Black Friday Hooplah

            Black Friday. In my mind it only strikes an image of greed and consumerism. It's not something to be celebrated but toned down. I believe that people get too caught up in all of the hype and forget the name of the day that precedes Black Friday: Thanksgiving. I think that all black Friday shoppers should take a step back and be thankful for what they have already. If people did that more often, I think that workers and consumers alike would cease to be trampled to death over a few good deals. I know that since the economy is bad, shopping for deals is even more important now. However, I don't think that justifies trampling someone else just to get that $500 TV.   

            It's interesting to see how materialistic our society is. Black Friday just exemplifies the fact that we, as Americans, value "stuff" over anything else. Since Black Friday is supposed to be the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, it's informally the beginning of the Christmas season itself. It's saddening to see that supposedly, this materialism is the meaning of the  holiday season. I thought that the holiday season was supposed to be about helping others, giving without receiving, family, and loved ones. 

            Whatever happened to the "Christmas Spirit"? Does being full of said spirit really mean going out and frantically shoving others out of your way in order to get the best deals on things? Frank Capra's movie so accurately states You Can't Take It With You, so why do we obsess over these material goods? I wish I could challenge everyone to give their time instead of gifts. In this hustle and bustle way of life, it's so easy to not want to waste time on something, but spending time with someone or volunteering your time could be a good way to make someone else (and maybe even yourself) a little happier. 

Through watching the more recent political debates, I have recently begun to come into contact with some ideas of reform that I approve of.

One of these is a higher tax rate for the wealthy. Something like this has already begun in France, where they just raised the tax rate for the wealthy to an astounding 75%. (click here for article) If we had a higher tax on the wealthy, that could bring in much more money to the government, thus allowing them to create and maintain social welfare programs as well as create new ones. Hasn't it been proven as of late that the trickle-down-effect doesn't work? The sad thing is that people who are extremely rich aren't always philanthropic, but are also greedy and mainly concerned with sustaining their wealth, even if it means firing a few good employees to keep their pockets overflowing. Couldn't more good come from giving the money from the rich to the government so that they can act like a surrogate Robin Hood than allowing the rich to keep it all for themselves?

Another of these is the German government's way of campaigning. They allow only a certain amount of money to each candidate, and they only allow them to campaign for a few months. If this was allowed and applied to the American government, the "average Joe" could effectively run for President and actually change the country for the better. Couldn't that help our country too, by eliminating political machines? Wouldn't it also allow candidates to say what they truly believed instead of forcing themselves to believe a political party's beliefs? That would allow each person to be judged through their own merits and ideas instead of a political party agenda. Wouldn't that make for a better country?

All one hears about with political elections is Democrat-this or Republican-that. Why does one never hear about Independent-this or Green Party-that? The other parties (otherwise known as third parties) never get major media attention, which is really unfortunate because they never get elected without it. I believe that the other parties' candidates could make a difference, too. What's to say that someone who doesn't come from a wealthy family or hasn't made their millions in big-business can't make a positive difference for their country?

             Maybe this is just me, but I thought the whole idea of this American government was so that the every-man could run for government positions. The last time I checked, it cost millions to billions of dollars to run a campaign in America. Maybe it doesn't apply to more local elections, but even then it still costs enough money to put middle-class and lower-class Americans into debt for good. Why can't people just run as individuals with their own set of beliefs? Why can't we, as Americans, just judge them on their own?

             On the politics note, too, what is up with everyone criticizing President Obama? Don't people realize that the reason "nothing is being done about the economy and our other problems" is mostly Congress' fault, too? They're the major law-making entity. They revise the bills and THEN send them to the President, who can then sign them into law, or veto them. The President can suggest as many bills as he sees fit and can emphasize all he wants that certain bills need to be passed, but it's Congress that ultimately decides. So, when it seems that nothing is being done about anything, blame Congress, not the President.

I also believe that there are some majorly crazy people out there when it comes to politics. These people are ones who would, as my mom would say, “vote for their party even if the party symbol was running.” I don’t really understand their logic for doing so. I think it’s great to be really supportive of something, but sometimes the people running in a particular party don’t seem to have the best interests of everyone in the country at heart. If this were true about a particular party’s candidate, why would said “crazy people” continue to vote for them? Can’t they think somewhat rationally about their vote?

Are students given the full benefit of their rights?

K-9 sponsored drug searches, pat downs, and bag checks are just some of the ways that students are interrogated about, and  searched for illegal substances. If found with illegal substances in their possession  they are charged, and disciplined. This part of the process usually conjures up images of students fleeing down the hallways (in order to escape capture and punishment), and administrative adults sprinting after them. However, according to an article on the Chicago Tribune's website, more students confess to their wrongs and show the administrators where the substances are. They believe that they will get a less harsh punishment by confessing, so they do so, but without parents or attorneys present. Most students would also believe that they are allowed their full rights in these situations, but they actually are lacking those very things.

Students in these cases are not read Miranda, and often have no search and seizure rights. Most also don't even think to ask for a parent or lawyer to be present, as they would in any other type of interrogation situation.  Granted, most of these searches and interrogations are caused by suspicion, but that does not make any student who is subjected to this kind of situation have any more rights. They are deprived of bits of their freedom, which is a disgrace! 

 Is it really acceptable for school administrators to have the same power as a police officer? Or is it a necessary evil that is only there to keep questionable students in line? If a student confesses, should this grant them a more lenient punishment, or should it be the same so that they would never do it again? What do you think?

            Why can't people be nice to each other and just get along? I get that people need to express their feelings, but there comes a point where common courtesy should win out. I'm not saying that people need to lie to each other for the sake of "being nice", but there's a fine line between being honest and being just plain mean. I also don't understand why people think that revenge is a good thing to do. So many things could be done instead of trying to get back at the "other guy". For example, certain countries, instead of fighting, could be putting their time and energies into solving bigger problems like world hunger and human rights issues. Can't people learn to coexist peacefully? We're all really the same kind of beings. If you cut any one of us, we all bleed red. We all have feelings and needs, so why can't people understand that just because someone believes something different, it's not a bad thing? If people stopped fighting, we could all have world peace. Wouldn't that be nice?
             I just wish that people could learn to put aside their own differences and try to be considerate of others for once. I hope that people will eventually wake up and try to help their neighbor rather than try to one-up them. I know that there are considerate people in this world, but I fear that the number of inconsiderate people outnumber them. I would like to challenge others as well as myself to become kinder to and more considerate of others. Just a few small actions could really begin to make the world a better place.          
              Why do people purposefully poke the anthill? There's no logical reason for doing so. Take for example, the anti-Muslim video released just a short time ago. I realize that there are stupid people out there who have no common sense, but was the video really necessary? Didn't they realize the potential effects of their actions? Whatever happened to the old adage "think before you act"? We have free speech, but just because we have it, doesn't mean that we need to use it to harm others.
              I only have one last thing to say. If you see a kind action anywhere, pay it forward. Who knows, it might make someone's day a little bit better.

(This blogpost was sparked by these  articles. )

First (Official) Blog Post

Okey dokey. Here goes.

Jock, nerd, Latino, christian. I don't really understand why people are so obsessed with labels and stereotypes. It's not just our obsession with labels and stereotypes that causes a problem. It's the fact that we refuse to accept anything that doesn't fit into each category. It's interesting that we preach acceptance, yet when we are actually faced with something that doesn't fit into the little categories we've created in our minds, we panic (side note: just look at the past and how long it took America to accept African Americans into society. And, even now they're still not really equal). We don't know what to do, so we reject what we're scared of. We're scared to accept the unknown and accept that everyone is equal. 

There was an episode of Nightline (Click Here) that I saw a long time ago, that just emphasized this need to let go of labels. It talked about a boy who who is completely normal, except for the fact that he likes to wear dresses. He is not abnormal mentally or “different”, however, adults look down upon him. He just likes to wear dresses and play with things that most people would classify as “girly”.  These adults like to label him and thereby categorize him. The culture today cares too much about gender and the stereotypes that are supposed to fit into each gender category. There once was a time when girls were not supposed to wear pants or other man-like clothing. It was considered scandalous and inappropriate. However, that changed in the more modern age. Girls now frequently dress in pants and shirts designed for the use of the male gender. It should be time for the opposite to occur. The popular culture is too strict on boys and holds too fast to the stereotypes that have been set since the earliest times. We need to gently let go of society’s expectations, and just accept people for who they are. 

As it has been said before, we all are different. These differences, however, are made into divisions in our minds; divisions that have become borders which people don't want to cross. We need to appreciate and accept these differences, not make them into insurmountable walls that "none shall cross".  What will it take for people to realize that the things that make us all different can be our strengths in times of need? When will people realize that labels aren't everything? And, why don't people have the urge to get to know someone rather than just pigeon-hole them into a stereotype? 

Testing 1,2,3...

Ooo. I like this text!! :)

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