en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2413524 Comments by katilley http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment145259076 . For some reason a person's intelligence and education is portrayed through their ability to speak a language, and here in the United States that is English. So when you have someone come up to America that can't speak English, or at best broken English, they are thought of as dumb and ignorant. Too bad that thinking someone has no intelligence because they can't speak your language in fact is ignorant. If that were really the case most Americans would really be dumb because many of us can't speak any other languages ourselves. In our defense we rarely have to compared to Europeans. So typically immigrants are portrayed in the media as the common villain, in our minds as ignorant and dumb, and as a whole are coming in too high amounts that cause fear to a lot of people afraid of change. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:04:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment145259076 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment145259050 ). I mean when you fear somebody, you don't paint a good picture of them in your mind, usually you portray them with some sort of bad characteristic or evil. So with immigrants coming in large numbers, what we see on the news will change. Bad news sells and bad news about a group people dislike or fear sells even more. So when a crime is broadcast on the news which story goes on air? Do you think it is going to be the white man that beat his wife, or the Hispanic immigrant that got caught trying to rob a convenience store? The media just snowballs the bad perceptions that the majority populace has of the immigrant groups coming into their country. Another big point that makes society dislike the majority of immigrant populations has to do with, well partially their culture, and how that is portrayed with education. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:04:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment145259050 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment145259017 I wish I knew exactly why immigrants as a whole are portrayed as bad people. I don't think it is exclusively an American problem though, classifying immigrants as bad people. I feel like it is a problem worldwide, almost fearing the populations of people moving into new countries. So I guess I will try to analyze as a whole why immigrants are portrayed as bad people and see how many I can come up with. On e reason immigrants seem to get a bad name probably is because when they come, it usually is in large amounts or just not noticed. So in the case of Latin Americans coming into the United states, they are all coming in huge numbers. That probably scares a lot of people who are fearing, mostly irrationally, that they are going to come in, take over, and change the culture. And with that, most people fear change, we all generally feel secure in the normal day to day life and culture we grew up with so if they really believe their culture is going to be changed by an incoming group, they would naturally fear them (the immigrants). Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:03:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment145259017 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143289714 Think from the perspective of someone always trying to help out a friend by hooking the up with this or that and they always turned you down, what would you eventually start to think. A lot of people would probably think that their friend is trying to avoid being linked to you, from help, and maybe even that they are conceited and too good for you help. So I realistically think I would not be able to avoid benefitting from nepotism and that most others would not either. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 03:23:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143289714 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143289672 I bet there were a lot of people who told themselves, “I can’t be apart of this, I will only buy free trade chocolate from now on.” How many of them realistically kept up with that goal? Chocolate is a pretty simple thing that you don’t even buy every day, usually. People benefit from nepotism virtually everyday, even in the smallest ways. If you want to not use the advantage given to you by friends and family there is a good chance you will just be left behind in society, both economically and even socially. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 03:23:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143289672 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143289634 . I mean you get your clothes because your parents just give them to you, you did not earn the money to buy it. Everything is based on who you know. How our mentality works leads us to help our people we know, because we care about them. I mean part of the way to get rid of nepotism would essentially become a cold person who does not help out anyone of their friends or family. Doing that would not allow nepotism. Also, most people always want to think of how they can get ahead, either in schooling or work, etc… A great way of doing that is by using the advantages of opportunities you are given through the people you know. Comparing it to other things, think of way back in the semester when we learned about the slaves picking cocoa in the Ivory Coast. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 03:22:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143289634 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143289579 Just learning about the word nepotism, and what it means in class, I think that I would still not try to actively try to not benefit from nepotism. I do not know if anyone would think of me negatively for saying this, but in all reality I believe I am just being realistic. It sounds noble to say, “yeah, I would actively try and not use the benefits brought to me for nepotism.” But really, a small group of people in this world could truly accomplish that. I mean in seriously, who could actually accomplish that. There are so many things you get, virtually anything, that is through nepotism. I mean, literally list things you get from when you are born till when your 18. Yeah it is pretty hard to list anything that has nothing to do with nepotism. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 03:22:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143289579 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141151807 . I also never thought that the Middle East was worried about the Christians invading them, us. I just thought they did not like us because all of our freedoms, and never connected it to our majority religion. I honestly could not believe I missed that for the last, how many years has it been now? I am really not surprised that the war really is mainly about oil, I realize that we pretty much have our country based on it and what goes on in the Middle East really affects us. I was almost amazed to think about how we are portrayed in the Muslim eye, and really wish that we could change that image, but for how religious our nation is that is not likely to happen any time soon. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:03:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141151807 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141151779 So the presentation of "Christian Invaders" did interest me, I really liked it. When Sam first talked about this lecture and how we should all show up and bring friends, I was thinking, "Who are the Christian Invaders, was this missionaries going around the world trying to convert everybody?" It never occurred to me that the United States, especially to Muslim countries, is thought of as a Christian nation. I look at it now and realize, yeah we are very religious but growing up and surrounded with my brothers and mother who are all atheist, it never occurred to me that the United States is a very Christian nation. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:03:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141151779 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141151630 I personally am not a Christian, I am somewhere between agnosticism and atheism. I am not the stereo typical atheist who is determined to eradicate religion, as I hope no one fits the stereo type of religious fanatic who is determined to advance their religion throughout the world at any cost, but sadly both of those stereo types exist. I was raised Lutheran, a division of Christianity for those who do not know what that is, and it just never caught with me. So now in my life I am actually trying to figure out the "allure" of the major religions, and especially in the United States why they are so popular. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:02:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141151630 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141151608 Sam did make a lot of claims regarding how awesome he thought this lecture was going to be and that it was the best one of the year. But I am pretty sure he has done this one or two, or three... times before. I generally like all of his lectures actually, because all of his lectures he tries to open up new ideas to you that you have not thought of before. Was this the best lecture of the year though? I can't say if it was the best lecture, or my favorite lecture, but in my book it was definitely up there. I love to try to understand the different stands behind different groups of people in the world, especially when it comes to religion and their beliefs. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:02:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141151608 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135971598 Whenever I sign up to do any activity really I never really think how many races are going to be attending it. Maybe that is also because my school did not have a diverse student base. I never had to avoid any events because a group of colored people were going to be there, it was all because the types of personalities of the people that were going. I do not even know of any person who thought of a school because of what kind of people, race wise, went there. I hope people of our generation stop worrying about race to help get rid of this problem. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:41:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135971598 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135971568 The diversity level here at Penn State did not effect my decision to apply here at all. I honestly did not think of it at all. I guess a good thing about where I group up was is that most of the kids I were around in school were not racist so I never thought about how many black kids would be at my college or how many Mexicans would be there. The whole reason I applied to Penn State and only Penn State is because my brother went here and loved it. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:41:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135971568 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135971518 I wish there was a system where it was just those who are deserving got into the college, like maybe try assigning every prospective student with a number to identify them to the school so nobody making the decisions can possibly discriminate, even if it is their latent prejudice at work. I don’t know if I got any of that information wrong, like about the processes they use to select students to make the college more diverse and if I said that wrong feel free to correct, but nicely please. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:41:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135971518 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135971490 The diversity at Penn State is not all that amazing compared to a lot of other schools, especially compared to other Big Ten Schools. It is definitely more diverse than the school I went to. Where I came from was probably closer to 90 percent. So I guess so far I’m satisfied In how diverse Penn State is in comparison to what I am used to. In my opinion it seems like schools are trying to make themselves look more diverse so they look good in the public eye, almost saying “hey look, we are not racist.” Do not get me wrong, the fact that there are programs in place trying to prevent racial, or any other discrimination, is a great thing. But I feel as if at some times the school will pick a student of color over a white student just because they may be black or Mexican or any other race. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:41:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135971490 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134359756 We need to find a way to teach those countries, specifically their leaders, about the population control and why it is so important. I'm not sure if many of their leaders do know about it but there is definitely a cut in the communication chain that creates a hugely ignorant populace around the world continuing our accelerating population growth. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:24:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134359756 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134359730 I personally have worried about a population that is way too big, I feel like I've found myself already worrying about a lot of things discussed in class and our groups even though most people our age haven't even thought of them yet. I mostly worried about a growing population in the United States because of how more people would cause the destruction of our wildernesses, but those are natural resources also, I was just thinking about how it looked. I feel like some time, definitely in the nearer future as opposed to way down the road, our leaders need to realize that the population of humanity is a serious matter. What also makes matters worse is the most of the population increase is happening in developing countries, where most of their leaders don't want to worry about population or even listen to other states, such as the United States, when they try to put restrictions on them. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:24:41 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134359730 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134359666 It is scary to think that the population of people in the world today is over the world's carrying capacity, that is to say the world doesn't have enough resources to sustain the current population. If there are three billion people not getting enough food like Sam said and the population of the world is rapidly approaching seven billion, that means that almost a half of humanity goes to sleep hungry daily. I think the nations of the world have taken notice to the staggering number of people that we just can't support. China, the world's current highest populated country realized this back in the 1970's and introduced the "one-child policy", which is pretty self explanatory, and I believe it is still in place today helping control its population growth. India tried to control its population growth at around the same time, but they did not make a law regulating how many children a family may have. Instead they tried to teach people about family planning but did not try to make a push for everybody to use contraceptives. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:24:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134359666 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-do-you-feel-about-the-poor-white-society-and-who-are-you-more-likely-to-help-119-blog/#IDComment130732611 As for if I would be more likely to help them than another racial group in need, I will honestly say I don't know. I'd like to believe that the only influence on if I would help someone or not is how they carry themselves. I don't mean literally how they walk around, but are they a generally respectful person and will they use any contribution to benefit them the most. So hopefully that would be the only way I would discriminate in my donations to helping people in need but I can honestly say I have no real idea until I'm put into situations involving people of multiple races and which one would I help. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:46:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-do-you-feel-about-the-poor-white-society-and-who-are-you-more-likely-to-help-119-blog/#IDComment130732611 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-do-you-feel-about-the-poor-white-society-and-who-are-you-more-likely-to-help-119-blog/#IDComment130732595 Also addressing the topic of why we can make fun of them here in the United States but not any other poor racial groups is because they have been in the majority racial group, and poor, for such a long time. I feel like even though they are poor, we should almost look up to them. As much as I don't necessarily admire their way of life, and a lot of the things they like to do, I have to admire their pride in themselves and the fact that they don't take things from any other group. When I say don't take things from others I mean our charity or our shit. A lot of them won't accept welfare but instead want to do it for themselves, on their own. And over time how they used a slang term against them to identify themselves is amazing. In my opinion some of the strongest groups of people take names given to them by others, be it higher social classes or groups of people that rival you/ you are fighting, and embrace it as a way of showing "we don't care." Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:45:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-do-you-feel-about-the-poor-white-society-and-who-are-you-more-likely-to-help-119-blog/#IDComment130732595