janstepp

janstepp

32p

35 comments posted · 2 followers · following 0

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - South Park...off the h... · 0 replies · +1 points

I thought that the episode was great, I think South Park is the best show on TV other then maybe the Daily Show. I just can't get my head around the fact that people are still getting upset about stuff like this, who cares if someone makes fun of your god, how does that affect your relationship with whoever your god is? People can say whatever they want, that shouldn't affect you, if you believe in something then believe in it, but the world doesn't have to subscribe to your idea of whats right or wrong. As far as this group that is threatening the South Park guys, Jon Stewart said it best when he told them to go f@ck themselves.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - "We're Being... · 0 replies · +1 points

Why the hell does everyone know who Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are but so many people have never even heard of Noam Chomsky? Noam Chomsky is someone actually worth paying attention too, I me come on, Robin Williams mentioned him and his book Manufacturing Consent in "Good Will Hunting". Chomsky's speech was pretty shocking to hear but when you really start to think about it a lot of what he was saying is true. I was a terrible student in high school mostly because I was lazy, but I did have a couple of classes where I thought "this is absolutely pointless", I felt like we were just part of this huge system and you had to take part in it if you wanted to stay with your peers. But, at the same time I had a teacher who really did try to make us think for ourselves, and I had a teacher who was more about discipline and knowing where you stand in the pecking order, and he was my favorite teacher, he gave me a real appreciation of history. When Chomsky says "education is the indoctrination of the young" I believe that certain aspects of that statement are true but I don't believe it's as bad as he makes it sound. I really think that Americans in general are more free thinking and creative then a lot of other countries. I've lived in a couple countries that are really much more of an obedient society then the United States. When I was in South Korea I got the impression that people never talked back to authority figures or told their boss to go f@ck themselves. But at the same time when he says "people are willing to do it no matter how stupid it is" that really hit home with me. It seems no matter what you do in life, whether its going to school or working, you have to go through all the hoops, and once your through the hoops there are all these pointless exercises you have to do because some idiot that came before you has already lowered the bar. Some of things he said I can see in our society, like Wal-Mart, I actually don't hate Wal-mart and I do occasionally shop there, but when I walk in and look around it just feels wrong, there's something about the massing together of all the different things they sell that's unappealing to me. When he talked about how people think we should turn our schools into the Marine Corp that was really interesting, I think there has to be some level of discipline, especially in grade school and high school but why can't there be a combination of creativity and discipline? Once people get to college there should be a free exchange of ideas and creativity should be encouraged. So I guess I agree with most of what Chomsky is saying but I don't think its as bad as he makes it sound.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - How am I not a racist? · 0 replies · +1 points

I think this is a good question, but I think he might be putting to much of a quilt vibe out there. Just thinking that you have more a chance to make a difference in the world definitely doesn't make you a racist. I don't think acknowledging that you are more fortunate then other people should make you feel superior to anyone else, its just happenstance. We do live a sheltered life in America and we do have more of a chance to make real changes in the world because we are basically rich. But I don't think enough people feel that its there responsibility to help. Sam really made me think when he was talking about how we don't really earn all the things we have in life. If more people acknowledged that fact maybe they would be more inclined to help people and understand that they were just lucky enough to be born with certain advantages.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Christian Invaders - t... · 0 replies · +1 points

Sams lecture was absolutely right, Most people knew the war was about oil but I don't think people fully appreciate how much religious bullshit is involved. I used to be indifferent towards religion, but as I learn and think more about it the more I realize how awful it is. Religion is really saying "I know something you don't know" I have real issues with that, first off nobody knows what happens when we die, and when people say they are absolutely sure that they do know what happens when we die I automatically think that those people are a little bit crazy. Secondly, religion is just arrogance and another way to separate people and create more classes. The Blues Brothers were on a mission from god and I think George Bush thought he was too! Invading Iraq was the right thing to do because a magic spaceman told him too, how did someone like this become president of the United States?! I wonder what gods thoughts were on tapping peoples phones and torturing people? I spent two years in Iraq in the 101st Airborne and when I hear Sarah Palin say that our military "is on task from god" it makes me sick to my stomach, the arrogance of that statement is outstanding. Sam was right on the money about Iraqis wanting to be safe, to make a living, and to be just left alone. It didn't take me long to figure out that people are people, regardless of our different cultures.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What might be the seco... · 0 replies · +1 points

Step two is Government cracking down hard on corporations who contribute to the problem, they are the people to blame, they made the choice to buy slave coffee or chocolate beans, they made the choice to move their production facilities to India or Thailand where they can pay people next to nothing or nothing at all. This idea that the free market is all knowing and that regulation will bankrupt America is ridiculous. The lack of government regulations has aloud these companies to run wild. A business's main objective is to make money, they don't care how they do it, that's why the government or essentially us have too.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What if we got rid of ... · 0 replies · +1 points

To me this idea of just ending the welfare system is pretty crazy. It sounds like that old idea of everybody for themselves and survival of the fittest. This country is suppose to be the example for the rest of the world, so what would it say about us if we just decided to let the most vulnerable members of our society suffer when we don't have too? For a country with so many "Christians", that wouldn't be very "Christian" of us. This issue is much bigger then the idea that people on welfare just don't want to work, it's about education and more importantly its about the fact that the United States doesn't produce things anymore, we just consume from countries that do make things.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Nothing About the Cens... · 0 replies · +1 points

I'm glad to see so many people writing on their blogs that they feel this is being blown out of proportion. I think way too many people in this country think that their unique and they must constantly express their uniqueness. Yes, in some way everyone is unique but that doesn't make you special. I keep coming to this idea that people want to be perceived that they are offended by things that aren't offensive. The overwhelming majority of people in this country compared to other countries are spoiled rotten, a lot of people need to come back down to Earth and realize that everything doesn't have to be about them.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Native Hawaiians. Eve... · 0 replies · +1 points

This article really caught me by surprise, I never really gave any thought to the Native Hawaiians. Whenever I think of Native Americans I just think of the Apaches, Sioux, or Susquehannocks, etc. The part of the article where Jamie Story says " its not the role of the government to make up for past wrongs" is very disturbing. If we have the opportunity to help people then why not do it. And don't give me that crap about it will cost to much money, there's always more money to go around, taxes should be higher in this country anyway. A society should be judged by the way we treat our most in need.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Flip the Script for a ... · 0 replies · +1 points

I was surprised when so many people got upset when Sam made the comments about his wife's cycle. Why are people so easily offended? And how many people were pretending to be offended just so they could stand on their soapbox? The class I think in general is pretty open minded, so why should this be any different? I was surprised by Sam's comments but I wasn't offended. I was surprised simply because you don't typically hear people discussing this. I didn't really see how this was connected to race relations at the time, but I see now what Sam was trying to point out.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Is this just a few bad... · 0 replies · +1 points

This probably won't come as much of a surprise to the majority of the people in our SOC 119 class but the Tea Party movement isn't about health care reform or big government. It's about people who hate President Obama because he is black...there I said it. But, keep in mind I'm just talking about the people who consider themselves part of the Tea Party. There are plenty of people out there who don't like President Obama and their reasons, even if I don't agree with them, still have merit and should be discussed, I hope I made myself clear on that. I don't think that all the people who drink the GOP's kool-aid are racist. At first I really hated the Tea Party, I have no idea where these people are coming from. How do you get to that point in life, they're just ignorant losers to put it plainly. But now I've come to realize that I shouldn't look down on these people with hatred and contempt, I should be thankful and encouraging to their cause. Nobody is doing more then these people to hurt their cause then they are. Lets say that I'm a moderate, rational Republican or Democrat and I turn on the tv and see these crazy f@&#'s on the news, I would be scared away by all the violent and racist undertones immediately. And anyone who doesn't think that there is serious chance of violence in these groups needs to wake up. There is a rally scheduled in the next couple of days where people are encouraged to bring their guns! And here is a little news flash...guns aren't cool and they don't make you a tough guy! I used to think that these people were just misinformed. Just as an example take the name Tea Party, they chose this name because they think it's the perfect metaphor to illustrate their cause. But the Boston Tea Party wasn't that big of a deal, the people weren't making a big show out of it, it was done in the middle of the night in secrecy. And the Hitler signs, come on people that has been done to death, think of something a little more original. Whats going on at these rally's " I say rally's and not protest because in order to protest you must first know what your talking about" but what's going on at these rally's really is some shameful shit and hopefully these people will grow-up someday soon. If something violent were to actually take place I hope Fox News, Sarah Palin, and Rush Limbaugh are held partially responsible, they aren't doing anything but fanning the flames. They put these people up as if they are hero's for speaking out against the so-called government takeover. But in reality they are using people who are too stupid to think for themselves in order to raise money and further their careers. Sarah Palin had pictures of Democrats in cross hairs on her web site, that is just disgusting.