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.

"Accidentally In Love"

My favorite song by the Counting Crows is “Accidentally In Love.”  This has been my favorite song since the movie Shrek 2 came out.  Immediately after hearing it I was drawn into its upbeat rhythm and happy lyrics.  The lyrics are talking about someone being madly in love, and not able to contain their feelings.  This song is lighter, focusing on everything that love makes you feel, from wanting to turn around, jump, spin and belt out how much you are in love.  This song is one that completely frees the listener, allowing them to sing along, shouting their feelings to the world.  My favorite part of the song states, “Well baby I surrender/ To the strawberry ice cream/ Never ever end of all this love/ Well I didn’t mean to do it/ But there’s no escaping your love.”  I enjoyed this section the most, because when you are in love, happiness flows through you, and singing about ice cream, and never ending love, really shows the feeling of joy and happiness that comes across throughout this entire song.  I feel that I identify with this song, because it is about being cheerful, and silly, and just falling madly in love. Whenever I am sad or not feeling great, this song completely cheers me up, and I can’t help but to smile and sing along.  

"Accidentally In Love" Lyrics

Counting Crows

            I choose to do Counting Crows for my CD project, because I did not know much about them, and they wrote my favorite song, “Accidentally In Love.”  After researching them, and learning all about their lives, I feel that they mostly represent the values of my generation.  They are a Folk and Alternative Rock group, creating fun, easy to understand lyrics and beats.  Many of their heritage artists are very popular groups, like R.E.M., Nirvana, Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, and The Beatles.  Counting Crows has been able to appeal to this generation by creating songs that discuss relationships and love lives.  Everyone is able to relate to them, because they are broad popular topics.  For Example, in their song “American Girls” the lyrics are all about finding love, and the different parts of relationships. 

To go along with their crowd-pleasing songs, Counting Crows developed a laid back image.  Though this fits the group of people that are chill, and into emotional music, it does not fit my generation in the sense that people have become so obsessed with looking good and specifying a look.  For example, there are artists like Rihanna and Mariah Carey who are all about looking glamorous, and on the other side there are artists like Eminem and 50 cent, who are all about looking like the classic rappers. Though Counting Crows does not exactly fit into these standards, there are similar groups like Green Day, and Maroon 5 that have gained popularity in such a closed music society.  Counting Crows is a fun, energetic, and talented group of performers that will definitely stick around for a while.

Generation Gaps

During the 1950s it seemed that a huge generation gap was occurring between parents and their 14-17 year old teenagers.  It was interesting to see how parents were still into the classic roles and positions of the nuclear family, however, with the rise of Elvis, everything began to change.  With his risqué movement, and open talk of sexuality, he appealed to the younger generation, causing them to want to rebel against their close minded parents.  Due to this, Elvis had to deal with the parents degrading him, and trying to bring him down at any chance they got.  In my opinion, Elvis was just trying to bring out the world of Rock and Roll, while attempting to reform this racist, closed minded society to which he lived in.  It is amazing to me to see how much one young boy can change the world.  Elvis not only caused the future to be a more open, and exciting place, but he truly was able to stand strong to his will, moving out of the societal norm, while in the process altering the minds of those around him.  The power of Elvis and his Rock and Roll, had such a great effect on the people, and he truly made the younger population much more socially advanced, while in the process, creating one of the largest generational gaps ever.

Favorite Group of Singers

My first favorite group of singers was the Spice Girls.  They came out when I was about six years old, and were at the height of popularity.  The Spice girls were important to me, because I loved their music, and looked up to them as role models.  It was nice to have such a strong group of singers, expressing ideas such as girl power, strength to women, and being ones self.  Once when I went to Vancouver, the Spice Girls were staying at my hotel, and there were lines all down the street, of people trying to catch a glimpse of them.  It was very exciting, and at the last second I got to see them.  The Spice Girls were a huge part of my childhood, and they defined much of the beginning of my life.

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