Whenever I think about the world view of the United States it’s always the same…everyone hates us. It can be seen in movies and in the media. It’s always the same. I figured that he wouldn’t say he hated us because he lived in our country for 8 years and then moved back, but I figured when we asked him about what other people thought about us it would be a very colorful to say the least. I figured the general consensus would be pretty much the same. When the topic was brought up however I was surprised to hear that some of the people don’t like us of course but that some do and the majority wants us there for a little longer until the nation becomes stable again. He said the people where happy when we came and happy we got rid of Saddam. The thing I didn’t find surprising however was that they (Iraqis) think we are there primarily for their oil. After listening to same Christian invaders lecture I think I feel the same way so I can’t really blame them for that. It was interesting to hear though that when the US soldiers first got there they treated the Iraqi people very well but when fighting started they started to treat them more badly. The thing I found most interesting from this was his reaction saying if someone was shooting at him he would have done the same thing so he understood why in some respect they did this. Also his answers on radical Muslims were actually really cool too. Most people have a very narrow view of people of that religion and group all of them together. We have radical Christians but no one says all are crazy. This is the major problem I think our country has with people of that area of the world right now. If more people could hear him say that he hates them as much as we do, hear him say he hope US soldiers return safely home, and how shocked he was after the 9/11 attacks people might start to think a little differently. I know since taking this class my outlook on every other religion/culture has changed and sometimes I have a hard time believing what Sam says is always true but to hear it come from someone who lives in Iraq and is Muslim really helps me to better understand. I thought it was a great idea for Sam to have us listen to someone from another country, especially from Iraq, to answer our questions so we weren’t just taking the word of a white dude from the United States. I know Sam has been to far more places, see far more and knows far more but it was just a really cool idea.

I would take full advantage of it if I could. This entire blog is going to sound very selfish but I would certain do everything I could to try to get ahead if the opportunity presented itself to me. I come from a small town where I know just about everyone and everyone knows either my dad or my grandfather. My grandfather started the first family practice in our town and was the only doctor around besides the hospital for many many years. I will be walking down the street all the time and random people I don’t know will say hello or ask about my family. The reason I am saying all this is the many resources I am blessed with. I know in class we called the nepotism and it very well may be but I call it using what you have. I just got a job this summer because a family friend of ours hooked me up. Without her help I would probably be back working at the pizza shop. Also I wouldn’t expect anyone to give up a chance to get ahead if they had one. I know many kids who probably shouldn’t even be at this school but because they knew somebody they got in. Good for them. I have no problem with that and I know that people have gotten things over me because of it but I also know I have gotten things over other people as well so I feel like things are working out. It’s funny that we had a lecture on this because my dad always tells me it’s not about what you know it’s about who you know. He has been involved in many businesses for many years and I completely believe him. I’m sure someone is going to get on and say how they have never done this or they are going to try to never do it again. Well I don’t believe that for one second. Everyone wants to get ahead that why we came to college in the first place, we want to get better jobs than those people who didn’t go to college. So if someone gets on and says they are never going to use one of their resources to their full advantage it a crock. Like I said before I know I have be very fortunate to have had the connections I have had and I plan to take full advantage of them in the future. I will say one thing though when I have the opportunity to help someone else out that needs a contacts I do everything in my power to get that person the help they are looking for.

When Sam first said to put ourselves in the shoes of a Middle Eastern person I wasn’t really into it. About a quarter of the way through the lecture I decided I’d give it a try. Once I started my eyes were really opened to many different topics. I thought his lecture on the Christian invaders was best lecture of the year and I took the most away from it. I was always pro just go kick the shit out of them because of 9/11 and other terrorist attacks. After this lecture I completely changed my view. I am still pro war and I know many people who are fighting for our country but I never was aware of the “Christian” persona that we as a country give off. When we think of Middle East countries we always associate them with Muslim. In our country or main problem is we see the race of everyone. We have and will continue to just see the color of people. I feel like in this country we aren’t as caught up people religion. I consider myself a Christian but I don’t look at someone who is Jewish or Buddhist and say I can’t be friends with them or I hate them because of what they believe in. On the other hand people always think of Muslims and automatically think of the few radicals who do the bombs and burning of the American flags. But we have radicals here as well. The KKK is a Protestant Christian group that everyone knows the madness they were involved in. Why does no one hate all Christians because of one group? Putting myself in the shoes of someone who has this hatred toward them for no reason really opened my eyes. I believe people are very narrow minded and need to watch this lecture to have their eyes opened as well. If people see how our leaders have admitted that we did go to their country to steal their oil. We would be so pissed as a country if someone came to our land and stole our resources. Sam’s example of the Chinese coming into the USA and taking our coal and there is nothing we could do about it was perfect for what we are doing to these other countries. Of course their armed forces can’t stop the most powerful military in the world. We could do this to just about any country we wanted to but since we wrapped a nice bow around why we are there not many people ask questions and we get away with it. We are now doing what countries have tried to do for years. We own land all over the world. We act like we are the great peacekeepers but in reality be just bully smaller countries.

I feel like the information on both sexes was equally enlightening. The info on the males was interesting because as a man I don’t see most of what is happening around me. I of course see the world through the “man gaze” Sam and his wife talked about. I never thought about most of what they were saying. The information about how a man’s body doesn’t really change that much is so true. I know many old men who still act like a 20 year old in that respect. The lecture made me think about relationships if been in and ones I will be in later on in life. The lecture also prepared me for the changes a woman goes through. Thanks to him I will now be a little better prepared. As the presentation started I started to think they were going to stand in front of 700 students and bash men and their penises for an hour and 15 minutes and at the end I would feel like complete and utter shit but then they started in on women too. The women’s information really opened my eyes into how women really think and are. As I walk through State College on a Friday or Saturday night everything they said so very true. Girls walking around in 20 degree or below weather with no coat, high heels and a short short dress. As I talk to my friends that partake in this weekly ritual, they always tell me I want to look nice, I want to look nice. So after the lecture I went and asked my girlfriend who dresses up on a regular basis if she likes dressing up all the time. She replied yes. I then asked her why she likes to dress up? She told me she likes to look nice. I said there is nothing wrong with that but why do you want to look nice. She thought about it for a minute and responded by say I want people to think I look nice. This is exactly what they were talking about. This conversation happened no more than 2 hours after the lecture and I had already seen it in person. I figured they were right but when Sam’s wife said we would think differently about all this stuff I was like maybe for a little bit but ill soon forget. I had this conversation and now I really do think I’m going to think about this stuff in a different way. I almost feel bad now when I seen girls walk on campus dressed up for class and I’m walking in sweatpants and sneakers. I really am thankful that I am a guy and don’t have to worry about these things.

I think we need to show these funny clips because of the whole political correctness thing. People find it very hard to talk about race issues and often can’t. If we open the discussion with everyone laughing at a racial joke them the tension is eased. Also when you see people of different races laughing about the same thing it makes it easier to talk about the issue. For example the other day we were watching a video where a black comic (might have been Chris Rock I don’t remember) was making fun of all different races. As I looked around my section I saw people of different races and ethnic backgrounds all laughing at the same thing. It made me think about how easy it would have been to talk about race to them at that point. In today’s society it’s very rare you can just walk up to someone on the street and start up a conversation with them about race because it is such a touchy subject. It’s even hard if that person is a different race than you and you want to have a discussion about their race. This also relates to the stages we have been talking about in class. A person in the humanitarian stage will have an easier time talking to people about it than someone in another stage so they may not need that little ice breaker of a joke. After all that’s all the joke is, it’s an ice breaker. It cuts the racial tension. I think it’s the same as when Chris Rock makes fun of black people it eases the tension when talking about race. I see this happen in our discussion sections too. In our group one day we were talking about race mainly black and white and one of the black kids made a joke about a black sub culture and everyone in the class laughed and then I think a light bulb went on in everyone’s head and everyone began to just openly discuss racial issues. Not only did we just talk about race we got into some very controversial topics. This isn’t just a racial issue though this can be done/said for any serious situation. If you walk into a very serious interview or situation and someone makes a joke the tension is immediately cut down and conversation gets very easy. I know I’ve gone into job interviews very nervous and when I got into the interview the person asking me the questions told me a funny story, we both laughed and the interview suddenly turned from a serious interview to a casual conversation.

As a white student I have never felt guilt about being white. I consider myself a very racially equal person. I may have gotten things throughout my life because I am white but I had nothing to do with that. It wasn’t a decision that I made that made me white. It is interesting that some people do feel guilty. I don’t see that point in feeling guilty if you aren’t doing anything to put the other races down. I can see where someone who actively goes out and bashes other races would feel guilty. Like Sam said in class there really is no need to feel guilty and he didn’t feel guilty. Throughout my life I’m sure that someone of a different race or gender will get something over me or get better treatment and I don’t expect them to feel guilty at all. If I was in the minority I wouldn’t expect anyone to feel guilty. If you look at colleges and job more and more minority groups are getting into college and getting better jobs. There are all kinds of programs now and in the job market there is almost a racism against white men. Because of all of these programs it is hard for a white man to get work. All of these companies want to hire minorities and women. Also people may feel guilty because of the history of the country. I didn’t own slaves and would never own slaves so I don’t feel guilty for people owning slaves. They should feel guilty. I like to think of my guilt based on whether I made a decision that affected many people of a different race. I have not done anything to feel guilty about. I have been very blesses with all I have been able to get and receive in my life but why should I feel guilty about that? I got into a great university but I get no financial aid and no help. I know lots of people who get all kinds of financial aid to go here. Should they feel guilty that they get help to pay for school and I don’t? No way. They should be happy for what they got and remember how lucky they are. Maybe that why I don’t feel guilty I make the most out of every opportunity I am presented with. I don’t take any for granted. People who don’t realize what they have should feel guilty not those who have just caught a break. After all Darwin said it best when he said, “survival of the fittest.” Just be thankful for everything you and don’t feel guilty about it.

The United States simply ran out of gas. Think about how many gas there are in the U.S. and how badly we rely on oil. Soon there will be no more oil. But it’s not just limited to oil we could run out of all kinds of things. There are many places in the world that have no clean fresh water to drink. We never think about things like that. All we ever hear is about oil, oil and more oil. So how can we save these resources? We need to find better alternatives and the government but make more laws to promote these alternatives. Maybe laws aren’t even necessary but incentives. If we can entice people into using these alternatives instead of the traditional ways now, we might be able to save what little we have left for things we really need it for. After all do we really need to be burning millions of gallons of oil every year just to make plastic bags so shopping is a little more convenient? Give me a break. I know I could defiantly make a switch to save a little gas and in the end save some money. Gas prices are speculated to go up to around five dollars a gallon this summer. So those paper bags at the grocery store are looking a little better now aren’t they?

Middle class and lower class people get mad. Do you give the resources to the middle and lower class? Rich people get mad. Or do you try to distribute them evenly? We all know this wouldn’t work. Before we know it we could have a repeat of the 1973 oil crisis.

There is almost no way to limit the amount of resources people use therefore we are going to run out of resources. Sure some countries have tried to manage their resources and but laws in place to protect them but do they really work? Would they work here? China has laws about children but they don’t really work. Besides in the United States we hate people telling us what to do about things like this. Abortion is a prime example. The government could make all the laws in the world about abortion but one side of the argument is still going to be pissed off. The same thing goes for law that would limit numbers of children of when we could have children. No matter what they decide to do someone is going to be unhappy with the ruling. This also brings up a good point about how you ration the resources out to everyone? Do you give it to the resources to the people with the most money?

I think it is very difficult and almost impossible to make everyone aware of slavery still in the world for two main reasons. First of all the big companies that are buying these products are spending lots of money to cover up the fact that they buy their products from companies that use slaves. As someone pointed out in class the other day it took nine years to get that video published and that was the first one ever to be brought to the forefront. For a country that grows 40% of the words cocoa beans why did no one ever bring this up before? Big chocolate companies spent millions of dollars keeping it quite because they could make even more off the products. Like Sam said in class this happens with so many products we use these days. The companies that make our cell phones spend millions to keep their business out of the public eye but you bet they are using slaves to build their products. I remember several years ago when it first came out that Nike uses sweatshops to make all of their products. They dumped millions of dollars into an advertising campaign to try to fix the public opinion about them and it worked. Many people stopped buying Nike products for a little but after Nike’s campaign people once again became more comfortable with the fact that what Nike was doing was still wrong. This brings me to my second reason I think it’s nearly impossible to make everyone aware and that is that most people don’t want to hear it or really don’t care. I know that most of the time when I go to buy something I first care about how much money I can save and second what brand it is. As was brought up in class yesterday someone said they had to look out for themselves. To an extent I agree. I also agree slavery is an awful process but many people and it more prevalent in Americans just look out for number one. For those who aren’t out to just look out for themselves that just don’t want to hear about it. As long as they are getting what they want and need they are concerned with how they got it or where it came from. They would like to live in a little bubble not worrying about if its slave produced or trade free. If they don’t hear about it they don’t feel guilty purchasing the item. For these reasons it impossible to make everyone aware. Yes, you can change the mind of a few people and I’m sure some people are now only going to buy fair trade chocolate after yesterdays class but many more either don’t want to hear about it or just flat out don’t care.