We provide the means that produce terrorists. It is that simple. Western powers are viewed in the eyes of the radical Muslims as the infidel. We are bad people in the eyes of radicals. So, it’s only right for the radicals to want to kill as many of us that they can. So as we kill our enemy we are ultimately cultivating the land for a new crop of enemy to grow.
We feel as though our culture should be the way of the world, but keep in mind that their society and laws have been around a lot longer than our ways of democracy. So really we are the radicals in their eyes. We are the ones attempting to pollute the world with our evil ways. We are the ones attacking them and ruing their countries, not only as Christians but as Americans.
Our society is a great one. We are as diverse as a society can get and we have the potential to do great things, and for the most part we do. But America has a major flaw. This country suffers from good imitative but bad judgment. We take the initiative to help everyone that needs it, but we sometimes act in poor judgment by not seeing the whole picture before we act. America admittedly went into a war in Iraq with no exit strategy. We effectively located, closed width, and destroyed the conventional enemy (Iraqi Military), by fire and maneuver in record amount of time. But we failed to help those innocent civilians that we left in the wake of our “shock and awe” destruction. It was not until we were committed and occupying the country that the U.S. started to formulate a plan on how to best deal with the civilian populous.
As coalition forces cleared cities civilians were killed. This happens, war is not pretty. Those that were killed were sons, daughters, parents, and grandparents to people. They were killed by the infidel. So now someone will fight to avenge the death their fallen. And I agree. I would definitely do the same if I lost a family member in that manner. So this is how we grow more insurgents and terrorists.
Honestly the terrorists are going to grow no matter what. They are picked from a young age to live a life like this. Think about gangs in America. It’s the same exact concept, except without I.E.Ds. Young Americans, coming from a disadvantaged upbringing, enter into this life of crime and violence, because this is all they know. And at a young and mentally fragile age they can be easily manipulated into believing what the gang wants them to believe. So where’s the difference. Gangs hate police just like insurgents and terrorists hate coalition forces. Gangs resort to violence and so do the terrorists. Gangs obtain funding from illegal activities and so do terrorists. So I guess my question is; where are the troops fighting this domestic terrorism on the streets of the U.S.?
Sam stated throughout this class that we need to see things through a different lens. America looks through its lens every day. America looks outward on the world through its lens. America fails to look in on itself through that lens. We are at war. I have said this before and I will say it again. We are a nation at war with ourselves. We spend money on wars in foreign lands, but we fail to fund and fight a war on our failing education system in the U.S. We fund and fight opium fields in Afghanistan and even use our own D.E.A. agents in conjunction with American troops. But yet we fail to fight this never ending war on drugs that floods the streets of America. We build homes and shelters for the civilians that we displaced from their homes from our artillery and air strikes, but we leave our homeless to die hungry and sick on the streets in America. We are losing a war with our selves. Our nation is taking two sides. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are only getting poorer. We are seeing the push of the blue collar Americans into the working poor. And the working poor are being pushed into the streets. We elect leaders to protect our best interests, but all they do is pursue their own special interests and ensure they keep their pockets lined with money. What will the future hold for this nation? I am uncertain. I see some rough times ahead. I hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Semper Fidelis

I finally understand what Sam meant by seeing things through a new lens. I think that this is by far the only lecture that I can relate to and understand without being disgusted or aggravated. I am a Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and a United States Marine. I understand what he means by Christian invasion. We as Americans have viewed the radicals of Islam with disgust and contempt since the towers fell on September 11th. And in hating these radicals we have stereotyped the entire Muslim world. This is where our ethnocentrism has lowered our level of credibility as Americans who promote freedom to all.

When September 11th occurred, two of my friends and I made a pact that we would all serve in the Marine Corps after high school. We hated the people that did this to our country, and we wanted to do our part in taking the fight to them. We had no idea at the time that the people we wanted to seek revenge on were a minute percentage of the Muslim population. Before and in the beginning of my deployment, in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, I hated the Iraqis. I thought they were all terrorists and insurgents. But after seeing that they are people just like you and I, is only when I had a realization. I realized then that these people are just that, people trying to survive in a third world country. And most importantly they are not all the enemy.

This is a tough truth to convey to family and friends that are in the mindset I previously had. I tried to explain to them by using the cold war and communist Russia as an example. I tried saying that we would be doing the same things that the insurgents are doing in Iraq, if communist Russia had invaded the United States back during the cold war. And after further pondering of this I came to realize that I would be an insurgent here in America if I were faced with the same adversity as the Iraqi and Afghani people. I completely empathize with them. I don’t believe that what they do is right, but I understand why they do what they do.

I feel as though our nation has been duped into looking out on the world rather than in on itself. America is at war. This war we are at is with ourselves in our land. We are tearing a nation apart. Greed, power, wealth, and self-interest are the catalysts to this war. Our strongest of people, the blue collar Americans, are being oppressed into the working poor. Our poor are being brushed under the rug. And the rich are only getting richer. We are fooled and misguided by those that we elect to serve in the best interests of the people. And we allow this to continue on. We point the finger outward at the world and blame them for having better health care, education, taking our jobs, and having cleaner energy. And at no point do we collectively look at our nation and ask why and how this could be. I fear for the future of this nation. I fear what the powerful will do to further sink us into turmoil and oppression. I hope we can dig our ways out of this mess.

Wow, that is some sick and twisted shit. But leave it to Japan to produce that kind of garbage. They only put led in our children’s’ toys so why would they have any standards about games like that? Really I find it disturbing that people are sadistic enough to get off on stuff like that. I understand that games are virtually limitless now that we have such amazing technology, but that is no excuse for using this technology to produce rape and torture. But I would be a hypocrite to argue against this.
Think about all of the games that we may have played or seen in recent years that are violent in nature. Call of Duty comes to mind. Here’s a game that does not simulate rape but simulates killing. It uses amazing graphics, and realistic settings. Players are allowed to pick real life weapons, and then conduct missions or go on killing sprees. Now I could fully accept the mission scenarios, but the killing sprees are twisted. People run around for hours and kill, kill, kill. They do this in a pleasurable way. Knives can be used to knife someone or a rocket launcher can be used to blow up the enemy. This game is even so up to date that players, once having killed enough enemies, can call in CAS (close air support) and actually guide the bomb in on target.
This is the desensitization of our society. Our youth is being corrupted by such games, because they are too young to understand and appreciate life, and realize that though it looks real the game is fake. Many young people act out after playing these kinds of games. They are in fact desensitized. So you may wonder how this relates to the original topic. It has everything to do with it.
Rape games and violent games only desensitize our youth and incompetent adults. People that are fragile minded may view the behavior displayed in these games as acceptable, even though it is not. Unfortunately this kind of garbage is allowed in our country. It is protected under the first amendment. People have the right to the freedom of expression. And these games, despite being highly vulgar and offensive, are just a way for American’s to exercise their freedom of expression. Video game companies are required to rate games on a scale. They do, and the role of enforcement falls on the parents in cases of games and youth. But a lot of times, these games are downloaded illegally from the internet and there is no censorship. The sad truth is that Japan will continue to make these games, and Americans will always get them. We can enact many laws to prohibit this from happening, but the truth is that we can’t do a damn thing about it. Think about the FBI warnings when we watch movies. But does that stop anyone from downloading a movie illegally from the internet, NO. There simply aren’t enough resources to enforce such legislation prohibiting a ban on this stuff. Therefore we will continue to be offended by this shit, and deal with it.

Only until recently have I come to realize this truth. We white people are going to be the minority. And that blows my mind. I think it is so interesting that it took as long as it has in this country to finally be on the threshold of complete diversity. Really if you think about it, America will finally be the “melting pot” of the world. But what implications might this bring? Is this the beginning of the end of whitey?
Hell no, we have already shown the world that America is ready to welcome cultural change. We have a Black President. Ok, half black, but that’s a whole lot better than the normative old white guys. And look what happened, the world did not end. The minorities did not stage a coup and overthrow the free world. No, those fears are the figments of the racist imaginations that attempt to corrupt this nation. But they will eventually die off, considering that the majority of them are old anyway. So it’s only a matter of time for them. But realistically speaking there will always be the racists and bigots that attempt to corrupt our ways of thinking. And as a nation we need to stay strong and resist that negative way of thinking.
More seriously speaking, I am terrified at the same time. There has been a drastic climb in the number of “militia” groups in the U.S. The media and politicians have labeled these groups as “militias”, but I call a spade a spade, and call them domestic terrorist organizations. These are the American men and women that have stock piled small caches of arms and munitions. They train in the backwoods of rural communities. They have access to explosive materials and tentative plans on when and how they want to deploy their forces. But why you may ask? Why would Americans’ want to do this? It’s because they are extremists and in a nutshell; they think that the free world as we know it is crumbling around them, and they will be the only hope to save it. One such group in Minnesota has already targeted police officers. The group will kill a police officer and then they planned on detonating explosive devices at the cops’ funeral. These are the things that scare me about our future.
As America becomes more and more diversified, we as a nation and minorities too will face continued challenges. Will the white man lose control? Only I the eyes of the extremists. We need to continue to stand together on this. And eventually we will triumph. Furthermore, I wonder what the future will hold for Sam’s class. We are still at the point where whites still have the majority as far as percentages go. But what happens when we are fully integrated. I’m sure the lectures will be different.

Consistency is the first thing that comes to mind when I see these “tea parties.” Outrage, violence, and radical views are nothing new when dealing with major political movements that have a big impact on the American society. In our Nation’s history there have been a few major political movements that have produced major change, where the American people have clashed with each other over. This is a beautiful thing, considering that America is one of the few places in the world where people can freely express their dislikes and opinions without the fear of being struck down or punished. Now in that I mean that people can voice their opinions, not act in violent ways on others.
No matter what the outcomes of these political movements we will always have people in the streets and town halls voicing their support and concerns over these issues. I am proud that I have served my country in order to maintain this God given fundamental right. The Medical reform that has been passed is not the beginning of socialism. Not even close. If this was the beginning of socialism those tea partiers protesting in the streets would have been silenced by the use of force from the government. But they were and will always be allowed to voice their opinion, so where’s the socialism.
This isn’t the first big radical movement either. Some major movements include; abolition of slavery (probably the biggest movement), civil rights, women’s rights, Medicare, and social security. All of these major movements that have benefited our nation were met with major even more violent opposition. Wars were fought, and a President was assassinated over slavery. That’s very extreme. Protestors were pushed back with fire hoses, and riots ensued during the civil rights movement. The leader of the whole movement, Dr. King even lost his life for this cause. Medicare and Social security was met with the same socialist slander as this healthcare bill faces today. Then the American people thought that we were on our way to becoming “Red”. But that never happened. And those who opposed those movements now receive the benefits of both social security and Medicare.
But people are out there now holding signs and saying some nasty things to politicians. Personally I think all politicians are lower than snake shit, so it doesn’t bother me. But we as a nation will get over this healthcare movement. It will benefit us in the long run. We probably won’t see the benefits from this immediately, but when things take full effect, I bet that some of these protestors will benefit directly from this reform on healthcare. So let the tea parties continue. The media and direct instant access through technology are what make these protests seem so much worse than they really are. In due time things will calm down again and we as a nation will prosper from this.

I do not feel any guilt as a white man. I understand this whole concept of white guilt. Sure, there have been some major atrocities in this nation under the hand of white people. These atrocities including the eradication of the Native Americans, slavery, anti-Semitism, and the alienation of Japanese Americans after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. I had no hand in any of this. This is not my problem. But it is my responsibility to do my part to ensure that nothing like this continues in this so called land of opportunity. But why should I feel any guilt for what has happened in the past under the hand of the white man?
I feel as though this class is beating the shit out of a dead horse by harping on the same bullshit. Yes, yes, yes, I understand that this is a race relations class, but why are we still playing the blame game and telling white people that there is an underlying guilt for the bad things that have happened in our nation’s past? It’s not right. Maybe some people do have a guilty conscience, I don’t, so don’t include me in the BS of having to feel some guilt for these things. Maybe I’m just missing the whole point here. I just don’t understand this.
In Sam’s posting he speaks of “shame” for our past. I don’t understand that. I had nothing to do with that. Why should I be ashamed? Honestly, this feels like some hippy love the world hug a tree bullshit. Did bad things happen in our country? Yes. Am I disappointed with how things went? Yes. Did I have any hand in these events? No. Therefore I am not ashamed. Now, if my ancestors owned slaves or were white supremacists I would be embarrassed. Most likely I would be ashamed of them, but I would not feel any guilt for what they have done. I did not do it. I only feel guilty when I do something wrong. I feel ashamed when I let people down, or make a mistake that ends up affecting someone else besides me. So where should this “deep rooted” shame come from? Because I’m not finding it.
You can continue to preach to me that there is some shame deep in my core, and I will tell you that you are wrong. I think that the statements that were made about this shame are overboard. Some will now look at me as a settler for my way of thinking and beliefs. I don’t care. We all have things that we are proud and ashamed of. The nations past mistakes and tragedies are not one of the things that bring shame to me.

There are many things that can be done to help Native Americans. But it will take a mass effort to get that done. Really, what do Native Americans want? Because we cannot give back their land. That is a little out of the question. We can give them an apology, but what the hell does that do, nothing! What happened to the Native American people in this land is unforgivable. Our founding fathers really contradicted themselves from the start. We are supposed to be a land of equality, unless you were a Native American or African American. That is hypocrisy at its finest.
Back to the main topic, I do not know what the hell to do for Native Americans. I do not even know any Native Americans. I think that they should be taken care of for our lack of care for them for so long. Give them free health care; oh wait that will not even happen for us. Give them monetary support and good education, oh wait we can barely do that for our people already. Well, I’m shit out of luck on ideas. How about we all pick up our shit and move out. The Natives can have their land back and we will leave a big thank you note for them, for putting up with us destroying their land for hundreds of years. Well that will never happen either.
Honestly, I never oppressed Native Americans, so I firmly and confidently say that I have no reason to feel any remorse or responsibility for them. I am sorry but that is how I feel. Sure this land is “red land”, but come on, where does this shit stop. My ancestors came off a boat never touching a single Native. They have no responsibility and neither do I. So call me an insensitive asshole, I do not care. The same can be said for slavery. It seems that some people want there to be retribution or restitution made for slavery. I never owned slaves, nor did any of my ancestors. So frankly It is not my problem, and I have no hand in that either. I am just an American brought into this world not by my own choice, but living the American dream on land that does not belong to any of us. I will build a house someday on “red land” and I will enjoy it. I will continue to go to Indian casinos from time to time, and I will consider that my reparations for their suffering. I believe in survival of the fittest. We had the guns the natives did not, sorry; I did not make that decision.

Prior to this class I had what I thought to be an “open mind” regarding homosexuality. I accept homosexuals as equals even though I do not fully understand homosexuality. I am in the military and I support homosexuals in the military. I am all for gay marriage. But I never understood why homosexuals are homosexuals. Honestly, I thought it was a choice. Sam’s class opened my eyes to a lot of things I never knew or understood.
Our American society is a society that claims freedom, but there are still a lot of restraints on those groups of people that are not part of the social norm. This is something that our nation experienced not too long ago during the civil rights movement. I truly believe that gay marriage and rights are our generation’s civil rights movement. When you look closely at the two, you realize that they are very similar. Both movements were about oppressed Americans that wanted to be equal in society. Probably years from now our society will be much different in terms of gay rights. Who knows maybe sometime in the future there will be an openly gay President? If you would have asked someone 50 years ago if there would ever be a black president, they probably would have laughed. But that is the beauty of America; for how ugly and horrible things can be, society will continue to change for the better. We are just a brief moment in time, and that is why we view things as bad at this moment.
When I listened to the question the woman gave on the camera, I thought about it form a guy perspective. Lesbians and lesbian sexuality is definitely more accepted in society than gay men. I answer this from a man’s perspective. There’s nothing more beautiful than two women together. I think it’s great, because I love women. I love everything about them. But if you were to show me two men together in a sexual situation, I would not be interested in that. This is because I am into women not men. I have no problem with gay men holding hands or kissing in public, but I am not into gay sexuality as I am into lesbian sexuality. Women are more accepted by society as lesbians, because men accept them due to the sexual taboo it brings.
I think a lot of it has to do with insecurities that men have. Men are very insecure about a lot of things, and they project it by acting out on something that may challenge that specific insecurity. For example, when I go the gym, I noticed that a lot of men are too afraid to shower in the locker room. People my age would rather get done in the gym wipe the sweat off, change and go to class. That’s pretty disgusting. I think it has a lot to do with insecurity. I am secure with myself and I shower there, but I notice that people get tense and more quickly out of my way when I walk through in a towel. It’s very funny, like I have a disease or something. What’s even funnier is the old guys who walk around the place but ass naked like it’s nothing, and that whole side of the locker room will not have a single young adult in it, because they are petrified that there are exposed pennises.
I don’t know, society is still very sensitive in terms of sex and sexuality. It will take some time to have society fully desensitized from this whole homophobe thing.

I never pictured the movie Avatar in that way since seeing it when it first came out. But after thinking more and more about it, I have come to realize that some of these ideas of racism and American dominance may be underlying plots of the movies. Anything’s possible. When you really examine the movie, you start to notice some interesting stereotypes.
In regards to racist and white dominated views, there are some coincidences that play out through the movie. For starters, the majority of human characters in the movie are white. There are really no black people playing major roles in this movie. When you look at the main character in indigenous tribe, you notice she is played by a black actress. Furthermore, the character has her hair done in braids, which may be a deliberate attempt by the producers to have the character have black characteristics.
The story line is similar to real life events in our time. The story line depicts America coming to a foreign planet to harvest a rare and expensive mineral. The indigenous people don’t appreciate us being there, and at the same time, we are attempting to Americanize them. Now this may seem a little ridiculous, but look at everywhere America goes. We always attempt to influence our culture and language on others. And at the same time we pass judgment on those who are not like us.
I’m not one to play into subliminal messages, because I think anything we view can be interpreted into whatever we want it to be. But when I look at this movie, I see white America attempting to oppress and control non-American people. The military plays a big role in this movie, in an expeditionary manor. And this military presence is something that we see today, with our occupation of three countries, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Haiti. Cameron, the writer of this movie claimed he has thought about making this movie for a long time. He claimed he had the characters and plot figured out many years back, but never made the movie. It amazes me that his movie concept that dates back many years resembles much of the scrutiny America faces today.
Ultimately in this movie the Americans are defeated by the indigenous tribe, with the help of a white American. So, basically the indigenous people of this planet had to depend on the knowledge of one white man to help them defeat the attacking Americans. It seems to me that they portray the indigenous population as dumb and incompetent of helping themselves.
I don’t know what to think of this movie and the allegations that have been made. I simply watch movies for what they are, entertainment. But when you examine some of these allegations in comparison to the movie itself, you can’t help but wonder “what if?”

Silly French, they are such idiots. I have no idea what even made them bring this to their political arena. This is an absurd legislation proposal. This proposed law only infringes on the rights of the people of France. The frenchy politicians claim that it is a symbol of fundamentalism. So I guess the Jews are next on the french list; because the wearing of the yamica is a sign of fundamentalism under their definition. And Catholics should be banned from wearing crosses on their necks, because we wouldn't want people to worry about the catholics trying to express their fundamental beliefs, oh but wait, they did, the crusades. So, in my opinion, I feel this is another uneducated theory of our french allies. They are clearly unaware of the fact that what these women are doing is no different than the traditional practices observed by other religions. But the difference is what religion these women are. People are intimidated and scared by Muslims in today's society. Not everyone feels this way, but you have to admit that there is allot of false ideas and thoughts regarding Muslims. Let's face it Muslims have been stigmatized since the fall of the towers in NYC, plain and simple. But that is no reason to infringe on their rights to express their religious beliefs, in a country that allows freedom and rights to all.

I honesty never understood Muslim culture and religious beliefs until I was in Iraq. Up until then there was allot I never knew or understood. Sure I admit it; I had a predetermined point of view in regards to Muslims. But after spending time with the Iraqi's, I learned that they are great people. Yes, there were women that wore the full Burqas, but many women wore only a head scarf, and some wearing no head garment at all. The people there for the most part, accepted us and we learned to accept them. This is something the French don't understand, well, because the french are assholes. Americans I feel are becoming more understanding of this culture and religion. And I feel as though our nation will be more understanding over time. Whereas the french will continue to follow this uneducated style of politics.

I'm not a fan of the french, I don't hate them. I'm just not a fan of their outlooks on the world. This is a country that needed us to bail them out of world war twice, or else they would have been speaking German. Who are they to judge and try to regulate others? Thankfully, we never have to worry about such regulation in our country. Oh, but wait a second, gays still can't get married or openly serve in our military. But thought everyone here is equal. Explain that one?