part 3
Although he is mainly talking about war, a lot of the things he says can be applied to race relations. The truths that he brings to light about the whole group mentality and rationalizing myths through the media are extremely applicable to this topic. He talks about how the media will tell an exorbitant amount of blatant lies, but people do not want to disagree because they are tired of feeling like an individual. Instead of “me against the world”, it is “us against them”. By doing this, it gives people a sense of responsibility. It makes them feel like they matter for a cause that is bigger than their own seemingly insignificant lives.
Another thing I would like to say, even though it is somewhat irrelevant, I just sort of want to put it down on paper. I had a meeting with my advisor today, and we were talking about this course. During our discussion, she made the statement that “it’s natural to think in terms of stereotypes, because that’s just easier for people.” I never thought about that before.

part 2
So it really doesn’t make much sense when people condemn the miniscule amounts of money that are handed out to people below the poverty line and ignore even the publicized riches handed over to companies. Conservatives just use this to pretend that they have strategies that will lower taxes, and in turn gain them political power. Almost all political campaigns are webs of lies, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
In response to the quote, I’m actually reading a book by Chris Hedges right now entitled War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning.

part 1
I believe that a majority of Americans think of poor people when the term welfare is used because of the negative publicity the welfare system receives, mainly from the Republican Party. But it’s not just the Republican Party who spreads this view of welfare. Media of all sorts has at some point made the claim that welfare in this country is a flawed system that sends money to “lazy, poor creature”, which came from some “respectable, hard-working” citizen. No one high up in the government wants to admit to allocating many handsome amounts of money to already wealthy individuals. Now if there is a way to spin the story so that these welfare checks to wealthy individuals or companies seem to be for the good of society, well then politicians seem to have no problem announcing the “bail outs”. Seriously? There is only one difference between a welfare check to an individual with a family to support below the poverty line and a substantial bailout to a multi-billion dollar company: the person supporting the family actually needs it.

Although I do understand why people would be reluctant to branch out to other races and cultures, I do not understand why people actually do remain with their own race. I am a white male, but I have friends of many different cultures, and I have found that this has done nothing but enlighten me. A very good friend of mine lived in Saudi Arabia until he was 17 years old and is a practicing Muslim. He has taught me so many things about Islamic culture, and has broadened my views on the world. The differences between us haven’t had any negative effects on our friendship.

People feel more comfortable around things they understand, and tend to avoid things they do not understand. It only makes sense that someone coming from a different culture than the majority of people in their environment would find a degree of relief if he or she found others with similar beliefs to his or her own. This is a good reason as to why international students hang out with people of similar backgrounds as themselves.
But what about people who have always lived in the United States, namely black and white people. They tend to congregate with their own race, though less now than historically. It is possible that part of this could be caused by a feeling of disdain for whites from blacks who seem to separate themselves from whites, based on historical actions of the white race. Another reason could be that the white people who tend to stay away from blacks just make this assumption and feel that black people do not want to be associated with them. Or a third theory could be that some blacks feel as though white people don’t want to associate with blacks. All of this is based on assumptions though.

First off, we don’t see this only with race and culture, but even within subcultures. Certain people only associate with people of similar majors, or only with people in their own fraternity. A lot of it has to do with the fact that people like those with similar views as their own.
You answered part of your question while asking it. Language. Each group speaks the same language. I would think that it would be difficult for students who have spoke one language their whole lives to come into an environment where a majority of people do not speak their language. They would find it in their best interest to stick with people who do actually speak their language. Those who speak their language are more likely to understand their culture, or even better, practice that culture. These people are more likely to have a similar outlook on life.

I think there are some pretty obvious reasons why we buy products from other countries that were produced under such poor conditions, then condemn the people who put workers into those conditions. First of all, who wants to spend more than they have to on a product? Let's be honest. If you want something like a pair of shoes, and you know that you can get the shoes at a decent price, you're prone to buying them regardless of how they were produced, so long as you don't have to actually acknowledge the conditions under which they were made. Another reason is that there's always going to be the lowest rung on the social ladder. Wealth is a relative quality, and without poor people in terrible conditions, there can be no well off people in decent conditions.

Lemmings