I was born and raised within the Catholic/Christian church, and I am very in tune with my religion. In response to this question, it would seem the answer is quite apparent. There is no way God supports this war, He speaks about peace, or turning the other cheek. The Golden Rule, developed by Him, states “Treat others the way you want to be treated,” so answer this, do we want to be invaded and killed? I guarantee nobody says yes here. Even worse, the whole basis of war, which is asserting violence in order to achieve a desired product, whether it be land, oil, or anything of value, is done with the act of killing. This is a direct violation of the Ten Commandments, one of which says, “Thou shall not kill.” I realize the soldiers do not much a choice when thrown into war stricken areas, but to even consider that God supports it seems preposterous. I apologize if I seem very biased in this, it may be because I have never found that fighting or violence is truly the answer. God never intended for anything to be taken by force, or violence. Ultimately fighting just causes more enemies, and therefore creates more fighting. It may seem alright, and successful at the start when the battle has been won, but in the long run, violence solves nothing. Think of how peaceful the world would be if there was communication instead of killing. God placed goodness in every person’s heart, but He decided to give us free will to make our own choices. Within this decision, people began choosing wrong, began fighting and be the bad guy. Goodness is in everyone, it is just our choice of whether or not to act on it. Perhaps that is why I feel so strongly here, because I cannot see the right in war.
However, this is what our world has become, a place of anger, vengeance, anything tied in with gaining an advantage other than being kind. Granted there are people who still have these kind hearts, but a lot of people carry heavy hearts, and use them to beat others down. These hearts of stone are developed through learned processes, they are not what we are born with. How many children do you know who you see pure evilness in? Almost none. We are born to be good hearted individuals, and God expects nothing short of that, so for us to resort to war, is disappointment in his eyes.

I want to start this blog off by first stating that I did not choose the socialist economy, I chose the one that stood for completely equal distribution. I think people decide to not choose the American economy because maybe from a distance, when you personally are doing well for yourself, it is easy to lose focus on the destruction that capitalism can cause. However, when our economy is broken down into portions, like the pie chart used in class, nobody can possibly look at the distribution of wealth in this country and feel like it is fair. In fact, it sort of disgusts me in a way that we have allowed this to remain the way it is. I think that majority of people chose the socialist economy because, let’s be honest, the middle class is the majority in America. In a socialist economy, the middle class is who controls the majority of the wealth, which seems fair to most people. Capitalism is a destructive force, where rich stay rich and get richer, and the poor stay poor and may become poorer. For a land that is all about opportunity and justice, the poverty levels should not be as high as they are. Well poverty would not be a problem if we all made enough money to support ourselves. But in this land of freedom, how free are we to make a sufficient living? We do not live in equal opportunity. I realize that the completely equal economy is only a fantasy that is impossible to reach in our world. However, in this case socialism is the next best thing, everyone makes a fair amount of money and everyone has a chance to make a living and provide for a family. Corruption affects anyone in power and that is why our world in general has become so uneven and unpleasant. People reach seats of power and think they have the ability to rule everything. Instead of looking for advice, or guidance they look to do everything on their own, hence, capitalism. Sure we elect the people in office, but only to a certain extent. It is the Electoral college that really decides the President, and then he elects the other officials.
So people choose socialism because when viewed objectively, it is the most fair and most reachable target. What capitalism causes is backstabbing, deceit, lies to gain any kind of advantage, corruption, and people obsessed with power, is this really the best kind of economy?

Yes, I think society has become stuck in stage 2, but not just in terms of race relations, but in terms of every aspect of people. As a whole, society has become such a superficial place to be, that it hardly matters anymore what you are like personally, only that you look the correct part. People today are so quick to judge, now I realize stage two is about not saying certain things in fear of sounding offensive to someone, I am getting to that point. As a people, we have dictated how people are supposed to look if they want to be socially accepted, and to fit in with the status quo. This also ties in with the “Girl Like Me” video we watched in class, where the little girls kept choosing the white doll as the better one, because this is how society tells us to look. However, society will never face this head on, it uses us as the little scapegoats. It relies on the people to take sides, formulate their own opinions, then share them with the people who live in the status quo alongside them. Self-expression has dwindled to almost a non-existent past time. Being an individual is obsolete in today’s world. We use gossip, rumors, and our cliques to relay information about the oddities of people they noticed. I am almost positive, that if the student who was asked to find the darkest kid in the room, was simply within his own group of friends discussing the matter, he would not have felt the guilt he did being on display. We lack courage in this modern era to truly tell people the truth, our honest feelings. We are too scared of confrontation as a whole. However, it was society that made us this way, by putting up pictures and shows and movies of how we should look to be masculine or to be feminine.
Also, the high arrest rate we discussed in class for drug dealers. Majority of drug users and dealers are white, but the highest amount arrested for drug possession or something along those lines, is black people. This is what society is doing to us, instead of making black children proud of who they are, we are scaring them, making them wish to be white. This is after all the “good race” right? It simply disgusts me that we have allowed something so mundane in the facet of life dictate who we are. Everyone has a right to be proud of themselves, their heritage, and their culture and a world without race is a step towards world peace.

Who exactly is the person who declared that this is how women should show themselves? Who said that women must wear short skirts, high heels, and anything else that causes discomfort? Nobody ever made this a rule, it is simply how women think they are supposed to dress because of outside societal pressures to always look sexy. They assume the only way to get the attention of men is to show off as much possible skin, even in the below freezing temperature. This is what is portrayed on television with shows like Jersey Shore and The Real World exemplifying this need to dress “sexy”. Granted there are men on the earth who look for those kinds of women, who are simply looking to get it in and get out, but there are men who do not need a women dressing like this to feel an attraction. There are men who genuinely care and respect women enough to know that it is not vital.
This same concept works the same way with men. Society tells men what to wear to be perceived in certain ways, and this is all shown in the same shows. It is not men’s fault if what society tells them to wear is comfortable or not, they may see it as being very uncomfortable but it is what looks good. Also, men must keep in good shape, go to the gym, have muscles and be over masculine to be considered an alpha male. This whole process cannot be super comfortable, let’s be honest. Again though, we allow our conceptions and judgments of what makes an attractive male and what makes an attractive female dictate how we dress and how we decide to design our personal looks.
It also depends on the given situation. If you plan on going out to a party or to a bar, you assume you have to dress completely different than you would if you were attending a class. This whole thought process is not necessary though. No rule says you cannot be comfortable when going to a party. It fits in perfectly with the lectures regarding free will and determinism. Ultimately it is the person’s choice as to how to show themselves off to the people around them, but the things outside their control, like societal rules and maintaining the status quo, are what truly influences the final decision. We live in too much of a superficial world anymore, where appearance means a lot more than substance, and it is becoming more and more evident.

After watching the videos on the entrepreneurs and the group companies, it opened my eyes to a side a Haiti atypical of what you see in the news. Most scenes of Haiti are the ones stricken with poverty and small towns with one road filled with hundreds of people in a 100 square foot radius. You see the depressing side, the tear-jerker side, what stories are written about. We wonder why people always are so upset about things like this. What we should see more often is these videos I watched today. With Cloren, Anaes, and Sonia as well as the group entrepreneurs for ERNESA, the company making solar powered appliances, it gives us a sense of hope that maybe the help we put forth is paying off. These entrepreneurs are among the most inspirational people I have ever seen; to live through the catastrophe that struck their island, to live in harsh conditions and still find the strength to run their own business, make us re-evaluate what is important in life.
Cloren, making all the shirts and bags out of used clothes was amazing. Using the old jeans to make a strong, durable carry bag and only pricing it at $25 American, which would cost upwards toward $50 in the United States was a story in itself. Also the job she did with the silk screening with a lackluster machine that needs to be replaced was incredible. Sonia who was designing the assorted bags, such as book bags, and insulated lunch boxes, had a very strong idea. It is promoting education and the betterment of the community. Also the insulated lunch boxes, although previously designed, is a helpful design. Perhaps the most amazing story is the ENRESA company, creating solar powered appliances to sell. The fact that these Haitians have the developed the technology to make these importantly powerful appliances is an inspiration to everyone. This is something that can not only benefit Haiti, but America and any country also.
As far as choosing who to follow specifically for this project it is hard for me to pick right now. Every story is touching and awe-inspiring that is makes beyond difficult to choose only one person to support. This project will be eye-opening and will serve as a great connector between us and the outside world, especially the countries in development, like Haiti. Choosing which entrepreneur to follow will be the hardest part because helping every one of them is the most appealing.

Problems now stretch beyond race and beyond religion. We have become so pitiful as a people we simply will choose not to talk to somebody based on their outfit, or their sexual orientation.
Ultimately, we have the final say on our superficial classification because we can choose how people see us (minus skin color). We just allow people’s preconceptions and people’s opinions to shape who we are too much instead of living life as who we are and being an individual. Life is too short to submit to the will of others, make your own classification, live it and love it.

Ultimately, it is our choice. People will judge and assume things based on how you look, what you wear, what church you go to, the music you listen to, and these are judgments that, no matter how hard we try, we will never break from. It is our choice to a certain extent, as we can choose how we dress, and what music we listen to; however, skin color and most of the time religion, we cannot choose.
I feel what happens amidst all this is that people are losing who they are and becoming what the public sees them as or wants them to be. The world we live in is obsessed with fitting in that personal classification is almost irrelevant.

When it comes to classifying yourself a certain way, specifically, it seems almost impossible. There are things that you do, things you say, and ways you act, etc. that can determine your “classification” as a person. I would classify myself as a Caucasian male, who played sports, is Catholic, and this list could last for a long time. There are so many different aspects of someone’s life that you could use as classification. I see myself this way because I know who I am, and I know how I look, I am a male. I was raised a Catholic and kept those beliefs. I view myself as white because all my parent’s ancestors are European. My father’s side consists of Irish and German, while my mother’s side is Czechoslovakian and Polish. As discussed in class, these are part of the “white” area of Europe. I feel where this gets tricky is whether we classify ourselves or others around us do it..

For instance, the day before I left to come to school this August, there was amajor housefire directly across the street from mine. Nobody knew what caused it, or why it happened, but the image replaying in my head is one of the husband running back into the house looking for his child and his dogs. Now, I realize your thinking, dogs? But when this man came out of his house, his feet were shaking so fast it was unbearable to stare at. The miracle here being one, his courage to run back into a burning house, and two his kid was alright. That man had faith, he had love, and for God that is good enough. He knew God would guide him and keep him safe. This is why we choose religion. The sense of security, the knowing that there is always someone looking out for us.

I am not a Bible literalist, I believe that God placed life on earth and guided the evolution process; however, I am not someone who will sit back and allow someone to blatently disrespect my beliefs. People believe what they believe, whether it was how they were brought up or it was how they had chosen to live. What religion does is give people a reason to believe in something good. It allows people the ability the think that every person has the right to do good and has the chance to do good. Also, we see miracles happen all the time around us, it is much to hard to see this and think it was only coincedence.