Monday, May 12, 2014
WHO AM I END OF YEAR
The year is ending and so is sociology class. Honestly sociology has been the best class I have taken in high school. We have covered many ideas and topics that aren't covered in any other class. Every argument we had could be tied in to sociology some how. Most of them anyways, Dblanch sometimes had invalid arguments. I will also admit that every movie we watched was very good. They actually did teach us about sociology and how people act. Despite what you might think I have learned a lot in this class and I would like to think I'm smarter and better person than I was at the beginning of the year.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
WINNERS AND LOSERS
“Losers” important to
society
First seeing this article I had no
idea what it would be about. But then as I read it, it made a lot of
sense. Basically his definition of the
losers is; people who are not compensated for what they contribute, but what
they can get. The people that do the hard labor low paid jobs that not a lot of
people want to do. All these jobs are
critical to the functioning of our society. What actually makes our society
run? These super high paid “winners” or these “losers”?
Probably
my favorite part of the article is when he says, “Some would argue that these
people should “better themselves,” but the fact is, we need people in these “loser
jobs more than we need people in the “winners” circle.” I think that statement
hits the nail on the head. People in our country including myself; don’t give
the “losers” enough credit. These people
that do the tougher jobs and are paid less are the reason our country can have “winners”.
Then
the article goes on about more money stuff and crime rates. I didn’t follow the
article as well after the 5th-6th paragraph. But it does make another good point about the
stock market and casinos. How would casinos survive without losers? If everyone won they wouldn’t be able to stay
open and operate. All of the losers made
the winners winning possible.
Would
all the “winners” be ok with switching spots with the “losers” more than likely
no. But what would happen to our society if everyone was winners or if everyone
was losers? The winners would not be ok with that.
People
who read this article could have many different points of view. But what I am
taking from it is how our society started and it just keeps getting worse.
There have always been “winners” and “losers”.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Catfish
"They used to take these live cod in these giant vats on ships from Alaska to China, but by the time the fish got to China, their flesh would become mushy and tasteless, so some guy had the bright idea to put catfish in the vats with the cod to chase them around and keep them moving, and he finished by saying that he thanks God for the catfish because life would be droll, boring and dull if we didn't have someone nipping at our fins." That's a quote from Angela's Husband.
Even though that family didn't seem very smart, especially the husband. He had some pretty good quotes. Like he said, "the catfish keep the cod agile." We all have those people in our lives that keep us on our toes and add some life to us. I myself probably have many people in my life who act as a catfish. All my friends are probably a catfish to my life. They keep me on my toes. Every person who I associate with has an affect on my life. Then the people I interact with on a daily basis shape me into who I am. That's probably not the best thing but it's true.
As for catfish as someone who pretends to be someone they're not- using social media to create false identity. That has never happened to me and I don't know anyone who has been in a situation like that.
Even though that family didn't seem very smart, especially the husband. He had some pretty good quotes. Like he said, "the catfish keep the cod agile." We all have those people in our lives that keep us on our toes and add some life to us. I myself probably have many people in my life who act as a catfish. All my friends are probably a catfish to my life. They keep me on my toes. Every person who I associate with has an affect on my life. Then the people I interact with on a daily basis shape me into who I am. That's probably not the best thing but it's true.
As for catfish as someone who pretends to be someone they're not- using social media to create false identity. That has never happened to me and I don't know anyone who has been in a situation like that.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Reaction to Articles
The first article I read was about a high school basketball team in Illinois that had a record of 26-5. The journalist that wrote this story was not a good writer at all. He first talks about how he is surprised by how the team wins. Then he talks about how the teams leading scorer is Korean, and how there are no good Korean basketball players. The article explains how the team has success because of the great defense they play. But the journalist states he is still stumped on how they are good. That guy was probably fired and hopefully when he reads what he wrote he is embarrassed.
The next article was about Jews and basketball. It talked about how basketball was dominated by Jews in the first part of the 1900s. When immigrant Jewish families found themselves in the inner city and needed a way out, they turned to basketball. It was kind of humorous to read because during that time Jews were stereotyped because they were short and had "God-given balance and speed", now days we talk about how the African Americans dominate the sport of basketball. It's just kind of funny how everyone thought all the short guys were good and had an advantage and now its the total opposite.
Both of these articles point out obvious observations, that stereotyping happens all the time. In basketball words Jews are the has-beens, Koreans are the never-beens, African Americans are the now, and plain white people are just average. Kidding, but stereotypes don't just happen dealing with sports, they literally happen in everything. People stereotype all the time without even knowing about it. Its not a good thing to do, but I feel like people don't make a huge deal about stereotyping. Maybe there should be attempts to try to stop it.
The next article was about Jews and basketball. It talked about how basketball was dominated by Jews in the first part of the 1900s. When immigrant Jewish families found themselves in the inner city and needed a way out, they turned to basketball. It was kind of humorous to read because during that time Jews were stereotyped because they were short and had "God-given balance and speed", now days we talk about how the African Americans dominate the sport of basketball. It's just kind of funny how everyone thought all the short guys were good and had an advantage and now its the total opposite.
Both of these articles point out obvious observations, that stereotyping happens all the time. In basketball words Jews are the has-beens, Koreans are the never-beens, African Americans are the now, and plain white people are just average. Kidding, but stereotypes don't just happen dealing with sports, they literally happen in everything. People stereotype all the time without even knowing about it. Its not a good thing to do, but I feel like people don't make a huge deal about stereotyping. Maybe there should be attempts to try to stop it.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Alien Commuters
Norma Cortez is fifty nine years old, she harvests lettuce heads in the fields of Yum, Arizona. Tough job little pay, but that's not the worst part. The worst part is the commute. The commute takes around seven hours. Most of the time is spent waiting to get across the border. “The life of a farm worker is hard enough,” Norma says, “but the waiting time to get to work is worse.”
Rush hour for the wait is at 4:30 a.m., eight to ten thousand people are sometimes waiting in line to get across the border to go work. You can just imagine what the scene must be like. People who step out of line lose there spot and will not get it back. There are no bathrooms available so before entering the long wait people urinate at the entrance of the tunnel. The whole area has a terrible stench of urine.
Because there are so many people waiting to get across eagerly, people are jam packed in line. A worker named Monica, 29, said she is often fondled in the crush of people. “The lines are so packed it’s hard to see who’s doing the touching to be able to do anything about it,” she says. “Sometimes we don’t even want to come to work because we know it’s going to happen. But we don’t have a choice.”
The question is this activity of all these people wanting to come work good or bad? I think its alright I guess because California's Imperial Valley and Yuma, Arizona have the highest unemployment rates in the nation (23-27%). United States citizens don't like to take the minimum wage harvest jobs. Therefore I think if they aren't going to do it might as well let the people who are willing to do it.
Rush hour for the wait is at 4:30 a.m., eight to ten thousand people are sometimes waiting in line to get across the border to go work. You can just imagine what the scene must be like. People who step out of line lose there spot and will not get it back. There are no bathrooms available so before entering the long wait people urinate at the entrance of the tunnel. The whole area has a terrible stench of urine.
Because there are so many people waiting to get across eagerly, people are jam packed in line. A worker named Monica, 29, said she is often fondled in the crush of people. “The lines are so packed it’s hard to see who’s doing the touching to be able to do anything about it,” she says. “Sometimes we don’t even want to come to work because we know it’s going to happen. But we don’t have a choice.”
The question is this activity of all these people wanting to come work good or bad? I think its alright I guess because California's Imperial Valley and Yuma, Arizona have the highest unemployment rates in the nation (23-27%). United States citizens don't like to take the minimum wage harvest jobs. Therefore I think if they aren't going to do it might as well let the people who are willing to do it.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Animal Farm Round Up
Animal farm is a story made to give the animals in the story the characters of real people. For example Napoleon is Joseph Stalin, Mr. Fredickson is Hitler, Old Major shows sort of like Karl Marx.
When Old Major dies the pigs take over as leaders of the farm. At first it all starts out as a sort of fair farm. But as time goes on the pigs gain more and more power, led by Napoleon. They make ten commandments and at the end of the story many of them were changed and worded different, because the pigs changed them. Napoleon and the pigs just think about themselves not any of the other animals. They make them work all the time and keep food away from them and tell them lies. As a result animals die from multiple reasons and more and more animals die as the story goes on. Napoleon as a leader should try to keep everything going well for the whole farm but he does the exact opposite he just tries to make things go well for himself.
Conflict theory-
Conflict happens through out the story and the pigs use all of the conflict to keep their power. The pigs get everyone to think the humans are the biggest enemy to create conflict and pull all the animals together. To keep the animals working the pigs force the building of a windmill. Conflict always brings people together or tears them apart. In this case it was supposed to bring the animals together but it was actually tearing them apart.
Functionalist theory-
The pigs separate themselves from the other animals. This sort of shapes the animals into classes, as most of the animals besides the pigs are all working class and the pigs are upper class. Boxer worked the hardest out of anyone in the story and got very little. He deserved higher rewards but did not get them. No one was really given rewards because the pigs wanted all of the power. The animal's society never reaches a healthy balance.
At the end the pigs and the humans were sitting playing cards together and they couldn't tell who was pigs and who was a human. That describes the whole story, the humans started with all the power over all animals. Then the pigs gained power over all animals and at the end it shows how they both were controlling and power hungry.
When Old Major dies the pigs take over as leaders of the farm. At first it all starts out as a sort of fair farm. But as time goes on the pigs gain more and more power, led by Napoleon. They make ten commandments and at the end of the story many of them were changed and worded different, because the pigs changed them. Napoleon and the pigs just think about themselves not any of the other animals. They make them work all the time and keep food away from them and tell them lies. As a result animals die from multiple reasons and more and more animals die as the story goes on. Napoleon as a leader should try to keep everything going well for the whole farm but he does the exact opposite he just tries to make things go well for himself.
Conflict theory-
Conflict happens through out the story and the pigs use all of the conflict to keep their power. The pigs get everyone to think the humans are the biggest enemy to create conflict and pull all the animals together. To keep the animals working the pigs force the building of a windmill. Conflict always brings people together or tears them apart. In this case it was supposed to bring the animals together but it was actually tearing them apart.
Functionalist theory-
The pigs separate themselves from the other animals. This sort of shapes the animals into classes, as most of the animals besides the pigs are all working class and the pigs are upper class. Boxer worked the hardest out of anyone in the story and got very little. He deserved higher rewards but did not get them. No one was really given rewards because the pigs wanted all of the power. The animal's society never reaches a healthy balance.
At the end the pigs and the humans were sitting playing cards together and they couldn't tell who was pigs and who was a human. That describes the whole story, the humans started with all the power over all animals. Then the pigs gained power over all animals and at the end it shows how they both were controlling and power hungry.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Fight Club
The video we watched was about a guy who was troubled in his youth just like the kids he was helping. He opened up a gym for boxing, basically to keep these kids of the streets and keep them out of trouble. Some people may ask, well what happens when they stop going to the gym? Its hard to say if it's a temporary fix or a permanent fix. Each person is going to be different. My honest opinion is that if the kids had put there time into the boxing and stayed away from all of the negative stuff, they will be ok. If they know what it's like to work for something and how much better it is to be away from all the negative stuff why would they want to go back. But then there is always the worry that if it doesn't work out the kids will just be worse and be more violent.
Having these kids work for something is very important. After they are all done with boxing hopefully they have the working attitude to put there energy towards something positive like a job. Their instructor was in a troubled world when he was that age and he is doing good now. Like he said he wants his boxers to be people who can give their two cents to society.
So I think this is overall a good thing. It gets kids off the streets and keeps them out of trouble for a little time at least. A lot of them will maybe turn their whole life around just because of this. It shows them that when they work they can achieve. It gives them hope.
Having these kids work for something is very important. After they are all done with boxing hopefully they have the working attitude to put there energy towards something positive like a job. Their instructor was in a troubled world when he was that age and he is doing good now. Like he said he wants his boxers to be people who can give their two cents to society.
So I think this is overall a good thing. It gets kids off the streets and keeps them out of trouble for a little time at least. A lot of them will maybe turn their whole life around just because of this. It shows them that when they work they can achieve. It gives them hope.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Social Status
This last week our class learned a lot about social classes and status. We watched a movie that showed the rich, the working class, and the poor. The part of the movie I enjoyed most was the family from Waverly Ohio. It was about a Tammy and her sons, a poor family and what they think about their class. The oldest boy was kind of the main focal point and he thought of himself as higher class and better than his family. But his mom Tammy kept saying he just thinks like that he's actually the exact same. The oldest boy wanted to graduate high school and go to college to be a lawyer or a architect. Tammy always wanted to be a school teacher. There is always a way to achieve your goals but its really hard for some people. I think that both of them would have a tough time achieving those goals just because they are already in the hole. The son has a better chance though because he could get through schooling and make more money. Tammy has to supply for her children and other things so it would be harder for her to achieve her goal. Once you are in poverty and low class it is very hard to ever get out of it.
When the older son cleans the house and tries to make himself look nicer he's just kidding himself. It is what is and he cant change it just by cleaning up a little bit. It doesn't hurt anything because it's good that he doesn't just slob it all the time.
High School and Social Class-
High School is a very rough play ground. People form cliques and groups and judgments are made all the time. I'm not really talking about our school right now. But from my point of view at big high schools, things can be rough for some people. Social classes are shown at high school and I think it does kind of fit kids in where they stand. Is that a good thing? I don't think its a good thing. For example, if a kid isn't as fortunate with money and other things as other kids in his school but is very smart. He might not even give himself a chance to build a great life for himself just because the social class he's been put in.
People at our school are mostly all in the same class. Most everyone in my school are all middle class people. There aren't many cliques formed, I don't think anyone is embarrassed of people they go to school (because of class).
Mixing classes is probably tough for some people that do it. Dating someone who is in a different social class as you or having friends that aren't in the same social class might be tough. There is always movies that show a relationship of a young boy and girl but one is rich and the other is poor. Who is it tougher for? I'd say that both situations would be tough. For the lower class person they would maybe feel uncomfortable spending time with upper class people doing upper class things. The upper class person would maybe not be used to some of the things the lower class person has to do or go through. I recently went to the movie Endless Love and it gave a good example of all this. There was a very rich girl and a boy who didn't have much. They loved each other but when he first came over for supper the girl's father gave him a hard time because of his social status. The two kids were madly in love and did everything together that summer. But the girls father tried everything to keep them apart just because he wanted his daughter with someone from her social class. I wont ruin the ending for you readers because I know you'll want to watch it.
People judge class on what people own and what things they have. But that's why it's called being judgmental. A person who makes two hundred thousand dollars a year might want to leave in a trailer house and not want a nice TV or a nice car. Someone who doesn't know them very well might think that person is a low class guy but really he has more money than they do! It all depends on who you are I think. Some people have a lot of money and like to spend it, some have a lot of money and don't spend it. Some people don't have very much money and still spend it, some people don't have very much money and don't spend it. We all think we know because we see but we really don't know.
Are social classes something that as people we just make up? We don't need to categorize people by how much money they make. It will always happen I know, but the question is why does it happen?
When the older son cleans the house and tries to make himself look nicer he's just kidding himself. It is what is and he cant change it just by cleaning up a little bit. It doesn't hurt anything because it's good that he doesn't just slob it all the time.
High School and Social Class-
High School is a very rough play ground. People form cliques and groups and judgments are made all the time. I'm not really talking about our school right now. But from my point of view at big high schools, things can be rough for some people. Social classes are shown at high school and I think it does kind of fit kids in where they stand. Is that a good thing? I don't think its a good thing. For example, if a kid isn't as fortunate with money and other things as other kids in his school but is very smart. He might not even give himself a chance to build a great life for himself just because the social class he's been put in.
People at our school are mostly all in the same class. Most everyone in my school are all middle class people. There aren't many cliques formed, I don't think anyone is embarrassed of people they go to school (because of class).
Mixing classes is probably tough for some people that do it. Dating someone who is in a different social class as you or having friends that aren't in the same social class might be tough. There is always movies that show a relationship of a young boy and girl but one is rich and the other is poor. Who is it tougher for? I'd say that both situations would be tough. For the lower class person they would maybe feel uncomfortable spending time with upper class people doing upper class things. The upper class person would maybe not be used to some of the things the lower class person has to do or go through. I recently went to the movie Endless Love and it gave a good example of all this. There was a very rich girl and a boy who didn't have much. They loved each other but when he first came over for supper the girl's father gave him a hard time because of his social status. The two kids were madly in love and did everything together that summer. But the girls father tried everything to keep them apart just because he wanted his daughter with someone from her social class. I wont ruin the ending for you readers because I know you'll want to watch it.
People judge class on what people own and what things they have. But that's why it's called being judgmental. A person who makes two hundred thousand dollars a year might want to leave in a trailer house and not want a nice TV or a nice car. Someone who doesn't know them very well might think that person is a low class guy but really he has more money than they do! It all depends on who you are I think. Some people have a lot of money and like to spend it, some have a lot of money and don't spend it. Some people don't have very much money and still spend it, some people don't have very much money and don't spend it. We all think we know because we see but we really don't know.
Are social classes something that as people we just make up? We don't need to categorize people by how much money they make. It will always happen I know, but the question is why does it happen?
Friday, February 21, 2014
Theories and Luck
In sociology we talked about the functionalist theory and the conflict theory.The Conflict Theory claims that society is in a state of perpetual conflict and competition for limited resources. With the conflict theory it talks about how people who have wealth just keep getting wealthier and the people who do not have wealth suffer from it.
The functionalist theory I don't understand as much but I think it rewards people well that work hard. Why should movie stars get paid millions when a teacher is paid less. Why do professional athletes get paid more than a member of the armed forces? Why are things like this happening?
We also talked about the quote "A man creates his own luck" from the Titanic. I think that in certain ways we do create our own luck. Example: if you go fishing enough there is a good chance at least one of the times you're going to hit it big. You have to be able to get your self in the right situations to get lucky. People willing to take risk and walk through an open door our the ones that get lucky.
The functionalist theory I don't understand as much but I think it rewards people well that work hard. Why should movie stars get paid millions when a teacher is paid less. Why do professional athletes get paid more than a member of the armed forces? Why are things like this happening?
We also talked about the quote "A man creates his own luck" from the Titanic. I think that in certain ways we do create our own luck. Example: if you go fishing enough there is a good chance at least one of the times you're going to hit it big. You have to be able to get your self in the right situations to get lucky. People willing to take risk and walk through an open door our the ones that get lucky.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM- - FILM
The movie Requiem for a Dream is very odd and strange but I think it is very good too. It shows how drug users can start out and how they can end up and everything in between.
In the beginning of the movie it was very funny because Harry kept taking his mother's TV and selling it to get money for drugs. The funny part is that his mom Sara always went and bought it back.
Harry and his friend Tyrone get the idea that they want to make some money by being distributors. They start off doing well and they make it their goal to get a pound of pure Heroin. Sure enough they get the pound of pure and sure enough they have to try it. From there on out it all goes down hill for those two.
While all this stuff is going on with those two Harry's mom Sarah gets a call that tells her she gets the opportunity to be on a TV show. Sara tells all of her friends and it changes her completely. She gets the idea of fitting into her old red dress and she colored her hair too. She tries to go on a diet but it doesn't work good enough or fast enough. So one of her friends tells her about these pills that help you lose weight. Sara then goes to the doctor to get this pills and she does. The pills just destroy her and her son Harry notices when he comes to visit. Harry notices her grinding her teeth and tells her to get off the pills.
Harry has a girlfriend, Marion played by Jennifer Connelly which makes the movie even better. But Marion wants to open up a clothing store and Harry wants to help. So he tries even harder to sell and sell. At one point they go dry and run out of drugs to sell so Marion uses her body to make some money. Harry and Tyrone travel to Florida to try to get drugs but get caught and end up in prison. To make it all worse Harry has a very bad infection on his arm from shooting up.
The movie ends with Marion having a bad time making money, Tyrone in Jail, Sara in the emergency room from overdose, and Harry losing his arm.
In the beginning of the movie it was very funny because Harry kept taking his mother's TV and selling it to get money for drugs. The funny part is that his mom Sara always went and bought it back.
Harry and his friend Tyrone get the idea that they want to make some money by being distributors. They start off doing well and they make it their goal to get a pound of pure Heroin. Sure enough they get the pound of pure and sure enough they have to try it. From there on out it all goes down hill for those two.
While all this stuff is going on with those two Harry's mom Sarah gets a call that tells her she gets the opportunity to be on a TV show. Sara tells all of her friends and it changes her completely. She gets the idea of fitting into her old red dress and she colored her hair too. She tries to go on a diet but it doesn't work good enough or fast enough. So one of her friends tells her about these pills that help you lose weight. Sara then goes to the doctor to get this pills and she does. The pills just destroy her and her son Harry notices when he comes to visit. Harry notices her grinding her teeth and tells her to get off the pills.
Harry has a girlfriend, Marion played by Jennifer Connelly which makes the movie even better. But Marion wants to open up a clothing store and Harry wants to help. So he tries even harder to sell and sell. At one point they go dry and run out of drugs to sell so Marion uses her body to make some money. Harry and Tyrone travel to Florida to try to get drugs but get caught and end up in prison. To make it all worse Harry has a very bad infection on his arm from shooting up.
The movie ends with Marion having a bad time making money, Tyrone in Jail, Sara in the emergency room from overdose, and Harry losing his arm.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Drugs Inc.
The whole world has problems involving drugs. The United States is just one of the countries with those problems. Heroin is just one of the drugs there are problems with. There are many things you can try to do to stop the Heroin use or make it better. But I honestly think that it can't be completely stopped.
Like we saw in the video we watched people can provide clean needles and the right supplies. Teach users how to use properly and "safely". Set up free rehab centers to try to get users in and help them as much as possible. Those are some little things that we could try to do.
Some bigger things we could try are things like; have incoming port security raised even higher. Check everything that comes into the United States. But even with that I don't think it could be stopped. Another thing that would be kind of a last resort thing would be coming up with something new. Why doesn't the government pay scientist to create something that isn't as bad or not bad at all that has the same effects as Heroin.
But honestly there will be tons and tons of money spent on trying to stop it but it won't ever be stopped.
Like we saw in the video we watched people can provide clean needles and the right supplies. Teach users how to use properly and "safely". Set up free rehab centers to try to get users in and help them as much as possible. Those are some little things that we could try to do.
Some bigger things we could try are things like; have incoming port security raised even higher. Check everything that comes into the United States. But even with that I don't think it could be stopped. Another thing that would be kind of a last resort thing would be coming up with something new. Why doesn't the government pay scientist to create something that isn't as bad or not bad at all that has the same effects as Heroin.
But honestly there will be tons and tons of money spent on trying to stop it but it won't ever be stopped.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
TRASHED
Before I talk about the actual story I would like to point out something. When people stereo type drug users such as heroin, people think of bad rebels and thugs of such type. But a lot of drug users are wealthy people that are thought of as great people.
Reading this kind of confused me but what I got from it was basically a mad mother. Her kid who she thought was a good boy went to a party at a mansion where there were drugs. Heroin was involved and Michael York overdosed on it. So these rich white kids did not want all this negative attention on their "Good" community so they threw York face down in an alley in the ghetto of a black community. They could of called 911 or called anyone for help. But they were so worried about getting judged and stigmatized that they left their own friend face down in an alley. They should of called for help first of all. But why didn't they drop him off in their white neighborhood? They really drove forty miles to a lesser of a town with a black population to throw York in an alley. Just so they didn't get judged.
If I was in that situation I would do anything I could do to help and make sure my friend is ok. Even if I lived where they did.
The main point is that these kids were so worried about being judged and they were so stereo typical that they didn't even try to save their friend. Now they gave their town an even worse name now that people know the real story.
Reading this kind of confused me but what I got from it was basically a mad mother. Her kid who she thought was a good boy went to a party at a mansion where there were drugs. Heroin was involved and Michael York overdosed on it. So these rich white kids did not want all this negative attention on their "Good" community so they threw York face down in an alley in the ghetto of a black community. They could of called 911 or called anyone for help. But they were so worried about getting judged and stigmatized that they left their own friend face down in an alley. They should of called for help first of all. But why didn't they drop him off in their white neighborhood? They really drove forty miles to a lesser of a town with a black population to throw York in an alley. Just so they didn't get judged.
If I was in that situation I would do anything I could do to help and make sure my friend is ok. Even if I lived where they did.
The main point is that these kids were so worried about being judged and they were so stereo typical that they didn't even try to save their friend. Now they gave their town an even worse name now that people know the real story.
Are the Xbox and unleaded gas helping keep you safe from violent crime? - Response
The article first talks about how video games help. They think that since more and more kids are inside playing video games, less and less are on the streets having the chance to commit a crime. They also think that since kids are playing games like "Grand Theft Auto" or other games that involve shooting or crime, mitigate or make that behavior less severe and lead to a decrease in crime. The researchers called the phenomenon the "incapacitation effect." When you are at home playing video games, You are not hanging out on street corners, in alleys or out with your buddies getting into trouble
The talk about removing lead from gasoline, paint, and other things I think is kind of dumb. It maybe be true but the fact that people have to come up with lead as an excuse for why people commit violent crimes is plain stupid in my mind. But Jessica Wolpaw Reyes a college professor found a correlation between lead exposure and violent crime. According to her calculations, exposure to the heavy metal could have accounted for between 28 percent and 91 percent of the 83 percent increase in violent crime in the U.S. between 1972 and 1992. And as lead exposure dropped, so too did violent crime, falling 56 percent during the 1990s, she found.
People also thought the Roe vs. Wade and the decision of the Supreme Court legalizing abortion was a factor that influences the falling crime rate.
Immigrants were also blamed for the cause of violent crimes but it is just the opposite. Immigrants who come here usually have very good work ethics and strong families. Robert Sampson a professor at Harvard examined violent crimes involving 3,000 men and women in Chicago from adolescence to age 25 and found that first generation immigrants were 45 percent less likely to commit violence than third-generation Americans, while second-generation immigrants were 22 percent less likely to carry out such crimes.
So from this article I read it looks like there are many factors that could play into the cause of violent crimes. There will be tons of studies that go on about these crimes because there will always be violent crimes happening. There are too many people in the world for them all to be normal.
The talk about removing lead from gasoline, paint, and other things I think is kind of dumb. It maybe be true but the fact that people have to come up with lead as an excuse for why people commit violent crimes is plain stupid in my mind. But Jessica Wolpaw Reyes a college professor found a correlation between lead exposure and violent crime. According to her calculations, exposure to the heavy metal could have accounted for between 28 percent and 91 percent of the 83 percent increase in violent crime in the U.S. between 1972 and 1992. And as lead exposure dropped, so too did violent crime, falling 56 percent during the 1990s, she found.
People also thought the Roe vs. Wade and the decision of the Supreme Court legalizing abortion was a factor that influences the falling crime rate.
Immigrants were also blamed for the cause of violent crimes but it is just the opposite. Immigrants who come here usually have very good work ethics and strong families. Robert Sampson a professor at Harvard examined violent crimes involving 3,000 men and women in Chicago from adolescence to age 25 and found that first generation immigrants were 45 percent less likely to commit violence than third-generation Americans, while second-generation immigrants were 22 percent less likely to carry out such crimes.
So from this article I read it looks like there are many factors that could play into the cause of violent crimes. There will be tons of studies that go on about these crimes because there will always be violent crimes happening. There are too many people in the world for them all to be normal.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Breakfast Club Podcast
I created a podcast as "Glen Johnson" the nerd Brian Johnson's brother. I interview the "rebel" John Bender and have an interesting conversation to say the least. Click to listen
> Breakfast ClUb
> Breakfast ClUb
Monday, January 13, 2014
Deviance and what i learned
Deviance is the fact or state of departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social behavior. People perform positive and negative deviances all the time with out realizing it. I was an escort for a class mate at a snow queen banquet.
The story about Diaz and the kid trying to rob him is very interesting. The kid tries to rob him and Diaz just says here's my wallet. Then Diaz even gives him his coat. Tells the kid he will need it to keep warm if he's going to keep robbing people the rest of the night. Then the kid is just shocked and ask Diaz what's going on. Diaz explains and says if he's willing to risk his freedom for a little money he must need it pretty bad. Diaz and the kid then go to supper at the diner Diaz planned on going to in the first place. Diaz gets his wallet back and pays for the food.
The interesting thing about this story is how well both Diaz and the kid handled it. Its was a positive deviance performed by Diaz that taught a good lesson.
Snack man is a guy on a subway who steps between an arguing couple and offers them chips that he is eating. Most people when they see others fighting they just stay out of it.
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