en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2411215 Comments by david119 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/were-you-surprised-by-any-of-basums-responses-or-his-appearance-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145318589 After Thursday’s lecture with the video chat with the Iraqi engineer I had a lot of questions about the Iraqi people. Through the media initially we were led to believe that the Iraqi people were against our presence in their region and against why we were even ion the Middle East for the conflict. The media portrayed us as the bad guys who were invading their land. Then in recent years there has been many different reports about how American soldiers have been especially kind to local people and that we are really trying to be good people there and nicely set up a local government. In the news we state how we are focused on restoring stability in the region and that we care about the local people. I have seen many pictures of American soldiers with local people. I have found it confusing that soldiers are either seen as the mean aggressors in the region or the respected saviors there. I always felt that the truth lay somewhere in the middle. After Basum’s talk I think I was able to see the reality. Basum mentioned several times that the government in Iraq certainly wants the troops there because they very well know that without the support of the United States, the government would probably fall apart. We helped facilitate elections there and set up a democratic system in the country, but whether or not the government can stand on its own is in question. Basum confirmed that their local power needs the US but many locals are ready for American forces to leave the region. We have a planned departure date of Late 2011, to have all forces leave the region other then small groups left behind to maintain some level of security. He mentioned that there are many different protests that go on in public around the country, trying to show that the local people want the troops to leave. After first hearing this I was shocked, we came there, took out the oppressive leader and helped restore peace in the region. If you look further into it, certain middle easterners are hung up on the fact that the war is solely on Oil. I can see the local frustration and after Sam tried to put the class in their shoes, I know would be unhappy with the local occupation as well. Yes the troops helped bring about good, but if I loved in an occupied territory, I would want the troops gone as well. Basum mentioned that the US Hummer’s have signs stating that people must remain 100 feet or more away from them, and that the troops will confront people if they violate the rules. I know I would not want to live in the militaristic state and I actually feel their pain. It was shocking to hear the opposition to our occupation their but after speaking to a local, un-biased man, I can definitely put myself in a local’s shoes and understand their point of view. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 06:33:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/were-you-surprised-by-any-of-basums-responses-or-his-appearance-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145318589 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143228640 Seeing the video about the Native Americans and learning about their true way of life is really startling. When we think of Native Americans we think back to how they lived in the 18th century when this country began to become heavily settled by Europeans and we go off of what the settlers described their life as. Historical accounts of Native American life were one of hunting, fishing, gathering, living in teepee villages in the wild, respecting the land, and also Indian warfare. We do not think of Native American life today and what they go through. When you see these shocking videos of how they live, you start to see the true poverty we have forced them into. They used to live wherever they wanted and once the Europeans settled here they were pushed into these reservations on undesirable lands in usually bad climate areas. The video showed what looked like a run down trailer park with people driving 20 year old cars that most of them did not even work. People were pushing cars down the road, living in mobile homes, and struggling to get by. Many are unemployed and have little ways to even earn money to support them. Sure, some have casinos, but there are a select few that are actually successful and those are the popular ones we hear about today like Mohegan Sun. I feel bad for the life they are now forced to live. I ask why they do not just come out and live amongst the general population of Americans in possibly their own neighborhoods instead of living in desolate areas of America like central Montana, South Dakota, and other Midwestern and western areas. They live in such poverty yet there are opportunities for them to lead a better life. People with Native American background can easily get into better colleges and probably would have easier access to various jobs with their diverse background to secure a better job. If they stay in this life of poverty it will be a never-ending circle. I do not see their way of life changing very soon, nor life on the reservations getting any better but I have think there are ways that they can change and try to lead a somewhat better life. It is terrible that they live like that and seeing the video really made it a reality. There is a reservation somewhat near my house that I have never been to so it’s weird seeing that life on the reservation can be like that, especially so close to where I live. The video in class definitely an eye-opener and I hope they can eventually break out of this life of poverty. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:51:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143228640 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143225678 Seeing the video about the Native Americans and learning about their true way of life is really startling. When we think of Native Americans we think back to how they lived in the 18th century when this country began to become heavily settled by Europeans and we go off of what the settlers described their life as. Historical accounts of Native American life were one of hunting, fishing, gathering, living in teepee villages in the wild, respecting the land, and also Indian warfare. We do not think of Native American life today and what they go through. When you see these shocking videos of how they live, you start to see the true poverty we have forced them into. They used to live wherever they wanted and once the Europeans settled here they were pushed into these reservations on undesirable lands in usually bad climate areas. The video showed what looked like a run down trailer park with people driving 20 year old cars that most of them did not even work. People were pushing cars down the road, living in mobile homes, and struggling to get by. Many are unemployed and have little ways to even earn money to support them. Sure, some have casinos, but there are a select few that are actually successful and those are the popular ones we hear about today like Mohegan Sun. I feel bad for the life they are now forced to live. I ask why they do not just come out and live amongst the general population of Americans in possibly their own neighborhoods instead of living in desolate areas of America like central Montana, South Dakota, and other Midwestern and western areas. They live in such poverty yet there are opportunities for them to lead a better life. People with Native American background can easily get into better colleges and probably would have easier access to various jobs with their diverse background to secure a better job. If they stay in this life of poverty it will be a never-ending circle. I do not see their way of life changing very soon, nor life on the reservations getting any better but I have think there are ways that they can change and try to lead a somewhat better life. It is terrible that they live like that and seeing the video really made it a reality. There is a reservation somewhat near my house that I have never been to so it’s weird seeing that life on the reservation can be like that, especially so close to where I live. The video in class definitely an eye-opener and I hope they can eventually break out of this life of poverty. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:37:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143225678 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment142106369 In the beginning of class on Tuesday, Sam opened with imagery that the entire class was Iraqi citizens, living in the middle of the current war zone. He wanted us all to picture that we were regular Iraqi’s, going about our daily lives when he described the American invasion. When put into terms like that, your view on the whole war starts to change. I certainly know it did for me. If you start it imagine that the invasion of a foreign army took place on our home soil, your view on the whole purpose of the battle seems different. I would certainly agree with the overall mission of capturing terrorists and removing the harsh dictator currently in place in the government, but I would question the other aspects. Think of the other stories you hear of, bombings and raids where civilian lives are lost. The invading army tried to bomb different targets in various cities where suspect behavior is taking place, but when bombs are dropped, civilian life will be lost. They can say all they want that they are minimizing loss of non-military personnel life lost, but if someone lost is close to you, you would still question the whole operation no matter what. Beforehand I viewed what was happening as just a necessary part of our mission, and that we were eradicating the “bad” people and trying to restore peace in the area. But when you look at it from the local people’s perspective, their land was being invaded for a few extremists and their harsh dictator. If we put ourselves in their shoes, say we had a harsh dictator and within our country’s borders there was a group of extreme people, going around the world killing innocent people, and our civilians took the retaliation. Innocent people were killed and then that country’s forces would be in our land, killing our innocent people in search of the bad guys. In theory it makes sense but when a story like that hits closer to home your view really can change. All in all, I would certainly not like it if a country that was attacked by one radical group from our country, came and terrorized our land and killed innocent people while securing our land with their military force. Sam showed videos of the US military patrolling the streets and destroying people’s property because they stole wood and running cars off the road for driving too slow. Living in a militaristic state run by a foreign entity would be terrible and I would certainly not want to be the local people in an occupied country. After really thinking about this situation I have a lot more compassion for the Iraqi civilian people enduring this war and I do not just see it as a simple mission of eradicating terrorists, but a conflict with many down-sides as well. Tue, 12 Apr 2011 05:33:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment142106369 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/do-you-ever-feel-uncomfortable-around-two-or-more-people-speaking-another-language-119-blog/#IDComment139267615 I have been in many different situations where people around me are speaking another language besides English. Growing up in the New York area I was exposed to a lot of diversity of cultures all within close range of my house. A simple twenty minute drive into Queens, NY to a different neighborhood can leave you plopped in the middle of an Indian neighborhood, just blocks from a Spanish neighborhood or any other different group. People in those areas speak their language, eat their food, and live life almost as if they did back in their home country. I have a close friend who is Puerto Rican and I have gone with her many times to her grandma’s apartment in Queens that is a very diverse neighborhood. This neighborhood has a lot of different kinds of people, but predominantly it is a Puerto Rican area. Walking down the street, everyone is speaking Spanish, and even in her grandma’s apartment, her whole family would be talking in Spanish, leaving me clueless as to what was happening around me. I feel generally uncomfortable in these types of situations for different reasons. Mainly it is because I do not know at all what is going on and feel like they could easily be talking about me and I would have no idea. If they were talking about me right in front of me, then I continue to be nice to them right afterwards, just makes me look like a fool. I do not like the fact that everyone around me can converse but I cannot. I usually can talk anyone’s ear off and can usually hold a conversation with just about anyone, but when placed in these situations, I am stuck their silent. I would basically sit there until someone would talk to me in English or my friend would translate something from the conversation. It is awkward when they tell stories and everyone will be sitting around laughing and here I am having no idea what is going on, would that not make anyone feel a little bit uncomfortable? From this I decided I want to become more fluent in Spanish and try to be able to converse with Spanish speakers. As time went on I gained a greater knowledge of Spanish and can usually understand what is going on now and converse on a limited basis. While in those situations I feel a little more comfortable, if I encountered another situation with people talking a different language I would be right back where I started from. I do not see how this could not be even a little bit uncomfortable for anyone. I like being able to have a full group discussion or conversation and when people speak to others in front of a non-speaker it just leaves them clueless. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 02:24:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/do-you-ever-feel-uncomfortable-around-two-or-more-people-speaking-another-language-119-blog/#IDComment139267615 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/has-barak-obama%e2%80%99s-presidency-helped-the-race-movement-119-blog/#IDComment137600018 The question proposed is whether or not Barack Obama’s presidency has the helped the race movement in today’s society. To answer this in short: yes, but I do not think it has helped the race movement to the degree originally thought. I think in the beginning when it seemed apparent that Obama could easily become the president once he took the Democratic national ticket, black people and other people of color across the country gained a sense of hope that he would bring about more equality to our country and the world. Some people seemed to think that new initiatives would be taken that would help bring about equality and make society better for blacks and other people of the minority. This has not really happened since then and doubt anything along those lines would even occur, but I do think it has helped the race movement in our country a little bit. Just as the video we watched in class said, that by him overcoming all the obstacles in his life to eventually win the presidential nomination for the US, is remarkable. To echo the video, I would say that it gives children of color in our country and even the world hope, that one day they too could rise to the most important position in the free world. He was an average black child growing up in Hawaii with an African side and a white side family, and grew into the crooked business that is Chicago politics. He was able to climb the ranks as a community organizer to a US Senator then into the US Presidency. If this does not go to show that another black child in our country can do a similar thing then I do not know what to say. Flash back fifty years ago and people would laugh at the idea of a black person in a relatively important position, let alone as President of the United States. Black people even in very recent times have had trouble attaining the proper respect in the world and workplace, and by Obama rising to the President, this goes to show anything is possible for people of all colors in this country. It demonstrates we have come such a long way from the Civil Rights movement days and I think the fact he could do this can give hope to everyone. People all around the world can not only look to what a great system we have in place here in America, our democratic ways that can let anyone rise to where they want to be as long as they have the determination and support of the people. The fact that anyone, even someone in the persecuted minority could rise up and gain the support of well over half our country to be catapulted into the Presidency is really astounding if you think about it. While this has not legally helped the race movement, I think the hope given to people of all colors all over the world is remarkable in its own right. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:16:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/has-barak-obama%e2%80%99s-presidency-helped-the-race-movement-119-blog/#IDComment137600018 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135945157 Diversity anywhere is a big issue nowadays. Companies and schools are so focused on being diverse and multi-cultural. They want to have a diverse climate that shows they are accepting of all different races. Companies have to adhere to different laws of affirmative action where they will have a staff of mixed males and females as well as different races. Companies and schools back in the day used to be predominantly white and male, which after the civil rights movement and woman’s rights movement, people began to rise against such actions. Women wanted to enter the work force and people of color wanted to be more accepted in society today. From all of this, schools and companies are focused on being diverse and “open to all races.” Penn State is an interesting mix of people. While acceptance of women into the work force and schools has become more common place but acceptance of people of color has been a slower process. At Penn State, whites make up about 80% of the student population; blacks make up about 3%, Hispanics 3%, and the rest being mixed or “other.” At first this could seem shocking and overwhelmingly white but if one were to look at the racial make up of the state of Pennsylvania, Penn State’s demographics are very similar. I believe that a school that is a state-sponsored school that is created for the students of the commonwealth (among other out of state students) should be representative of the respective state. If Pennsylvania as a whole is 80% white, a state school representing the state can easily have the same demographics. When walking around Penn State though it is so easy to notice the lack of diversity here. From personal experience, most of my classes are predominantly white, mostly all of my friends are white, and most people I see are white. I have a few black friends that are very involved in various black organizations so I have experienced many black students here, but these groups are clearly limited. I have visited friends at other schools that are clearly a lot more diverse and it is such a stark difference then Penn State. My cousin goes to Fordham in the Bronx, NY and you can experience a lot more people of color when walking around campus and in classes. Altogether though I would not go as far to ridicule Penn State for a lack of diversity. I feel if Penn State was even more so white then the demographics of the state, it could be a subject of ridicule. There are many other schools in our country that are much less diverse. I feel diversity brings about a great mix of cultures and can be a great learning experience, schools that lack a mix of students do not provide the same cultural experience. Penn State can certainly be more diverse but I would not raise concern over the lack of diversity here. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:41:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135945157 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment133661324 Affirmative Action when it was first created set out to create more equality in our country. This would ensure that people of minorities have an equal chance at receiving jobs or various positions while competing against white people for them. Studies have shown that white people on average will receive a position more so than a person of color would be likely to receive it, even if they have the same credentials. Now of course there can not be much said against this because this set out to foster a more equal environment in our country, but some may ask, has it gone too far? I would slightly agree with this. I do agree that it is a necessary thing to keep equality in our world but I feel sometimes people can be looked over for a position because the company wants to focus on hiring minorities or the school wants to have a good diversity ranking. One example that springs to mind is a black student I know at Penn State. I am white and applied to this school with higher SAT scores, a higher average and from a prestigious high school, and with loads of work experience. This student had lower scores, grades, and no work experience at all, but received a full ride to Penn State. My first question is, WHY? Is he more qualified to be here because he is black? I know after Sam’s lecture how white privilege is usually an unconscious thought of ours and we really do not think, “oh I got this job because I am white!” but things like this make me wonder. What does he have that deserves a full scholarship, all expenses paid to come here over what I have to offer? I am not boasting about myself and saying I deserve one too, I am simply wondering why things like this occur. If we really want to go on about equality, we would not even be looking at race at all; it would be merit-based rewards. If the application process did not show ethnicity and just merits achieved, would he still have been granted this scholarship? I highly doubt that it would have occurred if race were not even brought in to it. I think a school or a job should be a collection of the best possible people interested in the position and affirmative action should help that race is not taken into account in a job, not to secure a nice diversity ratio in an office with an even balance of minorities: whites. I feel in some instances affirmative action may be taken to far because companies and schools want to have a nice diverse environment so people will not accuse them of racism in hiring or acceptance, rather then companies or schools looking for the best option with race not even brought into the picture. Wed, 9 Mar 2011 19:22:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment133661324 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/22/do-you-think-in-today%e2%80%99s-society-people-are-more-racist-toward-muslims-or-blacks-119-blog/#IDComment130454512 There are a lot of different prejudices in today’s society apparent around the world. Different people have different views on people of the world. There are many people who are prejudice free and are not racists at all, but I would be completely lying to you if I said that was true for all society. Although a lot of racist actions are not as prevalent in open society as they used to be back in especially Civil War times and previous, it is still alive and flowing today. Many white people look down upon blacks too and associate with the old movement of hatred and degradation of blacks especially in America today, which is completely out dated. Many people have some terrible things to say about them and when someone is accused of being a racist, usually people assume they said or did something against African-Americans. A big topic in today’s society is racism towards Muslim. There weren’t as much dealings with Muslims around the world before September 11th. Since then Americans have developed a hatred of this region of the world and people that reside in them. What makes this situation tricky is that the people who committed terrorist acts against the USA are not from one specific area in the Middle East. There is a lot of secrecy over these people and in turn many Americans have a general distrust and dislike of the entire region of the world. This feeling spread so quickly around the US and other western nations that I personally think it is as prevalent as racism towards blacks, if not, more. There always has been a deep seeding dislike of some black people by certain people for whatever reason they may do so, but the dislike and distrust of Muslims has spread like wildfire because of the attacks that a select few extremist carried out on our country. Many Americans have little knowledge of Muslims and the Arab world and tend to lump all Muslims together with the extremists that carried out the terror attacks. People here know a lot more about African culture and blacks in today’s society then they do about people in the Middle East region. People make more generalizations and seem to be even scared of Muslims. People that do not like people of African descent are more racist in the fact that they have bad things to day about them and have a general dislike for them, but people today are scared and hate people from the Muslim world. Of course I am speaking in generalization terms but this is a largely prevalent view spread across the USA. People are scared of another attack and do not want to be around people of Arabian descent at all, accusing them of being a terrorist in many instances. I think eventually as people learn about this part of the world, people will begin to realize the difference between the extremists and regular people and realize that it is only a small group of people in one of the largest population centers of the globe. I think this racism towards Muslims is a little more hateful and prevalent today than the racism present towards African-Americans in today’s society. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:08:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/22/do-you-think-in-today%e2%80%99s-society-people-are-more-racist-toward-muslims-or-blacks-119-blog/#IDComment130454512 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128994722 Part 4 Some countries are not in the position to start to build up yet though unfortunately. There is so much political unrest these days though. The only way for people around the world to increase their standard of living is when they will come together to move forward. If we could do it, other nations can too. Poverty is so prevalent these days and it can change. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:19:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128994722 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128994704 Part 3 Now think if we had only a dollar or less a day. The poverty is so extreme around the world. It is not our responsibility to help other nations to get where we are, we got here from our own determination and hard work, from a land of rebel farmers from Europe to a super power nation. We could easily though offer advice and help set up a stabile infrastructure in other nations though. Countries need to have a stable government and start to build their economy. If the US offered up tips to other country and guided them on a way to build their economy they could be on the right track. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:18:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128994704 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128994658 Part 2 Americans focus on things like “Keeping Up With the Joneses” about how we are obsessed with having the best things. The wealth in this country is enormous. It is such a stark contrast to people living in the slums of India or in the desert in Saharan Africa. These people live off next to nothing each day. Some people cannot even earn one dollar each day! That is truly insane. Think about all the money we’ll spend each day on various things. You could put $40 in your gas tank, spend about $7 for breakfast and lunch, buy some snacks on the way home, then buy dinner and any other groceries you may need. In one day without even shopping at mall the average American could drop a few hundred dollars a day. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:18:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128994658 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128994535 Part 1 The way we live in the United States of America is supposedly better than ninety-seven percent of the worlds population. Most of the world lives in such poverty with a lower standard of living than us. This is hard to imagine because we such poor living conditions in lower class neighborhoods around the cities in the US. Just think about all the homeless people that live here and poor people who live in small little shacks all around the inner city areas or in the backwoods of West Virginia. We know so much poverty here yet there are so many wealthy people here. Think of all the rich neighborhoods and wealthy people. There is such a competition here over who has the nicest car or house or the newest phone. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:18:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128994535 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/are-you-a-liberal-or-a-conservative-119-blog/#IDComment127434137 After the class where Sam revealed that he was actually more so of a conservative then “in the middle” I began to really think about what I would classify myself as. I always have said that I was in the middle on most issues leaning towards a Democratic or liberal side of the argument in the past. Since hearing about the determinism and free will theories on the racial situations today I feel that while I still would be more on the Democratic view of things versus a Republican view, I tend to agree with some conservative views. I never really identified the difference between Republicanism and Conservatism but after Sam’s lecture it was clear that there are differences. I agree with views that the tax system should be more basic; people are more so responsible for their actions, and almost a survival of the fittest view on life. I am a staunch opponent of people who lay back and fall into the discouraged worker category where they stop looking for a job and start living off of the welfare system. I support our welfare system for supporting farmers in America to keep the agriculture in our country still operating on a profitable basis and also the use of welfare for people in true times of need, but of course, only on a short term basis. The fact that welfare could be extended to up to two years for people just promotes people draining our money supply even further. We talk so much about our national debt, yet look where it is all going! We are pouring money into people who have no desire to work, throwing a lot to some social programs, while most are for a good cause, I think spending can become out of control here. We are very wasteful with a lot of our money then cry about our debt. I see a need to scale back a lot of operations and be more conservative with our resources. I do sympathize with a lot of liberal policies as well by helping out some areas of concern like health care and other aspects of our poor and impoverished population. I think my mix of wanting to help out the people who really need it and to be conservative with wasteful spending beyond that puts me right smack in the middle of our political spectrum. I guess technically you would say I am a Conservative Democrat but that usually isn’t a phrase used which is why I would stick with saying I am a middle of the road person. By Sam explaining the differences between Conservatism and Republicanism it really opened up some ideas in my head as to what political stance I take. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:00:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/are-you-a-liberal-or-a-conservative-119-blog/#IDComment127434137 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/if-you-could-how-would-you-rename-and-re-classify-people-119-blog/#IDComment125846538 The question proposed in the FLIP cam response was how would I re-name or re-classify the races of the world today and that sure is a tricky question. It seems that today people are lumped into a small amount of groups just to classify them quickly on appearances. Basing people’s race simply by what they appear to be seems quite moronic when you really think about it. The usual options are just white/Caucasian, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American. This not only leaves out so many different groups that can easily go to one or another but it also leaves out people of mixed race. First I want to talk about people who are caught in between. On a simple question like that, what would people of Middle Eastern descent check? What do Indian people check off? What about Pacific Islanders? There are so many other groups of people that would not identify with any of the usual choices but are forced to click off one. There is also the whole mess of interracial couples and their “mixed” children. They can appear to be one or the other, but they may follow a culture of a different group. These people will be forced to check off one and almost denounce HALF of what they are! These people basically have to choose sides with who they are. This does not embrace who these people really are. Then comes the great question of, well what could we do to fix this so more people could relate? This certainly has left many people stumped, especially census takers who seem to update the categories on the census forms every few counts. If I had to go and re-classify people in order to create a more accurate classification scale for people around the world I would go based off two different scales. I would have one that focuses on tribal descent and of indigenous lands and another of current culture they identify with. When you say white or Caucasian there are so many people that can fit into this. If you start breaking down in to what kind like Anglo-Saxon or Frankish you can start to gain an idea of what kind of background the people have. This can specify someone with English descent from another with Franco-German descent. This also can break down people originally from West Africa or Northern Africa instead of just “black.” This would help top provide a closer look as to where the people actually are from. But see this still leaves out the mixed groups of people. I would make the ability to choose more than one backgrounds to show what kind of person they really are. The other classification would be of culture. There are so many different cultures around the world and by just checking off Anglo-Saxon descent would not differentiate between a true-blooded American and someone living on the English countryside. This helps to identify in modern times, what culture and land do these people associate with and what they choose to embrace as their way of life. I feel this would allow people to really show who they came from and who they are today. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 06:31:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/if-you-could-how-would-you-rename-and-re-classify-people-119-blog/#IDComment125846538 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124214031 I feel that most people associate with others of similar race and ethnicity because they want to stay inside of their comfort zone. People feel comfortable when they are around other people that are just like them. If someone is the one odd person out in a group, it draws unwanted attention to them. Remaining inside of someone’s safety zone will make him or her feel more at peace with whom he or she is friends with and who they associate with. A lot of people that tend to stick together around here are people who most likely immigrated to this country or recently came here in the past few generations. If you were to put yourself in their shoes, would you not do the same thing initially? Of course there are the very outgoing people who will have no problem jumping into a mixed group of people and start to connect. I know that if I suddenly had to move to Japan and was fully immersed into Japanese culture and surrounded by basically 99% Japanese people, I would feel out of my comfort zone. I would look for an area or group of Americans there to find people who share my culture and thoughts. I would want to seek out these people because they understand the life I lived in the US, probably lived the same life as I did, and can share a lot more in common with me than a typical Japanese citizen. Connecting with a local person would be much more of a richer experience and such a learning period, but people want to stick to what they know and surround themselves with similar people. I know for sure I would look up American neighborhoods in a foreign country if I had to relocate there, I would want to feel a little piece of home while away. That is most likely what other ethnic groups feel when in America, they want a feeling of belonging with people of similar values and looks. This also goes for ethnic groups currently established in America, like say African-Americans. This case is different from foreigners though because blacks and whites have assimilated a lot further than other ethnic groups have. Thus example still holds true as to why a minority would stick with the others. They want a sense of belonging and where else would you feel a sense of belonging while fully immersed in a different ethnic group than with someone that is similar to you. I wish that people would mix together more often though because different people with different cultures have so much to bring to the table. It can provide a richer learning experience if people from all over the world would mix more often and connect. This is happening all over but nearly enough. People want to stick to their safety zone and stay with what they know instead of instantly becoming the odd man out in a group. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:07:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124214031 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122942833 The exercise from that class period proved many things to the audience. I thought it was very interesting how there are not only so many different types of people all gathered together in one room, but also that everyone does not appear how they may be. By taking two “smarter” students, we would suppose they might be able to tell apart different races a little better then the rest of us, but I feel that the only reason Sam used them was to show that even the smartest kids of the group could have difficulty. The students tended to be a mixture and everyone did not appear as they later claimed they were. There was a large amount of kids with Arabian descent that seemed to be able to fit into many different groups. Those kids were down at the end with the “Asian group” as well as strewn about through the Caucasian and Latino looking students. It was interesting how the two students divided people up, some seemed logical like the Asian students, but they did not seem to have much rhythm with grouping the rest. I personally would have started with them all in a group and set up different looking kids in different areas and then personally compared each kid to the current set groups, that way each person can be sent to who appears to look similar. Instead they took kids and pushed them together with people around them and only moved them further down the line if there was a stark difference between them and their neighbors. I do not fully disagree with this method I just do not think it was the most efficient way to do so. Overall though this exercise showed how even if someone appears to be of Latino descent, they very well could be mostly Irish with some Latino blood. It further demonstrates that we are a mixed society and we cannot simply define people on strict guidelines of race. Populations here in the US have been mixing together for over 300 years. I found it very interesting what kinds of mixed races there are out there but it did not surprise me in the least that there was some curveballs. Who would have known that there were so many people with a mix in of Arabian ethnicity? Some people with Arab descent appeared either Latino or Indian. We cannot simply judge people on what they appear to be and what we think nationality they are. People are not how they seem and even the 4.0 GPA students had great difficulty telling people apart. We live in an ever-growing melting pot these days! Sat, 22 Jan 2011 08:08:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122942833 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ck%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121222054 Soc 119 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 04:30:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ck%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121222054