en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2443263 Comments by kau5022 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145211652 All in all I was mostly surprised by how few deaths have ever happened on US soil. Our media instills a level of fear in us that makes it so we can never feel comfortable. Without this instilled fear the American people would never allow US intervention the way they have. But honestly, very few deaths have occurred here, and we are probably the safest country in the world. With this level of intrusion in global politics, I understand that the many people in the world resent the United States. It’s funny, because they, like us, just want to be left alone. The people have lost all power in the world and the power governments of world control everything. It’s sad to think that there are people in the world who hate me for where I was born, because of world politics neither of us will ever have any control over. My only hope is that maybe people in other countries are having the same discussions we’re having in Soc 119. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:48:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145211652 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145211614 Another interesting thing about the video was the size of the explosion labeled the invasion of Iraq. I know that the US did not lose a “historically” significant number of troops so why was that explosion as large as it was. I guess when your country is at war with another you will never hear accurate accounts of enemy casualties. I guess it was just surprising to me because similar explosions couldn’t even be linked to such events as the Civil War, and the explosions there had similar magnitude to the deaths in Japan during WW2. Maybe the video was a little inaccurate but it seemed to me that the Iraq War caused a lot more death than has been shown by the media. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:48:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145211614 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145211560 When I first started this video I was interested in the early years, but it didn’t seem like things really heated up until after the 1500s. I think much of this was due to European conquest, along with the growth of the Spanish and English navies. Watching this video I came to the realization that the last 100 years have been characterized by wars and conflicts that are no longer localized, but are relevant on a global scale. In recent years I’ve came to the realization that since the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the United States has almost always been the aggressor. Post-1900 the only explosions in the United States were due to Pearl Harbor and 9/11. This is interesting to me because I used to view the United States as a force of good in the world. With little to no aggression on our own soil, how can our country justify the last 100 years of interference in global politics. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:47:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145211560 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143271406 Maybe it’s because we virtually eliminated the Native Americans. We put them on their plots of land verifiably exiling them from society. Mainstream society forgot about the people that were wiped out, and so we don’t even think we have a reason to feel guilty. The more I think about it the more I’m disgusted. I used the think the United States was the bringer of peace in the world, but the more things I learn about our history the more I realize that everything is a pattern. The United States is a country that has gained everything by taking from others. A contemporary example is our conquest of the Middle East for oil. The only explanation for our interference in the world is the need for the resources of others. The land we stole from the Native Americans is the first in a long line transgressions that can only be explained as an inherent, and constant lust for the resources of others throughout this nations history. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:31:26 +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/#IDComment143271406 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143271375 This may not seem to be genocide, but with the conditions we forced the Native Americans to live in, disease was inevitable in many circumstances. In the end, I guess that there’s no real way that we can justify the means with which we acquired the land we now call home. We may have won our independence from Britain, but the taste of that victory certainly sours when it’s realized that we imposed a more brutal and violent tyranny on the Native Americans than can be found almost anywhere else in history. When Sam was talking about white guilt I couldn’t help but think to myself why this concept really doesn’t apply to Native Americans. It seems that when the civil rights movement happened and all men achieved equality, the Native Americans were forgotten about. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:31:15 +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/#IDComment143271375 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143271341 I was glad to hear Sam talk about mass genocide of the Native Americans over the span of hundreds of years because I’ve always felt it’s an area of my education that high school history class seemed to skip over. My viewpoint when I learned about this as a kid was that the United States always acted in the right way. When a child learns about wars it’s always the United States as the good guys and the other guys as bad, or misguided. However, when you look back on our country’s brief but bloody history you’ll discover that oftentimes the United States is the aggressor. In the case of the American Indians, our founding fathers were not only the aggressor, but seemingly eliminated Native Americans systematically. It all began with the diseases that the Europeans brought to America. Some estimates I’ve read online have stated that 70-80 percent of the deaths of Native Americans in the 500 years following their arrival can be attributed to disease. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:31:05 +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/#IDComment143271341 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment139287149 It is a social norm that I’ve seen from Middle School, where every difference at all was magnified; to college, where differences are accepted and is a place where races intermingle, but students still maintain their social groupings of close friends seemingly by race. The point I want to make is that Penn State should be less concerned with grouping races together, like in Pennypacker, and more concerned with working towards a Penn State being a place where any race can feel comfortable. Penn State could be a place where colored tour groups and separated living arrangements aren’t necessary. In a truly diverse place, culture is abundant and black, brown, white, and yellow all blend together into a true “Penn State Family”. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 03:56:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment139287149 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment139287128 This has to affect how a colored person thinks, even their thought process. Getting on the bus, it’s ninety percent white, and they don’t know who these people are, the way they think. Penn State implied a diversity that the school simply doesn’t have to offer, compounded by the inability of someone of the colored community, with a statistically lower income, to afford a college experience and elite education that, though deteriorating, is still the number one major at Penn State. So what would you think? Myself, as a half Lebanese half Scottish typical white mutt, with all the privileges that accompany my unearned, undeserving, thoroughly unappreciated standing in the metaphorical hierarchy of “American” culture; I empathize with Penn State students that gravitate towards the comfort of race and culture similar to their own. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 03:56:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment139287128 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment139287099 Sam always points out in lecture how we sit in our little groups and we all hang out with people of our own race. My first day at Penn State I learned that Pennypacker was “the black dorm”. Does Penn State University not realize that separating students in this way the minute they get to school may make them feel more comfortable, but is also what keeps certain races sticking together in their groups. I remember from a discussion group I participated in during my time in Sociology 001 last spring that the other black students in the group talked about how they were always separated from the white students on tours. Some of these students were bused from Philadelphia and said they were always in all black tour groups. They described a situation that sounded to me like Penn State separating the colored people and the white people even when they are simply touring the school. But how does this affect these students that go from the idea of an environment that consists of their own race to one that includes many more white people than they’ve probably ever seen before? Sure in Pennypacker they’re comfortable and secluded, but walking through campus it’s a sea of blue and “white”. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 03:55:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment139287099 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment139287078 Penn State is a place that I definitely expected to be more culturally and racially diverse than it actually ended up being. Oddly, I lived in Pennypacker, which is notorious for being the African American dorm, and it hardly seemed to be really that diverse at all. If I were to guess, I would say that there was a 60:40 ratio of white people to colored people in the dorm. When the rest of the dorms in East Halls are considered to be mostly white, is this really a representation of Penn State’s population. Even the idea of sticking all of the colored people on scholarship in Pennypacker seems a little ridiculous. By separating them in this way it increases the separation, almost segregation, of the colored community in East Halls from the white community. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 03:55:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment139287078 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134364819 Maybe this is what the human race needs, a reversion back to subsistence farming, bartering, and hunting. It would certainly weed the weak out of our population. Maybe it’s time natural selection once again began applying to humans. As our technology becomes more advanced it allows to different peoples and races to move throughout the world. The old saying that only the strong survive seems now only to apply to the countless species made extinct by humans. Among our own populations we have found ways to keep the weakest of us alive. So maybe the best thing for us to do is to let our resources run out, the let nature take its course, and to focus on what we have forgotten, survival. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:58:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134364819 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134364773 When I think back in history, I realize there are other signs that the world is getting fuller. The plague killed a third of all Europeans not all that long ago. When will nature again tell us that the world is getting overcrowded? Will there be a natural disaster? What about the AIDS epidemic? People seem to the think that problem has gone away but the disease is running rampant in Africa, where unprotected sex is common. Unfortunately, there is still the question of us running out of nonrenewable natural resources. However, how did people live when cars did not exist and industry was nonexistent? Are humans so helpless and passive that we can no longer live off the land or use our legs to take us places instead of a car? It is true that in the beginning many people would die. I have seen so many people that wouldn’t know the first thing to do in a situation where all that mattered was survival. But honestly, if the pilgrims could come here cramped on a nasty ship and survive the harshness of life without any pleasantries, I’m pretty sure some of us would still know how to survive. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:58:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134364773 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134364739 It has always been my opinion that as the human population grows and reaches its carrying capacity, nature begins to take care of the problem. I believe that all of the earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and global warming are all signs that the planet is reaching the point where it cannot sustain many more humans. I don’t think there is any good solution to this problem. Yes, limiting the number of children each family has would curb the exponential growth, but how would laws like that govern countries in Africa and around the world. Not every place in the world has a government such that enforcing this would be easy. Perhaps by the time a solution is truly needed, the human race will have the technology to expand out into space. Perhaps a resource completely unknown to us exists outside the reaches of our current space exploration abilities. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:58:20 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134364739 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment134338017 My parents imparted their ideals on me, never with pressure, but to a child parents appear larger than life and it becomes them that children grow up to emulate. Society tells me that my happiness is measured by my economic success, just as the education system tells me that standardized tests and grades are the cut and dry method to analyze my worth as a person. Regardless of my realization of this, I can do nothing about it. It’s not as if I plan to drop out of college and move to the wilderness, where berries and venison will cure my insanity. I have come to accept this, and even while rolling my eyes I know I have too many opportunities that many people do not have. Still, I feel as if I’m reaching for a peak unobtainable for 99.99 percent of people. It’s frustrating, but I do care about changing society, and I don’t worry about survival; however, I do know that I will never be free and maybe acceptance of this fact is the first step towards utter happiness. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:58:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment134338017 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment134337980 Those of us who have no worries about survival look elsewhere to satisfy the instincts nature instilled in us. So, where is the outlet for human energy typically devoted to survival? We look upward, we strive to better ourselves, and we look to improve the world in any way possible. Isn’t that what we are supposed to say? No, in reality very few humans reach the pinnacle, and as we rise through society there is always someone ahead of us. It may not be true that everyone has a boss, but most of us do, and as we strive upward it becomes more obvious that happiness, defined by society as success, can never be achieved. So, as society blatantly tells us that our happiness is measured by our success economically, are we really as free as we think? Maybe I lost my point in my argument, but let me explain. I feel that I will never be able to achieve true freedom in my life. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:58:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment134337980 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment134337974 Freedom means a different thing to every person and therefore is not something that can be clear cut. One definition of freedom could be the power to do what you want to do. However, we’ve all listened to Sam and we know that no one, particularly in today’s society, ever can act without outside forces influencing their decisions and ideals. Happiness, an emotion, is a perfect example of this. What does it really mean to be happy? Our ancient ancestors living off the land did not worry about happiness, for to accept happiness as a normal human emotion is to accept unhappiness as its readily available counterpart. Who invented these fallacies? At our simplest we are just monkeys. The will to survive is strong in every human being, but what has happened to those that don’t even consider survival as one of their top ten tasks for the day. I’m speaking of course for most citizens of the United States. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:58:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment134337974 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130727107 How can racism be contained when aversion to that which is different is at the core of our society? Maybe the start of changing this is to always preach that different is good. After countless science classes I still find it funny that people migrate towards the group they are most comfortable with. Putting this bluntly, if different isn’t good, why don’t we marry our family members and inbreed our faces off! Honestly, if humans didn’t realize that embracing differences was good genetics would have ensured extinction. In short, all we can do, once in a while, is to step outside of our boxes and explore the world outside of our own race and culture. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:18:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130727107 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130727043 This is similar to what Sam said in lecture, except he related race to this. However, I do think sex needs to be discussed, as it has to be true that a male is more likely to sit beside another male and a woman more likely to sit beside another woman. I agree with Sam that we all need to realize this is going on, and it is something I’ve come to accept and try to fight against. I feel like if I make an effort to be more comfortable with and sit beside people that give me discomfort, I can fight the subtleties in my subconscious that disallow me from being an entirely empathetic person. So no, this lecture didn’t change how I think about where I sit in the classroom; obviously I’m going to sit with the people that are my friends. However, it does make me contemplate the fact that many people don’t notice this subtle discrimination in their everyday lives. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:18:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130727043 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130727021 Honestly, the first day of class I noticed the groups that people sit in around the room. Where people sit has always been something that I’ve paid attention to because of interest in the social aspect of human nature. One of the most interesting things to me is to watch where people sit on the bus. I was thinking about this last semester and I decided to see if more people were likelier to sit by me on the bus if I tried to appear as unintimidating and nonthreatening as possible. So I curled up next to the window, made sure there was plenty of room on the other seat, and I avoided making eye contact with anybody. Like Sam said in lecture, people look to sit in the place where they feel the least threatened. As a result, the whole time I was on the bus someone was sitting by me, and it was always the first or second person getting on the bus that would sit beside me. I guess it’s just interesting to me the latent ways which people express their fear for what is different. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:18:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130727021 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/what-did-you-get-out-of-king-of-the-mountain-119-blog/#IDComment127473019 The king of the hill idea reminded me of a game we played in the snow one time, where my friends and I would fight over the top of a huge pile of snow. We’d fight for the top with people getting thrown off the sides, kicked, pushed, and tossed around. With the snow as padding it was always a lot of fun, but this example reminds me the most important thing to that game, and it was getting to the top before anyone else. Maybe this idea, just a kids game from one perspective, really plays a vital role in our society. I’ve always been a big believer in making one’s own way in the world. You need to make your own mistakes and learn from them in order to grow as a person. I’ve always discouraged help from my parents and I’ve always tried to form my own opinions about things. I believe that ever person has their opportunities, some greater than others, but I don’t believe the king of the hill idea can be used as an excuse. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:28:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/what-did-you-get-out-of-king-of-the-mountain-119-blog/#IDComment127473019