart religion in general, or something just as controversial. It’s hard to follow up a lecture talking about a needy penis and I got my hopes up. In my opinion people with strong religious connections seem to get mad more easily when being attacked rather than people of Hispanic, African American or Oriental races. I guess I was hoping for pitchforks after the lecture rather than a round of applause.

The past lecture called “Christian Invaders” was definitely entertaining and innovative, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite lecture from this year. This isn’t because I disagreed with Sam’s points, I actually tend to agree with a lot of the points that Sam makes while in class, I just thought that a lecture called “Christian Invaders” would have been more raw and controversial than what was actually presented to us. Sam’s best lectures as the ones that really “ruffle your feathers” and make you think about the topics outside of class. After the “coco slaves” lecture I went around and told all of my friends and family members about it, asking for their opinions on free trade chocolate. After the “needy penis” lecture I told all of my guy friends what I had learned and asked for all of their opinions. I know what Sam was trying to get us to think about when he presented this lecture to us, he wanted us to put ourselves in the shoes of Middle Eastern families affected by the United States military. His point was about their perception of people from the United States was very powerful and really made me think about who runs the government and really why people from other countries hate us so much. I would hate the United States too if they killed innocent civilians (1:29 ratio), destroyed property (the taxi driver’s truck), and claimed my land’s resources for their own. However, once Sam brought Christianity into the mix is where I got very lost. Personally I don’t subscribe to any type of religion. I love learning all about different religions. Honestly I was really excited for some hardcore Christian bashing. But in class Sam seemed to present really great points and videos to us that made an impact but would then say things like “Well we all know that isn’t true” or “that isn’t how the entire world is”. Those contradicting statements really took away the impact of the entire lecture. My friend was a TA for this class last semester and still comes to class with his girlfriend; his opinions about this lecture were very similar. He said that Sam seemed much more polished when giving this presentation, when last year his lecture was very raw and controversial. However, he said that there were students raising their hands almost the entire class to refute Sam’s claims, which is the reason why he decided to the lecture down. I still thought that this was a very good lecture, but definitely not the best one of the year. The way Sam was repping it made me think that he would just rip apart religion in general, or something just as controversial. It’s hard to follow up a lecture talking about a needy penis and I got my hopes up. In my opinion people with strong religious connections seem to get mad more easily when being attacked rather than people of Hispanic, African American or Oriental races. I guess I was hoping for pitchforks after the lecture rather than a round of applause.

In this day in age I would definitely learn a different language if I thought it would help better prepare me for the career of my choosing. During these tough economic times I know that knowing a different language can be a valuable asset and something that employers are now requiring different employees to know. For example, my father is apart of the Postal Service, a branch of the FBI that specializes in fraud. Throughout his career he has been sent to 10 different countries along with every state in the United States. Through his travels he has picked up certain words and phrases from about three different languages, and is always urging me to learn a language. He said that through his travels he would have met more people and become more immersed in the culture if he would’ve learned a different language.
Another reason for wanted to learn a new language is because in 30 or so more years “whites” won’t be the dominant race. With America being “the mixing pot” it’s only a matter of time until Spanish becomes a joint first language for everyone in the United States. If you want to visit, or even live, in parts of the state like Texas and California, knowing a second language is crucial. Without it you might be missing out on meeting some incredible people or finding out some interesting information.
In my life I have only traveled to Spanish speaking countries, and ironically, have only taken French during my many years in school. The reason that French doesn’t appeal to me as much as Spanish does is because I haven’t been to a French speaking country, and haven’t seen the language be incorporated into real conversations. I am fascinated by Spanish and am moved to learning the language because I have been surrounded by it, and felt that not knowing the language has definitely hurt my experiences.
Anyone who says that they won’t learn a different language for a job needs to get a reality check. The bi-lingual population is growing and soon they will be the majority. Learning another language not only will help with your future job but it also increases your intelligence and the amount of options that you will have in your life.
My good friend is in Argentina right now in a small town that speaks no English. She has to take her business classes solely in Spanish. I’ve talked to her a few times since she landed in Argentina and she says that the dialect is hard to overcome but she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world. She is now fluent in Spanish and wants to become a translator for the government when she gets out of college. This is just an example about how a language can open you to new opportunities including future employment options!

When responding to this question I don’t necessarily believe that anything specifically in my race make it difficult for me to date someone of another race; instead I believe that it is surrounding social factors that make it difficult to date outside of my race. I believe that multi-racial relationships can prove to be just as successful, if not more than, same racial couples. Being a twenty year-old white female if I decided to date outside of my race both of my parents would be supportive but my grandparents wouldn’t be happy. For example, in high school my African American friend asked me to go to the prom with him. Estatic because I finally found a date, I hurried home to tell my mom and ask her to finally go shopping. When I was nearing my house I started to get nervous about what her reaction might be; however, I was still confident that I would get her approval. Once I started telling her about my plans her smiling face went stern as she told me that my grandfather wouldn’t approve. It pained her to tell me to tell my friend no, but she insisted that my grandfather would be extremely upset and put even more of a strain on their relationship. This comment made me furious! I called her a racist, how she would never understand, and how she needed to have more faith in her family. Looking back on that experience I still don’t agree with what my mom and grandfather said, but now I understand where they were coming from. Coming from a suburb in Pittsburgh dating outside of your race is “frowned” upon, and since the population is made up of mostly whites it’s extremely rare. Like we saw in class, a lot of people from different races don’t know how to a) approach the opposite sex and b) how to approach the opposite sex of a different race. Different cultures collide, each with different unspoken social ques. Ironically I have extended family members that are in multi-racial relationships and have mixed children. These relationships have been just as successful, and unsuccessful as same race relationships. In my opinion I would encourage everyone to engage in relationships that make them happy. Race is definitely a major talking point when starting a relationship but I don’t think the color of someone’s skin should keep a couple apart. Like Sam said in class, multi-racial children are the fastest growing racial group, so I believe that any controversy about dating outside your race is going to vastly decline, with it finally being completely socially acceptable in the next 10 years.

I do that that privileged people of different races feel guilty about their situations compared to people of less privilege or people of a lower class. As Sam has pointed out in class a numerous amount of times in class, the poorest Americans are better off than 98% of the rest of the world. We can’t help but feel bad and wonder, why me? Why am I so lucky and people in third world countries are extremely less fortunate? This goes back to the free will vs determinism argument. Before this class I was a big advocate for the free will theory; however, after hearing all of the evidence and information that has been explained in class I can now see how determinism, more than free will, Even some of the most priviledged individuals can be extremely lazy and still get by. People in third world countries are born into poverty, and no matter how hard they work chances are they will never be on the same level or experience the same opportunities as most of the people in our Soc 119 class. I believe hard work goes a long way, but it can only go so far. Looking back on the jobs I have previously held, I am starting to realize the only reason they accepted my application was because of where I went to school (third best public school in Pennsylvania) and who I knew (my stepfather is a lawyer in my town and has many connections). Even though I got my jobs because of who I knew (determinism) I held them because I worked hard and from those experiences I was able to monopolize on the contacts I knew and ultimately the reccomondations I acquired (free will). Why talk about determinism vs free will? I think this is the basis of our guilty consciouses. Knowing that our lives have been made easier because of what we were born into makes us feel guilty and less accepting of our possessions and opportunities. If people in third world countries had half the amount of help we had they might even be better off that some of us are now. Determinism vs Free Will is relevant in our everyday lives. Because of Soc 119 we are all more aware of it. I feel extremely guilty when watching videos like the one of the poor mother and her four children in class last week. A strong woman, off welfare, born into poverty with 21 brothers and sisters is a perfect example of how determinism has kept her in her class despite her free will to work hard.

I may get a lot of backlash for my comment but I do think that it is selfish and irresponsible for people living in poverty to have large numbers of children. First off they have to consider that they are not only affecting their own lives when having children, but the lives of their future children. People like in Tammy’s situation are just condemning her children to a life they don’t want and probably will never be able to get out of. When a couple is planning on having children their income should be a big factor in determining how many children they are going to have. Parents should want the best for their children, whatever that may be. One has to think about having enough money to food, clothe and ultimately provide for their children. If a low income parent is having 22 children, that means that not only are they going to have less time to spend with each child (hindering their overall development, growth and ultimately their relationship with their child) but it’s also drastically hurting their future. A family of 22 can’t live off of welfare, and if families depend on welfare for their entire lives they aren’t giving their children much of a future. To think about when I am going to have kids, I want to be responsible about it. I want my children to have the best life they can, and be afforded the most opportunities they can like my parents did for me. It’s not fair to subject your children to poor living standards and little to no opportunities because you didn’t budget your money well enough or take into consideration your overall living situation. This isn’t to say that people with low incomes don’t deserve to have children, they do. What I am saying is that people of low income shouldn’t have excessive amounts of children. I once read an article that said that the average child in America right now costs more than $500,000 in their lifetime to raise them. This includes feeding them, clothing them, and looking after them along with educating them. Every child should be afford the right of a good education and have the opportunity to better themselves. A large family made up of low income parents limits their kid’s future opportunities. Instead of bettering themselves they are almost forced to take care of their parents, which shouldn’t be the case at all! In the video we watched I did feel bad for Tracey. Her situation was awful and I admired her determination to get off of welfare. But at the same time I feel like she had opportunities to help improve her situation.

I would have to say that there are more arrests of black people because of a prejudice police force. As well saw in class the other day there are statistically more white people committing drug related crimes but most of the criminals caught are either black or Hispanic. Sam brought up an interesting point the other day about how if you pick out five kids who all committed the same crime, had no former crimes against them and each of them was a different race, the white criminal would be five more times likely to a plea bargain or fully get off for the crime compared to black or Hispanic criminals. I think we all have seen a bit of racism in our lives dealing with the police. I directly saw this happen my senior year of high school.
One Friday night when I was at a party my friend got really sick and had to be escorted out of the house. A couple of my friends and I took her to a parking lot so our friend could drive up and meet us to take her home. Finally my friend came with his van to pick her up and when we were trying to get her into the car a police officer came into the parking lot and stopped all of us. Most of us were intoxicated at the time and terrified of getting under-ages, so we sent the least-drunk guy in our group to talk to the police officer. After conversing with the officer for less than two minutes our friend came back to us and told us we were fine to leave. When asked what the police officer said to him he just replied, “Are you kids drinking? No sir” “Well, did you see where those black hoodlums went?’ I had never been so happy and yet so offended at the same time in my life. I was gracious that the officer let us all go, although we were all noticeably drunk and under-aged, but I couldn’t understand why the police officer would target people of a certain race that way. It was like he was going out of his way to arrest some kids just because they were black.
In my school all of the black kids used to complain that they would get charged with petty ridiculous crimes like trespassing in the park after 9pm, crimes that kids of other races also committed but were easily let off with. I think this is an extremely interesting topic and I’m excited to learn more about it in the upcoming weeks.

I feel like determinism and free will have both played a significant role in my life so far. After hearing Sam’s lecture in class on Tuesday I personally would have to say that I believe in both determinism and free will; however, I lean more towards the side of determinism. I grew up in a pretty wealthy suburb outside of Pittsburgh. Coming from a middle class family I always felt like I had to compete and compare myself to my wealthy classmates who were born into privilege. Since I came from a pretty wealthy neighborhood, taxes were higher and my public school was one of the top three schools in Pennsylvania. I never knew that not going to college was an option, it was just an assumption and an inevitable occurrence. Instead of adults asking if I planned on going to college the most frequent question I heard was “where do you plan on going?” Compared to some other schools, especially the school shown in class the other day, my world and my perception of school was extremely different. This all goes towards my case for determinism. If I had lived anywhere else the thought of not going to college could have been an option and I might have tried to start my career, but since I went to a school where 99% of the kids go on to higher education, and not only that but top 100 schools, I was primed into getting a good higher level education.
The part of my life where free will started to take over was once I finally got into college. I went to Ohio University for my freshman year. One year was all it took for me to decide that I didn’t want to attend that university anymore so I decided to transfer to Penn State. One annoying thing about this university is that transfer students must have 60 credits before getting onto main campus. With only 27 credits coming out of my freshman year I was devastated when I learned that I had to spend a year and a half at home. When I went to a commuter campus I was looked down upon from my peers. People thought I had failed at school and compared me to high school dropouts. Although I knew I hadn’t failed, just changed my mind about where I wanted to go to school, I worked as hard as I could to get onto main campus as fast as I could. I would take 19 credits during the day and work at night. I met with an advisor everyday after class to try and find ways to get me on main campus faster. Finally my advisor approved my switch of campus after just a month and a half. Instead of most commuter school students who have to wait two years to get onto main campus, I got here after one semester. It was my hard work, determination, and free will that got me to Penn State as quickly as I did. I consider that my biggest accomplishment in life so far. I proved to myself that I could do anything I set my mind to, no matter what others thought or said.