en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2401465 Comments by rachaelerin http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/what-americans-fear/#IDComment145172594 This is a very alarming video in the sense that it is so radical and so bluntly speaks of harming and killing Americans. It is strange for me to view something such as this because I don’t recall ever seeing any violent Catholic or Christian movies saying that it was our goal to kill a certain group of people. But we all know that in the past violence was a big part of every religion in their attempt to gain control. But to see something today focus and promote such violence is unsettling. I know we have done wrong, but everyone has, no one is perfect. The fact of the matter is even though we may have no control over what our government does, the jihad does not take this into consideration. It is our country and all our people who are responsible in their eyes, and they will not stop their attempts to reach this goal until they see our country in total destruction. It is very important to note though that not all Muslims hold these radical beliefs. The jihad is in fact a small insurrection of people with these radical and violent beliefs. But, nonetheless when you see someone wearing a head scarf of openly support Islam you cannot help but be uneasy and nervous because there is no real way of distinguishing one from the other. Obviously people’s actions will show you the type of person they are, but beyond that there is no physical trait or uniform or mark on their forehead labeling them as JIHAD. They blend in with the rest and that is another reason why Americans mainly are so uncomfortable and often times unwelcoming to Muslims. After September 11th its almost a natural reaction to be afraid of these people, and although it is not fair to blame all of them for the wrong doings of a few, you cannot blame us for having these fears. I think there is a lot to Islam we don’t understand or care to understand, but if we did we would have much better relations with Muslims. We will never be able to please them all, especially the ones who want to do us harm, but a step in the direction of understanding is one that would benefit us greatly. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:46:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/what-americans-fear/#IDComment145172594 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment143175194 This article is one that made me very angry and frustrated. The most appalling part to me is the fact that Mr. Devoureau had been issued a new birth certificate declaring him a male, a driver’s license stating he was male, and he his social security information was changed declaring him male as well. If all these legal documents state that he is in fact a male, then previous operations should play absolutely no role whatsoever in his ability to do his job. He had been doing the job properly and up to standard until his management inquired about his past. If there was no problem in his ability to correctly and professionally perform the job, then his past should have been left where it is, the past. And it wasn’t even his behavior that prompted his employers to ask him about his past operations, it was a rumor. I think it is absolutely absurd that someone’s choice to have a sex change so that they feel more comfortable in their own body can be used against them in terms of eligibility for a job that they had already been working. This case just goes to show that our society still has a very long way to go in terms of acceptance of people different than ourselves. These sorts of issues interest me a lot because I simply cannot imagine what life is like from their perspective. I truly cannot put myself in their shoes; I may try but I will never fully understand. To be born as one gender and feel you belong to another? It is a concept outside of my grasp, and to know that they face more than just personal struggles with the issue, such as issues in the workplace, is downright uncalled for. People in these sorts of situations have already gone through so much in their decision making process to go through with such an operation. Most likely many family members and friends may have not supported this decision. The least our society can give them is equal opportunity at employment, considering all the personal struggles they must go through daily. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:04:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment143175194 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/women-and-war/#IDComment140909498 The stories this woman had to share are exactly why war is such a horrific thing. She said something along the lines of “we view casualties so casually.” And it is so very true, how our society and media will display numbers of those who had died, and they are only represented by that number as whole. Nothing individualistic is given to these people who have died as war casualties, which is why the human race can bear to go back into war and continue the deathly cycle. We always hear about attacks, but we cannot comprehend the actual terror and fear involved when being under attack. We are very lucky to have had few attacks on our own soil in the U.S., but there are many others who are not so lucky. There are many others for whom war has become a part of their daily lives, a constant reality rather than a temporary tragedy. The speaker also mentions how there are two sides to the war, those who fight the battles, and those who fight to carry on their lives and keep society going. Without these people, winners and losers alike would return home to abandoned towns; to nothingness. But these brave people persevere and try their best to not allow war to stop all life in its tracks. The story of these people is often an untold story. Both sides only want to know about who is winning and who is making progress on the battlefield. They do not ask about how the civilians are doing and if they need any help. Instead we send packages to the soldiers to remind them to be strong and brave. But what about the war torn towns these soldiers have invaded? Don’t they deserve care packages too? To tell them that there is hope and that there are people out there thinking of them, too. Maybe one day their voice will be heard, but for now they are silent. Their struggles come out after the war, not during. Their loss of normalcy is seen as insignificant in comparison to that of the soldiers. But in all reality, everyone suffers come war; no exceptions. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 04:09:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/women-and-war/#IDComment140909498 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment138974385 I think that this is a very serious problem in the U.S. for many reasons. Not only is it incredibly unfair, but we who are not in the top 10% of society pay taxes to support those people who cannot support themselves, which lessens our income, and causes the middle class to sink lower in society, while the upper class have superfluous amounts of extra money and are not required to give any of it to those in need. I understand some of these people have worked hard and deserve the money they make, but at the same time I think we need to look at the bigger picture and ask how much a large donation from their stupendous wealth would really affect them. I honestly don’t think they would notice is hundreds or even thousands of dollars came off of their paychecks. They reach a point where they’re earning a ridiculous amount of money and the actual numbers aren’t recorded. They just know that they can have whatever they want whenever they want and money will never be an issue. I also think the incredibly wide income gap is the out of sight out of mind. We don’t actually watch as our paychecks are distributed, this many dollars for me, and this many thousands and millions more for some social elite. We know figures but we never actually see the pay out process. In this sense, the huge difference in income in a different reality than what we actually see. Some of us have the experience of working as hard as or harder than someone above us and know that we get paid less for better work. These cases are small in comparisons to the number of people who work among those who earn the same as them for the same hours doing the same job. What everyone asks is how can we fix this income gap, how can we bring about equality. The sad truth is that those who would have to pass laws and such for anything major to take place are in fact the wealthy ones benefitting from this inequality. None of them will act to worsen their situation and better the situation of someone else. Ultimately, I think that no matter what happens we will always have a wide income gap. It is just a part of life, and is inherent in our nature. When our country was founded there were people who were the social elite, and those at the bottom of the pyramid doing the dirty work. This structure will most likely persist forever, even if some advances are made in the direction of equality. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 00:36:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment138974385 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/23/fear-2/#IDComment137378699 This letter is almost too horrific to believe. It seems awful in the beginning but only gets worse. As awful as it sounds I almost hoped his crime was an offense against his parents. I do not believe anyone has the right to take the life of another human being, but these were not good people. The people who died here weren’t worthy of the son they had abused for so long. It is unfathomable to me how people could treat one of their own children in such a way. What is the point of having a child but to provide them with unconditional love? It’s horrible people like this that put evil into our world, and thus were the victims of an evil act. I am not surprised to hear that he took his parents life; we can all understand why he would hoard such incredible amounts of vengeance and hatred towards these people. One of the hardest parts to read was when he said that he sometimes would muster up the courage to open to someone about his problems at home and would only be told that “they had been warned about him” and that he should stop lying. In all reality it was his parents who were the ones that everyone needed to be warned about. I can’t even imagine feeling an inkling of hope when finally trying to tell someone what he was going through, and then having his hopes immediately crushed only to be accused of lying. It’s sickening to think that his parents literally tortured him for much of his life. What would possess people to act in such a horrendous manner is beyond my comprehension. To live in constant fear is a punishment beyond the cell walls of a prison. Fear and repressed memories are things most people will never be able to escape, and sitting in jail cell for the rest of one’s life only leaves more time to think over your life before you entered this penitentiary. In his case, he is left only to reflect on his troubled youth and young adulthood. It must have taken an incredible amount of strength to get past his suicidal thoughts and into a healthier state of mind. Although, a truly healthy mind will take years and years for him to achieve. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:53:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/23/fear-2/#IDComment137378699 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135861140 I think this is a truly awesome video. Zach Wahls completely defies all the stereotypes people try to associate with children raised by gay couples. His character, personality, and incredible intelligence are that of his own, and his parents’ sexual orientation did nothing to alter these qualities in any sort of negative way. Many people make uneducated assumptions about the effects that gay or lesbian couple parents will have on the sexual orientation of the child they may raise. But, Wahls makes it quite clear that these assumptions are nothing but assumptions, hasty conclusions made by people who do not understand or who are afraid to understand the possibilities a child may have by being raised by a same sex couple. The purpose of his speech was to give his audience an idea as to why same sex marriage should be legalized in Iowa. Personally, I think that same sex marriage should be equal and all states, and denying gays the right to marry who they love is discrimination to its fullest extent. We live in a country where we say everyone is equal, but clearly we don’t always live up to our reputation. Our government officials need to practice what they preach, and recognize that we live in an ever changing society. In today’s society being openly gay is far more accepted than it was in the past, and legal rights and benefits should not be excluded from one group of people based solely on which sex they are attracted to. And even beyond that, marriage is an intimate commitment made between two people to stay loyal and true to only each other and to love one another for all the days of their lives. Nowhere in this definition does gender play a role. Love is love and it is not determined by the sex of the two who are in love. Love knows no boundaries, and love for gay couples should face no boundaries imposed by the government if they should so choose to make this commitment to one another. Our country has progressed in many ways, but like this video showed, we still have a long way to go until everyone will have true equality in the eyes of the law. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:39:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135861140 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/01/lighting-our-way/#IDComment132461419 I cannot imagine living in a city consumed by darkness for a majority of the day. Personally I am a complete photophilic creature. I am really weird about artificial lighting. I hate when someone uses an overhead light or lamp during the day. Even when the sun is going down I’ll open my blinds and soak up the last natural light available. I’m more productive, friendlier, and generally just in a better mood on a sunny day. It’s actually quite interesting how much a person’s mood and activeness depend on the sun. I cannot imagine depending on an artificial light to get a sense of the sun. I used to go tanning a lot, and just being completely immersed in a bright, bright light can really boost your spirits. It’s scientifically proven that endorphins are released when tanning, although the negative health effects greatly outweigh this one. During the summer I will lay outside for hours on end, because just being in the sun makes me feel content. When I’m inside on a sunny day I feel very restless and uneasy, as if I need to be experiencing every moment of sunshine possible. Unfortunately for me, I live in Pennsylvania, where the cold season tends to last around 6 or 7 months. But, even being outside on a sunny day that is not warm still has positive effects on me. The warmth is always nice, but more so it’s the bright sun and light that is the natural endorphin releaser. I would never be able to live in a place with so few daylight hours. I would surely become depressed and slowly lose my mind. But, I think here in Helsinki the city does a good job of fighting off some of this. The winter festival is a great idea to get people out and about and active when they may be feeling down and unenergetic. It would be interesting to see how people go about their daily lives in the darkness. For me it would be unnatural, but still intriguing to see life in darkness as a normality of everyday life. Fri, 4 Mar 2011 20:38:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/01/lighting-our-way/#IDComment132461419 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130451678 I think that this video is really radical and eye opening. I one hundred percent agree with the idea that this ADHD epidemic is fictitious. I know more than a handful of girls my age who are prescribed to Adderall or drugs like it so that they can “lose weight.” The pill takes away some of your appetite so many girls my age have gone to the doctor to get prescribed as an easy way to lose weight fast. And the fact that this scheme actually works is absurd. I also find it incredibly interesting that the cases of ADHD have increased along with the increase of standardized testing. I think that the education system thinks that it is doing something positive for students and schools by making sure they are all at the “right” level, but in all reality what they are doing is teaching “to the test,” meaning that their lessons focus on the answers to the questions they will most likely be asked rather than focusing on actual learning for learning’s sake. Another interesting note is the education system’s similarity to that of an assembly line. It seems that we are packaged for school according to our date of manufacture, but we can see in any classroom today that there are a good handful of students who need to be challenged more, and those who are being challenged too much. In this instance we must ask, but how else would we group students? Would not a standardized test be necessary to somehow group the students on their actual mental capacities? And thus the cycle continues. It makes me wonder if the education we truly need will ever come about. Policy makers and school boards think they have the answers to the problems in the system that arise each year, but these solutions are too specific. I think the system as a whole needs a total transformation, but whether we will ever find someone to lead this radical revolution is unknown. And one final note I found personally pertinent was the fact that just a few decades ago going to college guaranteed you a good job and a nice salary, whereas today just going to college isn’t enough anymore. You need to be more qualified, spend more money on school, and know more people at the top to get a “good job.” The standards are always rising, but to what extent will these standards forever be out of reach for the majority? Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:50:20 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130451678 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127411104 This phenomenon is truly mind blowing. It is so true that many Americans do not travel abroad, and is proven so by the fact that only 30% of us have passports. And I must admit that I am one of the 70% who do not have a passport. Furthermore, the only reason I have ever considered getting my passport was to go to Canada, only an hour drive from my home on Lake Erie. I, myself, as a student, have not traveled abroad because A. the money factor and B. the lack of time available to me. Sure there is summer vacation where students are given an extended amount of time off, but even then, like the article said, we are told to get a summer job and make some money, rather than enjoy our time off school. It is truly a shame how little our culture travels abroad, which just adds to the stereotype of Americans being ignorant. In this sense, we are ignorant. Very few of us really, really understand other cultures, which is why we are so quick to stereotype them as well and formulate negative opinions about them before ever taking the time to appreciate them. I think that the money issue involved in this also corresponds with how much college tuition is here in the states compared to places like Europe. If millions of students didn’t go into school and acquire thousands and thousands of dollars of debt, then we might not feel the urgency to so quickly find a job without taking a personal break in between our school years and finding a career. Another issue to take into account is that Americans are afraid. Ever since 9/11 our country has been on our tiptoes, and even traveling in an airport has become such a hassle that many people don’t think it is worth the time or effort. There are so many precautions taken that some view going through airport security as a violation of personal privacy. Many factors play into our lack of travel abroad, but we can only hope that in the future these fears reside. I hope that one day the average American will be more willing to go outside their comfort zone and experience a culture unlike their own. Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:32:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127411104 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126054533 I think the video is incredibly interesting, and says a lot about every aspect of our society. Almost everything we do as human being is influenced by society. From fashion to sports to TV shows to school choices, we base many of our “opinions” on what other people are doing. Many of us here at Penn State would not have chosen to go here had this institution not had a name of prestige and excellence. All the clothes wear and fads we follow are directly influenced by members of society other than ourselves. Not a single person can name an attractive feature about the popular Ugg boots, yet every girl wears them, most likely because some celebrity started the fad. These are specific, smaller examples, but overall they shows us even more how the decisions we think we are making everyday are actually not our own at all. The “invisible strings” at play in our lives affect every single part of our lives. Also, are afraid of being the outcast, so even when deep down inside us we want to do something different, we choose to follow the crowd and suppress OUR ACTUAL views. Talking about this makes me wonder what a different world we would live in if we could actually truly express our individuality. I believe it would be a much more interesting and harmonious place to live, if we could all accept that we are different and would choose to freely express these differences in our own, unique way. This is all too idealistic though. So many problems exist today because of the fact that we as human being struggle to accept others who are different than us. This issue in itself is the human mind conforming to society’s view of what is accepted as “normal” and attacking things that our different and foreign. It’s truly remarkable how much of our everyday lives are impacted by the concept of conformity. For example, you wake up in the morning, get dressed into clothes that are socially accepted, style your hair in a way that is not going to get your odd stares, eat foods the media has told you are tasty and good for you, and text and communicate on your cellphone in ways that society accepts as normal and regular. When we examine our lives like this, it makes our “free will” seem virtually non-existent. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 02:22:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126054533 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/24/life-without-parole-001-blog/#IDComment124210756 I think everyone’s moral compass is dependent on the circumstances which they are in; what may seem right in one context may be wrong in another. I definitely agree with the ‘lifer’ here when they say that it is not until you sit back and look at your life that you come to any sort of conclusions about your moral views. The code which he lives by seems pretty standard, and I believe I hold some of those same values. His moral compass is somewhat similar to my own, which proves that just because he is living his life behind bars does not mean he is a crazed evil person. People learn from their mistakes, and he openly accepts the punishment he has been given. The sad part of this story is that he was put into jail at 14 years old, with no chance of redemption now. This causes many questions to arise in my head like, should we be more willing to give people a second chance after x amount of years? But in the same regard, had this man or woman committed a crime against me or a family member, would I feel the same way? It is hard to say. But in the same respect, I sit here as a student and read this person’s honest thoughts and have come to the conclusion that maybe they do deserve a second chance. This also makes me wonder, what invisible strings were in place that led this person to commit such a serious crime that would receive a life sentence? Clearly I do not know many details, but at the same time being unaware of these details makes me more curious to ask the question: was this person predisposed to commit such a crime? It’s a wild thought to think that forces outside this person were acting and played a role in them committing such a serious crime. But, in the same regard, this person, so they say, knows the difference between right and wrong and should have been aware of this 22 years ago. Yet, perhaps 22 years ago they had not had the chance to sit down and think “what is right and wrong.” This ultimately may have been their demise, but it isn’t until our moral character and judgment are questioned that we finally come to conclusions about some of our own views. Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:50:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/24/life-without-parole-001-blog/#IDComment124210756 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cd%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment123515138 soc 001 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:59:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cd%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment123515138 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122613935 I have a lot of mixed feelings on these pageants. In this particular case, the one thing that concerns me the most is her age. If this little girl is only 2 years old and her mother has already put her into pageants and given her the idea that “this is fun” then of course the little girl will think that pageants are fun because “mommy has said so.” I personally think that at an age so young children should be free to do what they want and should not be involved in something that is so mainly focused on competition. When I was younger my mom put me into dance lessons and I’m so thankful that she did, but I think beauty pageants are of a different nature. Their focus is not really on gaining a certain type of skill or improving a natural talent you already have, more so they purely focus on looking pretty and physical attractiveness. I don’t think I would ever encourage my daughter to wear make up at such a young age, especially in such excess. If these pageants are really about these little girls just having fun, why the need to get all dolled up? If fun is the focus, then why don’t the girls just do the talent portion and go out on stage all natural? Yes other activities such as dance and cheerleading have girls putting on makeup and wearing skimp amounts of clothing, but that is not the focus of those events. I know it is stereotypical to say that it is the mothers living vicariously through their daughters, but when you see some of these women’s attitudes about beating out all the other girls you get a sense that just seeing their daughter have fun is not their only priority. But, I do think that the media is overreacting to the Madonna cone bra outfit. We are the ones who are making her outfit something that could be argued as sexually charged. The little girl did not prance around in a seductive manner and I believe she was one hundred percent unaware of what she was actually wearing. As a society we need to get our heads out of the gutter and let our children be young and innocent for as long as possible. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:39:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122613935