Blog Post #16 - Shift Happens

This video makes me feel very hopeful and exited about our future.  Technology is beneficial, and the fact that education, living, and jobs will be positively affected by technology is something to be happy about.  

The educational system needs to adapt and include more technology in their classrooms and libraries.  They also need to include a little less of teaching just for "SAT's purpose", and more of teaching for the sake of spreading goods, useful information.  Educational system should also include more technology courses within the students' course requirements.  

I think the things I have studied so far help understand a lot of shift in our society.  They apply by helping us understand the information we get today, as well as know to adapt to new info.  Changes in info availability will improve a lot our understanding, because more people will be able to know more things.  Open information and readily available, useful technology are extremely beneficial.  

Blog Post # 15 - Rural, Suburban and Urban Living

I have lived in urban and suburban areas and I have family who lives is rural areas, and I must say there has been a lot of change.  When I lived in my country, I lived in a fairly suburban area.  There were stores, malls, roads, etc, but nothing as fast paced and crowded as urban areas.  When I went back to visit my home city, I noticed that it was completely different.  In my opinion it was still suburban, just with the worst aspects of urban cities incorporated in it.  There double as many stores, triple as many cars and buses, 5 times as many people, still with the under-developed aspects of a suburban area, such as low quality streets and living.  It was a surprising experience, and quite interesting.  Don't get my wrong, I do like urban living, and would love to live in places such as New York City or DC, however as I said before, my home town had the pollution and disorder of a big city, without the museums and theaters.  

My grandmother from my father's side lives in a fairly rural area, and it somewhat remains that way.  There are obvious changes, but not as many as one would expect.  There is more transportation and roads have been built, however one can still see the same trees, green fields, animals, and natural beauty from before.  The same applies to the urban environment I live in now.  It is crowded and noisy, however in my opinion it hasn't changed much.  Urban environments by definition are always high in activity, so I wouldn't expect a lot to change there, except maybe small details. 


I noticed the the area in between rural and urban, which is suburban, was the one which suffered most change.  In my country, which is a third world country, suburban areas have the worst of both rural and urban.  They have the sub development of rural living, which the pollution and violence of urban living.  In the United states this is quite different.  Suburban areas here have somewhat the best of both rural and urban places.  Here in the United States, suburban areas have the peace of rural areas, but the easy access to stores, entertainment, business of urban areas, without the violence and large crowds.  That is why in my country, Urban areas are the best, however in the United States both Urban and Suburban are quite ideal.  Rural, suburban, and urban areas have suffered much change along the years, but in my opinion urban living will always be more ideal.  

Blog Post #14 - Democratic Elitism

Which democracy theories are the most fit for our society?  Not many people have asked themselves that, but I think a lot of people have unconsciously thought about this, without including specific sociological terms.  There are a few democracy theories, but I think the theory I agree with the most is Democratic Elitism.

Why Democratic Elitism?  Before explaining why   I agree with Democratic Elitism the most, I must explain what this is.  Democratic Elitism is simply the belief that a society must be governed by a select group of “gifted” or highly educated individuals.  These individuals are thought to be more knowledgeable than most people, and therefore more fit to govern them.  An example of this is a government.  We, as a society, subscribe to Democratic Elitism. 

I think this theory is the best because I cannot think of any modern society which is fully functional and organized without a body of government.  Putting the direct power of governing in the hands of individuals would promote disorder, and put rules on the mercy of biases and prejudices.  Our politicians have to meet certain requirements in order to be able to govern us, and do a good job in keeping us safe and well governed.  Not everyone is fit to govern a society, and without a organized government we would not be able to establish rules and laws, since everyone has their own opinions and views.  For that reason, it is necessary for us to democratically elect an elite that will make it their main jobs to govern us, and look out for our well being.  

Blog Post #13 - Is Walmart Good For America?

Is Walmart good for America?  For someone who works in retail, it is a very tricky question to answer.  I have never worked in Walmart, however I have many friends who do, and they have different opinions regarding whether Walmart is a good or bad place to work, or what is their influence within their communities.  Walmart was founded in 1962, by retail worker Sam Walton.  Today, Walmart is the world's largest retailer and corporation, with more than 6000 stores around the world, half of which are located in the U.S.  With that, can we establish whether Walmart is good or bad for America? 

Many people argue it is bad.  Its low prices and high sales mean, for many, low cost of living and low salaries.  Many of my friends who work at Walmart argue that because it's prices are so low, it encourages low wage labor and low quality of living.  Many also argue that it causes its workers to have to work more hours in order to meet demanding expectations.  According to Frontline's documentary, Walmart also has a certain power upon manufacturers, causing costs of goods to go down.  Walmart is argued to have taken the power out of manufacturers and into retailers' hands.  

Many people argue that Walmart is bad for America, however I somewhat disagree.  Many other stores pay minimum wage to their employees, and many of them have low retail prices.  Walmart is targeted because of its popularity.  Walmart's annual revenues are of more than a quarter of a trillion dollars, and have 1.5 million employees worldwide, more than 1 million of whom are in the United States. This shows that Walmart not only brings millions of jobs, which are more than needed in our economy, it also brings money to our government.  Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States, which is obviously a beneficial thing.  

Many people argue that Walmart lowers standards of living,  hurts retail trade, and due to its popularity,disrupts some communities.  Many others on the other hand, can see that although Walmart drives cost of goods to be lower and low wage labor to be higher, it is the largest employer in this country.  Walmart drives employment opportunity and activity in the economy, and in my opinion it is beneficial to America.  

Blog Post #12 - Family Chores

Filling up our Family Duty Chart was an interesting experience.  There were somethings that surprised me, however others were.  My mom and my stepfather's roles and chores were pretty equal.  Sometimes both of them could be checked for the same chores (planning vacations, buying groceries, etc.) 

I was surprised with how little I actually contribute to my family duty chart.  I thought I helped quite a lot, but upon filling up this chart I noticed that I don't do as much as I thought I did.  After looking at it for a while, I noticed that maybe it was because I was responsible for the house "maintenance" chores (dishes, vacuuming  bathroom cleaning, etc) which have to be done more often than others (like writing holiday cards, planing vacations, or car maintenance.)  

This chart was quite interesting and fun to complete.  I think most people found that, if they were one of the kids (which is my case) they did much less than their parents.  As our podcast said, it was also interesting to look at what types of chores each of us did, and to observe who was in charge of "fun" chores (although I don't think any chores can be considered "fun")  Our podcast also makes an interesting point that in the card, there are many chores that I didn't think of as chores.  

Blog Post #11 - Secularism

I think the world is becoming increasingly secularized.  In Europe (of all places), for example, we can observe than Atheism is becoming increasingly popular.  Secularism and Free thinking are more present within the Western media now a days, and that means that more people have access to secularist ideas.  Western shows, comedies, movies, etc are becoming less religious.  Maybe that is due to the fact that it is not politically correct to impose a certain religion, and that is why extreme religious views are less present in Western media.  But secularism is not just a western "thing".  Since out TV shows, movies, music, etc can be bought and seen throughout the world, secularist ideas have been able to spread.  I also attribute the increasing of secularism to a more accessible scientific base.  Many years ago, common people did not have access to science, and therefore they could not use it to answer their questions about our environment and our existence.  Now we have almost unlimited (and extremely easy) access to science, studies, experiments, scientific books, scientific ideas, and that is making it much easier for people to explain what they see around them by using reason instead of religion.  

Many may ask what the appropriate role of religion in a government is?  Simple answer:  None.  Religion should stay out and away from our government.  Throughout history we have been observing that mixing religion with politic is not a good idea.  In order to have a fair government that has the well being of everyone in mind, we must have a government that has no religious affiliation.  The appropriate role of religion is to stay within believers' hearts and out of our laws and regulations.  

Blog Post #10 - Tale of Two Families

Tale of Two Families was very interesting to read.  From the very start you can see that Max's family is already in a much more comfortable situation than Byron's.  As the story goes by, we can see many examples of how racial segregation can change people's lives, even if they have the same interests and same capacities.  Byron was just as intelligent as Max, however he had to work twice as hard in order to get where is is.  He needed to have trust on himself and focus on his studies, and because of his effort, he got a scholarship.  Max was also talented and bright, but he had a lot more money and could get his education worry free.  As this story concludes we see that even today, when our society has gotten a lot better in terms of racial segregation, both Max's and Byron's communities still are segregated.  Byron's family sold their houses for very little money, while Max's family got 14 times what they paid for.  But that is not their fault.  Both families are honest, hard working, and have talented children.  Our society is what causes this inequality.  It is very heart warming to see that both Max and Byron grew up to be very successful men and work together.  This shows that with effort and strength, we can overcome even those obstacles that were already here even before we were born.  Of course social and economic background help a lot, but being honest, hard workers and putting effort into what we do, we can get very far, and be very successful.