en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2424666 Comments by intothenight http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment144690419 We are sending thousands upon thousands of soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq every year; as well as having them deployed to numerous remote locations all throughout the world, and the government doesn’t feel these soldiers will be affected in any possible way? I’m shocked…many of the soldiers don’t just complete one tour of duty; some have anywhere between three to five tours before their contract runs out. Anybody who is exposed to the front line fighting, or even stationed in a heavy war zone is significantly affected and their mentality is not usually the same as when they first arrived off the plane. They are fighting everyday for their life. It’s not just some kind of simulation that can be controlled, similar to what is used in basic training. Every soldier has to be ready and alert at all times because it’s just not considered a mistake that can be mended the next day or in a week, these “mistakes” can cost soldiers their own lives as well as their fellow officers lives. Could you imagine if you made a mistake, and the direct consequence of that mistake compromises the safety of a fellow combat squad? Worse yet, could you fathom if it that were to cost your best friend’s life? These actions and mistakes are ones that the soldiers will have to live with all of their lives. The images will continuously be flashing back in their head, but instead of it just being a bad dream, it would have been a past memory that affects the soldiers lives, and also their loved ones that are waiting for them to return home safely. Could you be the one to tell a grieving widow who is pregnant that she will never get a chance to see her husband again? And that child will never have an opportunity to meet his father. We don’t hear about these facts and figures, which correlates the increased suicide rates among soldiers compared with PTSD. Some memories can never be forgotten by the mind, the only way it could ever be permanently forgotten is to take one’s own life. Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:32:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment144690419 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142969603 Until this semester, I was one of those naïve individuals who assumed that sex and gender were interchangeable. It doesn’t help that the majority of the world seems to be in the same boat as me. When one has to fill out an application, whether it’s for an occupation or for medical insurance, the words “sex” and “gender” are used irreversibly. Here is the major difference between sex and gender: sex refers to an individual’s biological conditions. For example, after giving birth, the doctor announces whether one had a boy or a girl based on a visual examination of their genitals. The gender of an individual refers to a socially constructed belief that that society sets in place. It is a learned behavior, characteristic, or expectation based on our biological sex label. In reference to the article listed, although his biological sex wasn’t initially male, he changed his sexual orientation surgically; thus, transferring his gender from masculine to feminine permanently. It should not matter what “sex” he started with, it should just matter his gender currently. I believe the manager of his workplace was out of line when asking what “sex” he was born with, as opposed to what “sex” he is currently. Especially when he stated that since he was the age of 5, he was a boy at heart; climbing trees, rough housing, etc. I worked with a transgendered individual for a few years. His biological orientation at birth was a boy; however, not to be cliché or anything, but he was the most girlie-boy I have ever known. When he turned 20 years old, he decided to undergo the processes to surgically alter his sex to female. For a period of one year, he had to dress as a girl and have people refer to him as a woman in order to complete the process. After that time period, he surgically changed his sex and is much happier with the outcome. I believe that some individuals who have sexual reconstructive surgery were born intersex. In our culture, intersex is not recognized as a true “sex” as a choice; thus, many parents choose one or the other at birth to give their child a normal life, as free from torment as possible. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 01:32:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142969603 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/4827/#IDComment141047103 Many people feel that it’s not fair the way the oil companies’ work. They have the power to increase or decrease the price of oil at any time. It is structured as an oligopoly, which states that multiple leaders are in charge of “the game” or a commodity because their country is considered rich in that particular product or resource. The companies under OPEC are sanctioned as such, and are deemed well off in the oil resource industry. Because so many other companies are dependent upon these OPEC nations, they have more flexibility in fluctuating the prices and such. I never really understood how this worked until playing a game that my high school, Economics teacher created. He made a bunch of flashcards that listed a variety of countries with the min and max price you could purchase oil at. I was lucky and received Saudi Arabia as my nation, which helped me gain an enormous amount of power as compared to the rest of the class. It wasn’t fair for the others because I could increase the price of oil by an outrageous differential and still be the leading nation. I also had the power to buy the most oil due to the ranking I held in OPEC. Reflecting back on that game, it was a game of lucky and inequality. I was lucky to receive one of the top nations in the world for oil just by receiving a flashcard, while the remaining members of my class were not as lucky as I had been…but that’s life. Sometimes were lucky, and sometimes were not. It’s no ones fault really, so that’s were the inequality kicks in. Like we have learned in class, inequality is just a simple fact of life. People are more well off than others and sometimes they just get the short end of the stick, so to speak. Oil companies abuse their power over their resource at times, but wouldn’t we try to do the same thing to the other companies if the rules were reversed? Wouldn’t we try to exploit their weaknesses or lack of oil in this case, and use it to our advantage too? Fri, 8 Apr 2011 17:34:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/4827/#IDComment141047103 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment138966394 Let's really dig deeper and undercover the true reasons why there is an unequal distribution of wealth. I do agree that some people who are the upper-middle class or the elite deserve to be there. Most have worked extremely hard to advance their social class and better their family for the future. Those people I believe deserve to be in the upper tier of society’s classes. Many have completed not only a bachelor’s program, but also a Master’s or PhD degree as well. Athletes I believe could also be considered in this tier. It’s a little bit different though. There is an abundant amount of athletes who haven’t even attended college and are making boat –loads of money. Take Sidney Crosby for example. He was drafted at the age of 18 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and that was 5 or 6 years ago. He based his salary on his number 87, so he earns 8.7 million dollars every single year. That may seem like an extreme amount of money to most people; however, he is sacrificing his body year after year for the entertainment of millions of fans. There is a limited time were he is at the peak body condition to play, and after a certain point, he becomes replaced by the next big player. Usually just right out of high school. Any type of athlete contributes to the unequal distribution of wealth in our society, whether it is a NHL or an NFL player. On the other side of the spectrum, you have the cheaters who fight their way to the top such as Wall Street investors. An example of this could be Bernie Madoff or Ponzi. They were already of an upper half of society and that wasn’t enough for them. They became greedy, and were never satisfied with the amount of money they made. They continually wanted more and more. They cheated their way to earn more money and prestige from society. They stole millions from numerous innocent people, those people who were considered middle class and worked hard to earn the income they did. Those people I don’t agree should be at the top tier of society. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I feel like one should been recognition and prestige the hard-working way…not cheating their way to the top. Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:52:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment138966394 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment137581341 The first thing any parent ever says to a there little kid when in a public place is the following statement, “Do not talk to strangers.” It is a statement that I remember quite well because it was repeating over and over again. Now that I’m grown up, I can see why my parents were so protective of me. There are numerous good people out in the world, but they’re also some very bad apples that got thrown into the bunch too. Those are the people we worry about because we hear the stories of what they do, and are fearful of having our young children in the presence of them. What might happen to them, and what if they never see their child again because of a crazy psychopath. A child is the essence of innocence. They are pure to the bone, and aren’t tainted by society and by the reality of the world we live in yet. Everybody is a good person in our young, unimpressed minds. We think everybody is going to be our best friends. It was such a simple thought process we had back then. Parents want to keep it that way for as long as possible. You have your whole life to be an adult. Your childhood is something you want to cherish and have last for as long as possible. When we hear about these rare occurrences of children being kidnapped, and worst yet, murdered….we automatically think about our kids, and hope nothing like that will ever happen to them. The Elizabeth Smart kidnapping was a rare instance, but stories like that stick in our minds, not the ones where the strangers helped the young kids. They aren’t as eye-catching, hence the reason they don’t appear in the 5 o’clock news. It’s a shame that those few evil people, have to spoil our view of society, but that’s what has happened. The sooner we warm our kids about predators, the better chance they will have by not running in to them. We will much safer the more news and awareness is broadcast about this topic. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:13:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment137581341 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135438088 Zach Wahls is a very dynamic speaker, and he is especially persuasive when arguing on behalf of LGBT families in regards to amending the Iowan state law. Although this amendment won’t have any contour or affect on lesbian or gay families love for one another; it will have an effect of how the law views these types of marital unions. Why are only straight, heterosexual couples considered “legally married” in the eyes of the law? What happens to everybody else? 2 lesbian women have raised him for the duration of his life, and he notes that no one knows his individual family background without him openly talking about it. He is just like everyone else; he was in the top 99th percentile for his ACT scores, is a presentable and well-educated individual who just happens to have a family that is not openly recognized legally. These “unions” don’t have the same benefits that typical, married-straight couples have. For example, say your spouse has been in a horrible accident, and has been admitted to the hospital for intensive care. LGBT families aren’t considered “legally” recognized unions by the state, so they don’t have the privileges that a normal, husband and wife have such as visitation and what not. They do not have the authority to keep or terminate life-support, whereas a husband or wife has that authority. As one can see, personal views on whether or not a lesbian or gay union should be legal does not affect if these relationships will still take place or not. The only question really is if the Iowan government will recognize these unions as the same as any other heterosexual, marital unions. The love these families share will not affect the outcome of the chairman’s decision. No one has the power to dictate who a person can or cannot love, not even God. This is the same as telling someone not to be attracted to the same sex. If one could do that, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion because no one would fall into an LGBT family if that were true. Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:04:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135438088 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/the-lottery-as-a-blessing-or-a-curse/#IDComment131740274 I feel that when most individuals are lucky enough to win the lottery, all the thoughts and questions running through one’s mind are positive. Questions like, “What am I going to buy first? Or what is the most expensive thing I can treat myself to now that I am rich?” As we learned in class, many of the people who win the lottery are from the poor, working class. Most educated people don’t play the lottery on a regular basis because the odds are certainly not in one’s favor of winning. There is a higher probability of getting hit by lightning or being in a car crash than winning the jackpot or Powerball ticket. Due to the overwhelming majority of lottery winners who originally start out in a lower class, they aren’t financially “savvy” in the world of the rich and famous. They usually spend all their money in a heartbeat and buy everything in sight because they think that they can afford everything now. Most have never even dreamed of having that much money, so although there are obvious positives that come with that, the negatives are somewhat apparent as well. If one hasn’t ever been responsible for having an abundant amount of money, then how will they fair after jumping into that status? How are they going to know how to financially maintain that lifestyle? Money does crazy things to people. When you don’t have it, everyone fights because of the stress. When one does have it, those problems don’t go away…if anything, they escalate. With more money, you have more choices and more room for disagreements. Also, how will they be treated in the eyes of their peers, both from the rich as well as the lower/working class? The rich might view their situation as “fake” or undeserving of that wealth and power because most have achieved that status in life is through hard work and determination, not through shear luck. The poor, working class may initially be happy because that success story could be true for them one day also; however, that will ultimately change to jealousy. Wed, 2 Mar 2011 01:57:20 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/the-lottery-as-a-blessing-or-a-curse/#IDComment131740274 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment130764078 I can truly relate to this song on so many levels, and there are numerous sociological messages hidden within the lyrics. Basically, he is saying that if he wasn’t with his girlfriend that he’d be with someone else. There are plenty of “fish in the sea” so to speak. In essence, he is one hundred percent correct. Even though some people believe that there is only one “true love” for everyone, sociology says this is not the case at all. Love is an emotion that we feel towards someone else, and that emotion is shaped by how others culturally and ethically shape our identities. If you have a certain dating criteria, there are many more than one person who can fulfill those obligations. For example, some girls feel that they prefer to have their men taller than them. This is an idea that is shaped by our society that the man is suppose to be bigger, and stronger than their partner. The men are supposed to be protective of the girl because they are smaller and weak. Realistically, this is not the case all the time. Some girls are much taller than their partner and are completely fine with it. It may look a little unaccepted in society’s eyes, but in reality, they may be the happiest couple they could be. Why do we choose to base our decisions about our boyfriends or girlfriend on what society feels is right? What is right for one person may not necessarily be correct for everyone. There are plenty of fish in the sea, and if you break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend for whatever reason, then there are plenty of more out there that are equally as compatible than the next. They may not be the “ideal” person who you thought you would be with, but where do you really make our checklists? We make our checklists from what society agrees with are the norms and follow the values of that time period. If we didn’t care as much of what society wants, then I feel that everyone would be a little bit happier with his or her love lives. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:43:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment130764078 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment128756540 I feel that a lot of people in the military are turning to suicide as an answer to solve all their problems, especially after having experience in combat overseas. They feel that this is one of their only options they are exploring without seeming weak towards others and ultimately ending their pain and misery in the process. Why would they need to share their feelings with others and have that stigma of being preserved as a weak person who can’t handle these types of situations? Instead of living the rest of their lives in a state of fear and flashbacks, they want to put a definitive end to those images and the best and only way they see that is possible is to take their own life. There has to be some sort of outlet in place for them that are viewed in the eyes of the military in a positive light as opposed to a negative one. I think that if something was established on the bases that everyone would have to go to after combat, including the head commanders, there might be fewer suicides as a result. Now, if you go to a psychologist or therapist to talk about your problems, that it is somewhat looked down upon in a negative way. Sort of like you aren’t capable of handling it on your own. A soldier feels that they are viewed lower to their superiors when all they really need is a healthy outlet to share all their problems with. There are so many invisible strings at work that effect whether or not a soldier will take his own life due to stress. Was he or she brought up in as an Army brat? Are their parents strict and see emotional distress as a sign of weakness? Were they offered stress management courses before taking a tour of duty? How do they feel about psychologists? Was sharing your problems in boot camp shown as a sign of weakness? All these factors and numerous others are taken into account when reviewing the increased statistics of National Guard and Reserve suicides. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:11:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment128756540 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment127474538 I believe that this video is a wonderful visual tool used to describe societies conformity standard. Most individuals, including myself, do not like to stick out like a sore thumb, which may be the case if our opinion’s strongly differ from others. Instead, we usually “go with the flow” even though we may not agree or understand the group’s decision on a particular matter. Who wants to have our thoughts or ideas questioned, when the easier path is just to agree with the other people in the group? The video associated for this blog was the perfect example of this. There were quite a few studies done on several different, random individuals, which documented their reactions when a group would enter the elevator and went “against the grain”. For example, the random test subject would be facing toward the elevator doors in the opening scene. One by one, every person that went onto the elevator would stand with their back facing the elevator doors. Time after time, when the elevator doors reopened, everyone including the random individual was facing the same way. It didn’t matter if the rest of the group faced towards the side, the random test subject also faced toward the side. In the last little segment, they showed how much a person would be willing to conform to others just by the readjustment of a hat. The man in the control group would take their hat off, and so did the test subject. Then, five seconds later, the control group placed their hats back on their head. What do you think the test subject did? If you guessed that he placed the hat back on his head, you would be right. He was completely unaware of why he was taking his hat on and off….that’s part of sociology. The individual strings are the outside factors and forces that are controlling his movements and the decisions that he is making. In group think, there is a confirmation bias that we have to include or exclude information to confirm or reject our opinions and ideologies to match the rest of the group. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:41:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment127474538 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment125479152 After first reading the article, I was in total shock. How could anyone possibly think that a 5 year old was threatening enough to have him suspended pending the outcome of the investigation regarding bringing a loaded gun to school? He is just a kid. I know my dad probably shot a gun when he was 5 years old because they lived in a rural area in Pennsylvania, and his dad was an avid hunter. Even to this day, my grandma still has gun collections displayed in her house. If I were the administrator, I would have taken the gun away and sent the boy back to class. That’s before I learned about Sociology Rule #27. The rule states the following, “Systems are rational…and so are people.” It took me a while before I fully understood the concept of it, but after I did, I would change my decision regarding the disciplinary actions taken towards the boy. The more people you have in a society, the more rules you need to make. If you don’t have any concrete rules, how is one supposed to maintain order and control? After such rules are set in place, it is societies job to uphold the rules for everyone to follow so that all receive just punishment for their actions. If they start putting stipulations and exceptions for those rules, then its even harder to enforce them to the fullest potential because of the “loop-holes” one could get away with. For example, what if a kid who was 13 years old brought a pocket knife to school and stabbed a classmate? If you say young kids aren’t responsible for their actions at that young age of an age, then would you just give the boy detention and say everything was fine? No, he would be suspended too, but where does one draw the line? Instead of having to draw the line, there is a rule stating that there is a no tolerance policy for bringing weapons onto school property, regardless of age. Systems are very hard to change since they like stability and consistency, so that’s why the administrator’s suspended him. I don’t believe they felt he was a threat to society; however, they were just following the rules that were in place. Wed, 2 Feb 2011 18:27:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment125479152 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment124277559 After viewing the clip, I don’t think anyone freely “chooses” to be pregnant, let alone 11% of this Memphis high school. There are numerous sociological factors and forces that are pulling those invisible strings in one way or another. Whether it’s through their family background, the environment in with they grew up in, or the lack of sex education in public school districts to name a few. MTV features two shows that go into detail regarding one of those possible sociological factors that drive us to certain predicaments such as pregnancy. They are titled, “16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom”. After each season, the program hosts a special after-show that brings all the girls back together to discuss their progress after their particular show aired. Dr. Drew leads these discussion panels and asks point blank questions regarding sex, preventive measures, and relationships. When asked how many girls used birth control properly, only a single hand was raised during one season of 16 & pregnant. There were a few girls who didn’t use any form of prevention, whether it was birth control or condoms, because their school preached abstinence as the only option regarding sex. According to the ‘Do Something’ website, 86% of all public schools preach abstinence for their sex education plan. This is why I put most of the fault regarding teen pregnancies on the school districts rather than 100% of the blame on the teens themselves. Yes, in a perfect utopia, everyone would wait to have sex until your married and nobody would ever get divorced. We do not live in a utopia by any means, and the only way to attempt to lower this overwhelming statistics is to educate young adolescence about the risks associated with unprotected sex. Not just pregnancy, but the possibility of receiving STD’s from your partner as well. If they don’t inform the girl’s about birth control options, whether it’s a pill that is ingested daily known as an oral contraceptive, a hormonal shot you receive once every few months, or using a diaphragm, the pregnancy rate will continue to rise among adolescence. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 06:25:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment124277559 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122907481 I feel that these baby beauty contests, which are featured on the show, “Toddlers and Tiaras”, are primarily focused on the parents and full filling their dreams and aspirations. In the process, it pushes less emphasis on the contestants or “toddlers” in this particular case. Kids are like a little ball of clay. They are innocent and untouched by the world. They can be shaped into many different objects, but it’s the person who is controlling the clay that helps to contribute to the end result. Thus, nobody is ever technically “free” when making any decision. There are always little, invisible strings attached to everyone that shapes them into making the decisions that they do. The outside forces that are influencing these decisions are the sociological factors that shape everyone’s decision-making process. The parent’s are influencing their kids’ decision at this young age since they have an innocent and naïve persona that surrounds them. Their mothers or fathers might have been involved in beauty pageants when they were younger, and they just want their children to follow in their shadows. Another theory could be because they were insecure with their looks as a child, whether it was through teasing or bullying by their peers, and because of that, they don’t want their children to follow in that downward spiral as well. If someone else is judging them in a beauty contest, and giving them prizes and awards for their looks, it reinforces their beauty and increases their self-confidence with each pageant that they participate in. Once a pageant contestant progresses from a baby beauty contest into a teen or young adult beauty pageant, I feel that these “strings” are still present in the decision-making progress, they have just shifted from the parent to the young adult. The young adult’s experience in the pageants up to this point will have weight on the decision of whether or not to continue in the pageant world. Their personal background and up ringing are also outside forces and factors that will change the shape and structure of their decisions now and for their future. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:17:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122907481 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9co%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121731798 SOC 001 Sun, 16 Jan 2011 20:54:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9co%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121731798