16. June 2009 by student.

In recent years, more couples are deciding to live together and raise a family without getting married.  The number of unmarried couples who live together in the United States has risen to more than 5 million, which is nearly eight times the amount since 1970.  Couples who choose to go the route of being happily unwed have been referred to as committed unmarrieds. Also, the portion of babies born to unmarried parents rose to a record breaking 40% in 2007.  Many people may think or assume these statistics result from an increase in young teen mothers, but research proves just the opposite.  Infant births among women ages 25-39 have doubled since 1980, thanks to the growing demographic of committed unmarrieds.  So what influences couples to defy the norm and remain unwed?  It could be a fear of divorce or getting divorced again that steers an individual away from marriage.  It could also be one’s own personal beliefs, or gay marriage bans that are helping the rise. Marriage is just not the ideal situation for everyone. It is not something people are being forced or rushed into anymore.  Many people see it as outdated or ruined by commercialization. The benefits and legal advantages of being married are diminishing and people are opting for domestic partnerships instead.  Just because there is a lack of legal commitment does not mean there is a lack of commitment between the two people in the relationship.  If anything, a marriage license just makes it more complicated to get out of a bad relationship if things turn sour. Thanks to the changing times and cultural standards people are not feeling as much pressure to marry in order to have a happy family.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 1 Comment »

16. June 2009 by student.

Every one has their own stand point. Flag Desecration is something that has been in conflict for many years. The flag stands as a monument for what our soldiers fought for. Some people believe that to sanction burning the flag would allow people to disrespect America and the people who fought for our country. Some people believe that to prohibit the burning of the flag would dilute the reason the flag was set into place in that our soldiers fought for our freedom. It is easy to respect both sides. You would be likely be killed for burning the flag in Cuba. Hitler would have tortured you for disrespecting his flag. Should it be the similar in America?

So really, it is the debate of the first amendment whether burning the flag is a too gross of a way to express your freedom of speech. This is what was debated in the case of Texas V. Johnson. Texas believed it was an unnecessary way to express an opinion, and that the American flag stands for too much to be disrespected like that. Johnson believed it was his right to express his distress with America through burning of the flag.

Essientially the power of the First Amendment overoad the people who dissented burning the flag and Johnson won the case. This topic effected people across the country due to the fact that the flag is a very emotional topic. I think it is discusting. There are better, more powerful ways to express your speech. I feel that if you hate America that much, the door is open for you to leave. I wouldn’t however want to outlaw flagburning as it goes against a stonger point.

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16. June 2009 by student.

Every one has their own stand point. Flag Desecration is something that has been in conflict for many years. The flag stands as a monument for what our soldiers fought for. Some people believe that to sanction burning the flag would allow people to disrespect America and the people who fought for our country. Some people believe that to prohibit the burning of the flag would dilute the reason the flag was set into place in that our soldiers fought for our freedom. It is easy to respect both sides. You would be likely be killed for burning the flag in Cuba. Hitler would have tortured you for disrespecting his flag. Should it be the similar in America?

So really, it is the debate of the first amendment whether burning the flag is a too gross of a way to express your freedom of speech. This is what was debated in the case of Texas V. Johnson. Texas believed it was an unnecessary way to express an opinion, and that the American flag stands for too much to be disrespected like that. Johnson believed it was his right to express his distress with America through burning of the flag. 

 Essientially the power of the First Amendment overoad the people who dissented burning the flag and Johnson won the case. This topic effected people across the country due to the fact that the flag is a very emotional topic. I think it is discusting. There are better, more powerful ways to express your speech. I feel that if you hate America that much, the door is open for you to leave. I wouldn’t however want to outlaw flagburning as it goes against a stonger point.  

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | No Comments »

16. June 2009 by student.

Sometimes being considered ‘middle class’ is not all it’s cracked up to be.  For instance, when it comes to paying taxes, the middle class pays some of the highest percentages, between 16-20% in 2006, as opposed to the lower 50% who pay in at only 3%.  However, when applying for federal grants for college, your income has to be almost poverty level in order to receive anything.  For example, when filling out FAFSA, I had to include my parent’s income since I am under 23 (22 years old at the moment), even though I pay for absolutely everything on my own, the outcome was an expected family contribution of ~$9,000 a year.  My parents are by no means poor, but cannot afford to come up with that amount of money and I would not expect them to.  Well, what about scholarships?  Ha!  What a crock.  Most scholarships are geared towards minorities and those with an extremely low income; regardless of their academic performance.  Being white and “middle class”, though lower “middle class”, excludes me from a majority of scholarships.  If you ask me that is neo-racism at its best.  Scholarships should be awarded on academic merit along with a financial need, not simply based on color or ethnicity.  This situation seems to be an effect of “equal opportunity” imposition.  Which to me seems to be a double standard alone, but I digress.  As you can see it seems slightly ironic and very irrational that those who pay the most into the tax system, even though they are not close to being ‘well off’ sometimes have the most struggle when trying to receive a return.   To me it seems like a social stride by the upper class attempting to stave off the middle class while helping the lower class in order to create an upper class and lower class in almost a Marxist fashion.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

16. June 2009 by student.

The Pursuit of Happiness, is it possible in this day in age to be living on the streets and work hard enough to become a multi-millionaire? After watching the movie about Chris Gardner, The Pursuit of Happyness, I believe it is possible if you want it bad enough. It is very difficult to go from absolutely nothing to being successful.  However Chris had many things that kept him from attaining any type of satisfaction when it comes close to having. That didn’t let him give up. When many just give up and say I guess I am just meant to be poor and live on the streets, Chris strived harder. Poverty cycle is a social phenomenon whereby poverty-stricken individuals exhibit a tendency to remain poor throughout their lifespan and in many cases across generations. The cycle of poverty has been described as a catch-22 and a feedback loop, as it occurs because the resources necessary to get out of poverty, such as financial capital, education, or connections, are not available to the poor. Now Chris Gardner in the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness was labeled as a poor and homeless man trying to take care of his son.  By chance he was able to take a job skills program as an intern making no money but trying to take care of his son. If by the end of the nine weeks he was able to land the one job out of two hundred people he would become a broker of the company.  He definitely did not have the odds on his side. He was an African American, had to raise a son without any help from his wife that left him and he was having to cut hours to make sure he was able to get to the homeless center in time to make it to get a bed for the night. It wasn’t easy. It would go with the Weber: Multidimensional Class Structure. Elements of Socio-Economic Status is the power to be able to get what you want, achieving wealth you have access to resources. Leaving me to say that every time I see this movie it makes me want to try harder in everything that I do. If this man can get himself up off the streets and become somebody from nothing, but trying to put himself into good situations. Anything is possible. If you want it bad enough and you strive hard enough for it, it can be done.

You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period. – Christopher Gardner

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16. June 2009 by student.

I had a heated conversation last night with a friend about the scope of the government, and its role in dictating the lives of the people of this country. A comment I made concerning a film I saw about the global climate turned into a discussion about abortion, gun control, and the Reagan White House.

The film (“Heat”, a PBS Frontline documentary) was about how, despite the trend towards eco-responsibility that American industrialists have begun to take, industries like mining, manufacturing, and energy in many developing countries are not under the same pressure to redesign their processes in order to reduce emissions.

As the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries like the US, Japan and the countries of the EU grow because of things like population growth, the same growth from developing countries, like those in South America where a good deal of the world’s mining takes place, will grow at a much higher rate. Industry in these countries isn’t under the same pressure by the government and consumers the “clean up.” Because of this, while America and her allies get clean, they’re still dirty as ever.  Now, I didn’t watch the whole film, but what I saw was pretty interesting.

Then, my girlfriend said something along the lines of: “Well that’s what Obama’s trying to do with the new MPG regulations,” and I said wait! Stop!

There are two things wrong with this, in my opinion:

1. Why the hell should the government say that car manufacturers have to make new cars to a certain MPG rating? That’s counter-capitalism and counterproductive. I will buy what I want, when I want, because I’m an American, and that’s my job. And if I don’t really think that way, there are enough Americans that do, so that when the next president comes along, he changes everything back, just like Reagan did to Carter. Whether it’s a Prius or a Hummer, the consumers should be able to decide what they want or need. Now, I’m not saying we’re not going to hit peak oil soon, or that it’s not ridiculously irresponsible to buy a Hummer, but telling manufacturers that all cars have to get this MPG by that year is a bit off.
2. Governor Charlie Crist said this week: “If you want to kill something (he happened to be talking about tobacco), tax it.” Look at Denmark: After the ’73 oil embargo (they were 99% dependant on foreign oil at the time), they took a step back actually decided to CHANGE. The first thing they did was TAX GAS. That drove down demand, and got people thinking about personal energy use and alternate energy sources. Today, it costs nine dollars a gallon for premium fuel, but they use less: 484 liters per capita, compared to our 1,679 liters per capita. They use just over half the energy per household that we do. Also, the investigation into alternate energy sources led to hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and a new industry: Denmark now supplies forty percent of the world’s energy-generating wind turbines and a significant amount the enzymes used to convert food products into biofuels.

What I’m trying to say is that times change; people change. I definitely think we’re moving in the right direction, and when our generation steps into the seats of power, we’ll definitely be on our way to a more eco-responsible America. But America isn’t the only problem. There’s a whole world out there full of exhaust pipes and coal fires, and until they decide to make the rational choice to change with us, we’re just spitting in the wind.

Sources:

http://www.epa.gov/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203293,00.html

http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/ene_cou_208.pdf

http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/ene_cou_840.pdf

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 3 Comments »

16. June 2009 by student.

Education is so valuable that it should be the primary thing in everyone’s life. However, not every body values education. Some people might understand that education is the key to success while others might not. If we take a look at the world now, we can see what education actually does. look at what technology does, it’s just the result of education.

But wait a minute Is aducation the only way to attend your dreams? Of course not, but it is the best way with no regrets. I read in a French book about some students who drop out of high school. They say it takes too long and it’s too expensive to get it done. They prefer doing drugs, hang out with their gunfires rubbing people, banks, and so on… as a result, they end up in prison where they don’t have any more chance to change their life. Was that a good idea? i don’t think so. It is impossible for them to be someone in the society. When someone chooses not to give a chance to education, he/she hates the society or if i could say, the world. However, if every body could get it done, we would have a perfect society with less trouble. For those who believe in education and get it done, they have the key to success. Not only that but also they have clean records. They will make good money in the right way because education pays off at the end.

Nobody will be sorry if getting it done, but they will if they don’t.

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