The Government a Forum for the Elites!!

The government is suppose to be a representative democracy however now in the twentieth century we have a problem. Many of the middle and lower class people of this country do not vote. They do not feel that their vote counts. This is a problem because the government is suppose to be working for the people but it seems to me that the tables are turning and the people are now working for the government. At least the lower class people. If they do not speak up and pay attention to the issues in government the majority of the voices government is hearing is the upper class that are speaking up with their mouths and their dollars.

How can the government be representing people that do not show up? Us lower class citizens have to show up and speak up so that we can be accurately represented. Our government has become a big overbearing bully in many peoples eyes. But it should not stop them from speaking up for what they need and want in our country! I am a lower class citizen at this point in my life and i do plan to vote and speak up to my local legislature as well as pay attention to what is going on and use my voice, my dollars to help create the country i desire to live in!

Match Maker

There is one person on this earth that I would allow to match me up with my future mate, my friend and Counselor Tammy. She knows me inside and out and has had allot of life experience that has made her wise. It might even prove to be a better idea for her to pick my mate than me because i tried it and failed miserably! The person i chose was not compatible with me at all and i kept trying to make us compatible to no avail!

I have hard that the online matchmaking services work well for allot of people. I have met couples that met online and are happy together. It just seems so non personal and business like to begin a romance online. However, ever since i have been exposed to the fact that marriage is such an institution, pulling a mate that would match my specifications from a huge database might be a good idea. If you look at it like the institution that it is, you can look for the specific qualities you want in a person and order them off the online menu. Hum, not a bad idea. Its not like dating people from work, school, or church is such a fabulous idea! People have been doing that for years and divorce rates have gone up increasingly over the last few decades. When left to ones own devices to choose a mate one can often get bamboozled by infatuation and false fist impressions.

Race & Ethnicity

I have been raised to believe that being white is normal and common, my race was never really an issue of concern. As i get older and become more aware of the actual dynamics of my upbringing, I realize that I have a warped perspective of who I am and what i am capable of.

I have a deep feeling of guilt that is lingering from my ancestors actions in the past. I am appalled with many of the choices they made. I feel the shame of how they treated so many people as they forced their way to the top of this country's leadership. One obstacle i have due to my race and the environment my race has created is harmony between races. Because of the brutally ignorant behavior of my ancestors who exercised prejudice and discrimination as well as power and coercion toward other races. As a result there is fear and resentment lingering between us. I do not look down on other races, yet i feel disconnected from some of them. I do not feel accepted by them, but somewhat rejected

instead. I do not get to experience as much of the wisdom and creativity of these other races as i would like to because the wrongs that were done still linger.

It reminds me of a beautiful ocean floor once in its natural state with vibrant colors of various coal and sea life rich with numerous fish. Now it has been raked down to the bare sea floor destroying all fragile beautiful life that dwelt there.

Had my race resp

ected the native Americans when they came to invade their home we could have become a wiser, healthier people that are much better off.

Had my race left the african american alone and respected them we could be blessed in this country with their huge amounts of joy and intelligence which would have made us all abundantly better off. Instead, we are healing from the wounds of our ancestors and trying to pick up the pieces and make sense of it all.

My heart screams out to the wrongs my ancestors did! I want to make it right and help to heal the lingering pain. I want to build up and bring back the wisdom

of the native Americans! I want to go back to the African people we brought here and let them have respect and freedom to life as they choose. I want to live in harmony with all these races and learn from each-other the sweet secrets of life that make everything worth while!

Success & Social Class

I would say that at a young adult age, just leaving the nest i am 25% responsible for my success and my parents are 50% responsible and my educators are 25% responsible for my success. As the years go on the responsibility shifts over to me until it is 75% my responsibility to either succeed or not but there will always be that 25% that belongs to my parents because of the social class they raised me in and the beliefs i developed as well as the opportunities available there.

Changing my social class used to be easy 50 years ago but now days it is not impossible but more difficult. The social class that one is raised in has everything to do with how successful they will become. Social class sets the programming of the individuals beliefs and behaviors. To change these is to change the core of the individual. This is possible with lots of effort but not likely.

For example, I grew up in a lower class family right at the poverty line. We had our most basic needs met and that is all we knew. Camping and back packing was and still is our way of vacationing. A friend of mine came from an upper class family where she had everything at her finger tips. When she was an exchange student in another country this was the first exposure i had to the possibility of being an exchange student. She also took me on a trip to Disney Land and we stayed in a nice hotel eating out at nice resturants. I was not aware of this kind of vacationing. It was really nice! I believe the lower class is not aware, or does not have the same opportunities available so they think and act in accordance with their class beliefs.

Deviance

Deviance, I have to agree mostly with the Crime as individual choice theory that people learn and choose to engage in deviant acts based on the upbringing they had, the schools they went to as well as the the state of the economy and how it effected their family.

Gambling should defiantly not be legal because it is addictive and destructive to peoples lives. Gambling addicts can, and do get to the point where they gamble away everything they have including their most basic needs such as shelter and clothing. This can be devastating for a family. As it is now in Washington gambling is not legal yet it is everywhere. There are casinos and lottery tickets at every convenience and grocery store. The only good that could squeak out of being legal is that the money would be taxed and put into our system. The negative effects are that we would have more gambling addicts which i believe promotes greed and neediness. It gives a falls sense of financial wealth and support to people. Ive seen people of all ages but predominately elderly in the flashy, fancy, stinky casinos with their credit card on a lanyard around their neck sitting for hours at the slot machines. Casinos often close out the sunlight so that people don't realize how long they have been there. Yikes!!

Prostitution is a terrible way for a person to make a living! Sex is a private and intimate thing that should not be sold for money. I understand probably all prostitutes are addicted to drugs, slaves against their will, and/or desperate for money in some way.

For the safety of the people that are going to be prostitutes anyway legalizing it would be beneficial to them to regulate safe sex. But as far as what should be legal in our country I am against legalizing prostitution because i believe it is a deviant act. If we legalize it we are telling the children of this country that prostitution is ok.

Recreational drugs are also deviant and should not be legal because it will be sending the message to our people that it is ok. We need boundaries. There will always be people that break and test boundaries. But if there is such a big drug problem in our country we might want to look at why these people are choosing to do them. What could we provide as a country as an alternative to drugs? Again the only good that could come out of legalizing drugs is the money from taxes. This is not a good enough reason!

Social Status

I ascribe the status of Woman/Female which leads me to the status of Sister, Daughter, Niece, and used to be Granddaughter when my Grandparents were alive. I am also called Caucasion, but i like to refer to it as an American pure breed Mutt. I have bloodlines coming from all around the globe. These were conferred upon me by virtue of my birth many years ago!!

As a woman i have the roll in my culture to be attractive by having a fit body and wearing clothes that show it. Conduct myself as if i know what i'm doing confidently. Don't speak out too much, or be too wild.

I have the rolls as a caucation too but im not sure exactly what those are yet. Perhaps act arrogantly.

I have achieved the status of Mother which is my personal favorite! Next would be Girlfriend. I have also achieved the high and mighty status of Divorced and Single Mother that go hand in hand. I have achieved student hood once again as well as friend and coach.

As a mother I expect myself to be there for my children as much as possible, and at the same time i expect myself to provide for my children. This creates conflict because while i am with my children i am thinking of how to provide for their needs and while i am working i am thinking of how i need and want to be there for my children.

As a single mother there are many role conflicts because i have to be all roles of a father and man around the house as well as the mother and woman.

I have a boyfriend and this sometimes conflicts with my role as a single mother because while i want to go on a date with my boyfriend, i need to stay home with my children.

I do my best to resolve these conflicts by managing my time the best i can and being present when i am doing something so that i am not wasting precious time. I also go to a counselor once a week that helps me to sort out my decisions and how they are affecting myself, my life and everyone in it.

Text Me

With this instant access to things we expect things to be fast and our ability to be
patient has decreased. When we contact someone we expect to be able to get a
hold of them and when we cannot after trying many forms of contact such as,
calling, texting, emailing, facebooking, we quickly move on to a new task while
waiting to hear back from that person. We can be chatting with someone via
text, while emailing someone while being on hold with our hands free device for
our phone. This has made the new norm of communicating brief and to the point.
We use less words and much less face to face time resulting in a lack of
understanding one another. As a result there is allot more isolation and less
community outreach. When we communicate via texting we are missing body
language and voice changes as well as the human connection that happens when we
are face to face. We no longer value talking face to face with people. It is
normal to not talk to someone face to face all day.

Social Responsibility

In our society today, I think that individuals have very little responsibility to make things better for the whole. I think most people are focused on the responsibility they have to make their own life better. It seems we all have our eyes on the sidewalk , or the road with the car windows up, as we quickly move from one important destination to another satisfying our own needs. Taking no notice of others around us.

It would be nice if we all looked each other in the eye and took notice of each other. I think there are many factors contributing to the way we have become an isolated individual centered society. Driving our own separate cars to get from place to place, having drive through windows for goods we need. All the media outlets we listen to and watch. All these things take our attention, opportunity, and need to reach out to each other away.

I think that individuals in our society should be taught to pay attention to those around us and always look for ways to help others and have compassion. Ask how can we make this place better for everyone.

If we were taught these things in the home as well as at school and in church this would help to mold our society as a whole to become more aware of others and their needs instead of just our own.

I think the government should give some kind of reward for kind acts, like a tax deduction or something. They should also place regulations on the media that they have to report the same amount of good in the world as bad with each paper and broadcast.

If our news would share the lime light with the good doers a little and not give all attention to the bad guys, this would help people to focus attention on doing good. As it is the news focuses on how bad, scary, and wrong things are going to the point that people are scared to reach out to each other.

Come on media lets focus on what we want to see in our people! Stop focusing on how you can attract more attention for your individual benefit and lets focus on the greater good of the people in our country! Did anything good happen today? Was anybody nice today? Did anyone share today? We want to hear that too!" There are allot of great things going on around us. What are they today?

Sociology w/ Professor Eric Davis

Im not surprised that I love this class after the first day! This is the subject that my brain and heart was made for! I know im going to enjoy Erics style of teaching because i can tell he loves his job and cares about his students. Lucky me! The iceing on the cake was him busting out Michale Frantis lyrics by memory. This musician has inspired mine, and my familys and friends lives because his music has substance, inspiration, groove and sunshine! His music makes me feel loved, and accepted just the way i am. It also makes me want to have empathy for others and their differences.

My boyfriend took me to his concert this summer and he was great, came out to the audience where we were and sang right to us and gave us hugs later. The world can benefit from people like this! One of my most favorite songs is "Gloria". I am glad to be alive!