Immigration

Immigration is a huge and complicated issue but there seem to be two main sides to the argument. Liberals believe that they need to legalize illegal immigrants who are currently living in the US.  They want to make it easier for immigrants to get visas into the country, and believe that immigrants should have all of the same rights as US citizens.  Conservatives believe that immigration laws need to strengthen and become more difficult, so our countries economy does not fall.  They want to make it more difficult to get visas, and overall tighten the restrictions. Their reasoning is worries about economy, jobs, health and much more.

I am in the middle of the immigration issue, because I believe in both sides of the argument.  On one side I feel that anyone should be allowed to improve their lifestyle, however, on the other hand by coming to the US illegally, people are getting to work without paying taxes, but still getting all the benefits of living in the US.  If I had to choose I would probably sway more towards the conservative viewpoint.  Today's presentation went okay, however, the TV clip and song not working made the presentation weaker.  Overall, I think all of these presentations went pretty well, and they were good means of discussing the many pertinent issues relevant in our government today.

School Prayer

The issue of school prayer continues to arise within the government.  Liberals do not believe in allowing school prayer, and therefore support the "separation of church and state."  They feel that by allowing prayer in public schools, students will be left out, and pushed away from their friends.  Usually school prayer refers to the Christian viewpoints, and therefore would leave out all other religions.  Conservatives believe that since our country was created with Christian viewpoints, school prayer should be allowed.  They try to follow the constitution, and think that it never says there is "separation of church and state", that is just the first amendment.   Conservatives think that making restrictions on school prayer is not giving people freedom, because that prevents them from religion in school.  They believe it brings unity, and that there is nothing wrong with it.

In my opinion I do not think there should be prayer in school, because it just divides people even more.  With the many issues relevant in our world today, the conservatives are just turning people against one another by having prayer in school.  For all of the students who are different religions, or do not believe in a religion, they are getting left out, and hurt for no reason.  This presentation went pretty well.  All of the media and clips fit their topic, and showed the main differences between the two views.  Though it was difficult to speak from a conservative point of view, since I strongly oppose it, I tried, and I think the discussion went pretty well.

Gay Rights

Gay rights have been discussed continuously over the years.  Liberals believe that anyone should be able to marry who they choose, no matter their sex, and should also have the same rights as straight couples.  Conservatives, on the other hand, are stuck in the past, and following old religious, Christian documents to determine their beliefs.  They feel that the marriage is a bond between a man and a woman only.  Also, since they do not recognize gays as married, they therefore do not give them the same rights that a straight couple would have.  

I am liberal, and feel that anyone should be able to choose their partner, no matter their sex, because all people should be treated equally.  People do not choose to be homosexual, it is in their genetics, so they should not be discriminated against for something that they can not control.  Getting married affects no one else, and everyone should be allowed to participate in this sacred bond.  Overall, I feel that the class discussion and presentation went pretty well.  All the clips and points the group made were well thought out, and did not stray from the topic.  I luckily was liberal, because I could not even thick of one support for the conservative side, so when we switched sides in the last five minutes, I did not know what to say.  It is very hard when you believe so strongly against something to make points to support the other side of the argument. 

Abortion

Abortion is a very touchy subject, and there are two main beliefs on the issue.  Liberals believe in pro-choice, or the ability for a person to decide for themselves if they want an abortion or not.  On the other hand, Conservatives are very against abortion, and believe that it is killing an innocent child.  This view goes hand in hand with the Catholic beliefs.  The huge issue is that even if abortions are illegal, just as many people will continue to have them illegally in back alleys, and in dangerous situations.  In the second article it talks about "the lesser of two evils" and many conservatives and liberals believe that anything "short of making abortions illegal" will help to reduce the amount of people having them.  Though many people do believe that an abortion is the taking of a human life, the most that really can be done is to try and convince people to refrain from having abortions, because even with abortions being illegal, people will continue to have them.

I am a believer in pro-choice, because I feel that it should be a mothers decision if they want to give up their child, however, people should be more informed about the different issues so having abortions does not become almost second nature.  I presented today, and I feel that it went pretty well.  Though we did not have a ton of time for the discussion, we produced many well thought out points, that really got people thinking.  Our song, video, and TV show really helped to portray our theme.  Though some people in the discussion would keep saying the same things in different words, and never bring up new points even when we asked alternate questions, I feel that overall, the presentation was a success.

Liberals vs. Conservatives

Liberals and conservatives differ greatly in their viewpoints about American society.  When comparing issues, Liberals are much more laid back then conservatives, and are willing to stray away from older, more traditional viewpoints, whereas conservatives seem to stick to them like glue.  Conservatives believe in giving power to individuals in order to solve their problems, whereas liberals believe in the government to help solve problems.  Some relevant issues that these two parties disagree on are abortion, same sex marriage, gun control and much more.  For example conservatives believe that a fetus is a human life, and people should not be able to get an abortion.  Liberals on the other hand believe in allowing people to make that decision for themselves, rather than making it for them.   Conservatives do not believe in same sex marriages, however, liberals believe that every citizen should be allowed to marry whom they want, and should therefore not be discriminated against.  Another issue is that of gun control.  Conservatives think people should be allowed to own guns for protection, and liberals believe people should not own guns, that they are just contributing to violence.  In my opinion, conservatives are stuck in the olden days, and refuse to move forward towards more accepting, and welcoming times. 

Authenticity

Communication is authentic to my subculture.  Even though this is somewhat related to technological advancements, I still feel that our generation has lost a lot of people skills by only talking through electronics.  Kids of my generation have started to rely on facebook, texting, aim, and many other things instead of actually talking to someone face to face.  We are loosing our social skills by only communicating through the computer.  People are able to express their feelings better when they are not actually talking face to face, so it is limiting human interactions.  It is scary to think that kids are relying so much on these forms of technology, and have nearly abandoned all other forms of communication.

            Even though these forms of technology have influenced our generation a lot, there is still the fact that we really do not have anything besides a negative to be authentic about our generation.  It is sad that we seem to be the “copycats” of the world.  Nothing we do is original; it is all just trying to reproduce things we have already seen.  Our generation at this point has done nothing spectacular or life changing, but has just sat around mimicking what others have done before us.  It is time that we make a change in the world for the better, and truly show people what our generation has to offer.

Advertisers

"It's a shame that the people who are listening to you the most are only interested in you because they want you and your peers to buy their product."

In a way, I can see how this statement is valid.  It is true that advertisers, are doing everything they can in order to understand our generation, however, I wouldn't necessarily say that it is a shame.  This quote seems to say that it is as if the advertisers are listening to us the most, and no one else is, when in fact, there are many people listening to what we want.  It really is not bad that advertisers are searching into our lives, because in order to sell a product, they need to understand our generation.  They are only fulfilling their jobs, by doing this.  This statement seems to almost contradict what an advertisers job is, when in fact, all they are trying to do is create products for us.  We should be happy that they are trying so hard to please us, instead of scolding them.