en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2405039 Comments by pos5093 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/#IDComment145229370 As much as I would love to help out immigrants that don’t have any food or shelter, I honestly just don’t have the means necessary to do so at this time in my life. I’m a full-time student paying out of state tuition at one of the most expensive “public schools” in the nation. I absolutely don’t have the money to buy all of the food and supplies that a volunteer position like that requires. Nor do I have the time. I understand that the people from the video are insanely poor and hungry, and while I know that I theoretically COULD do more to help them, I just honestly cannot see myself taking on a position like that in my life right now. I would love to, but I just can’t. Someday, once I’ve graduated and have put myself through law school and am receiving a paycheck, I could absolutely see myself doing something to help. Probably not as in depth or intense as the guy in the video, but I would try to do something. Occasionally I go to soup kitchens in Trenton and serve lunch or dinner to the hungry, and I would love to continue to do this once I am making more money and can contribute more to help. I respect the guy from the video a lot for doing what he is doing, because Lord knows there are not enough people helping. The thing is, we can’t hate on the people that aren’t helping because they have their reasons. I know that the people receiving the food have far less than we have, but we are all busy and we do have bills to pay. Some people simply cannot donate money or food because they’re worrying about their own families. Everyone has their reasons for not doing more to help, and while some of those reasons seem trivial to the hungry, they are legitimate reasons for everyone else. Additionally, I feel like a lot of people don’t help because they don’t want to help. As much as it is unfair and judgmental, a decent amount of American citizens see immigrants as people that are taking our jobs. While I guess technically in some aspects they are, they shouldn’t be punished for that. I did a servant trip to Texas after my freshman year of high school to help and hang out with a poor community that was made up primarily of illegal immigrants. In one house, there were 18 people who shared 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a kitchen and a tiny living room. The family and extended family had absolutely nothing, no TV, no telephone, but still their only goal was to make enough money so that they had enough left over after bills to send back to their family. Most Americans don’t see them as hard-working people though. We see them as illegal people that are taking our jobs. It sucks. Because of having a personal experience with a group of illegal immigrants, it makes me even more apt to work with them and give food to them when everyone else is shutting them out. While I can’t at this point in my life, I absolutely can see myself helping them later in my life. Until then, I’m grateful for people like the guy in the video, and I wish we had more people like him that were willing to help. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:18:03 +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/#IDComment145229370 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143244515 If a situation presented itself where I could use a connection that I had to get ahead or to get a job that I really wanted, I would absolutely use it. Additionally, I really wouldn’t feel bad about it. I understand that by using a connection, I am taking that job from someone that probably deserves it more than I do. But truthfully, it doesn’t both me all that much. Call me heartless; I call it ambition. The world today operates solely on connections. While skill and education are important, none of that will matter if you don’t network and if you don’t put yourself out there. That actually kind of bothered me about class: Sam was making “knowing people” out to be a bad thing, and I really don’t think it is at all. There is nothing wrong with having family members who are successful; if anything, we should be looking up to them and should be aspiring to be as successful as they are. I’m not going to feel guilty that I have family members who know important people. Networking is seen as a valuable skill in the working world anyway, and everyone SHOULD use it to his or her advantage. Tying in with nepotism and that whole discussion, I completely disagree that affirmative action mainly benefits white people. There are no quotas for white people at jobs or colleges, there are no outreach programs for white people for schools, and there are no scholarships at this school for average white people. I’m all down for people getting scholarships based on economic need, like seriously that’s awesome that they’re going to school to try to be successful someday. But those scholarships shouldn’t be based on color. Also, from a personal standpoint, I know someone who got screwed out of a promotion, and lost the promotion to an Indian man who was far less qualified for the position than my person. At the time of the promotion, the state government was on a pay freeze, so there weren’t supposed to be any promotions to begin with, but before the pay freeze, my person and the Indian man were both being considered. My person had a higher education and had been working for the government longer than the Indian man, but the Indian man still got the promotion. So tell me, does affirmative action realllllly benefit white people? Not from what I’ve seen… So, basically, if an opportunity presented itself where I could get a job only because I somehow knew the person that was offering it, I would 100% take it. I think I might feel a tiny bit shitty about myself for taking it after listening to Sam’s lecture, because I know that I took away an opportunity from someone else. However, that fact sure as hell wouldn’t stop me from taking it, especially because if I don’t jump on the opportunity, someone else will. There’s no escaping nepotism in modern-day society, so “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Fri, 15 Apr 2011 23:09:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143244515 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/do-you-agree-with-foreign-aids-use-of-pictures-of-children-119-blog/#IDComment141158444 Every time I see the commercials about the poor, starving orphans, my heart really does reach out to them. They look so incredibly sad, and so unhealthy, and I feel like hugging them. I couldn’t imagine what I would do if I had to face even half of the hardships that they have to face daily. Let alone the fact that they don’t have parents, and are left to take care of their younger siblings by themselves. My parents are everything to me, and they are the reason why I’m able to do half of the things that I do, and I genuinely couldn’t imagine what I would do without them. So when I see those kids on television, I feel really bad for them. However, I don’t think that it’s right that organizations use the children’s sad stories for their personal gain. Granted, I know that the money that goes into those organizations really does go towards the children, for the most part, but I don’t think it’s right or nice that they make kids who are already going through hard stuff cry on television so that they get attention. I know that if I had just lost my parents and was left to take care of my younger brother by myself that I would want to cry about it on television for sympathy and pity. I’m all down for emotion-evoking personal stories and thusly getting the feeling of WANTING to help people or a cause, but I don’t think that making young children cry on national television is cool. It’s the same thing with those Sarah McLaughlin ASPCA commercials. The first time you see one, you sob your eyes out because those poor dogs look so miserable and you just want to take all of them home and love them and protect them forever. But after you see it 10, or 20, or even 30 times, you start to get sick of them and want to change the channel because they’re just too depressing. I’m afraid that the Unicef commercials are going to turn into the same thing. People feel bad when they see them, but there’s only so many times that you can look at a sobbing child before you start to think “Okay, really, enough.” I’ve donated money to those organizations before, and while I haven’t actually sponsored a child, I’ve worked with under-privileged children. It is so unbelievably sad when a defenseless child has to deal with so many problems that I have never even fathomed dealing with before. I wish I could do more, but I don’t think that seeing a crying child on television is going to motivate people to do more. They will change the channel, just like they do with the ASPCA commercials. Additionally, I wonder if the children know that their hardships are being exploited. They are already going through enough crap without having to cry on command or show off how hungry they are. They probably look at the well-clothed, well-fed camera people and wonder why they are following them instead of helping them. I feel like those organizations definitely have good intentions, but could do a much better job of implementing their goals without exploiting already unfortunate children. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:41:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/do-you-agree-with-foreign-aids-use-of-pictures-of-children-119-blog/#IDComment141158444 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139234181 (2) After listening to the lecture, especially the points about how girls convince themselves that they WANT to dress like that, I have to say that I disagree. We all know what we’re doing when we put on clothes and shoes like that. No one is really that jaded that they’re thinking, “I have to do this, I don’t have a choice.” We have the choice to wear sweats and Uggs out, but it’s honestly never going to happen. Girls are always going to dress like sluts with the aim of getting attention from our counterparts, and in all likeliness, we’re going to LIKE dressing like that. I, for one, am not going to stop wearing heels and dresses when it’s cold out. I’d rather stay in than go out in “warm, comfortable” clothes. Plus, heels totally make our calf muscles and asses look HOT, so we’re definitely not ever going to stop manipulating our feet into crazy positions. (I mean seriously, when a girl says she’s addicted to buying shoes, do you REALLY think she means sneakers and loafers? Uh, no.) So, ladies, for those of you that are complaining about how you hate dressing like that, and how you wish you could go out in plain, boring, comfortable clothes…shut up. No you don’t. We enjoy dressing up and looking hot, and we’re not going to stop doing it, ever, so there’s really no point in trying to convince us, or yourselves, otherwise. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 00:19:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139234181 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139232521 (2) After listening to the lecture, especially the points about how girls convince themselves that they WANT to dress like that, I have to say that I disagree. We all know what we’re doing when we put on clothes and shoes like that. No one is really that jaded that they’re thinking, “I have to do this, I don’t have a choice.” We have the choice to wear sweats and Uggs out, but it’s honestly never going to happen. Girls are always going to dress like sluts with the aim of getting attention from our counterparts, and in all likeliness, we’re going to LIKE dressing like that. I, for one, am not going to stop wearing heels and dresses when it’s cold out. I’d rather stay in than go out in “warm, comfortable” clothes. Plus, heels totally make our calf muscles and asses look HOT, so we’re definitely not ever going to stop manipulating our feet into crazy positions. (I mean seriously, when a girl says she’s addicted to buying shoes, do you REALLY think she means sneakers and loafers? Uh, no.) So, ladies, for those of you that are complaining about how you hate dressing like that, and how you wish you could go out in plain, boring, comfortable clothes…shut up. No you don’t. We enjoy dressing up and looking hot, and we’re not going to stop doing it, ever, so there’s really no point in trying to convince us, or yourselves, otherwise. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 00:07:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139232521 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139232043 (2) After listening to the lecture, especially the points about how girls convince themselves that they WANT to dress like that, I have to say that I disagree. We all know what we’re doing when we put on clothes and shoes like that. No one is really that jaded that they’re thinking, “I have to do this, I don’t have a choice.” We have the choice to wear sweats and Uggs out, but it’s honestly never going to happen. Girls are always going to dress like sluts with the aim of getting attention from our counterparts, and in all likeliness, we’re going to LIKE dressing like that. I, for one, am not going to stop wearing heels and dresses when it’s cold out. I’d rather stay in than go out in “warm, comfortable” clothes. Plus, heels totally make our calf muscles and asses look HOT, so we’re definitely not ever going to stop manipulating our feet into crazy positions. (I mean seriously, when a girl says she’s addicted to buying shoes, do you REALLY think she means sneakers and loafers? Uh, no.) So, ladies, for those of you that are complaining about how you hate dressing like that, and how you wish you could go out in plain, boring, comfortable clothes…shut up. No you don’t. We enjoy dressing up and looking hot, and we’re not going to stop doing it, ever, so there’s really no point in trying to convince us, or yourselves, otherwise. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 00:04:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139232043 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139231970 (1) When I go out on the weekends, I know EXACTLY what I’m doing when I put on a tight, short dress that makes my boobs look good and impossibly high heels. I am 100% trying to get a guy’s attention, preferably so I can hook up with someone that night. And I legitimately have zero shame. When girls say that they’re dressing up for themselves, it’s honestly such bullshit. We’re all trying to look as slutty as possible because guys, and girls, are judging us. We would LOVE to be able to go out in yoga pants and Uggs, but it’s just not socially acceptable, especially if you’re trying to get with a guy. Girls say that they dress like that because it makes them feel hot, and it does, but HELLO if you think you look hot, a guy will most likely agree, so you’re still inadvertently trying to get the males’ attention. As far as guys dressing super casual while we get all dolled up: it’s the norm, so deal with it and get over it ladies. While we all love it when a guy gets dressed up in khakis and a polo, it rarely happens. The thing is though, jeans and a polo IS dressed up for a guy. If a guy tried to actually dress casually at a party in like sweats or something, he wouldn’t get any attention either. Girls make such a huge deal about spending HOURS getting ready and complaining that guys only take 15 minutes. That is sooooo not the case. I know guys that take longer than I do to get ready so don’t hate on the boys and say that they don’t try; they do and we like it just as much as they like it when we get dressed up. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 00:03:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139231970 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139231544 When I go out on the weekends, I know EXACTLY what I’m doing when I put on a tight, short dress that makes my boobs look good and impossibly high heels. I am 100% trying to get a guy’s attention, preferably so I can hook up with someone that night. And I legitimately have zero shame. When girls say that they’re dressing up for themselves, it’s honestly such bullshit. We’re all trying to look as slutty as possible because guys, and girls, are judging us. We would LOVE to be able to go out in yoga pants and Uggs, but it’s just not socially acceptable, especially if you’re trying to get with a guy. Girls say that they dress like that because it makes them feel hot, and it does, but HELLO if you think you look hot, a guy will most likely agree, so you’re still inadvertently trying to get the males’ attention. As far as guys dressing super casual while we get all dolled up: it’s the norm, so deal with it and get over it ladies. While we all love it when a guy gets dressed up in khakis and a polo, it rarely happens. The thing is though, jeans and a polo IS dressed up for a guy. If a guy tried to actually dress casually at a party in like sweats or something, he wouldn’t get any attention either. Girls make such a huge deal about spending HOURS getting ready and complaining that guys only take 15 minutes. That is sooooo not the case. I know guys that take longer than I do to get ready so don’t hate on the boys and say that they don’t try; they do and we like it just as much as they like it when we get dressed up. After listening to the lecture, especially the points about how girls convince themselves that they WANT to dress like that, I have to say that I disagree. We all know what we’re doing when we put on clothes and shoes like that. No one is really that jaded that they’re thinking, “I have to do this, I don’t have a choice.” We have the choice to wear sweats and Uggs out, but it’s honestly never going to happen. Girls are always going to dress like sluts with the aim of getting attention from our counterparts, and in all likeliness, we’re going to LIKE dressing like that. I, for one, am not going to stop wearing heels and dresses when it’s cold out. I’d rather stay in than go out in “warm, comfortable” clothes. Plus, heels totally make our calf muscles and asses look HOT, so we’re definitely not ever going to stop manipulating our feet into crazy positions. (I mean seriously, when a girl says she’s addicted to buying shoes, do you REALLY think she means sneakers and loafers? Uh, no.) So, ladies, for those of you that are complaining about how you hate dressing like that, and how you wish you could go out in plain, boring, comfortable clothes…shut up. No you don’t. We enjoy dressing up and looking hot, and we’re not going to stop doing it, ever, so there’s really no point in trying to convince us, or yourselves, otherwise. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 00:00:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139231544 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137605870 Is it weird to answer your own question? Because I’m going to… I personally love interracial relationships. I think it’s awesome when people of different races don’t give a shit about other people’s opinions, and can completely ignore what color or race they are and just be happy and love each other. Plus, children that are the products of interracial relationships are easily the most gorgeous children in the entire world. There is nothing cuter than a baby with blue eyes, tan skin, and dark curly hair. Additionally, I love the confidence that people in interracial relationships have. Clearly our society isn’t super receptive to interracial relationships, and it takes a lot of balls for a couple to go out and not pay attention AT ALL to the stares that they undoubtedly get. My ex boyfriend is black; his parents grew up in Ghana, so he really is African, and therefore super dark. When we would go out together some people would look at us like we were doing something wrong, and we would get disgusted looks. My parents were totally cool with it: I had been friends with the kid for at least 2 years prior to us being an “us”, so they were happy when we told them that we were dating. My brother was iffy about it, but only because the guy was one of his best friends, so he felt awkward. But as far as the interracial part goes, he couldn’t have cared less. I got really mix reactions from my friends though. Some of them didn’t care and thought that it was completely fine/normal, but some of my other friends didn’t understand how or why I thought he was attractive. They could not fathom dating someone that didn’t “look like them.” One of my friends was completely disgusted, and didn’t understand how I could kiss him or anything else. I feel like their opinions were almost naive and super sheltered. None of them have ever dated outside of their races before, and I guess because it was different to them, they automatically thought that it was a negative thing. My ex and I would joke around and talk about how pretty our kids would be if we had kids. With his dark skin and my blue eyes, they would be seriously gorgeous. We never really cared if people were judging us or if they thought that what we were doing was wrong. We actually laughed at people who would make comments about our relationship. F*** the haters, right? So, clearly, I am a huge fan of interracial relationships. I actually don’t understand why some people are still so against them. Someday future generations are going to look at us and be like, “What the hell was their problem?” Maybe 50 years ago they weren’t cool, but times are so different now. People need to stop being so judgmental and recognize that if anything, interracial relationships are just going to get more popular, so they should learn to accept them, and see the beauty that is in them, just like in every other relationship. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:57:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137605870 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135950987 For starters, I think that this is a really good question because everyone is going to have different takes on it based on where they grew up. I personally grew up in a fairly small town in South Jersey, and while my town was predominantly white, my high school was a pretty equal mix of whites and non-whites. In that respect, my high school was more “diverse” than Penn State, seeing as Penn State is 77% white. However, I think that the students here interact with each other way more than they did in my high school. At my school, typically the white kids hung out with the white kids, the black kids hung out with the black kids, and the Asian kids hung out with the Asian kids. Granted, there was some mixing of the groups, but it was minimal, and the kids who actually did mix were labeled as “white black kids” or “black white kids”. Seriously, what does that even mean? That a white person is “ghetto” or that a black person “acts white”? I always thought that it was bunch of bullshit, because there is no typical way for a person to act based on their skin color. I never really understood why it was necessary to label them in the first place, but whatever. So, looking back on the “diversity” in my high school, even though the mix was more of a mix, I genuinely think that Penn State has awesome diversity. Racial groups interact here all of the time, and I think that for a large part, people here don’t care what your skin color is or where you come from. Maybe that’s because we all see ourselves as part of the Penn State family, I don’t know. But I think it’s awesome that there are all different kinds of people at this school, especially that all of the different people won’t look at the differences of other kids. My freshman year in high school, one of the kids in my biology class said that I was “a stereotypical white girl.” Obviously, I wanted to know what he meant by that, and he responded that it was because I was blonde, dumb, and did ballet. Seriously, though? One, I’m absolutely 100% percent positive that there are just as many white brunettes as blondes, if not more, so FAIL on that account. Two, I was a freshman in an honors biology class with a bunch of sophomores, himself included, so again, no. And three, what the hell does ballet have anything to do with anything? He was so ignorant, and so sheltered, I guess, that he made such a dumb, assuming statement. That would NEVER happen at Penn State, ever, and I love that about our school. People here don’t care where you came from or what color your skin is. Everyone just accepts everyone else and is so chill with everyone else. We don’t care about differences or anything trivial like that. For that reason, I think the diversity at this school, and the acceptances of all of the differences at this school, seriously rocks. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:20:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135950987 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/#IDComment130711529 I’ve been arguing with myself on my position for this question for almost 20 minutes. I don’t know that I necessarily think that having more children while the parents are in poverty is selfish, but I do think that it is irresponsible. If parents cannot afford to give their children the things that they need, yet they continue to have more children, and effectively putting themselves farther into poverty, I do not that that it is right. However, the United States cannot tell people that they can’t have kids, so we can’t really do anything about it. I do, however, think there is a huge difference between being selfish and being irresponsible. Tammy, from the video we watched in class, is not selfish for having children. She is trying to make an honest living by working and providing for her kids what she can. She didn’t have 22 kids like her parents did, and despite living in poverty, she is happy and is doing what she can to provide a decent life for her children. The one thing about Tammy that bothered me though is that she was sort of putting her oldest son down by saying that he pretends to be better than her. I understand where she is coming from, but instead of putting him down she should be encouraging him to actually be better than her and do better for himself. I don’t think she is selfish for having kids, and I guess I don’t really think she is irresponsible either because she – from what I gathered, at least – planned to have children and is working to support them. The parents that I think are incredibly selfish are those that are already collecting welfare, and continue to have more children just so that they can collect more welfare. The media shows these stories all of the time – mothers who are on welfare yet have 7 or 8 kids. It’s not only unfair to the children, but it’s completely abusing the system and I think it’s selfish and irresponsible. A kid that I went to high school with posted this status on Facebook a couple of days ago: “aint nuttin wrong wit welfare datz called free money hahahaha”. I swear, I don’t think I could make this shit up if I tried. His attitude though is that one that I think is irresponsible and selfish, because he clearly has no respect for the system that is only trying to help him and his family out. Tammy was not like him in any way. Overall though, I think that parents living in poverty have the potential to be selfish when having large numbers of kids, but it’s more irresponsible than anything else. If the parents are working and are trying to achieve something greater than what they have, I don’t see a problem with it. Having children and working hard to support them is admirable. However, people with the attitude of my fellow high school student are definitely selfish and are abusing the welfare system, and they’re the ones that I don’t really feel compassion towards. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 23:20:07 +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/#IDComment130711529 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/#IDComment128937418 I think a majority of Americans tend to forget just how poor the rest of the world is. We’ve all be there: wondering where we’re going to come up with the money to pay for school books, or our cell phone bills, or our car insurance. Everyone has felt, at one time or another, that they have NO money. I feel like that right now. But in reality, we all have more money than the poor 97% of the world would even know what to do with. Our society as a whole is greedy, and though there are people that are the exception, a majority of us are materialistic, needy, and don’t really have a good grasp on just how lucky we are. There is a crazy big wealth gap between the world’s rich and poor. It seriously blows my mind that there are millions of people that live on less than $2 a day. I would love to see ANYONE from our Sociology class try to do that. I know that I wouldn’t be able to. I don’t think that anyone should feel guilty about all of the things that we have, however. Granted, the people that are never satisfied with what they have and the people who always want more really should consider what they have and be grateful for it. But for the rest of us, I really don’t think that we should feel guilty that we have so much while the majority of the world has so little. Feeling guilty isn’t going to get us anywhere. We all need to take action and do something productive to better the rest of the world. I was so happy that those two girls got up and talked about freerice.com. I have been going on that website for 3 years now, and have donated over 5 million grains of rice. Even though it’s not a huge contribution, it’s something. I know that a lot of us can’t afford to send a ton of money to under-developed countries every month, but that site lets people give food to people that really need it. Overall, I do not think that Americans should change the way that we live just to lessen the poverty gap in the world. Instead, we need to take a proactive stance and try to change the gap head-on. Even being aware of the poverty in the world is better than doing nothing. If we all spend 5 minutes on freerice.com every day, and tell everyone we know about that website, we could really start to make a difference. One final thought to the kid that was arguing with Sam in class… First of all, seriously, GOOD FOR YOU for sticking up for what you believe in and for arguing with Sam. I sure as hell wouldn’t be able to speak up and argue and have the whole class staring at me. However. If you go to Pennsylvania State University, and have a Bluetooth in your ear, you are NOT in the poor 97% of the world’s population. Sam was saying that although you may be on the bottom of the 3%, you are still in that 3%. I have no idea what your economic standing is, and race honest to god has nothing to do with it at all, but if you had tried to tell someone who legitimately lives on $2 a day that you were on their level, they would probably be super pissed at you. I’m all for arguing and sticking up for what you believe in, but try to be a little more conscious of exactly what you are saying, because offending people is not going to get you anywhere. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:51:38 +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/#IDComment128937418 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127472253 We live in a society that encourages doing everything fast. Eat fast, drive fast, talk fast, do EVERYTHING fast. Naturally, this includes thinking fast. From a young age we are all taught to think on our feet, and to be able to make snap judgments and act quickly in any given situation. We get praised when we come up with a witty response, or when we are able to answer a question on the spot. So at a first glance, thinking fast doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, right? Clearly though, this doesn’t always work so well. On Thursday, Sam put a series of news headlines up on the board, and asked us questions based on whether we thought that the woman was a victim of racism or not. When the first headline went up, I was really confused and actually thought that it was an example of a headline from the days when segregation was still legal. I had no idea that it was from a few days ago. When I finally realized that it was recent, I couldn’t believe that something like that would actually be allowed to happen today, so I put that I wasn’t sure, because I thought that there had to be more to the story. I thought that there were traces of racism in the headline, but I genuinely didn’t think that the headline was legit. Then when Sam put up the rest of the headlines and we learned that it wasn’t a direct issue of racism but that a mother was just trying to get her child into a better school, I wasn’t surprised. I still put that I was unsure as to whether or not it was an issue of racism because I don’t know that it would have been made into such a huge deal if the mother and child were white. The exercise showed how a lot of people changed their opinion very quickly, based on a few different pieces of information. I was one of the group who didn’t switch positions, and I think that has to do with the fact that I was raised to think things out and to try not to make snap decisions. I think that along with society teaching us to think and make decisions quickly, a large part of it has to do with our laziness. I know that it seems like an oxymoron, but we are able to make decisions so quickly because very few people do the legwork to research the problem or question, and very few people take the time to think issues out, and instead choose to take the easy way out that has as little responsibility as possible. I, along with 150some other people, sat there and thought the headline out, and, hopefully, came to the conclusion that there was more to the story than what was presented. If more people thought things through, I think that we would have far fewer problems dealing with misjudging people and situations. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:23:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127472253 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/why-dont-we-live-like-the-monkeys-119-blog/#IDComment126060787 During class on Thursday, Sam showed us a video that was about monkeys, and how humans are just monkeys with technology that use that technology to make our lives “better.” The video said that humans are the only species that tell themselves that they need to be happy, where all of the other animals just ARE. We definitely tell ourselves that we need to be happy, but only because we have more advanced brains that enable us to differentiate between what is happy and good and what is not. If we couldn’t make that distinction, I’m sure we would just “be” as well. But, we’re not, and so we do things and buy things and associate with certain people so that we can be happy. I personally do not see any harm in that. To answer the question though, do I think the world would be a better place if we could just live for the sake of living? No, absolutely not. If people just lived and didn’t care about working to better themselves, they couldn’t better the rest of the world. We go to school so that we can be functioning members of society someday, so that we can be lawyers that help justice be served. So that we can be doctors, to keep people alive longer. So that we can be engineers, to keep making new technology. If everyone just lived, and only cared about themselves, we would never have gotten to where we are today. I guess that’s kind of the point of the video, because a lot of people would say that where we are today is not such a great place. I know that we have wars over seemingly trivial matters, and that we have greedy people who steal from others, and that we have so much unfairness in the world. But think of all of the great things that we have achieved. None of it was through “just being”; it took hard work and self-motivation, because we want to be happy, and we want to make other people happy and proud. So, no, I don’t think that the world would be a better place if people stopped caring about being happy, and just were. Being happy, or the want to be happy, is what drives us to work our hardest, to be our best, and to keep making advancements in society. If it was even possible to just “be,” which it NEVER would be because of how advanced our brains are, and we could just forget about everything that stresses us out and not have a care in the world, I don’t think we would be happy. Clearly, it’s a biased opinion because I know what “happy” is, but I genuinely like being stimulated and having to work through problems, because I enjoy the feelings of accomplishment and happiness after. As a final note, dude who made the monkey video, it seems like you’re pointing fingers at us for being so consumed with being happy, but bro, it’s our advanced brains that enable us to do so. The same exact one you have. The same exact one that enabled you to make the video, and that probably makes you feel accomplished that so many people are talking about it and referencing it. So seriously dude, just because you recognize that we’re all hypersensitive to being happy, you do the same thing, and you’re no better than us. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 03:11:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/why-dont-we-live-like-the-monkeys-119-blog/#IDComment126060787 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/why-do-we-need-to-be-politically-correct-119-blog/#IDComment124471627 Today’s society stresses the importance of always being politically correct. God forbid you call a black person an African American, when they’re actually from Brazil, or if you call an Asian person Chinese when they’re really from Korea. Instead of trying to keep them happy, we end up insulting them further. We are so obsessed with being “politically correct” and making sure that we never offend someone. By being so caught up with not offending anyone, we often misjudge a person’s background, and end up insulting the person further. Then, when you finally think you have the politically correct name for a certain group of people, someone from that same group of people steps in and says “No, that’s offensive,” and then you’re back to square one. So back to the original question: Why do we need to be politically correct? My ex boyfriend and I got into a fight tonight about what it means to be truly “politically correct.” I thought that it was just about saying the right thing, and making sure that we don’t offend anyone. He said that it was more of a mindset, and that being politically correct doesn’t necessarily mean that you only focus on saying the “right” thing, but that you also have to believe what you say, and not play into the stereotypes. We argued for a good hour about the issue of teenage mothers, and how they’re going to have a harder time making a life for themselves than a teenager who goes to college right after high school, and graduates in their early 20s. I went to high school with a girl who now, at 20, has two children, lives on a not-so-great street in a not-so-nice area, and posts Facebook statuses about how she needs $3,000 to bail her “hubby” out of jail. And my ex argued that she has the same opportunities as I do to make a life for herself. Call me stereotypical, call me politically INcorrect, but I disagree. I’m not saying that all teen moms face the same scenario. I just feel like as a teenage mother, that girl is going to have a much harder time getting the same level job that I am going to get someday. I’m not saying that it’s impossible, but I believe it will be harder. And if you’re pissed at me for saying that, my ex gave me shit for it too. As far as being politically correct goes for speaking however, we all need to stop worrying so much about what we call someone, and instead focus on the face that we’re all the same. We have African Americans, colored people, blacks, Asians, Asian Americans, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Latinas, Latinos, Hispanics, Spanish, Ukrainians, Armenians, Caucasians, whites, and so on and so forth. Why can we all just be AMERICANS? Sat, 29 Jan 2011 04:15:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/why-do-we-need-to-be-politically-correct-119-blog/#IDComment124471627 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122837641 The exercise that we did in class yesterday was definitely interesting, to say the least. If anyone had tried to do it anywhere else, they would have been yelled at for being “politically incorrect.” When I thought about it after class, though, I really didn’t find it to be politically incorrect at all. Sam had scientific research showing that all people originated in the African region and then migrated to other places, so it makes perfect sense that people look similar, even if they are not immediately from the same place. He also had research that showed that people evolved and adapted traits based on where they lived. With scientific evidence backing his exercise, there is no way that it can be deemed “politically incorrect” by even the most “politically correct” person. I will be the first to admit that if I had been put on the spot like those two 4.0-GPA girls, I probably would not have done nearly as well as they did. When Sam was going down the line asking everyone what their race was, or what their origins were, I was genuinely surprised by a lot of them. Even more so, the two people standing next to each other to the far left shocked me; the boy was Middle Eastern and the girl was a Native American. They looked like they could have been from the same place. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to put them in the right spot in the line. Then, when Sam put that girl’s ID on the overhead, if he had shown just her eyes, I would have guessed that she was just a really tan Asian. Coming from a small town in Jersey, about half an hour away from where Deena from the Jersey Shore lives, I’ve always just grouped people into general categories. I never really paid attention to the subtle differences within the different races. After the exercise, Sam was talking about our perception of what the “right” facial features are. If you went to the editor in chief of Glamour magazine, or Cosmo, or any major magazine, and told them to put a dark-skinned, wide-nosed, kinky-haired person on the cover, they would look at you like you were delusional. Today’s society wants to see fair skin, thin noses, and pin-straight hair, and we look down on people and judge people that don’t look like that. It’s seriously bullshit. Because if you told that editor that that previously described girl actually had the “right” facial features, and that all stereotypical pale, white girls had the “wrong” facial features, you might get kicked out for having mental problems. Society as a whole is so uniformed, and until yesterday, I was one of them. Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:11:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122837641 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cs%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121174162 Soc 119 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:05:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cs%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121174162