en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2436880 Comments by hmj5032 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/15/voices-from-the-classroom-79/#IDComment227539927 Until I read the question posted in this video asking if the scandal at here at Penn State would have been different if Sandusky had been latino or black, I hadn't even considered it. I read a few of the posts from other students and whoever said that nothing would have changed, you're idiots. The only real topic of class the entire semester has been race relations and the huge differences it creates in every situation in our society. So like I said, the Sandusky scandal would have been completely different from the beginning if he had been black or latino. We can take any point in the scandal and show multiple differences where society's standards alone would have changed the outcome of the scandal. The first recognizable change might just be that Penn State wouldn't have hired a black/latino defensive coach in 1969, also if they did it would have put him under much more scrutiny from the media at the time because the freaking civil rights movement had just ended. He couldn't have been able to rape kids like he did under that kind of media attention. Apart from past events that would have changed Sanduskys life completely had he been a minority, the outcome of the scandal would have been dramatically different also. Alright, lets try imagine the events in this scandal unfolded exactly as they had up until the point where the ginger, Mike Mcqueary, walked into the shower where that child molesting asshole who should rot in hell as hes repeatedly raped by the devil and his gang of demons was ruining a child's life, but in this case that asshole is black or latino. In the eyes of god and what is moral, there is no difference what color the guy is. However, from that point there would have a much different chain of events. After watching a few of the movies in class you could argue that because Sandusky was a white male that his peers (the coaches including Paterno and the Ginger) almost turned a blind eye to what was going on.. If that is true then it might be the case that if he were black/latino the opposite would have happened and they would have rushed to the police. Another thing to think about is how the media would have angled their stories had he been a minority. The media takes the side of whoever has a better story that will sell. Don't get me wrong.. I feel a compassion for the victims in this scandal like nothing I could even put into words. These kids had this disgusting act happen to them that scarred them for life, because of one fucked up individuals fantasy. He should rot in prison for the rest of his sorry life followed hopefully by a prison in hell for what he did to those kids. I digress, I feel like the media may have taken the side of Penn State more in this scandal if he had been black. I think it would have made him out to be the Asshole he was and they would have focused the stories and attention around him and how terrible he was to the victims. All-in-all I think the scandal would have been completely different from the top to the bottom and everything in between. And like I said there is no way in hell it wouldn't have changed. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 08:33:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/15/voices-from-the-classroom-79/#IDComment227539927 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/27/voices-from-the-classroom-58/#IDComment213728663 Today, white people still have majority in the country's racial structure. However, in the future when the majority changes its not like the country will dramatically change. The majority wont be over taken by a single other race, the nation will just be more diverse than it ever has before. I think it will be the beginning of a huge step that will change the way Americans view many different issues. Main language of the united states has already began to change. In areas of the country spanish is already a main language you almost need to know to live. When even more of the majority changes to a spanish speaking culture, knowing the language is going to be key to surviving and being able to thrive in business and in life. I think even the public schools are going to have to adapt and start offering and expecting students to know a second language. The united states is actually very behind the times in secondary languages. It hasn't been necessary until now to know a second language. But as we said in class cultures change depending on the strings that pull on them. Since english wont be the untimate dominant language, people will have to adapt to be able to survive in a different type of diverse cultural economy. The example is only one way the country will have to dramatically change to adapt to a new racially diver culture. Sat, 29 Oct 2011 04:10:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/27/voices-from-the-classroom-58/#IDComment213728663 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/11/tax-dollars-at-war/#IDComment210772261 History is philosophy teaching by examples. History looks and defines all great ruling nations and empires in a single defining way, the power they possessed and the impact the had on the world. There are a few prime examples of great empires that revolutionized civilization. The Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and the English. What these empires have shown us is that to be powerful you have to have a military better trained and better equipped than any other on earth. The United States military has proven to be just that, it is the best the world has ever seen, hands down. The United States has 737 military bases with over 2.5 million U.S. personnel serving around the globe. That's obviously going to take a bit of money to support. But it creates and guarantees a security for all American citizens and it allows for our way of life to continue smoothly, plus aren't a few tax dollars worth feeling safe? However, history has also shown that the most powerful empires are some of the most repressing. So think about it; is the United States just in its cause to spend over half the worlds military spending on its self, is it necessary to be an empire represented in how many bases we has and guns we can produce, and do we as the common people even realize what our countries real intentions are? There are tow sides to the argument. There's the side that this video argues, where the military should be powerful, well funded, uninhibited, and the highest priority of our government. This is mostly what the administration in power now believes. Like the video said, were spending an assumed 60 billion on black box spending alone. Can anyone believe how insane that is?? 60 billion going into an account and just disappearing because its too classified for the government to let us know what they're spending it on. That's obvious evidence showing a military-intense government. The other end of the argument is closer to that of what video was trying to explain, that military should not be our highest priority nor should we willingly turn a blind eye to our people just to make sure our military is well funded. This argument has many valid points; like how the nations people should be taken care of before we need to buy another billion dollar drone plane, or that the healthcare of millions of lower class Americans should be drastically more important that buying another nuclear powered submarine or one more naval ship. Both arguments have valid points, so there should be a meeting in the middle. For that to happen I think there needs to be a major shift in the governments views compared to what we see today. The shifts need to take place in the views americans have about themselves and about our affect on the rest of the globe. We need to move away from our tendencies to want to help and protect everyone around us, we feel obligated to help these countries who do nothing but hate us. I mean were still sending billions to Iran for military spending for fucks sake! Why cant we just mind our own business. Cant anyone see that maybe we should focus on our own problems, like our economy, the state of our infrastructure, or the millions of Americans living in poverty before we say we have to go take care of someone across the globe? We've created this monster that now stretches further and causes more damage than we fix. It's a serious issue that cant stay unleashed or else the country we love and believe in will crumble just like all the great nations and empires before it. History shows what can happen and what will happen when an unstoppable empire grows to large for its own good. It shows that when a country reaches too far and tries to do too much it collapses from the inside. I think this is beginning to show in our country and its only a matter of time before we become just another failed nation in a history book. Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:53:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/11/tax-dollars-at-war/#IDComment210772261 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/15/voices-from-the-classroom-17/#IDComment194201935 When anyone is asked the question of what the biggest problems we face in the world today, The responses that are given are going to change between different cultures and groups of people. If you were to ask someone living in the inner city that worked a minimum wage job and had 3 3 kids to support, I'm positive their answer on the problems they see in the world are drastically different than that of a CEO of a Forbes 500 company. So for a college students opinion, here it goes. The problems we face today are all in our own minds and caused by ourselves. Things like the war in Iraq; terrorism, China's soon to be world dominance, or Obama ruining the economy all rank up there in the top ten to be sure. However, they don't even compare to the destructive power of the ignorance and stupidity that has plagues the majority of the human race. If each person would just realize that if he didn't give a shit what the man standing next to him looked like, or believed in, or how he lived, that a huge amount of problems would just go away in the world. It really doesn't matter how any person decides to praise his god, or live his life in anyway matters to any other person. And if we just built a society around mutual respect for one anothers lifestyle and culture then we could solve a huge amount of issues that would just allow the world to run much more smoothly and efficiently. However, my entire argument is an impossible problem to solve because of one reason alone. People are afraid of what is different. And that is the root of humans inability to see through someones skin color or religious affiliations and just realize they're all just fucking people just like you. Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:42:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/15/voices-from-the-classroom-17/#IDComment194201935 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/08/30/double-helix-and-god/#IDComment189192260 When Sam brought up the story explaining the mystery behind the double helix structure, I was very intrigued to say the least. I'm not religious in the least. My beliefs have always been based on fact and what I can see in front of me. The idea of an all powerful single being that created the world we live in, and who has control of every persons fate on this planet sounds outrageous to me. However, I do appreciate the idea of a higher power. Not a god like the most mainstream religions of today believe, but a power that connects all of us and everything around us on a subconscious quantum level. Thats where Sams story of the double helix comes into play. If the tribal rituals the indians used were all different around the world, but all had the same outcomes of the double helix structures, it has to make you think. DNA is the structure that we know as humans to be the building blocks of all living things, plants, animals, humans, fish all it. So when these tribal witchdoctors take drugs to connect with their world and see these double helix structures they almost become one with each other too on this quantum level. I fully believe that the structures the doctors see were of something that had to do with a higher power, or a power science has yet to discover. Maybe the world cont be like the world of avatar and everything is connected on a biological network that we as humans havent been able to tap into without the use of drugs. Sat, 3 Sep 2011 01:02:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/08/30/double-helix-and-god/#IDComment189192260 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cj%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment187522926 SOC 119 Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:20:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cj%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment187522926 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/what-americans-fear/#IDComment147411066 Alright, so the video was a little disturbing, Im not going to lie. The images of all the terrorist bombings across the world, scenes from 9/11, images of people holding signs that basically say they want to kill me.. Its strange to see the real thoughts of people in some parts of the world. The video was obviously meant to strike a chord with people and was created purely to show the hatred that Islam feels upon the rest of the world..right? But, hold on. I think this video was created with the notion that anyone who watched it would start to hate islamic people.. its meant to make the average person think for a second about how intense the feelings are towards americans and christians from the islamic community. However, when I watched it I had mixed feelings. The video was a montage of images taken from scenes of terrorist attacks. The images were all of americans and christians being hurt by the islamic extremists and was meant to prove a point, that all islamic people are crazy insane idiots who just want to kill everything in sight. But, you have to take in and examine the entire situation to really have an opinion that matters. What I see when looking through all the bullshit of scene after scene of terror is that were doing the exact same things to the people of islam as the are to us. Were over there killing innocents with bombs, killing children in firefightsm, killing entire wedding parties of people just by accident. If i was an islamic person that would piss me off too. I cant imagine living in a war zone seeing my friends and family being killed everyday just for the oil. And everyone knows its about the oil. So, imagine having your kid killed by a stray bullet, how would you feel? Would you want to strap on a bomb and walk into a mall filled with people and blow yourself up? Im not going to lie, I might have some of those feelings too. So this chaos thats unfolding between Islam and the western world cant be fixed instantly, but the best way to fix it isnt through more violance, the best way would be to just leave each other the hell alone and chill. Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:34:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/what-americans-fear/#IDComment147411066 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145288540 The video really showed how war has always been an issue throughout human history. I noticed that since the 1700's humans have seemed to decide that war is a good idea and a good way to solve problems... The amount of war that has happened since 1700 is incredible. I dunno if humans have changed, or if society just evolved but war seems to have become much more common thing to use against other populations of people. Its crazy to watch the timeline and notice the events that go along with the dates. Like the conquistadors marching in south america, the crusades, and even WWII. I think that war has become an overused and easy form of problem solving. Throughout human history there are no real examples of problem solving using politics, however there are a huge number of wars that have become major factors in human history and evolution based on their outcomes. Imagine if the germans had won world war two, or if the crusades had gone differently and the world was a Muslim dominant place. The world would be a totally different place, and we all might view the image of war differently. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 04:04:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145288540 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment143261134 PTSD is a terrible product of war that is almost unavoidable. Imagine being shipped to a completely different country across the world and being told to risk your life and put everything you have on the line to fight for something you may not even believe in. On top of that, soldiers are made to feel like any mental problems that may be associated with PTSD are weak and not to be talked about. This is what was talked about in the movie we watched during class by the Sargent. He was too worried about talking to a professional about his problems because he was too worried about how his men would look at him. When he finally did seek help his men did exactly what he expected and told him how much of a wuss or how they couldnt trust him anymore. This is the problem with our military and the problems with PTSD. Even if a soldier wants help and wants to talk, his/her peers drive him to keep quite about it. This just drives the PTSD and makes it worse. War is an insane thing. No one can imagine it unless you experience the trauma and total mind screw up that it is. I feel the military should be more open to the idea of talking and solving their soldiers mental problems. Maybe if it was looked at in a different light.. like if the soldiers were told that by talking they could master their mind and in turn become super soldiers. Not only would they have the best abilities to fight their enemies with training, but they have the power over their minds and would be able to control their thoughts. Maybe if it was looked at differently PTSD could be easier to deal with. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:36:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment143261134 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135903603 Theres a lot to be said about juveniles being sent to prison, even more so when they are being sent for life. First, adults being sentenced to life in prison is fine by me. People who are stupid enough to commit the crimes that fit the punishment shouldn't be walking our streets anyway. The men and women behind bars are murderous, stealing, raping, bad people. WE should think of prison as a new way to imagine evolution, a way to take out the "problems" that don't follow the society's rules so they're left with only the good ones. Darwin's natural selection through the prison system. However, I do not think that children, even when they commit serious crimes, should be sentenced to Life without parole. Its hard to imagine anyone being so angry or desperate or crazy that they actually kill someone, especially if its a child doing the killing. So when it happens its hard to decide what action to take against the murderer. If its a adult in the situation the system works well and anyone found guilty is sentenced to time and society feels good about the decision. When its a child its another issue. Questions are raised about how mature or aware the child is about what he/she did. Many times the issue of abuse is raised and if the child was acting out of defense. So when children are found to be aware and mature enough, and the crime they committed was heinous enough to the point that a life sentence was granted, things need to be evaluated. The points that I see as being flawed, or just plain fucked up, is the idea that a kid at the age of 12-16 really should be put away forever, gone, never to come back. In the letter the author was completely correct when he said its stupid. The kid goes to jail, becomes a burden on society, never has a life, and if he somehow ever does get out its almost pointless because hes been in jail since before he was 20, so he just becomes a bum. There needs to be a system in place that can take prisoners who have committed a crime, and rehabilitate them to a member of society. This should not under any circumstances apply to all prisoners, just the ones who show an effort to want to better themselves and want to change their ways. In class, Sam talked about how some of the smartes men he knows have been in prison, and that some of the most holy and quality people are in the prison system. So why cant there be a way for these men to show that they can help society? I see a problem in a system that takes people and puts them in a box behind bars, pays for every thing they do, and doesn't give them a chance after 20+ years, to show that they have changed. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:29:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135903603 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2010/04/14/what-about-the-men/#IDComment130704341 I think men and women conform differently to society. For women, it seems that the way they want to fit in is to look and act like "Hollywood" would portray them to. This is evident by the amount of attention the subject gets in the media. Young girls having unrealistic views of how they should look and dress because society sets unrealistic examples of what is attractive. Men on the other hand seem to try to fit into their social groups. It seems to be much less dependent on Hollywood. You dont see men that often looking at magazines seeing how Brad Pitt dresses or who hes in a relationship with. This could be a cause of evolution. Women want to be as attractive as possible to get a man and have children. Men seem to be more aware of the people around them and who they interact with. Maybe this is because they once needed to be the most dominant or attractive of their groups to have the best chances of mating with a woman.. This could explain why they dont look as much toward what the norm is, and look more toward what their groups norm is. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:52:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2010/04/14/what-about-the-men/#IDComment130704341 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment129049814 What is there to say about the government? First, Its absolutely necessary. Anyone who says differently is a dumbass. There must be a system in place to govern groups of people or nothing would ever get done and shit would go crazy. It would just be a no rules, survival of the fittest, living like cave men type of life. The necessity of government is obvious. The real question is, and always has been, how much power the government should have. And I want to say that I'm not just talking about the power of making decisions or running the country, I'm talking about the amount of government that is subtle and underlying everywhere, affecting any given decision you make everyday. I believe that the role of the government is to take care of the welfare of its people, to manage the country's infrastructure, to provide for the country's defense, and to have and enforce law. The bare minimum required. People would be responsible for themselves and their lively hoods. Business wouldn't have the same amount of intervention that causes problems. The government could actually be extremely focused on what was exactly necessary. With "Big Governments" like the one we have, its almost impossible to find something that hasn't had some form of government "touch" it.. Everything from the food you buy for your dog, to the paint you're allowed to put on your house has rules and regulations behind it. Big Governments want to be in control of everything. They like power. Its an addiction they cant control. So I feel that this issue about creating a fund to give breast pumps to new mother's is another way for the government to get involved and control its people. I understand that there are people who cant afford buying breast pumps.... or that the lively hood of our future generations is at risk by these kids not getting their milk, but seriously... take some damn responsibility and buy a breast milk pump if you need it, or just feed your kid the natural way humans have been doing it the past million years! Its seemed to work out fine. Stop expecting the government to take care of you. And I think the Government should stop thinking it needs to take care of every problem its people have too. Just stay out of it Government. You Suck Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:05:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment129049814 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/06/empathy-might-be-our-natural-drive/#IDComment127423916 I've been on the subject of empathy for a while now. In my English Lit class we've been talking about what it means to be human. All the different things that make us human, like our minds, our feelings towards others, the ability to love, and empathy. Thats why i agree with this video. I dont feel like its in our nature to want to be agressive and hurt others. If you have ever given someone an injury, even like a scratch, you feel bad for putting them through that bit of pain. I think its much more reasonable to believe that its because were wired not to want to hurt people or to be naturally aggressive or sinful and competitive. If I were to change the way I live my life for a day I would absolutely become more caring and understanding. I feel like Im a very forgiving and respectful person as it is, but I would be sure to show it. I would give my sisters more support in their lives, I would thank my parents for taking care of me for all those years I was a bad kid, and everyone I met in the day I would try to be kind and extra respectful toward. Just so possibly they would take my kindness and pass it along to the next person they met. If we all took one day to just be incredibly kind and empathetic towards our neighbors, who knows of the kindness that could be passed around. Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:51:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/06/empathy-might-be-our-natural-drive/#IDComment127423916 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment126046357 From a sociologist's point of view, suicide is the most free thing a person can do. Nothing can make a person commit suicide but themselves and the drive to do so. I think thats also what gives the subject such a strange taboo when talked about. People who commit suicide are the only ones who really know what it feels like to take those feelings to the limit, as far as you can go, until the only sensible option is death. I almost feel like I cant even have an opinion on suicide because Ive never been in such a bad depression or place in my life to want to die. Also, I don't think I would be a good person to be on the line with someone about to commit suicide. It must be seriously depressing and high stress having your job be talking people down from the edge of existence, and listening to all their sad stories. I dont know how those women in the call centers can do it. However, if I had to take the job and I got a call, I'd imagine it going something like this.. "As a sociologist I feel informed to tell you that what you're thinking about doing isn't really the best way to go about your problems. Whatever problems you may have, however big or small, can be changed and fixed with time. You have the freedoms in life to change anything about your situation, however long it may take. You're only given one life to live and you shouldn't think about cutting it short. Suicide is permanent. Once its done it can never be changed. No going back. You have the gift of life. You have something that, so far, has only been found here on this one little rock in the universe. THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. Nothing compares to that. Whatever problems you have and are facing can be solved with help. Your family and everyone around you can help you get through this. Just don't give up and cut a good life short. It's not worth it brah." Sat, 5 Feb 2011 01:26:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment126046357 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122857821 If you want to think about events and places where freedom is abundant and social constraint is at its lowest, beauty pageants are not the place to go. Everything from entering in the contest, to what the girls say during their interviews, and how they walk down the stage is observed by the judges and put under pressure from the society and audience surrounding each pageant. I mean, the girls are all judged based on a set of "rules" that says what it means to be beautiful and nice and pretty in todays society.. I feel like that might be considered a bit constraining. If the girls in these pageants really love what they're doing and are not influenced at all by their parents it'd be perfect, no one would be able to say a word about it. But we all really know that some of those parents are making their daughters do it, maybe for their daughters best interest or maybe just to live vicariously through them, who knows. To take a little girl and dress her up in a nice dress, maybe a little make-up, nice pair of shoes to go along with it all is absolutely fine with me. However, I do have a problem with making a 2 year old look like a sex symbol slut like Madonna. Parents should really know a bit better than that. And if it was "just a joke" like the mother said.. It was a pretty terrible joke that was not thought through at all. Or its also possible the mom was just a regular dumbass and liked having her two year old look like a whore, then freedom reigns supreme and you can't do much other than just shake your head in disappointment of the idiocracy that society has evolved into. Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:09:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122857821 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cj%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122154894 SOC 001 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:16:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cj%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122154894