en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2444589 Comments by pjaxlax14 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145213860 I feel that this video does a good job showing how the growth of empires impacts many of the world’s greatest conflicts. At the beginning of the video the explosions are quite small and you cannot even read the words next to them. This was the time when empires such as Brittan, France and Germany were just getting started and were trying to gain a foothold in Europe. Many of the battles were in the near east (Israel, Turkey, etc.) as this was the part of the world that was once the center of attention. This shows that for the vast majority of time, war has been waged between people fighting for resources. At first the battles were being fought in south Eastern Europe, then moved to more northern and central Europe once France, Brittan and Germany took power. For many years, these empires were fighting among themselves and looking to gather as much land as possible in Europe. They were trying to get established in their homeland area and that is why there was so much fighting in Europe at that time. Once those empires were established they moved outward and started having colonies. These colonies were taken form other areas outside of Europe such as Asia, Africa and South America. Once the traditional European empires had started looking for land to colonize to gain their resources they were having conflicts with the local people and were having other more worldwide conflicts with each other in the scramble to gain more resources. The point of mostly all of these conflicts up until world war one was for the countries to gain more resources and to expand their trade markets. Once World War’s one and two came around, the fighting once again took place in Europe, as this was where the empires such as Germany and Brittan were located. These fights were to once again spread/defend their empires with the end goal to better them economically by gaining more access to more resources. Towards the end of the video you notice that battles are more widespread throughout the developing world and were not taking place in the traditional economic powers of the world. With the growth of the world market and global trade many developed countries world avoid war by having more trading treaties and look to countries such as America to police the world and fight the battles. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:59:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145213860 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment143224177 I think this video was very interesting and presented numerous statistics and reasons as to why we have such a large military. I think the first thing about this video that I would like to address is the title. As pointed out in class, no one wants to view themselves as the aggressor, you always want to be seen as the side that is defending or is protecting yourself. I feel that the title of this video is interesting and provocative because it doesn’t make the USA seem as innocent as we would like. The title “The Cost of an Empire” implies that we have gone out and conquered these lands and we are maintaining them for our own good (which we are). The title doesn’t make us seem as innocent as we would like and it puts the blame on us as a country for going out and actively seeking wars for conquest. I feel that the title has an immediate impact on the views of the video. Another part of the video that was interesting was the part when it said that we spend six hundred sixty three billion dollars for the department of defense and the war. I feel that this is a necessary thing to have as we are the largest military power in the world and it needs to be properly supported. As said in class, the United States is the “school yard bully” that enforces worldwide rules and keeps everything in check. The United States is the one that “keeps the peace” and fights for the ideals that we think are correct. As seen in class via the pie chart, the USA spends almost half of the worlds cost on military related budgets. Personally, I feel that if spending that much money doesn’t guarantee everyone here feeling completely safe from outside threats at all times then we probably need to spend more on military budgets. Having a superior military to the world is what brought America into power, if we suddenly reduce our militaries spending and supplies now while in a time of fighting numerous wars then I feel it could lead to the steady downturn of the USA as a world power. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:30:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment143224177 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment141051994 I feel that the issue that we have with our children talking to strangers is due to our fear of the unknown. If we do not know someone and they have not gained our trust yet then I feel that parents are not willing to take risks with letting someone that they have never met interact with their kids. The reason in my opinion why we are afraid of these extremely rare and uncommon occurrences such as kidnapping and abductions is because we always fear the worse. Although 99.99 percent of people are helpful and good people, there is still that .01 percent of people out there that are not looking out for people in our society. Those people are the ones that we are afraid of doing something bad. We fear that if a kid needs help and asks someone or interacts with them that the person that they speak to will be one of those bad.01 percent. The fear and terrible things that could happen if that person is one of the few bad intentioned people out there is enough for us to feel compelled to always fear the worse and not take the risk by letting kids talk to everyone and be open. We seem to think that the negative possibilities of interacting with strangers are enough to counteract the positives. For example, if someone’s kid needs help reaching an item at a store the positive benefit of talking to a stranger would be that they would help the kid out and 99.99 percent of the time this will happen or nothing at all will happen. There is always that .01 percent chance that the person that the kid talked to is psychologically unstable or a bad person and may harm them but we don’t want to even take that chance and risk having such a detrimental outcome. Although there is a very good chance that nothing bad will happen we don’t even want to take the chance that a negative outcome will occur and that’s why we do not want this outside contact. We fear these rare events not because we think that every person out there is a bad person or that the worse outcome will happen but because we don’t want to take the chance that they are and have something very terrible happen. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 18:00:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment141051994 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/19/changing-the-way-we-think-about-education/#IDComment139206895 This is by far the most interesting video I have seen in this class the entire year. I felt that it was very interesting to hear that we have a flawed education system and that we need to change the way we do things. It seems that the current system that we have isnt tooled for the correct time and kids. We are currently in a system that emphasizes that a single answer is correct, age determines your standing, and group collaboration is set-aside in favor for individual work. As the video said in it, we are no longer in a time where getting good grades and going to college is a guaranteed way to get a job and be successful in life. This video made me realize that we are in a time of great distraction and kids now a day are pushed to conform to the way that we believe that things need to be done. Sociologically, I found it interesting that the rates of ADHD increased as you went east in the country. I feel that this may be due to a lack of proper school teaching in those areas because they feel that the kids cant focus on the proper things and get their work done. Sociologically, I feel that this shows that most parents here in the us are under the group think idea and are not thinking for their kids on their own, they feel that if everyone else is doing it and if worked for them than it must be the correct way to do things. This video was also eye opening in that I have never heard someone want to change up the education system this much. I feel that some of the suggestions given such as smaller groups for learning and not organizing students by age but by ability are very good suggestions. An emphasis on quality in learning and an emphasis on individuals personal needs must be the goal of education. We must realize that as with everything else, things change and so must our education systems. They need to adapt to the changing times and be in the best interest of current students, current economic situations, and current culture. We cannot rely on a system that was developed so many years ago and hope it is successful in todays modern, fast paced culture. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 21:58:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/19/changing-the-way-we-think-about-education/#IDComment139206895 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment137535747 Until I watched this video on the use of the r-word, I never realized the widespread use of this word and the connotations associated with it. I must admit that I personally do say this word and don’t think much of it. I never realized quite what I was saying and what I was implying when using it. As we talked earlier in the year about the use of swear words, I feel that I used it and other swear words that may have been insensitive and offensive just to make a point and for the “shock factor.” With the use of the r-word I feel that people know other words that would get the message across such as stupid, dumb, slow, etc. but they feel that if they use a word that means that but so much more they will make their point get across and people will take what they are saying seriously and feel more strongly about it. I feel that after seeing this video I realize that it truly does offend people and is both insensitive and inappropriate to say. When one says something is r-word, they are saying more than they may mean. When one says retard they are being very offensive to everyday people. You would not call someone the n-word or maybe call someone gay but for some reason we find it completely normal to use the r-word in a derogatory way and feel no shame or ridicule for it. I feel that with more awareness paid towards it people will realize that like the n-word, the word gay, and other insensitive words, retard is a word that means a lot and can be deeply offensive to other people. Personally, after watching this video I will try to make a conscious effort to refrain from saying the r-word now that I realize that what I am saying can be deeply offensive. One of my cousins has Down syndrome and now that I realize that the r-word is offensive to many people I realize that personally I would not like anyone to make fun of him and call him a word that degrades him or makes him feel bad. This video was eye opening and made me realize the problems with the use of the r-word. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:50:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment137535747 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment135898535 Reading this letter made me realize that concepts such as life, liberty and most importantly, freedom are what you make them and have no true set meaning or inherent value attached to them. The writer of this does a spectacular job illustrating how freedom is not just the ability to do what you want when you want to, but that it is doing what you love. Also the writer shows how having a sound mind along with having emotional, mental, and spiritual freedom as an individual is just as important as being “physically” free. I felt that the most moving part of the letter was when the writer was saying how many of his peers focus on what they are going to do once they get out and all of the things that they will buy, places they will go, things they will do and perceived “freedom” that they will have. He feels that the main focus should be on what they can do to make themselves better as people and how they can focus on immediate things to improve instead of just looking to the future and feeling as if that is when their life will start over again. He feels that even in prison they can make themselves better by doing as much good as possible and helping others can improve their own lives and in a way express their freedom. He feels that even though his physical freedom to move about freely and to make some of his own personal choices are restricted in prison, he is still free to make his own situation as good as possible and be the best, most improved person that he can be. Also, reading this letter shows me the importance of doing what you love as a source of freedom. These prisoners can feel that they have freedom from behind cell walls and with people constantly watching and monitoring their situation yet some people that are physically free to do as they please don’t feel this way shows that freedom is not a set factor or value, it is what you make of it and how you personally view it. You can be like the writer here and see it as a your ability to do good or you can see it as being able to do what you want when you want, it is your personal choice. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:00:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/07/freedom/#IDComment135898535 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/01/lighting-our-way/#IDComment134050373 I feel that this video shows how important certain aspects of life and nature are to us humans and how we often times tend not to realize them. This shows that we are directly tied to and affected by numerous things in nature that are completely out of our control such as the sunlight at certain times of the year. This video showed that in certain parts of the world, notably Finland, when the sun is at its minimum amount for the year we humans are affected by it in many ways, which we may not directly notice. The sunlight, or lack of it, affects the way people feel, act and behave in many ways. The video showed that the lack of sunlight leads to people feeling more depressed, eating more, and in general having a condition called seasonal effective disorder. This is a reaction by the body that is directly affected by something such as the amount of light received in a day by the sun at their given location on earth. This shows that we are affected by it and it is one of those many things that are out of our control. This light and our reaction to it is one of the many things that could be considered the invisible strings that shape and affect us over our life. Unlike many social aspects of the invisible strings such as religion, gender, race, ethnicity, etc, this is an invisible string affecting us and the way we live that is directly connected to a natural phenomenon. I feel that this is very interesting because once again, this is an action completely out of our control, like we cant control our gender or many other things but this is one of those invisible strings that is really out of our control. This ability for these natural phenomenon’s to affect us and become the invisible strings that shape our society and the way we live and feel about ourselves is very amazing. This goes to show that we are shaped by numerous factors that are out of our control that shape the way we live and act every day. Fri, 11 Mar 2011 05:04:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/01/lighting-our-way/#IDComment134050373 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment128907492 Viewing this as someone taking a sociology class, I feel that this video is a great example of how easily we are convinced and swayed to do certain things. I felt like this video showed certain people that had different reactions and different levels of tolerance to the social situation. There was at first the man that was not going to turn around but over time was looking at his watch in an attempt to not look as if he was forcing it. He seemed to be most likely to not fall to the pressure of being like everyone else, but he still did. Then there is the guy at the end that wears a hat and immediately does exactly what the others do. Even when they take off their hat and turn slightly to a certain side he did exactly as they did. He seemed to be the easiest to fall to the sociological pressure to seem normal and do as everyone else does. I think that this shows that although certain people have different levels of to which they feel comfortable being different, in the end basically everyone tries to fit in and be socially normal. There is great pressure on us to seem normal and not stand out from the crowd or be viewed as weird. We always want to come off as the same as other people and as if we are socially normal. This video shows exactly that, everyone that was tested had a certain threshold to which they were going to try to seem normal. People strive to be a normal, functioning member of society. At times we may not agree with why or how things are done but if enough people are doing something or agreeing with some concept, eventually we will be swayed to think that same way and accept it as normal. Normally if someone were to get in an elevator and face the other way we would think they are weird and not much else of it but when everyone does it we think that they must be right and that it is normal. Groupthink takes over and we don’t think as a normal individual, we make decisions that are not educated and make no sense. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:04:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment128907492 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment126019384 As someone taking sociology class I see this issue of high suicide rates and level of drug and alcohol abuse in the military as a major problem and that it is in many ways related to the social behavior and ways of the military. It seems like many of these soldiers are under a tremendous amount of stress associated with the job of being in a war and being under constant threat of being killed. To me, it seems like it is the way that these soldiers are dealing with the stress and anxiety of being at war is the problem. As the soldier in the video said, he couldn’t sleep at night because of the haunting things that he has seen and done, he is under terrible stress and has no decent way of dealing with the stress associated with his job. It seems to me that many of these soldiers are having a very tough time dealing with the stresses of war. They have no outlet or way to get away from this problem. Many of the soldiers are trained to not regard themselves as individuals anymore and I think that this may have some to do with the high suicide rates. As we have discussed in class, soldiers are taught from day one that they are no longer individuals; they are members of a unit, a group. I feel that this loss of individuality has something to do with the high suicide rates. Many of these soldiers don’t view themselves as a person anymore, they just see themselves as this group and I feel that by not being their own person they are more inclined to feel that they are replaceable and disposable. The feeling of not being individually important, to me, is what probably causes some of these soldiers to be inclined to commit suicide. Also, I feel that as the woman in the army was saying there is not enough outreach for these soldiers, they have nowhere to go to and express their feelings and needs. She was saying that it was good that the soldier interviewed earlier was expressing his thoughts and feelings. I feel that a combination of lack of individuality and no where to express themselves is leading many of our soldiers to seek ways of freedom such as drug abuse and suicide to express their freedom. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 23:35:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment126019384 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment124431268 As someone taking a sociology class I can see that there seems to be very high pressure for someone in Japan to be successful and have a high-income job. Based off the rising suicide rates in Japan in sync with the economic downturn of the country one can see that the two are linked and that most likely the pressure of succeeding is very high in Japan which seems to be forcing some who are not as successful to be inclined to commit suicide. As we have discussed in class, many Asian cultures are heavily family oriented, it is the most important thing to many people of Asian decent. This strong tie to the family along with the notion of they must be very profitable and successful to be worthy of their family and not disgrace them seems to lead some of them towards suicide if they are not successful. They must feel that if they are not successful due to unemployment, lack of social life, lack of intelligence, etc. they should consider committing suicide to take the burden or remove the worst part of the family. They want to take away the weakest part of the family to make it stronger in the end even if that means killing themselves to accomplish this task. It is this drive to be successful and not disgrace the family in my opinion that is driving these unusually high suicide rates up in Japan. A weakening economy coupled with this notion of putting the family’s needs in front of your own seem to be the cause of the high rates of suicide. Basically, it is the invisible strings that are tied to Asian culture that are driving up the suicide rates. These people may be thinking that they are the problem and that they are the things to blame but it goes way beyond them. It is the ways of the culture and the invisible strings attached to the current situation of the economy that are causing the suicide rates and that is what is causing the high rates and the way that the Japanese feel about their current situation. Although they may not notice it, the rates are out of their control and they are pre disposed to have a higher rate than other cultures due to the way they think and their value system. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 23:22:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment124431268 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cj%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122424123 SOC 001 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:58:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cj%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122424123