This semester of Soc 119 is certainly one that I'm gonna take with me for the rest of my life. It has given me countless eye opening experiences that made me question my views and beliefs and also see how other people view things the way they do. Probably the thing that will stick with me the most is the lecture where Sam had us view life through the eyes of a Middle Eastern Arab Muslim. I feel that this lecture was by far the most powerful lecture of the semester because it showed me that helping the people there might actually be an after thought to us and we are primarily in their territory for their oil. It allowed me to see how the people their can resent us and want us to just leave them alone. I did not realize how some members of our military used their power in the wrong way and harmed civilians by running over their cars with tanks and shoving people off of the road causing car crashes, not to mention the civilian death toll from bombings and crossfire. These things made me realize that if I was an Arab Muslim I would probably join the forces to fight against America because we are causing a lot of harm to their normal way of living, although we also have helped a decent amount. I just never thought about it that way I always assumed we were just there to help out the people get rid of an evil dictator but in reality we would never be there if it were not for the fact that their land is abundant with oil that we are making a ton of profit off of while they are making nothing from a great potential asset.
The other lesson that was an extreme eye opener to me was everything that involved the Native Americans. I never really gave much thought to the fact that we simply just kicked them off of their land and took it so that we could prosper and live the lives we do now. Native Americans now live lives of extreme poverty and in a heavily crime ridden society getting abused by all other races that live on the land that they once rightfully claimed as theirs. Looking back on it, it has made me realize that while we gained prosperity and wealth, they now have close to nothing and have very few opportunities to excel in this modern society. They have little claim to any sort of land since we forced them to live in small areas throughout the country in reserves which they seldom can make it out of to find any kind of job. I find it hard to believe that this is something that is so rarely realized by much of the American population. I certainly have learned a lot of things from this class that I will be able to take with me for the rest of my life and I'm definitely glad that I took this course.

For me to kill someone it have to be extenuating circumstances. I would not be able to kill someone in a random situation and I also do not think murder is ever something that can be justified in any sort of situation. The only ways I find killing as acceptable is if it is done in certain forms of protection or if done during war. Potentially one other situation where it is not really acceptable, but I could see the act being committed is if someone is threatening your life to end someone else's. I would not say that it is okay in that situation but people tend to care more about their own safety than some other person's safety.
I certainly think that anyone has the ability to kill someone else but only if it is in the proper situation. I think that anyone could kill someone if it is in either self defense or protecting a friend or loved one. I think that this is a situation where you could throw everything else out the window and conjure up the strength to kill someone who is attacking you or someone you care about. No one is just going to roll over and let themselves or their loved ones get attacked, they are going to fight back and if the circumstance calls for it they will kill the attacker.
Another situation where someone can muster up the strength to kill someone else is in the act of war. Obviously, member of the military are trained to kill if the case calls for it so they should have no problem killing someone else, particularly when someone else is shooting at you. Also, you are fighting for your country's safety and well being and for some people that is enough to kill another human being.
While there might be another circumstance where it is semi-acceptable to kill someone else i can not think of one right now. I find it hard to justify killing another human being and hatred is certainly not an excuse to kill someone. I will never understand how the Nazis were able to kill so many Jewish people simply because they were Jewish. It seems like no one even thought twice about what they were doing they simply just killed because they thought the Jews were a threat to their well being. As far as serial killers go or people that do school shootings, I believe that they have to have something wrong with their mental stability. It takes a lot to kill another person and for these people to just lose their minds and go out on killing sprees something cannot be right with them. Normal people do not go about doing this and can only kill if they are in danger. Most people can not ruthlessly kill other people but I really do believe that anyone is capable of killing another person if the situation is right.

Thursday's lecture in which Sam had us leave our beliefs and act and think as if we were Arab Muslims was one of the more powerful lectures of the year in my opinion. Laving our biases is particularly hard for Americans since all the majority of us seem to know about other countries and religions is just what we see on television and in other outlets of the media. We do not see the negative impacts of our army infiltrating their country. All we see are the positives that they do and the joy they bring to people. We do not see tanks running over civilians cars and causing accidents and much much more. After seeing those images I can easily see how some people from these countries and view America as an evil nation. Hearing politicians say that we would never have even came to the middle east if it weren't for the fact that they contain a very large percentage of the worlds' oil. That gives the Arab Muslims a since of belief that we are not in their territory to tackle evil dictators like Saddam Hussein and we were not there to find and kill Osama Bin Laden. I'm sure some of them took this as a decoy just so we could obtain the oil that our country, and many others, need so badly. The countries taking the oil are making rather large sums of money while their own countries are riddled with poverty and very sub par living conditions.
We Americans tend to have a general thought process that connects Arab Muslims to being bad people due to events like 9/11, bombings, shootings and much more. But after Sam put pictures up of what normal university students look like there, I think most people's views, beliefs, and biases were thrown out the window and we found a way to connect to these people. We could start to see how some of these people could possibly resent us when it seems to the American society that all we are doing is trying to help. They see the other negative things that we don't see from the outside. Some of the things we do over seas really are not good at all. Sam posed a very interesting question at the end of the lecture. He asked if all of us would join the insurgence to fight against the American Army. It was evident that most students in the class were rather hesitant to answer this question at first. But after some time passed I would say about ninety percent of the class raised their hands and said that they would join the insurgence to fight against America. I was one of the people that raised my hand. I feel like that if I lived their and had these people invade my land for oil, and try to convince us to leave the Muslim faith and convert to Christianity, I would feel very passionate about getting these invaders out so I could live the life that I want to.

Immigration is a very difficult topic to discuss for many people because not many people really know what a reasonable solution would be. I really don't know what one would be either. Not allowing people in to our country seems rather hypocritical since majority of us have ancestors that somewhere down the line immigrated to this country and did not receive that much of a hassle. It's also hypocritical because the only reason we are in this country today is because we completely tore away the lives of Native Americans and took over the dominate position in society. However in today's America, we are not allowing everyone in to our country in fear of losing jobs, power, and more. Is that fair to those people that went to better their livelihood? I'm not quite sure honestly. I do think that there is a place in society for these people and the laws we have on immigration are fair. I am one hundred percent against illegal immigration partially because I know there are millions of people that did immigrated the fair and legal way and waited their turn to gain citizenship and I do not like the fact that some people think that they should receive the same legal rights as those born in America and those that immigrated legally. They should not be abused or anything along those lines but if they are here I can understand it being harder for them to get jobs, work hard labor, make less money and generally live a difficult lifestyle. It is not that I am against any particular race of people, it's just the fact that they entered the country illegally and they should be punished for it. They are lucky they are still here and have that slightly greater chance at gaining success than they did back home. I do believe that deportation is also very fair. This is not their country and they broke the law to enter it so they should not receive the benefits of living here. I know a lot of people have similar views that I do and I know there are plenty of people that are completely against my opinion. I would personally like to know what immigrants that entered the country legally think about illegal immigrants and what we should do about them. I could see them being very accepting of them because they know that these illegal immigrants were living in poor conditions, and I could also see their view being similar to mine, or even more harsh perhaps. I do think that legal immigrants should be consulted in this matter before our country makes any sort of rash actions. Immigrations is what has always been what our country has been comprised of and I do think our current laws are fair and I believe we should continue to grow and diversify as long as the immigration is done the right and legal way.

Sam brought up an interesting topic the other when he was talking about the issue of rape and abortion. I think what he said brings up a very good point. I would think empathy plays a huge role in what he said. "What would you do if your wife or your young daughter got raped and became pregnant?" i think that the vast majority of people would at least would think about having that person get an abortion. I feel as if it is unfair for someone to tell them that they are not allowed to have an abortion. There are just certain circumstances in which i feel as if it is okay to have an abortion. The child would for one not be wanted and secondly, it is not the persons fault that they are having the baby. It isn't like they were just making poor decisions its just something that was forced upon them. Sam's question I'm sure would bring about a similar response for most people. Not many people would want have that child and I'm sure would realize that most would not think lowly of someone that got an abortion if someone had to go through that predicament. I can not imagine having to go through with that and that is part of the reason why empathy plays a huge role on my side of this argument. No one should be telling someone else what to do if they are stuck in this situation. You really have to put your self in the place they are in and than think of exactly what they would do. If they do not do this than their answer is completely biased and naive. This topic also helped me realize that you should use empathy in every situation when making a decision. It is not something that many people do on a regular basis. I will try to use empathy more often now so I can sound sound much less opinionated. I think that if Sam expressed his argument to more people than people against abortion may even changed their minds on this topic. This rape and abortion situation is mind boggling to me. It is hard for me to understand how you could tell someone else what to do if this happened. Someone should have the right to do whatever they want if they went through this. It isn't right to tell a rape victim that they have to keep a child that they did not want or plan to have and I am also pretty sure that the victim would not want to see the child since it would be a constant reminder of being the victim of a horrible act.

Given the other days lecture and seeing your appearance, I would like to believe you are an approachable person. For me, being approachable does not usually come down to race or anything along those lines, it comes down to mannerisms. There are those occasions where someone can be intimidating to approach. For instance, I think someone who's body is riddled with an abundant amount of tattoos and or piercings would be tough for me to approach. It's not that I am necessarily assuming that they are a bad person, but more often than not its probably not going to be the type of person that I would want to get to know. There are always a few people who's appearance can look rather sketchy. For me that does not have anything to do with race but I know for many people it can have a huge impact on whether they feel they are approachable or not. A decent example of someone judging based on appearance would be when a dark skinned individual is in a community that consists of predominantly white people. Certain white people might feel worried as to why the darker skinned person is there and not one to have anything to do with them. I think that sort of thing depends more on where you grow up.
The only reasons I could come up with for someone finding you unapproachable is that i guess some people just wouldn't want to because you are darker skinned and have dreads. Personally, I believe those reasons are rather idiotic but sadly there are people in our society who feel that way and judged people simply based off of their skin color alone. I could not come up with any good reason to find you unapproachable and I am sure most people probably feel the same way that I do. There is nothing that I can see that is intimidating about you or that would scare people away from speaking to you. You seem like you are a pretty normal college student based on just appearance alone. Typically people that would not approach you probably have had little to no interaction with people who do not look like themselves and grew up in a community that was not very diverse. I would believe that by now, most people on this campus have had least a slight amount of interactions with people of other races due to the campuses diversity. If you went into an area that was not so diverse some people might not find you very approachable just due to the fact that you are not what they are accustomed to seeing on a daily basis. I'm no saying that is acceptable, but most people do not like seeing changes from their normal life. This class also probably changed the mind of some students. Before this class they might not have found you approachable, but I hope that now their opinion has changed.

The video we watched in class the other day was a bit of an eye opener in my opinion. Sadly, I knew circumstances like this do exist in the world but i didn't realize it could be as bad as at seemed in the video. Personally, I would have called the police on all three of them because it was very evident that a bike was being stolen. The color of your skin should not matter when it comes to calling in a crime, it is the same crime being committed and everyone should be treated equally. Someone shouldn't be able to get away with just because there white or because they are an attractive woman. I'm sure the person whose bike it was would be equally as mad at each criminal who stole his or her bike. The people passing by who helped the woman should honestly be ashamed of themselves. There is no advantage to doing so they will most likely never see that girl again and you will not get anything out of it. That is just a complete desperate move in my opinion. The people who responded quickly to the person of color were not necessarily being racist, they did what they should do. It would only be racist if they would not report someone else for the same crime and we honestly have no way of knowing what they would do in that situation so we should not jump to too many conclusions. It is just a little fishy that the white guy and woman were able to get away with stealing a bike much easier when the crime should always be reported right of the bat. It is very sad that these types of things happen in our society. I really do not understand how you could just let a crime go. That goes for any type of crime as well. Stealing a bike is probably a common crime but would these people do the same thing for a more heinous crime? It really is hard to say. I would like to believe that something more serious would be reported but it is just really hard to tell after watching people literally help the woman steal a bicycle and just walk past the white man. I hope this was just as eye opening for everyone else in the class as it was for me because it really makes you realize that skin color or looks can play a factor in whether you can get away with a criminal act or not and it simply should not matter what you are and what you look like. I did not realize that it was that bad and that so many people would walk past the white man and i was somewhat surprised when the woman was even being helped to get away with a crime.

Last lecture we went over the policy of Affirmative Action. Personally, I've always been against the idea of Affirmative Action in most situations. Yes, I am a white student that grew up with a decent amount of money but that money came from hard work, not because someone was given an advantage to do something. As for me, I worked hard to get into a this collegiate institution and i wouldn't want it any other way. I am glad to know that I earned my opportunity to study here and it's not because someone had to step in and help me. I think it is unfair that if i was on the borderline of being accepted into this school and my application was identical, or even slightly better, as someone of color that the other person of color would get the nod simply based on race. The world can not function like this because it would potentially lead to people getting jobs in which they just do not deserve. I would not want to be operated on by a lesser doctor that received his or her job due to affirmative action. It just puts people who are less deserving into positions they should not be in because there is a better, more qualified person for that job. I do believe there are certain strenuous circumstances in which Affirmative Action may be appropriate. Certain kids don't have the same benefits as everyone else and those are the only kids in which Affirmative Action should apply to. If there is a person of color who was in the same financial situation as me all Affirmative Action would do is allow him to receive the same results as me with less of a workload. I probably wouldn't want to receive Affirmative Action if I was a person of color as well. I could have just had money handed down to me from my parents but instead i worked for my money and I have not asked them for money since I started working. I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and I'd feel like i was cheating if my reason for being where I am was not hard work. Our society should be color blind and positions should go to the most deserving applicant. While I do believe that people of color should certainly not be discriminated against and I also believe there is a need for them in the college environment and workplace, they should be there because they worked hard not because the opportunity was placed in their laps. Everyone should have equal rights to be successful and I do understand that Affirmative Action should absolutely be applied in certain scenarios, but it can't just be tossed around freely otherwise America will not be reaching its full potential.

During Thursday's lecture, Sam asked for a volunteer that was rich or well off. But strangely enough, not many people were willing to admit that they were rich well off and only a few people actually volunteered. While i certainly wouldn't consider myself rich, my family is pretty well off and I suppose i could have volunteered but I decided against it. This is because I'm positive that there were kids that were way more well off than I am, I did not want to feel like I was bragging, and my situation is a little confusing to explain since my parents are divorced. I feel like other kids did not volunteer for either reasons that are similar to mine or they could have been just plain lazy or shy and did not want to volunteer. Another reason which I feel like was prevalent is that some kids that have a lot of money don't want to brag about it and be perceived as arrogant. I'm sure they were just trying to be humble about it and did not want to give anyone the wrong idea about themselves. Family incomes are not spoken of on a day to day basis and a lot of people do not want to express their family's money situation. I was still somewhat surprised with the lack of response to sam's question because there certainly are a select few people that have a lot of money and all they want to do is flaunt it and brag and show how much better they think they are than everyone else. It was nice to see that everyone was being humble about their financial situations because I can imagine that people who simply are not well off would feel rather offended of their lifestyle and lack of care for people who do not have the same opportunities. I think it really proved that majority of society just does not feel comfortable talking about how much money they have and how many nice things and cars they own. From what I have noticed though it isn't just the rich people that don't speak of their financial situations, people that come from really poor scenarios often remain quiet and humble as well. They do not want others to feel bad for them and reach out to them so they try and fight it off on their own. The middle class also does not typically talk about their money as well because they really have nothing to brag about because they are the average Americans. I think Sam knew that his question would result in this dull response and I'm sure he posed the question for a reason. He wanted to show that people do not brag of their wealth very often.

In class the other day we did the guessing game activity in which there were a group of Asian and couple other students mixed in and two other students had to guess where these students were from. It was a bit of an eye opener when majority of the guesses were not correct. It made me realize that you can't just assume that you know the background of someone just by looking at them. If you do assume and you assume wrong, certain people may feel very offended that you called them Chinese just because they have the Asian eye. Since there is tension between certain countries, calling them something will may hurt them and they may resent you for it. From my seat I was trying to guess where these people were from and I was wrong for the most part so from now on I realized that it is probably better to politely ask the person where they are from so I do not make a silly mistake. I was surprised to hear where majority of people were from because I felt that i would be able to successfully guess. I was almost positive that the one girl in the front that appeared to be white was just an American of European descent, however it turned out that she was from Saudi Arabia. I could tell that the majority of the class, including myself, was very surprised by this and it really showed that you just don't know where people are from just by looking at them. The other ethnicity that surprised me was the Ecuadorian student. He appeared to look like he was of Asian descent but as it turned out he was South American. That proves that due to migration, people from different continents can look very similar to each other although they are from completely different ends of the Earth. Judging someone based on facial characteristics just doesn't work because we learned that the human race all started in one place, Africa, and eventually everyone just migrated away. I think that we all learned a valuable lesson from the guessing game and it is one that we should all take with us and put into action. Some people may take a lot of offense by you just assuming that you know where they are from. Quite frankly, you can look very ignorant if you incorrectly guess a persons origin. So not only do you hurt the other person, you make yourself look rather uneducated as well. To avoid a situation like this all you have to is simply ask the person where they are from. I'm sure I'm not the only one that will take this lesson with me from here on out.