Privilleges of WEALTH

The higher the class, the more the privelleges. Those within the upper class of the United States are given many more and many better privileges than those below them. Unfortunately because of this fact, the wealthier have any easier life as far as with problems of taxes, supporting a family, getting property, and affording a safe house; mirroring the monopoly game we played last week. The game was a perfect example of how the wealthy live an easier life based on money, and that moving up from your class is not possible most of the time. So when facing the facts all social classes are blessed with different privilleges, and as far as the upper class goes...they have the most.
One privillege that the upper class has is at most times are able to get the best medical care, and pick whichever doctors and or hosipitals in which they choose. This is a big advantage as for seeing that they have the best doctors, recieve the best care, and are able to be examined with any scan, not having to worry about the medical bills. One of the reason many people are unable to keep a "nice" house and have moeny for food and clothes, can be a factor of having to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills for their families member. The wealth don't have to worry about that, making it a privillege.
A second privillege that the wealthy have over the middle class and the poor, is not having to worry about their childrens education. They would be able to get their children in the best school possible, helping to get them in to their college of choice. They are able to pay for their children to go to private school, where their childs needs are met to the greatest of ability, and recieve lots of attention and help with school work without hesitation. They have to help according to what the parents say becuase they are paying for school. They are able to give their child this education instead of the norms of the public school system.
And finally one last privillege that the wealth have is their choice of neighborhood, and environment of choice. They are able to move to the "safest" neighborhoods. They can move the nicer part of the city, a little suburb, or gated neighborhood. Whichever they choose its there choice giving them the ability to get out of places like the southside, and not be in a place of danger, like the poor whom do not always have a chance.
It would be hard the fix the problems of different pirvilleges in different classes. Too much control could lead to somewhat a dictatorship, and not leave those in our country with a safe feeling of a democracy. So because of this you can't limit the wealth and spread out the privilleges. Unfourtunately each class is gonna have their own privilleges and the high-up in classes you are the more privilleges you will have.

Class!

"What a man is depends on his character; but what he does, and what we think of what he does, depends on his circumstances. The characteristics thatruin a man in one class made him eminent in another."
I think that Bernard is saying that character defines exactly who a person is. And in society you tend to connect with those who share your character. Good character people connect the best with other's who have good character, and the same goes for those with bad character. And with his character depends on how he acts with others. People in society today are very judgemental on how other act and who they are, so who a man is in others eyes depends on his character; who he is, good or bad. What he does is strongly related to what we think he does; judgemented by outsiders. Donating to a charity is definately what i'd like to call a mitzvah, but if a rich man does it and recieves attention and fame it is looked down upon that in his "character" that is why he did it, but if a middle class man donated money, not getting any attention, people are grateful for his donation and "character of thought". The rich man had great circumstances and it hardly effected him his income or anything he needs, and boosted his characters ego. On the other hand the middle class man did loose important money he may need, and didn't get anything out of it, of course he go the fact of being proud of what he did, but no object or fame. The middle class man from others perspective would define him as having better character.
In the poor class the option to be a santitaion worker would be something was had hoped for and is grateful for, but if that was given to a rich man it would be seen as gross and something they would never do. All classes are seperated and judge aspects of life differently.
All are seen and defined differently according to what they have. Classes will always be judgemental of the other based upon the mere fact that their want, needs, and desires differ.

deviance!

i find that punishable deviance is a social contruct in society, because even if you do the tiniest thing wrong you could be sent to jail, and maybe be in and out the rest of your life, because in some ways the prison system in the U.S. is corrupted. A perfect example that proves that punishable deviance is a social contruct in society, is the prison system Morgan Spurlock showed us in "30 Days". Although all the criminals in that prison did break the law concerning drug and other illegal possesions, punishing them because of the "deviance" by putting them in prison, isn't always the best option. Becuase the jails are not rehibilitating these criminals but rather keeping them locked up and on a certain schedule with many rule, almost torturing. Now if we were dealing with murders, this punsishment might be both helpful and useful. But in terms of addicts, they need some sort of help and rehibilitaiton (rehab) to stop their habit and to get them on a new path in society keeping them out of the prison system, rather than having them coming in and out, a waste of tax dollars and time if nothing is being done to help these people. People are easily being convicted of drug possesion, and use everyday and being sent to jail over and over again, but what about murderers, these convictions are not so easily made, and those people not sent directly to jail. Of course convicting someone of murder is much more serious than an addict, but still why are we wasting so much more time and energy or addicts who need rehibilitation more than jail, rather than focusing more on those who are a greater threat to our society as a whole.
if we are spending our money to send these drug addcits to jail, then why can't we just change and use the money to send them to a rehibilitation center. in the long run this is a much better option. helping the induvidual and all those around them. granted the rehab might not work, at least we are trying rather than locking them up.

happy thanksgiving!

Final Blog

1. I chose to wear Stevenson apparel today, (gold rush, yellow tee with white underneath, dark blue jeans, and short chestnut Uggs, with a scarf that I bought last winter), but it relates in no way to what I would want my future profession to be. My clothing was chosen based on the Stevenson motto "got spirit". Some plans I have for myself as a profession in the future is a major in such subject such as psychology, or teaching. And for sports and activitets I participate in...I participate in intramurals but no competitive sports team, and I have extracurriculars such as working at a resturaunt and hanging out with friends. All of these aspect of my life relate to nature and nuture. What I chose to wear today is nurture, I chose to wear what I did today, according to the weather and what I felt like wearing, having nothing to do with my genes. What I want to be when I grow up is a mix of both nature and nurture. I was brought up in family which consisted of many teachers and psychologists, and social workers, so for me I grew up knowing all this and it always somewhat intersted me, but in a way it could be nurture, maybe I was born with the genes of wanting to interact with others, vs being a business professional. And finally sports are mostly nature, I wasn't exactly born with "athletic" genes.

2. Adolescence and social power are so important and life consuming to adolescence and teenagers because it is how we are classified in our society. No matter who you are you also strive to be the best person you can be, and at many times, it also depends on what others think of you whether its your friends and peers or your family at home. Everyday to strive to climb higher and higher on the status ladder. It's important and consuming because it is how we are classfied as humans, and in groups of peers everyday.

3. Today socialization in different because than in previous generations because we have grown up with a bit of a different culture. We were raised in an era with much more technology and advertisements all around us. In the other generations the world was growing much differently and things we have today either weren't created at the time back in the day, or wasn't as popular and widely used. So for children growing up and being socialized now we have faced troubles such as being less sociable due to computer and technology, when back in the day that was not even an issue and most household didn't own a t.v. or computer or other advanced forms of technology. In addition children raised in the past were told to be adults at a much younger age and had more responsibilities where as now, we are supported by our parents for a much longer period of time, and stripped of many responsibilites at young ages, like driving, drinking, and being on our own.

4. Many gender differences that we think of in our culture today are made up stereotypes. Ideas that women are weak and men are strong, women are emotional, an men are tough. Maybe many of us see this sometimes, but there are so many exceptions there's no way you can classify traits to each gender. In movies males are at most time the tough guys and the heros, and the women are the ones always looking for love, and "having fun". Men can be emotional, and women can be powerful. These stereotypes impact our culture with the wrong general idea of both men and women. They've affected everyones lives, because everyone has believed it at one point or another. But for the real differences in gender, you can see that more men (even with the rise in women power today) are given the higher ranked and paid jobs. If a man and a woman were competing for a position as CEO and had both the exact same qualifications, it is likely that the man would get he job over the woman.

Adolescence

Adolescence is the time when transitioning between being a child and an adult. This is the time when "teens/adolescence" slowing gain new responsibilities, while still being held back. Society defines adolscence age group as it does because its the time when you begin to go places on your own but you are still in school and being supported by your parents. Adolescence struggle because society (for examples school; teachers, and parents) tell us that we should know better and be more responsible, but at the same time laws such as driving laws, and drinking laws, are illegal for our age because they say, we aren't responsible enough yet. Well what is it should we and are we responsible or not, how come they get to have it both ways?
Status. No matter what age you are people think about status all the time. How you dress, do your hair, talk, act, what you buy, and where you live all have to do with status. Especially for adolscence status is involved in your life everyday. An example is what you wear to school and how you look. Adolescence dress like their group. Depending on what you wear can determine who you are friends with, which effects your "school status." This continues throughout adulthood and will always remain. No matter your age, you want to fit in and be liked, and all of this goes right back to status, and where you want to be on the "status scale."
Of course everyone thinks it doesn't have to be this way, but as a natural insitinct people was to climb their way up the "status ladder" and be liked, so even if you don't want it to be this way and truely believe it doesn't have to be then try it. I would want to agree with you and believe that you don't have to be effected by status, but we are...we are affected by status everyday and strive to get as much status and we can. The never ending strive for success and power in American culture.

Nature AND Nurture

My family has definitely nurtured me into who I am today. I am parts of my dad and parts of my mom. Its easy to see, and sometimes almost scary how much were alike, and its all becuase they are the ones who nurtured me, and as I grew up and developed I caught on to how the spoke and how they acted. Of course there are little instances where I wish I was maybe a little bit more like my parents, or even a little bit less like them, but even with these thoughts I know I wouldn't even be close to the person I am today without them, and there nurturing. I am very lucky to have been nurtured by great parents, unlike Danielle from the Oprah show who was neglected as a child. And just like my parents nutured me and had an influence on me making me like them, so have other people in my family like my younger sister. Even though I am older and born first, growing up and being nutured alongside her, she helped to "nuture" me into who I am, and just like how i'm like my parents and I also like my sister. We share many qualities, letting us have a close healthy relationship. But just as much as i'm like my family, and I am also very unique and different from them. There are many things I like to do that they don't, many things I like that they don't, and we even sometimes believe in different values. I don't think that there was a specific time when my parents realized that i was unique, I think as soon as i began to grow and mature (through my early childhood years and after my sister was born) they began to see my unique personality and traits from both them and my sister.
I belive that your nuturing and how you are nutured can be changed, but that your nature is who you naturally are and that sticks with you no matter what. The way you are nutured can change your natural tendencies a little but, but overall you are always who you were naturally. You can't work against your nature becuase your nature was naturally occuring before you brain could function highly enough to have an impact on and it, and with nurture your brain and abilities and tendencies are still to immature to change how others contribute to you nuturing whether you are raised my great postive people who teach you good values and cultures, or parents who don't care and neglect you. You can't make these people change how they act, and therefore making it hard to work against not only nature, but nuture too.

Agents of Socialization

Outside of my family, groups of people such as my friends, my neighborhood, and people in school have definitely impacted my attitude, behavior, and concept towards life. But a group that has had a significant influence on me are my camp friends. I have been going and working at Camp Chi for about eight years now, and it never gets old. Every year I look foward to seeing my best friends from all over, and my counselors and co-counselors who have done nothing but teach me about knew things and help me have a postive outlook on life. These people (my camp friends) are some of the closest people to me besides my family. They are people who bring significant ideas and values into my life, and through being with them, I have learned what things are really important in life; like the people you surround yourself with. They encourage me to be happy and acknowledge all the things I have when i'm down, and never hesitate to make me laugh. They have helped me to have self confidence, and have helped to show me how to percieve others and give everyone a chance. Each of us has come from a different life stle, and even different states and countries. We teach one another our cultures and practice them all the time. Although many of them don't live nearby, because of the influence they have had on my life, we continue to stay in touch and stay close no matter what. We talk on the phone all the time, and try to make as many visits to see eachother as we can. I can't imagine my life without these friends, they are like my family, and continue to benefit and impact my life positvely everyday.

babies?! i don't think so...

The cultural world at Stevenson often infantilizes students. Everyday we face authority figures and many of their rules, which treat us like babies. Some things that have been done to infantilize students at Stevenson are rules such as not being let off campus until you are a junior. Although many think this is a fair rule and is used as a reward for being a junior, that is exactly how we are being babied. When we grow up the world isnt giving us rewards as we get older. We are on our own and are faced with many challenges that we must get passed as a way of life. If sophomores are mature enough to get their drivers license, then how are they not mature enough to go out for lunch. I believe this is one way Steveson babies us as students. As for the infatilization of adults, it is less commonly if at all seen. Once you enter college (without experience obvioulsy) I feel that the infatilization of us from others begins to end and we start to see that we are growing up and need to face the culture around us.

Who's on the boat?!

In class last friday there were stixteen students chosen to participate in a simulation. The simulation was that wethe sixteen students were on a boat and then it crashed. So to save themselves they all got on a different boat, but that boat could only hold nine people, so seven people were gonna have to be voted off the boat. As a group the sixteen students had to figure out which people should stay and which people should go. I was one of the students not in the simulation. I observed a lot of decisions to kick people off that were wronge. I felt that many people were kicked off for the wrong reasons, and many stayed on who could have, sadly, gone. Overall I thought the simmulation was intresting, and especially as an outsider it was interesting to see how people reacted, and what decision they made, as well as to see who was in charge (taking control and organizing). Sometimes it was even a little strange how people completely listened to that one persons decision, especially in the case of being kicked off, and that they didn't defend themselves towards having the right to not be kicked off.

Freeks and Geeks!!

To start I just want to say I really like this show (Freeks and Geeks)! And i really think that we should continue to watch it in class. At Stevenson, there are many different groups, but they are different than the groups in Freak and Geeks. In the show the groups encoutered run ins with most of the same people, but at Stevenson this obviously isn't possible, its just too big. This makes it hard to compare the show to Stevenson...i mean i don't even see a lot of my good friends during the school day! There are many different groups within our Stevenson community clashing groups is not as much of a problem as it was in the show, different groups just stay within their groups and stay away from other groups, and this could be a problem of its own, and some people would think of it as cliquiness a problem not adressed in the show but something more common at Stevenson. To answer the question of who has power i don't believe that there is anyone person or group that holds power over the rest of the school. I feel that Stevenson is too big for that to happen and is a much more common problem in smaller schools. The only power i could think of is being under the authority of deans, counselors, teacher, and security gaurds who seem to be everywhere all the time and definately aren't afraid to show their power and authority. This could be another reason of why fights between groups are unlikey to see...at least at school. To end again i really like the show, and hope that we'll be able to watch more episodes!

Entry 1; the begining of Sociology...

The first day of sociology was definitely different and not what i expected. When I walked into class I was greeted with a hand shake it was very welcoming, but something i was not used too, so at first i was a little confused as why, why would my teacher be standing at the door giving everyone a handshake. Usually when I walk into a class on the first day my teachers just give me a assigned sheet and then start their introductory speech consiting of class rules and a sylabus of everything we will do for the semester...a bit overwelming and stressful. But for this class it wasn't like that, it was stress free, and made me excited to see what this class will bring. All in all i think this course is going to be very enjoyable intresting, different, and a great learing experience!