en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2412775 Comments by nxw154 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145097343 Part 3 I feel like Americans have their nose stuck up in the air when it comes to something like language for some reason. One person who worked on walmart said he was given a warning for speaking Spanish to customers who didn’t know any English. When I asked a man if he daughter watched Dora the explorer he said “No I don’t want her to learn Spanish.” Yet America isn’t pushing to have our children learn any other languages but the business world is growing to other countries who do. Americans worth in the market will in turn go down comparing to other people who can speak three languages. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:27:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145097343 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145097289 Part 2 It would just be a betray of our history if we continue this anti-immigrant hate. Our country was based on the hauling of immigrants to have more famers work the land. Now that our country has grown and it has turned more to a business culture than agriculture we seem to have less appreciation for people have come to work with their hands. I don’t understand people who constantly complain saying “they are taking our jobs” when they are the same people who would hire immigrants to do menial work if they had enough money. I think it also shows how superficial America is today to have this very fickle attitude towards immigrants. The business having so much say in when to let immigrants in the country says that our policies on immigrants is more about money than the social aspect which is kind of upsetting. I wish people took into account how immigrants can be good for our culture in general. They say that having a bilingual culture is expensive but what about the profit that people could make if everyone in the country had to be able to speak one other language fluently by the time they graduate college? Other countries do so and they are able to communicate with other countries better. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:27:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145097289 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145097226 Part 1 I would say we should help out immigrants because they cannot advance in their own country most likely. If they can improve their living and take it back home and in turn help their own country’s economy it can make them stronger and better for the trade we have across the world today. The world cannot just be led by USA and China I believe other countries should improve to gain more power so they can have more say in what is going on in the world. Reading about how money is not well spread out in the world it shows how our own country discriminates less powerful countries. I think taking in immigrants is not only for their benefit in getting a good job but they can mingle with the culture and once we mingle we can have more understanding of the difference in culture. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:26:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145097226 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/is-nepotism-a-good-or-bad-thing-in-the-long-run-119-blog/#IDComment143248676 Part 3 Accepting other people is what this class is all about and I think nepotism mostly hinders that. It certainly keeps our society from moving forward with new ideas because it will keep the same people in power to influence others. Our society will become more materialistic than educated which will hurt us at times when knowledge is in need. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 23:29:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/is-nepotism-a-good-or-bad-thing-in-the-long-run-119-blog/#IDComment143248676 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/is-nepotism-a-good-or-bad-thing-in-the-long-run-119-blog/#IDComment143248566 Part 2 I believe another cause of nepotism could be that people will put other people in place only if those people have the same views as them. So voted people will not get people to sponsor them unless they get something in return. I’d rather live in a world where it’s not about other people being behind the scenes and making public people puppets but those public people making their own educated decisions so the public can value them and benefit. I’m not sure if nepotism helps or worsens minority’s chances in the job world. I am hoping that once there are more minorities in management roles we can do without affirmative action. I highly doubt that day will come however because of the mindset many people have and they don’t change because they don’t talk about them. Even if they did talk about them I doubt they would have that much minority perspectives about it and only rely on one in their circle which isn’t helpful because they are most likely going to have the same point of view. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 23:28:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/is-nepotism-a-good-or-bad-thing-in-the-long-run-119-blog/#IDComment143248566 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/is-nepotism-a-good-or-bad-thing-in-the-long-run-119-blog/#IDComment143248507 Part 1 I think in the long run nepotism could hurt society. If our society keeps valuing connections more than knowledge then we will have less educated people in higher places. Our leaders will be able to get into more trouble and it will be hard to get out of it because they don’t have any knowledge. For example our presidents should have knowledge and not just connections. In the past we have had that happen with George W. Bush. We found out that his grades were only a C average in school yet his father has had office before so I’m sure connections were easy to make. We today are still living in a troubled economy because of his decisions. I really want to our children to not be fooled like I was to believe that college is all about education and later find out it isn’t true. Paying money to schmooze other people seems like such a materialistic thing to do. It really shows that we live in a society with its own kind of caste system. People on the lower scale would probably still have a harder time to get in because if they even had the skills they have to already be in the class and know people to succeed. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 23:28:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/is-nepotism-a-good-or-bad-thing-in-the-long-run-119-blog/#IDComment143248507 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141100635 Part 3 I knew that many of our generalizations were silly but now I know that it’s not only Americans that can fall into this trap. It’s very sad I wish everyone could sit in this class and create a better understand of our world by stepping into other people’s shoes. I think that everyone would try harder to come to a solution for the world’s problems if we did. We would go to our own governments and tell them that the corruption needs to stop. The racism that usually comes into wars against other people from different sides of the worlds would lessen because they would see that race and religion doesn’t have much to do with it. It is all based on greed and resources. Sometimes when it comes these situations we forget what is important and how to treat other people. For some reason we are only interested in one side. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:10:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141100635 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141100572 Part 2 The videos would have the strong aspect on people’s perception because thinking about how Americans fear terrorist after the video of the plane flying into the world trade center or the videos of the beheadings. I would say that the American military videos are just as bad maybe even worse because the military is occupying their country. It would make me angry if foreigners came into my country and started to harass me. The religion aspect seems to be exactly the same on both sides. Everyone assumes that Muslims have this thing against Americans. We assume that all of them are Muslim and now we know that they think we are all Christian. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:09:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141100572 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141100515 Part 1 This class has made me understand the Iraq’s point of view of things. Before I could see why people would hate us because of the oil but I never really thought about the religious aspect of it. It is interesting to see that on both sides people are getting to see only the radicalized aspect of their opponent. There is a thin line between hate and love for each other. Like Sam said when we think of Iraq we think of the hateful terrorist but we also know that many of them need us. I feel sad that they feel like we are ambushing them for more oil. It reminds me of colonialism all over again and I wouldn’t want to know what would happen if they refused to sell us oil. It goes with what we learned that many countries that have natural resources end up becoming poor due to exploitation. I feel like that is what is happening to them. The United States could slow down on its consumption if it wanted to by creating more public transportation, creating fewer suburbs, and putting more money into technology to find sustainable energy. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:09:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141100515 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-is-your-opinion-of-the-video-119-blog/#IDComment135921642 Part 3 If your nose is too wide which is originally an African feature then you can be made fun of, or if your lips are too big. In general the more you look mix the “Better” you seem. The black community even is pushed with the same message on channels like BET. The music video women also seem of lighter skin tone. Celebrities now are trying to bleach their skin or in photo shoots they change their skin tone through photo shop. There is a lot of self-hatred going on and it is not surprising that children are not immune to it. It is one thing to realize they are different but they have to be taught to hate it. I think this video shows that we are failing our kids. We may have better chances in society to succeed but we are still mentally slaves thinking that we are less than. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:17:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-is-your-opinion-of-the-video-119-blog/#IDComment135921642 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-is-your-opinion-of-the-video-119-blog/#IDComment135921566 Part 2 It felt abnormal to me, but I’m not sure who is at fault. Maybe it is just because there are black people being raised in a white society and being exposed to media. However many of our ideas of beauty come straight from our own parents. My own mother constantly complained about my hair as a child. “I wish you had hair like mine. I don’t know what to do with it.” She would say looking at me frustrated. She never went as far as calling my hair bad but I knew that the underline thing she was saying that my hair should be different. That she was hoping for a daughter with different features. Black society has also been troubled with their ideas of skin color and which one is appropriate. They even have fads over it and you can sometimes here “Light skin is out and us chocolate is back.” Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:16:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-is-your-opinion-of-the-video-119-blog/#IDComment135921566 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-is-your-opinion-of-the-video-119-blog/#IDComment135921498 Part 1 I think that the Girl Like Me video was heart breaking. This wasn’t the first time I have seen it. When I decided to go natural with my hair and knew I was going to get negative feedback I came across it from researching online. I’m somewhat not surprised however those little kids are already having problems with their identity. When I was little I remember realizing that I was not the same skin town as many people I admired like Lizzie McGuire on tv. I remember looking at my knees in the shower and thinking they were dirty because they were dark and just scrubbing at them. When I came out and told my mom I was having problems getting clean she just told me “No that is just your skin.” Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:16:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-is-your-opinion-of-the-video-119-blog/#IDComment135921498 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment132221375 Part 3 In the reading it shows that many people of color don’t even see the act as much of a help for them. They believe that their own hard work was the reason for any success they have had with getting a job. I don’t believe many people think about except for when a qualified white person loses to a qualified colored person. The first thing that they may think is the other person only got it because of affirmative action. This is another downside to the act because this makes other people underestimate black people. They view it as getting an unfair hand out to people who haven’t worked hard enough to get it. This goes along with the determinism versus free will. People who believe in determinism would be for affirmative action because they see injustice in society. People who believe in free will hate the idea of affirmative action and believe it just gives lazy people a slide. If people met more into the middle there would be less judgment and more of a conversation about the positives and the negatives of affirmative action. Thu, 3 Mar 2011 23:08:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment132221375 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment132221313 Part 2 . I think this is an unneeded fear because one an employer will always want to have competent employers and wouldn’t compromise their business by accepting just anyone, and two the system doesn’t work in the way that companies have a certain amount of people of color so it’s still up to the interviewer to decide. I hate when people argue that affirmative action is institutional reverse racism. It is only leveling the playing field and it’s obvious in statistics that there is still discrimination going on it is just well hidden. They may argue that they don’t have laws to hold black people down but there is a mentality in many white people that they don’t even notice makes them act out prejudice that weighs black people down. Thu, 3 Mar 2011 23:07:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment132221313 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment132221253 Part 1 There can be great consequences of how affirmative action is regulated. In past the whole point of it was to keep white people ahead of the rest in society. It purpose held others down and didn’t let them get the same benefits like moving into proper neighborhoods, or getting better jobs. This later affected the economy in a great way but left many people of color destitute. I don’t believe people are thinking about economy however when it comes to affirmative action they are thinking about fairness. I believe the affirmative action we have today is so lenient and I don’t believe it really has much affect in many job areas. So many people say that they fear that the “proper” people won’t get the job just because of affirmative action and they will victims of reverse racism. Thu, 3 Mar 2011 23:07:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment132221253 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/#IDComment130678613 Part 3 I don’t feel like it’s fair for the kid but in the end the kid isn’t going to know any better. Usually you will hear parents say “My kids are happy” even though they don’t get to have many opportunities their friends will have. In the long run it will almost be a cycle. The child of a teen parent is more likely to become a teen parent themselves. They are more likely to stay in the same poor class because they can’t afford an education past high school. They will end up where their parents are and probably end up being proud because they don’t know any other life. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:35:37 +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/#IDComment130678613 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/#IDComment130678577 Part 2 I do know that a lot of it comes out religious beliefs and ignorance. Some people believe that it doesn’t matter family is family and that’s all you need. They don’t believe in waiting they believe things will just work out so they tend to not plan for the hard part in life like paying bills. Then there are teens that end up pregnant and they don’t believe in abortion. Many of the ones I knew in high school said “I want don’t want to be an old parent anyways.” But if you ask them if they are ready for the kid they can tell you their plan knowing that no matter what something is going to come up short. I believe quality of life is very important. I’m pretty mad at Tammy for how she goes about her life in the video. Even if you are poor treat what little you have with respect. All that property she has she could have kept clean instead of just throwing trash on it. That is her doing and I don’t feel bad for her on that regard. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:35:22 +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/#IDComment130678577 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/#IDComment130678542 Part 1 I believe that it is selfish of people to think they can raise kids with insufficient funds. I was raised by a mother who wanted the best for me and I know I want the best for my kids. I want to wait until I have a job with a well-paying salary so I can afford my child’s daily needs and help pay for some extracurricular activities. It used to be that farmers can have many kids because they will help with the work but now children are not used for labor and it is more about parents having kids for their own choice. It is more expensive now to have them and it takes a lot of responsibility. I personally believe that people should have to take a test before having kids because I think there are too many idiots ruining lives but it’s against human rights. I would just say stop being selfish and really think things through. Just wear a condom. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:35:07 +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/#IDComment130678542 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128948478 Part 3 Also like how was mentioned in class America can be blatantly ignorant. We believe because we are the large world power we don’t have much duties to other countries unless they have a direct effect on us for example Egypt. Otherwise many would have never known that a country was going into a revolution. The direct effect usually has to do with money which makes matters worse because we as a country are wealthier than many but are only consumed about money. It makes us more corrupt and less humane in many ways. It is no surprise that people would be so angry towards us like the slave from the video who said he wouldn’t have kind words to people who eat chocolate. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:31:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128948478 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128948394 Part 2 . Many of them just ran down on their luck or didn’t have a family to support them. Some people fell victim to an unjust system and we can feel motivated to change it. Like welfare, certain laws, or the health care system. We tend to ignore things that don’t directly affect us that are why so many said they would still buy chocolate that is a product of slavery, but if we made a new friend who can open our eyes to problems in our society we would then take more things personally. I believe America is just so isolated and the young are so self-centered it is hard to get us wound up about anything. It really saddens me that so many kids are most likely going to be able to tell you a whole list of statuses of different people on facebook, but couldn’t tell you anything that is going on in the news. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:31:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-do-you-feel-about-the-way-people-live-in-america-compared-to-other-places-around-the-world-119-blog/#IDComment128948394