I’m a strong believer in the fact that people can change and that everyone makes mistakes. Sure there are certain things that are unforgivable such as murder and other physical crimes against another human being, but there are also other extenuating circumstances that we may not be aware of. It is hard to say that one single act defines someone and it is even harder to say how these acts will affect someone in the afterlife, as this is a part of a question that we’re in constant limbo about is if there is an afterlife? Are these people in jail bad people or people who have made a bad mistake, that’s the question we all must answer.
The other night I watched a movie titled, “The life of David Gale,” and this movie brought up a questionable topic in itself, and that’s the death penalty. If you have not seen this film, I strongly suggest viewing it as it opens you up to a reality that is terrible to face. It discusses and raises questions that there have been people put to death who were proven innocent, and this only discusses the ones who were put to death, but does make you wonder about everyone else. The inmate in this letter mentions that there are some people who don’t belong behind bars, and part of me wonders exactly who those people are. To protect our society we can’t exactly have a method for weaving out who is truly a murder and who isn’t, who has truly found the light, and who is still suffering, and that is what makes it so hard to give anyone a second chance. I’m sure that the inmates are not the only one seeing the compassion expressed on a day to day basis and the guards see it too, but when you have nothing left and lose the only thing you have left on the outside it is almost impossible to not show compassion no matter how strong your heart is.
My concern is not for those that committed the crimes, but those who were put into these cells and don’t belong. Like I said you can not weave out who has changed, or who has found the light, because these are convicts that you’re dealing with who probably would do or say anything to get out and be given a second chance. Put yourself in there shoes however, imagine that you committed a crime, not one that necessarily involves hurting someone else, as that is ultimately unforgivable. But put yourself in there shoes and picture how you would feel. After years behind bars, without family or friends, I know I would want a second chance too. As human beings we all are capable of compassion one way or another.
One thing that I have learned about in a few of my criminology and sociology classes, is how one’s upbringing can effect not only their psychological life, but actions as well. Growing up a lot of people may see violence as the only way out, or the only way to live. How is it that we can really, without placing ourselves in their shoes or their upbringing say that they are a bad person? Is anyone a bad person if that is what makes us or defines us? And how is it that we will be judged on who were were when we lived here on earth in the afterlife as well if all of our actions now can be tied in with how we were raised? Is it fair to throw blame on us as human beings? There are so many questions when it comes to this, when it comes to being given a second chance, or when it comes to defining us as human beings that we will never be able to answer.

Well those people over there can’t really afford to take off, they don’t have a home, they don’t have much of anything and it is a constant struggle for them. A lot of us here do want to give back, and one way or another a lot of people are taking the initiative to do so. However as much as we would all love to give them all the time, energy and money we have, a lot of us can’t because it is hard to leave everything we have behind. It is hard for us to ignore the problems, and responsibilities we all face here. As college students, we’re trying to earn a degree in a society that says getting a job afterwards is not guaranteed. And our parents are raising children and trying to put us all through college. The sad fact is that it is almost an everyone from themselves society, and while we are all deeply saddened about events that take away thousands of lives, its hard to drop the ones we love, or our responsibilities. We are terribly saddened by the events that transpired, and have all tried to given back in times if we can, or money as well, and that is the most we are able to do and still follow our responsibilities to ourselves and the ones we love.

South Park pokes fun at everything. I have heard about these Muslim groups being offended by the remarks they made regarding Muhammad, but they have not been the only religion to make fun of, and definitely not the only culture. Just off the top of my head I can think of so many different issues that have suffered the scrutiny of South Park and hate hearing about how whenever they attack someone other than the common American people get offended. The point is they are going to attack everyone on that show, and only mean it as humor. People need to stop taking everything as a personal attack, and when it is their turn to get ridiculed, ignore the show if you don’t want to hear it and laugh at the next one. South Park has brought over 10 seasons of laughter to us, and I really hope they don’t change a thing.

After yesterday’s lecture, my mind was filled with thoughts about our country, and thoughts about this war. So much so that I had to tell someone and when I did the response was, “That class has you brainwashed,” and then proceeded to defend our country and especially president Bush as she s a hard core Republican. At first I wondered if it was the way I worded it, but then realized that she has always been hardheaded and hesitant to put herself in other peoples’ shoes. I guess what I am trying to say is that class really opened my mind and moved me, but then again what class doesn’t.
Seeing how these so called “terrorists” view us really put a different perspective and understanding in my mind for why things are the way they are. If I was at the point where I was so poor that I had to steal something and an American in a U.S. army came by to run over one of the only things I had left with his tank, I’d be pissed and want to hurt him too. This was probably a minor extreme from things that do go on over seas. It is absolutely incredible how a uniform and power can change someone, and that is not only what was on display with that one soldier, but also our country. We live in a very wealthy land, with the most funded military in the world. While these are things to boast about, our country takes advantage of it and abuses our power to get what we want. As a country it almost seems as if we have that “we’re better than you” persona and cast it upon the world. Everything from we’re richer than you, stronger than you, to our religion is better than yours. I couldn’t believe what I heard from that one Christian pastor. When he was questioned about how did he feel about all of the people who were killed when they chose to convert to Christianity all he had to say was, “that at least they got to go to heaven, and the only price they had to pay was a little pain to get there.” I don’t believe in converting someone to their death, and do think it’s crazy that we are pushing our ways upon other people. This country seems to be heading in a wrong direction, eventually people have to say enough is enough and I don’t know if I want to be around if other countries start saying that about us. Then again maybe the same things are happening all over the world. I am just starting to see the other side of the story in every scenario.

I completely agree with you, we are all the same. I don’t believe at all that one religion and culture has it right, that one culture is supporting and following the right way at all. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely believe that there is an ultimate purpose and a god, but the question is who is that god, and ultimately why are we here? Shouldn’t it all be to be good people no matter who you’re following? We’re all completely the same and so is our theories about the life after, before, and during when you put aside all of the details that don’t matter. Just believe.

I think all men on one level or another feel the need to conform to society the way women do. I mean we’re all not shooting to be a Mr. mom, in fact men have always aimed and set their goals to support a family. I mean some of us have a hard time putting on weight while others have a hard time losing it, depending on where you are guys who are looking to look like the way society would like to see them we train and run and play and lift. We try to mold ourselves the way women try to mold themselves to be the perfect image one way or another

When told to eat the second piece I really didn’t take to long to make up my mind and eat it. However what went through my mind wasn’t the ideas that Professor Richards presented in class. Rather then think that I am never going to eat chocolate again, or think that was even an option I just looked at it with a completely different viewpoint.
Slavery is never a laughing matter, its never something to joke about, and it isn’t something to be taken lightly. It’s terrible to see how modern day slavery still presents itself in everyday life, and terrible to see it’s products being distributed all over the world. However me not eating this last piece of chocolate isn’t going to stop that, and it isn’t going to start a mass ban against slaved made products. All me eating that chocolate would do is just give me the enjoyment that chocolate gives everyone. Well maybe girls more than guys, but I’m not sure where that myth came from to begin with or if it’s even true. I ate the chocolate because if I didn’t their work, while unfortunate to have been done on such harsh terms, would have been in vain. I would have tossed everything they did out and ignored the product that they literally slaved over.
Sometimes I wish we could all trade places for a day though, just to see what we would say if we were in the others shoes. Maybe then we would get a mass revolt against slavery and a ban against slave made goods. Maybe then my opinion would change as well. It’s tough to say what motivated me more to eat that piece of chocolate, but what is done is done, and when I look at the next piece of chocolate I’m not going to be thinking about the harsh times that they are going through at all, but more pleasant ones. While what happens across the world is tragic, there is not much that we as individuals can do when presented with one of their products. Our society strives on their products produced. We complain about rise in prices all the time and still talk about slavery going on around the world. You want to see a real rise in prices from things that you never would have imagined going that high than take away the slavery for things such as chocolate. You’ll be wishing that the prices you paid for Godiva was for all candy bars in the future. I hope one day we can all live in a world where there is no slavery, no economic struggles, and no king of the hills. I wish that all this was possible, but in this world, without balance, we’d all crumble.

That is a tough and conflicting issue, but I think you just kind of have to see yourself as a part of it all the way I do. I am Hispanic as well, though neither of my parents are white, I still am considered in the “white” crowd. There are so many times that I’m with my friends and whenever they refer to our crowd, they say “white guys” all the time. I once said “and a Spanish kid” and all they said back was that I was practically white. Growing up in high school I was friends with primarily black and brown people, but through college I have been friends with more white people. In each crowd I was considered a part of them, and that is something that I look at as being kind of cool that I can be considered both white and black/brown.

If they were to stop welfare than I do believe that the results would be catastrophic. I don’t want to see homeless people everywhere and especially homeless children. In my soc. 12 class we are currently watching a video that has children living in the sub stations and also had them living in construction sites. No one likes to deal with a homeless man, yet we’d be willing to create more, to dirty our streets more, which would probably eventually lead to a means to get them off the streets again. It’s would almost be like an on going endless cycle.

People want the world to revolve around them, this is the sad truth. Yea there have been complaints regarding this year’s census, and question 8 and 9 have gotten a lot of people ticked off, but the point is that none of it matters to anyone else but yourself. The main complaint heard in today’s world is regarding black and white, in fact most of the racial complaints revolve around black and white, we never really look at the other cultures such as Hispanics nearly as much. When I completed my census this year I didn’t notice “negro” being added to the race section, instead my focus was set on the fact that the census separated Hispanic from all the other cultures. Being Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Filipino, I remember checking both Puerto Rican and Cuban in the census and then moving on to question 9 and saying, “thank god I’m Filipino otherwise I’d have nothing to fill in this section.” My brother was also slightly offended by the separation of Hispanic cultures from the rest, but eventually we realized what everyone should regarding the census, that it doesn’t matter and it wasn’t put out there to offend anyone but help everyone.
Racism isn’t always established by the sender but the receiver. How many times have you heard of something being racist or have you said something and been considered a racist when attacking someone was not your intent. We feed into this whole racism thing in this world and make a lot of things a bigger issue than they actually are. The part that really is remarkable to me is seeing how the word “negro” is thrown out there among the black community. In my high school there was a clear distinction between two types of saying these words. There was a type of way to say it, you were allowed to say “nigga” with an “a” but that was it. If you sounded like it was with an “er” than it was looked at as a derogatory comment. Now the part I always wondered about since is exactly how worldly accepted is this? Coming to Penn State I didn’t know if I was allowed to call my black friends “my nigga” or would they take this to offense. The whole racism issue is so touchy from time to time that it makes comments in which the sender deems as friendly and turns it around to the point where everyone has to watch what they say. Even the government, and even the census that is trying to help us all out in the long run. Why is there such a difference in any of this though, why can’t we stop seeing everything as racist and stop living with these worries and arguments.