People focus on their well being and not the well being of others because human beings are inherently greedy and pleasure seeking. We all want what is going to benefit us. Sure we’ll throw the dog a bone every now and then by giving some money to charity so we can get some sleep at night, but really all we care about is ourselves. I’m guilty, your guilty, everyone is guilty. We’re all playing for our team and we want to win every game. I was raised in the upper middle class, Catholic, lived in the south for my childhood, had conservative parents so naturally I’m an extreme right winger. Because of that I would say that I’m a hard ass capitalist. Of course I want to love what I do, but I’m ashamed to admit, but I’ll still admit that I largely define success through monetary progress. At least for myself. If someone wants to be a firefighter, and they’re damn good at it and they save a lot of lives and that’s how they define success, then they are successful. I think at the end of the day, people want to make money. We are greedy. We’re not greedy because of our beliefs so much. I would agree that religion started a lot of wars. Most of the wars from centuries ago were started from religion. Wars today are still started from religion, but now everybody worships the same deity. Nobodies a fucking atheist, so all those holier than though people standing in front of the hub ranting and raving about how there is no God can shut their mouths, because we all worship a God in some way and that God is the Almighty Dollar. Anyone at this school who tells you they don’t care about making money and just want to be happy is full of it. People will do extremely desperate things at the expense of others to fulfill their want for money. Not just individual people, but whole demographics. Not only are people greedy, but people are stupid. We have very short attention spans and in a very weird way, as technology increases, we’re getting dumber. A great example of this is music today. You can’t tell me that the shit that is being played these days is good. Artists compromise their musical values to create catchy watered down shit that is popular because for some reason, and I’ll admit, the stuff is so catchy it is almost subliminal, but its not good. Everywhere I see my musician friends putting down what they love to create this watered down shit because they want to make MONEY. The moral of this post from me is that people focus on the well-being of themselves and not others because they want to make MONEY….

Growing up with a strict Catholic background, this one really hits home for me. Having a relationship with a priest or a pastor and having your own personal relationship with God are both very important to me. Everyone has their different beliefs and religious practices and I have my own. I wouldn’t say I’m a devout Catholic, I don’t follow closely the doctrines of the Catholic church and I don’t abide by all of its rules. The reason I would consider myself a Catholic is because I was raised that way and being raised that way has shaped my values, and I’ve made some of my own values along the way. Through my life experiences, I’ve made this own idea of who God is and what he expects in my mind, and it is something I really closely believe. I think God is the creator, who expects better of us, challenges us and has a plan for us. I think God more or less is similar to the way the Bible portrays him but I think his expectations change with the way his plan unfolds. This is my interpretation of God and its very personal to me. However, I think priests have connected with God on a way higher level than I ever have, they have read all the scriptures, they’ve heard every problem under the sun and they are sworn to secrecy. When you find a good priest and form a relationship with him its almost like having your own personal psychologist but its for free and he’s always there to talk. Like I said earlier, Priests who have been at it for a while have heard every moral conflict and every problem that anyone’s ever experienced. They talk to people every single day and you got to believe that there is pretty much not a shot in hell that you have a problem that a priest or minister hasn’t helped somebody with before. Priests don’t just hear basic little everyday problems like bartenders do, priests are there for you to tell them the darkest shit that you have ever gone through. Your deepest, darkest secrets, your biggest problems, priests are there to help you out with them and they can’t tell a soul. One question that my mom always asks me is “why do you go to confession?” “Why not just pray to God for forgiveness on your own time?” I go to confession because that’s the way it was done in the Bible and that’s the way its been done for a couple thousand years. There is no feeling like walking out of confession and you’re clean of sins. Its like you just got shot five times, you go in and magically it all disappears and you’re healed again. It’s a fresh feeling of getting something off your chest that you couldn’t do anywhere else.

This video was really eye opening for me in the sense that it is really easy to say you are going to do the right thing but when the time comes to do the right thing sometimes we just turn our backs. If somebody ever came up to me and told me the situation: “you are walking with your whole family and all of a sudden you come up on a kid who is sawing off a bike chain clearly trying to steal it…what are young going to do about it?” I would tell you that I would give the kid a warning telling him if he doesn’t leave the bike go I’m going to call the cops and I would think in my mind that I was going to call the cops for sure if he persisted. However, if the situation actually presented itself, I wonder what I would really do. Seeing the video made me doubt myself a little bit. As for the black actor. I got to say, I felt really bad for that kid. He acted his part and when we saw him and when he started the tone was light and it seemed pretty funny in a way. After the whole act was over and he saw all those people call the cops he seemed totally devastated and it was obvious that the experience really affected him. Seeing that happen really affected me too, after the video, all of a sudden I put myself in the criminals shoes and by criminal I don’t mean the kids acting, I mean the people who called the police on the black kid. The people that were walking by the white actor and the black actor were all basically the same people… same neighborhood, same demographic, same whole nine yards. The people that called the cops on the black kid would not have called the cops on the white kid. They like to believe that they would have, but we all know it wouldn’t have happened. So when I saw that, I asked myself, would I have called the cops on the black kid and not the white kid. It really made me question my values and my view on race. If somebody were to ask me, I would say, hell no am I a racist. But all of a sudden now, I see myself as the criminal and I wonder… am I inherently racist? I think it was interesting what that one girl said in class about her teacher who said that we are designed to react differently to black people without really noticing it. Maybe she’s right, maybe its just in our blood as the majority… I wonder if it would be the same if the tables were turned an I became the minority, I’m sure it would.

There are really any positives about kids experiencing racial issues at a young age. And I feel as though they don’t really experience racial issues. I think it is still the same as when Sam hung out with his buddy Art Lu. Kids don’t really think about that stuff, there’s no black or white or Asian or Muslim when you’re a kid, there’s just hanging out and having a good time. Kids grow up and all of a sudden the adults corrupt them a little bit by making race a thing. IT shouldn’t be a thing. Unfortunately this Soc 119 class is necessary, it is a necessary evil. Because racial boundaries exist, we have to talk about it to relieve some of the mysteries or tensions that we might feel. Stereotypes also come into light as you get older. When you go through middle school, you might start to realize that Asians get really good grades. When you get your license, you might start to realize that women can’t really drive well, except for Danika Patrick. These aren’t things that a child’s mind thinks of. I mean, if kids are in fact facing more racial issues at a young age, I guess the only positive is that it prepares them for the inevitable. Race aside, I feel like everything is starting to happen at a younger age. 4th graders have cell phones, freshmen in high school are smoking pot and having sex, 8th graders are growing beards. I feel like our world is turning kids into adults at way to young of an age. Those years of ignorance and innocence are so important to the children’s psyche and later on they are also extremely important to the adult psyche. Why is our world pushing kids to grow up so quickly. In a Ken Robinson TED talk, he was talking about children being accepted into kindergarten. Accepted into kindergarten?! Is that a fucking joke?! He was saying that a kid who is 4 years old, literally has to somehow explain, or have his parents explain why he should be in the school, what he’s accomplished. What can you accomplish in 48 months of living. I can’t believe that they are literally treating Kindergartens and elementary schools like colleges. Kids are being pushed too hard. I know this started as a race thing, and now its just a rant about how the world is pushing kids too hard, but I’m still going to go with this because it pisses me off. I’ll give you a prime example of being pushed too hard as a kid. When I was young, 2nd grade, I was diagnosed with “ADD” and I put that in quotes because in MOST CASES it’s a fictitious disease. Drug companies pushing doctors to make them money… They put me in a room with psychologists who asked me ridiculous questions like “Do you believe superman can fly?” I lashed out and started crying, because I felt like a freak. They made me feel like something was wrong with me and that I was different from the other kids. Really, when I was zoning out, I was listening to music in my head. Later in life, I made a 3x high school battle of the bands winning band…it never occurred to those doctors that maybe I didn’t have ADD and maybe I was just a musician.

My prospective on war has just been reinforced these last few classes. I took Soc 001 with Sam, so it could have been that my perspective of war coming into this class was previously shaped by that. My biggest thing about America and war is that it’s a dog eat dog world, everybody is playing for their own team. I’m playing for team America, it’s the team I was born into and the team I support regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. One of the veterans who spoke the other day encapsulated my views on war perfectly when he said, “If someone came into my kitchen and tried to start something, I would fight back.” Over in the Middle East, we’re going into their kitchen, just like they have come into ours in the past. We’re taking their oil because we need it to thrive. Like I said, this is a dog eat dog world. We’re dogs, they’re dogs, people are inherently pleasure seeking and need seeking and they will do whatever they need to in order to fulfill their needs. This is a survival of the fittest world, if they needed something from us and actually had the strength and ability to take it from us, you better believe they’d be over here messing shit up. It seems to me that we’re over there for two reasons, to get what we need for the well-being of our country and to keep them from coming here and trying to get what they need. Am I against war? Of course I’m against war, I’m a human being and I hate the idea of lost life, but no matter what we do there will always be war. There will always be the war on drugs in our country, there will always be war throughout the world, and there will always be crime. This is the way life is. And in conjunction with that we will always need brave men and women to defend the greater good. Sorry JFK but the day where the “conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige as the warrior” will never come until the world ends. That might be some stuff that God saves for Heaven but that won’t happen on Earth. There is too much human nature for that to happen. There will always be rotten people with rotten intentions and we will always need the warrior way more than we will every need to hear the conscientious objector. I agree fully with Ronald Regan. Regan loved the idea of world peace, but he knew its was so distant and the only way to achieve peace in our land (which to me is more important than any other land, because remember, this is OUR team) is to fight and protect our interests. The idea of war to me boils down very simply to this last example. There’s a loaf of bread at the end of the hallway. You and another man are starving and so are your families. You can’t split the bread, your family needs the whole thing or they start dying. What are you going to do about it? Are you gonna let him have it? Or are you going to do anything and everything you can to ensure the well-being of YOUR family?

Look, there is a reason don’t ask, don’t tell used to exist and its not because the higher ups and people in charge give a shit about sexual orientation. Here’s the deal, in the marines, the goal is to create a brotherhood bond. There are programs designed through Officer Candidate School and Basic Training, that have the pure intention and 100% goal of uniting men to become brothers so that they will function for the well-being of the team, accomplish missions and ultimately take bullets for each other. I am pretty open to gay people, had a lot of gay friends in high school, I can’t say I like seeing them kiss, it makes me real uneasy, but that is besides the point. There are marines out there who are very homophobic and very testosterone fueled who simply can’t accept the idea of taking a bullet for another gay man. It sounds sad, I’m not justifying that, but it is true. Homosexuality in the marines very well could compromise the integrity of certain marine teams and companies. I have a ton of buddies who are doing the marines and I’ve asked them about don’t ask, don’t tell…very few of them are against it. Most of them say the same thing, “I don’t really have a problem with it, but I sure as hell know a lot of people who would, and I don’t want to see my team compromised.” I’ll never forget when Barack announced that he was going to repeal don’t ask don’t tell in one of his State of the Union addresses. Let me put it this way; that Secretary of Defense looked fucking pissed. I mean while Barack does run the country, the Secretary of Defense knows what is best for the military. He knows that by repealing the don’t ask don’t tell policy, his military is going to be compromised. Another thing that is besides the point of the military… to the marine in the picture, you guys won, don’t ask don’t tell is gone, great…don’t be taking pictures of a suggestive kiss and try to rub it in to all of your marine buddies. Great…your gay, well either the marines your trying to have see this hate that or they simply don’t give a shit. I agree with the guy in the video, gay or not, I hate public displays of affection. The only picture like that I actually enjoy and think is American as hell, is that classic picture of VJ day where the Navy guy is kissing his babe of a girlfriend. Its not overly suggestive, it’s a classy kiss and its something that the general public can embrace and have feelings for…plus we just won one of the most brutal and insane wars of all time…to me that deserves a kiss and trying to display and rub in your sexuality to make a point certainly does not.

I totally agree with Sam. Affirmative action is bullshit, but it is something that will never be eradicated. After the civil rights movements in the 60’s affirmative action was a politically correct move made by the government. I feel like now we are at a place where it is no longer needed. At the time, it was probably a necessary move to implement it. But at the same time I feel like in some cases it still could be necessary because of the point Sam made about black names vs. white names. Maybe the extra 5 points Toshequa would get would put her on a level playing field with Kaitlyn. I remember my sister dealing with this issue on the reverse side when she was applying for colleges. Her name is Lindsey and we are a white family. However, when applying for colleges that actually put us behind the curve. My sister really really wanted to go to the University of North Carolina. It was her dream school and she had all of the credentials to get in to it. Her GPA was near perfect, she had ridiculous amounts of extra curriculars on her resume. Her Indian friend with a slightly less GPA and a slightly less amount of extra curriculars also applied and sure enough she got the spot at UNC (although, Lindsey is not too upset because she went to Penn State as a result). In a way, affirmative actions most popular market is colleges these days. Schools are emphasizing diversity so much more and understandably so. By promoting a diverse culture, people become more educated to different walks of life. Colleges do not want to be like the suburbs of New York where I am from…99% white. Coming to the WinC chats has opened my eyes to issues of race so much because, growing up in a white town, I never really faced race before.
Fortune 500 companies are a lot different then colleges however. It seems as though many of the business (Supply Chain/Finance) companies my friends and I are applying to, have very set standards in terms of the culture that they want to radiate throughout the workplace. The other day Sam’s analysis of PWC and the applicant who shows up with a brown belt and black shoes on was dead on. If you even thought about showing up to a Goldmann Sachs, McKinsey or Deloitte interview wearing anything other than a Brooks Brothers suit, they’d throw your resume in the trash in less than 5 seconds. I want to say its bullshit, but maybe its not, because people of like minds tend to accomplish things as a team more. I feel like that is the standard that companies are trying to set in terms of who they hire. While culture should have a role, race certainly should not.

I totally agree with Sam. Affirmative action is bullshit, but it is something that will never be eradicated. After the civil rights movements in the 60’s affirmative action was a politically correct move made by the government. I feel like now we are at a place where it is no longer needed. At the time, it was probably a necessary move to implement it. But at the same time I feel like in some cases it still could be necessary because of the point Sam made about black names vs. white names. Maybe the extra 5 points Toshequa would get would put her on a level playing field with Kaitlyn. I remember my sister dealing with this issue on the reverse side when she was applying for colleges. Her name is Lindsey and we are a white family. However, when applying for colleges that actually put us behind the curve. My sister really really wanted to go to the University of North Carolina. It was her dream school and she had all of the credentials to get in to it. Her GPA was near perfect, she had ridiculous amounts of extra curriculars on her resume. Her Indian friend with a slightly less GPA and a slightly less amount of extra curriculars also applied and sure enough she got the spot at UNC (although, Lindsey is not too upset because she went to Penn State as a result). In a way, affirmative actions most popular market is colleges these days. Schools are emphasizing diversity so much more and understandably so. By promoting a diverse culture, people become more educated to different walks of life. Colleges do not want to be like the suburbs of New York where I am from…99% white. Coming to the WinC chats has opened my eyes to issues of race so much because, growing up in a white town, I never really faced race before.
Fortune 500 companies are a lot different then colleges however. It seems as though many of the business (Supply Chain/Finance) companies my friends and I are applying to, have very set standards in terms of the culture that they want to radiate throughout the workplace. The other day Sam’s analysis of PWC and the applicant who shows up with a brown belt and black shoes on was dead on. If you even thought about showing up to a Goldmann Sachs, McKinsey or Deloitte interview wearing anything other than a Brooks Brothers suit, they’d throw your resume in the trash in less than 5 seconds. I want to say its bullshit, but maybe its not, because people of like minds tend to accomplish things as a team more. I feel like that is the standard that companies are trying to set in terms of who they hire. While culture should have a role, race certainly should not.

Sorry Sam, I loved the latest lecture and I was very entertained, but I don’t think I’m buying this one. I think you could have gone to a licensed doctor and gotten the same treatment and your ankle would’ve been better. The Shaman probably knew some ancient fix for your ankle that is also taught in med school. Sam was also talking about how Shaman access “the source of life” for knowledge and how they had to use some sort of drug for a “pathway” to get to their nirvana or whatever you might call it. Of course they have to use drugs to get there. There is not really another alternate universe they can access, really they’re just fuckin high and they want to feel some sort of enlightenment. It seems like these guys aren’t much different then that stoner down the hall who says, “duuuddee…this stuff will make you find a new meaning to life.” Being high or drunk feels good, but its not reality. Many would argue that perception is true reality. I disagree, I think if you take this sort of ignorance is bliss approach, you will let down the people around you. It would be so cool if “the source of life” had all the answers and you could access it yourself. That seems like its straight out of Avatar and I love that movie. I want to believe this Shaman business is true but I just don’t know if I can buy it. Then again, I come from a very strict Catholic family who is set in there ways. I’m not a guy like Sam who is trying to discover what is out there. I’m content being safe and secure with the customs I am used to and the values I’ve been raised on. Therefore, something like this Shaman thing seems like such an alien concept to me. In a sense when it comes to looking at race, I guess I take the “ignorance is bliss” approach. I don’t really feel compelled to travel and discover different things because I am so happy with the way I feel in the society I am living in now. So I guess I am just going to keep doing what I am doing and uncover all the secrets of life through the “source of life” and my academia and binge partying habits and good ol Penn State. But hey, if the Shaman really think that they are getting what they want out of life by using drugs to access an alternate reality and that’s what gets them through the day then more power to them. I’m sure they too would look at the way I live and what I do and probably ask themselves “what the hell?” but its all about being content and getting through the day in your own way.

I’m literally about to go to town on your question kinky girl. The reason that black girls would straighten their hair and white girls would curl their hair is very simple; women are never satisfied…ever. They are always chasing after things that are not within reach. They are always concerned with looking like a model. Women are always getting highlights, hitting the tanning beds and going to step classes to shapen that butt. Of course there are those holier than thou hipster chicks that promote women empowerment, and say that appearance does not matter, but it sure as hell does. The weird thing is that it matters to other girls almost more than it does to guys sometimes. A perfect example is one of my good friends who just dyed her hair. Almost every dude I know agrees with me that chicks shouldn’t dye their hair. 9 times out of 10, it looks like shit. God Gave you your hair for a reason, keep it that way! But women seem to say things to each other like, “Hey girlie! Love those highlights!”
I guess women feel the need to change their appearances to appease to their friends in the same way that dudes might try to look tough around their buds. It gives a sense of fitting in. Asides from that, I think that girls, especially the ones from my demographic are obsessed with trying to obtain what they don’t have. I’ve never been with a girl who stays content with the same routine or even when I’m overly nice. Girls like what they don’t have. That is why a black girl might try to put on skin whitener or a white chick might hit the tanning bed.
Whether its light skin, dark skin, curly hair or straight hair, women want to get the attributes that God did not bless them with. I just wish people, guys and girls would be happy with what they had. Sam’s comment about that curly hair or the dark skin preventing that girls’ ancestors from dying in the sun was very sobering. God made you a certain way for a good reason. One of my favorite lines from Henry Rollins, the lead singer of Black Flag is, “is it such a crime to look a year older than you did the year before?” People are always trying to look younger, sometimes going to great lengths like costly plastic surgeries to look different than the course of nature intended them to. Why can’t people just embrace what is? Why do they push so hard to be something they’re not… I wonder how much cooler and more interesting the world would be if people did not try to conform to the stupid standards that others set.