en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2404136 Comments by missxchristy http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-hire-illegal-immigrants-over-legal-residents-for-less-pay-119-blog/#IDComment144579954 When I heard this question it really made me think, and the first thought that came into mind was my dad. My dad had his own business in contracting for about 18 years before the economy crashed. He was his only employee for the most part, he had a couple guys that would help him if he needed extra help with a larger job, but for the most part it was just him. The main reason for this was the high cost of skilled labor for contractors. They have a skill in particular areas and for the most part, that costs a lot of money. I know that he never personally hired illegal immigrants, but outside people he would hire to do plumbing, excavating, or electrical work sometimes had workers that were mostly from Mexico. The one job that comes into mind was the time where my dad was adding an addition onto to our local fire company, and my dad hired an excavating company to come in and did the whole and lay the foundation. The workers they had were all Mexican and did not really speak the best of English, but the owner said they were the hardest workers he had ever had. They cut down on how many hours that it would to take to do a job, they could hire more of them and still pay less money than two legal workers to do the same work. It surprised me because where I come from, it is a very small close knit community and I didn’t think anyone would be open to hiring illegal immigrants. I think that when it comes down to it, and like it was said in lecture these people who are coming into this country are hard workers, they work intense hours every week to make their lives better for their family and themselves. I think the problem with a lot of people in this country, is that we are lazy and just expect that things should be handed to us and not having to exert any more additional effort is warrant for a pay raise. I think I would hire people based on their work ethic and if they are going to do what I ask of them, and in a timely manor. The more time workers take to do a job is costing me money, so I want these workers to be efficient in what they are doing. I would definitely hire illegal immigrants to work for me if it meant that I could help them in giving their families a better life. I know that there are legalities with taxes and what not, but in the end they are doing what I am paying them to do, not looking for anything more than something to make them money. They do not want health insurance or workers compensation, but to save enough money to be reunited with their families. Wed, 20 Apr 2011 18:04:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-hire-illegal-immigrants-over-legal-residents-for-less-pay-119-blog/#IDComment144579954 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment142861066 After watching all of the videos, and you showing us the data in class, it honestly pains me to see how badly we have treated the Native Americans, and how their history is so lost and unknown. The way they live and how their survival rates are lower than those of a Haitian, a third world country. We have stripped these people of everything they once had, and now they are forced to live on small reservations while we exploit their land. It makes me think sometimes how are country would be now if the Native Americans, were still the owners of this land. They are so at peace with land and nature. They have a beautiful culture, that is mocked more than embraced in this country. In my elementary school, we had one week a school year where we learned all about the Native Americans that used to live in our town, some of the natives of those tribes, if they still existed, would visit and put on shows and teach us different things about their culture. Today this is no longer a practice of my school district. I never knew many of the facts that we learned from the videos and lecture today because you will never find that in a typical textbook while going through your early education. It is very sad how Americans notably exclude parts of our history that makes us look bad. Instead of teaching children about their culture, and not just about the first Thanksgiving, and the “happy” moments we are taught, there should be lessons about what we did to strip them of their land. We tricked them, and killed them off in order to better ourselves. Where their land used to be are our homes, jobs, and even schools. It just makes me sad how we feel we can judge other countries for genocide, and feel we need to interject and contact the United Nations about these things, but long before we were guilty of the same terrible act, yet we don’t call it that. We put it as discovering the “New World”, and becoming our own new country escaping from the rule of the royalty of England and other European kingdoms. We didn’t discover this empty piece of land that had vast areas of land, no we landed on occupied territory and drove these people off of their land. The lives of Native Americans today continues to be difficult, facing racism and bullying, when really they should be the ones acting out on us. We hurt them, we killed their ancestors, we took their land, not the other way around. I think that we should reevaluate how bad we have it, and realize there are people living in our very own country that will never have the same experiences as us. Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:25:56 +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/#IDComment142861066 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/which-video-in-class-today-had-the-biggest-impact-on-you-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment141024453 I don’t think any one video had a profound impact on me. I think in general watching the videos of our news broadcasts and of what people say and act about and towards Middle Eastern people and Muslim people were highly disturbing. I think that after taking the view point of a Muslim and watching these videos I can see why they think Americans are all so terrible and how they think we are stupid, and honestly I cannot blame them. Some of the things that these Christian groups do, are completely off the wall and even other Americans do not support what they are doing, but of course the Muslims don’t see that. The same goes for what our news and friends send us about what they are doing to Americans, the many “civilians” from America were beheaded and tortured, and of course this does not represent their entire population, but that’s how we see it. Same goes for the videos of American soldiers torturing prisoners, or the video of the soldiers running an innocent person off the road or crushing their vehicle for no reason. The Muslims do not see that those soldiers were probably severely punished, if not thrown out of the army entirely. I think that it would be hard to trust that American soldiers are there for your best interest and your families best interest when all of these terrible things continue to occur. Another photograph that stood out to me was the one of the American solider carrying the wounded young child to safety, Americans see it as a brave soldier saving this hurt child, the Iraqis see it as if these soldiers weren’t here bombing our village or town, she would have never been injured. I definitely think that is something that is hard for us as Americans to wrap our minds around, we are hurting these people, innocent people. The ratio is 29:1 terrible, and yet we don’t understand why these people hate us so much. I think that I see all of the videos in a different light now that Sam had us thinking more outside the box in a way. I think that when I watch people like Sarah Palin talking, and I laugh at her knowing she’s not the brightest person, but now I stop and think. I think to myself I wonder what a person who has no idea she had a ridiculous show on TLC, and how people in this country don’t support her, thinks about and makes the assumption that we want this kind of person as our leader. The same way that we assumed the Iraqi people wanted Saddam Hussein as their leader, but in reality he was hated even more by his own people than us. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 15:37:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/which-video-in-class-today-had-the-biggest-impact-on-you-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment141024453 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/would-you-be-willing-to-learn-a-new-language-for-a-job-119-blog/#IDComment138737731 I definitely would be willing to learn a different language for a job, or in general. I took a few years of Spanish in both high school and here at Penn State, I never really got the hang of it but I can pick up bits and pieces if people talked slowly. I definitely think people who are bilingual are at advantage when it comes to getting a job because it makes communication with potential clients easier. Many companies ask if you can speak another language, because many older people with those companies do not. I think that eventually many companies will want the majority of its employees to be able to speak multiple languages, because it makes them more appealing to international clients. I think that if Americans felt that it would give them that extra boost in getting a job, especially in times like these they would be willing to put worth that extra effort. This however, is easier said than done. It is very hard to learn a language as you become older. I think that speaking another language should begin when children are in elementary school because it would be more likely it would stick with them. Trying to teach someone my parent’s age to speak another language would be quite a challenge. The first challenge is that for the majority, they haven’t been in school in a very long time, so getting back into that learning swing would be difficult. Although there are programs like Rosetta Stone, those are costly as well as time consuming. Taking the time to sit down and actually learn the language, on top of working and possibly raising a family could be difficult for some. I think that the majority would want to learn just the basics of the language in order to carry on simple conversation, which is what I believe would be most important. Understanding the every day language and the basic words and grammar structures could go a long way. I think that if I could redo my college career I would have minored in foreign language because I think that it would definitely be a resume booster. I know many students who travelled abroad who were not that fluent in the language if at all before they went, greatly improved their speaking after some hands on experience. They said knowing the basic words and then being surrounded by the culture definitely helped. I think that knowing the basics could definitely get people very far and in turn help the company you work for. I think that it is unfair for Americans to think that everyone should speak English, but we are unwilling to learn the reciprocating language. So in conclusion I would be willing to learn a different language for a job. Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:35:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/would-you-be-willing-to-learn-a-new-language-for-a-job-119-blog/#IDComment138737731 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/for-the-white-females-would-you-ever-date-a-black-guy-119-blog/#IDComment137382813 Personally, I have not dated a white guy since I was in the 10th grade, it was an abusive relationship and I have never felt extremely safe with a white man since. I honestly never really had looked at black guys as a dating option when I was in elementary and middle school mostly because I was not exposed to many, but when I got to high school it was an entirely different story. I am attracted to black guys mostly because they find me attractive, and I don’t even realize their skin color any more because to me they are just the type of guys I am attracted to. I find them way more forward and confident when they approach a female, sometimes it can come off as cocky but I think they are way more secure with themselves when they approach a girl. Although in my discussion group the one black male said that when he approaches a white female in the back of his mind he is wondering whether or not she is judging him or she is not going to want to talk to him because he is black. I honestly am flattered when any man approaches me and seems interested in carrying on a conversation with me. I think it is definitely an instant attraction that makes me people want to talk and date that person. I mentioned in my discussion group that I think people put way to much emphasis on race and how that influences who they date. I also think that people care way too much about what other people think about their relationship instead of knowing that person and enjoying your time with them. I don’t date just black men because they are black I date them because of how they make me feel. I have never dated anyone that makes me feel as good as my boyfriend. He is so nice and sweet and for the most part that’s how every black man I have ever dated made me feel. I like how they carry themselves, and the swag they have about them. They are very confident and I honestly think they take rejection better than white guys. They don’t get all angry and use vulgar language if you don’t want to dance with them or talk to them. I think this is mostly because they don’t approach girls, most of the time, with the mentality that they are going to sleep with them, but instead on a casual level. I am not saying that they aren’t going to try and sleep with a girl, but they aren’t as intense they are more laid back. I think that it is a preference and something that if you are not used to then it may not be as easy for you to jump right into it. I went to a high school and have friends here at Penn State that are of different races so it is very natural to be around that and comfortable with the situation. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 02:20:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/for-the-white-females-would-you-ever-date-a-black-guy-119-blog/#IDComment137382813 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/is-it-hard-to-relearn-racial-ideas-119-blog/#IDComment136085832 I think that it is definitely difficult to relearn racial issues. These children in the video are influenced by their parents and what they have been told. As time goes on children do start to form their own opinions on things and about how the world works. I think that a part of what they are told always sticks with them, in the back of their mind it is something they either think is true or can relate back to after time goes on. I think that this is especially true for our parents and grandparents generations. They grew up in a different time, where whites and black and brown people were kept separate, and although times have changed since then it is hard for them to relearn and forget what they have also been told. This does not make them racist or ignorant in my opinion it makes them clouded by what they used to know. For example, my dad and I went to the same high school, but 35 years a part. When he attended the high school, there was a total of 5 black men that attended and graduated from our high school. When I attended the high school, there was a good majority of the population of different races, sometimes it seemed like there were less white people. Now, there are a number of factors that contributed to this, the area changed. Many people moved into our area from New York or New Jersey, even as I continued to go from elementary to high school, there were more and more races coming into the school. My dad or mom are not racist, but they never grew up in a time where those races interacted. I had friends of multiple different races, went to their homes, parties and hung out with them. My parents were leery and I could tell some of my friends of color’s parents I could tell were a little unsure of this white girl hanging out with their children. I do not choose my friends based on race, and I think it is because I never really saw color as a child. Now looking back after being in this class I do see it. My parents however do not have a diverse group of friends, and neither do their friends. It is hard to rethink and relearn what you have been taught. I think that it is important to allow children to broaden their horizons and learn about race at young age and that what color your skin or what culture you have doesn’t matter, we are all equal. If we taught this early we would not have to worry about retouching these same children later on in life. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:47:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/is-it-hard-to-relearn-racial-ideas-119-blog/#IDComment136085832 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment131969410 I’m not really sure if guilt is the right word to use when describing how white Americans feel about the unfair treatment of freed slaves. Obviously, these events occurred long before any of us or are parents or grandparents were alive, so we did not directly participate in this unfair treatment, but inevitably it is possible that somewhere in our family history we could have been involved. In my personal opinion, I feel ashamed of how people that were possibly related to me treated others so unfairly and made them feel so inadequate and that they were only good at being pieces of property. It is terrible to think that people were beaten and ordered to do manual labor and were never paid in anyway from their masters. Sometimes it is hard to absorb what Sam says in class about how white privilege gets white people so much farther in life, than other races and it is disgraceful how people can never see past the surface. Any more the media portrays things and making white people’s actions not as bad as they actually were or are. Like the video on the web page from BBC, about how American textbooks skew events and leave out key portions of important history to make white people look better. I think that there are other groups of people that have been harmed throughout America’s history besides the freed slaves. During World War II, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor the Japanese Americans were rounded up and thrown into concentration camps since were thought to be out to get America. Today we would have said they were potential terrorists, much like the Muslim Americans and Middle Easterners we locked up following September 11th. As Americans we tend to think that one person or small group of people from a country or religion represent the entire population of these people. We as Americans should feel guilty about this, these events took place in our lifetimes and our parents and grandparents lifetimes. No one stood up and said anything, we just turned a blind eye and almost allow these things to happen. Looking back if someone would have stood long before the idea of slavery started and said this is wrong and just because they are a different skin color and do not have the same culture as us, doesn’t mean they should be treated like this, maybe there would have never been slavery. Of course these are all a bunch of maybes and what ifs, but we should not dwell on feeling guilty about things that we had no control over, but instead focus on the future and preventing events like this from happening again. We have a lot of knowledge we can share with the world. Wed, 2 Mar 2011 23:58:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment131969410 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment130613726 I’m not sure whether selfish is the proper word in describing what Tammy’s family was about. In some cases religious views prohibit the use of birth control devices, including oral contraceptives or condoms, or it is also the time period in which they grew up in. In previous generations it was more common to have larger families than it is in today’s society since female roles have dramatically changed as well. It used to be that women were the homemakers and did not work, but their only duty in life was to bear children and then raise them. Today women are out in the work force and so it is not very likely for them to have a large family. I think the better way to describe poor people who have many children, is irresponsible. Clearly children cost way more money than a box of condoms or another form of birth control. If you know you cannot afford a child or are not in the situation that a child should be brought into than you should take the proper measures to prevent this from happening. However, in Tammy’s defense she has definitely not repeated what her family had done in the past. She only had two or three children which is a huge decrease from her 21 brothers and sisters. Another point to be made is that sometimes poor people have more children in order to be able to have more working in order to support the family and keep costs low. The more children they have out there working minimum wage jobs the less they will have to provide some necessities to those children. The issue of welfare may also come up because many people think that the more children you have the more money you receive from the government. This is not always the case, Pennsylvania amended their welfare program in the early 90’s putting a “cap” on how many children you could have and how many you would be able to collect on. Before that time there was an increase in how much money you received after having an additional child, and this situation was being extremely taken advantage of. I applaud Tammy for working hard for her money and not accepting welfare, she does a good job with what she has and it is very sad to see her son putting her down for doing the best she can. He is not doing anything to better their situation except look down on his mother for being a strong woman. I think that there are some poor people in this country who are selfish and have as many children as they please, but there are also the cases like Tammy who do not and work hard to support their children and live their lives. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:01:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment130613726 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127222630 I feel like my journey to Penn State had a touch of determinism and free will involved. My entire family has been diehard Penn State fans since I can remember. There are pictures of me as a baby dressed up in Penn State sweatshirts and t-shirts, so I definitely think that I was influenced to go here for college. I do however I had my own free will to come. I applied to other universities and colleges, and my parents told me that ultimately it was my future so I could decide where I want to go. Since I had to fund my own tuition and way of life while here, that was something I took into consideration, but academically Penn State was the better choice. I wanted to come to this school, it was always something I wanted to be a part of before I was a student. My aunt used to bring me here as a kid to go to football games and I used to stare across the stadium and wish that one day I could be a part of the student section. Now that I sit and think about, maybe she was bringing me to the games in order to influence me even more to come here. The Penn State “culture” has been around me my entire life so in a way I allowed outside influences to determine where I would go to college. Since I have been here however, the cards I have been dealt were not the ones I thought I would be dealt. I used to rely a lot on my parents for assistance with bills or petty items if I was running short on cash. When I was a sophomore the economy got the best of my family, making money very tight. My part time job now became my life line and way to survive. I now have complete control over all of my finances, my jobs pay for anything and everything I do. I have put myself in debt with student loans and credit cards just to stay afloat. I use my paychecks and tips to pay for my cell phone, car insurance, bills, etc. I do not think I would have learned to take financial control of my life if I would have not had these cards dealt to me. Even though I struggle and cannot always do everything I want to do while I’m here, I think it has definitely made me a stronger person. I have learned not to depend on anyone but myself, and that sometimes life just is not fair. I think that my family never being rich also helped me because I knew how to survive off of little before, but on my own free will I have made lemonade out of lemons. Both determinism and free will have made me the person I am today, a strong independent woman. Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:05:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127222630 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/why-dont-we-live-like-the-monkeys-119-blog/#IDComment125822401 I definitely think that our world would be a different place if we all just lived for the sake of living. Granted animals including monkeys, “fight” for their territory and prey on other animals, not unlike humans. We fight wars to gain land and for what we want, and most people eat meat from other animals. I think an interesting point comes up, do you think that animals have “races” or are discriminatory towards each other? It’s entirely possible, but I do not think that other animals have the issues we have. We have created the idea from the years and continuous practice of slavery, and making people feel that they are inferior to others. Like Sam said, we are the same, 99.99% the same, so there really is no reason for others to be inferior. If we all just co-existed on this planet together and did not worry about what one person looked like and just lived to be here and enjoy this beautiful planet, maybe this class would not even be necessary. I think that in order for us to just exist and not care about the races would be if we were all color blind. If we were all color blind, everyone would look exactly the same, there would be no color difference. It is really sad how much people in the United States, and other countries put so much emphasis on race. In my discussion group we were talking about affirmative action, and one member of my group is Arab and he said in his country they do not even have race boxes on applications. It stop and made me think, is that how far this country has come that we still feel the need to group people together in one general category. If we would just go about our lives and not worry about what we all were, there would never be a need to check off what race you “belong” to. Even if we did just live and not worry about every little thing, some things would remain the same. We would still have “wars” over territory or prey, because animals are naturally territorial. The video definitely brought up interesting points, humans forget that we have more in common with a chimp than a chimp has in common with a gorilla. We should not dismiss that their lifestyle may be better and less complicated than how we evolved into this super human rulers of the planet. Monkeys and other animals are put and cages and confined areas, and hunted by us, but what if it was the other way around? If we all just lived we would not need to isolate them, we would all just live side by side not thinking anything of it. We are all just going to die anyway, right? Fri, 4 Feb 2011 03:37:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/why-dont-we-live-like-the-monkeys-119-blog/#IDComment125822401 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124364058 I think that we associate ourselves with our own race, because it is a comfort level for many. Some people find it hard to walk up to people and make friends, and even harder to make friends with someone of another race or ethnicity. You feel a sense of belonging and welcomeness when you are with people that you are friends with and who are “like” you so to speak. I don’t find making friends of different races or ethnicities. I went to a high school with people from all different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic status, etc., so when I came to Penn State it was weird and different to see all of these different groups separated. One of the times you see this the most is in the HUB, for the most part all the different racial groups sit together at their own tables and there is really no mixing of the groups. There are the “black”, “white”, “asian”, and other various fraternities and sororities. They target that audience and group of people when they are handing out flyers in the HUB or anywhere else on campus. It is sad to see that people do not branch out and want to include others in their organization, and others would not feel welcome joining their organizations. Penn State has this false sense of diversity with their posters and commercials, but in reality it is not really like that. Obviously you choose your friends based on common interests, major, mutual friends, but not branching out to other groups of people limits your friends. A person you may think would have nothing in common with you, could turn out to be one of your best friends if you just try to reach out and see what they have to offer from you. I understand that many people may not have come from diverse towns or schools, but we all decided to come to this university to receive a higher education, so why not take it a step further. Take a step out of your “comfort” zone and try to become friends with different people, it may turn out that you have a lot or very little in common, but you will have never known until you tried. Another person’s skin color or heritage should not play a role in what makes them your friend, it should be more important things like loyalty, trust, common interests or goals. I think that if everyone would try to look past skin color or ethnicity then there may not be such a gap between different groups on this campus, or around the country. Change is a powerful thing, so if people would take a step to change things, maybe one day race will no longer be an issue. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:49:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124364058 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122400628 The activity in class was very interesting, and I found that all the “volunteers” were very brave. Many people do not like to be clumped into groups such as the ones they were put into. I do agree that if this activity was done in a different class, or merely in a public setting that it would be looked down upon. I think the openness of class was exposed by doing this activity. At first I thought that some people may be offended by this activity, and the nature in which the girls who were grouping them, were basing their decisions. After we continued and learned where each of the students were from, I thought that it was a great idea, because sometimes you can’t just look at someone to figure out where they are from, and people from the same general region do not always look exactly the same. I also feel as though this activity was very beneficial to those who may not have been exposed to many different races in their lifetime. I went to a very diverse high school or so I thought, when I came to Penn State there were not only many more races, but also many new cultures. I think that as a kid we are taught to look beyond a person’s skin color, but as simple as that is to say I do not think many people do. I think race is becoming more predominant now due to the ever growing types and mixtures of different races, and accepting that there are many different races is very important. Another portion of class that I found intriguing was when Sam was discussing the origins of “race”. The Europeans created this idea of of systematically grouping people together by what their skin looked like or their cultural backgrounds. It made me think about, what if a different group had created this idea of “race”, perhaps there would not have even been race, or white people would have been thought of as inferior and made slaves. It is weird to think that the dynamic of this country and world could have been dramatically different. The categories that races were first put into and the descriptions that followed were appalling how that described an entire group of people was unbelievable. Sadly, the races you can choose on the census are quite limited even to this day, I can see why many people choose not to fill one out, because they are merely considered to fit in the “other” category. Our country is so diverse, yet it is so hard for people to except that you cannot place a number on how many boxes should be on the Census every year. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:17:32 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122400628 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ce%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment120975608 Soc 119 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:46:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ce%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment120975608