Tradition, Honor, and Identity #11

In this lecture we discussed the beliefs of Asia.  Tradition, honor, and identity which are three very large aspects in not only Asia but many places around the world as well.  They have a lot of respect for each other in these countries and take family values and honesty a lot more seriously that we do here in the United States.  Things such as traditions are often looked over in the United States but in other places it is a very important that traditions are carried on and not broken.  I feel that there is not much tradition here in the United States unless your family has come from a background that believes in it.  Family honor is one thing that is also something that is extremely important.  They believe that if a family members does any wrong doing it is a poor reflection on the whole family and they take it extremely seriously.  They are a lot more strict in places such as Asia and India than they are here and these three things are something that they take seriously. 

Empires #10

In this class we discussed empires.  We learned that when the empire is strong, expansion exists and independence is uncommon and when the empire appears weak, the colonies begin to exert themselves.  The Roman Empire has always interested me and the amount of power they had was incredible but there is a lot unknown about it because many of the books written were burned.  There are many possible reasons that the Roman Empire had fallen but it is hard to know the true reason.  We also learned about the British Empire and I found it interesting that it was the only empire on all 7 continents and the only empire to accept responsibility for the legacy of colonization because I did not know about this.  It is pretty crazy to think that one half of the world’s population was under British control.  I’ve always found it fascinating how much power some empires have and then it can all just come to an end. Overall, I really enjoyed this class lecture and learned a lot.

Why does the middle east hate us? #9

The Middle East differs from us in many ways. A main reason we are hated by them is because we have freedoms that they believe threaten their way of life and many of them ideally believe that it's their god given authority to protect themselves from our influences.  They feel that here in the United States that there is a loss of traditional families, which is a very important aspect in the Middle Eastern lifestyle. We promote individualism and that is not something they are fond of. Another reason we are disliked by them is because of how materialistic America seems to be. They do not believe in having to have a lot of nice things to lead a good lifestyle like most of the U.S. does. Another main reason we are hated by the Middle East is because of the way our women act. They are independent and free to do as they please, unlike the traditional Middle Eastern women. In class we were shown a Lady Gaga music video and I believe that it is things like that, that makes them hate us so much. Middle Eastern people have a very different way of life and do not agree with much of what we do just like how we do not agree with much they do. They have very different opinions on how life should be lived and how people should be treated.

Africa #8

In this lecture we talked about if the United States should help Africa and why it is our moral responsibility. I believe that we should help because if we were in their situation and had terrible living conditions and were dying of starvation we would desperately want help. Since America is a in position to help, I feel that we should do as much as possible to save some lives and make living over in some parts of Africa better. It does not take much for the United States to make an impact over there whether it be donations or any kind of help at all.  I do not think that just giving them tons of money is a solution and I think more needs to be done if we want to make an impact. The main thing that would stop a lot of problems over there is if our funds went towards building a better education for them.   Education will stop their spread of STIs and provide them with a foundation to sustain themselves and deal with their own country.

Helping the sick #7

In this class we had an interesting debate about if someone was sick and refused to take the medicine that would save them what should you do. Some of my peers felt that you should force to give it them, some believed that you should try to educate them on the medicine and why they should take it, and others felt that they should be able to choose what they want to do with their life and can refuse the medicine if they want. We represented this in class by using chocolate candies to represent the medicine and one of my peers was told to not take the candy no matter what and everyone was asked to give their opinion on the matter. I thought this was an interesting and fun way to get people's perspective on this. In my opinion, I would take the route of trying to explain why this medicine will help them and how it can help from them getting their family or others sick. If still they still refused to take it then I would not force them and let them do as they please. 

The United States #6

This week in class we talked about global hegemonic theory. I have never heard of this theory before this class before but it made a lot of sense and it said that when a global hegemon exists and is strong, global peace exists but when a global hegemon does not exist or is weak, global chaos exists. This was compared to when a boss does not come into work and everything falls apart and I thought this was a good way to compare the two. We also talked about the role of the United States in the World and some of the pros and cons of it. The United States of America is very different than many other places in the world and that makes us unique and have many qualities that other countries do not have which makes us stronger.

Qualitative Research Project #5

For week 6 of class we were assigned a qualitative research project. As a psychology major I think this is interesting and am excited to attend something that am not a part of and feel that I will learn a lot about different groups from this assignment. I still have not decided what I will be attending for this project but I do have a few ideas. In this class we also went over the pros and cons of colonialism, which we were assigned the class before. A lot of people had similar thoughts that I had but there were a few that I did not think of that I agreed with. I enjoy the debates in this class because I feel that I always learn something that I did not think of because everyone has a different views on subjects which may give a new perspective on things.

Religion #4

        The last debate was very interesting to learn everyone’s opinion on religion and how it affects everyone differently.  I personally do not know what to believe when it comes to religion.  There may be a higher power or there may not be.  I have always felt this way about religion.  I do feel that when it comes to religion and churches and what not that there is a lot of untrue and just plain stupid things in things such as the bible.  I do not really care what people believe but I do not like when people try to push their religion onto others and think that what they believe is the only belief.  Over the years my opinion on religion has majorly changed.  I believe that a majority of people follow their parent’s beliefs but as you get older you start to form your own beliefs.   Religion can be a very touchy subject but I thought it was a good debate to learn the views of my peers.

Pros and Cons of Supranationalism #3

I always thought of supranationalism as a positive thing but this course has made me realize but sides of the spectrum.  Obviously it is a good thing because it helps bring States together to help aid others but by this happening it can make one State lose their cultural identity.  Another pro point for supranationalism is that if there is ever a problem there is the benefit of joint military cooperation but even with something like this it can make one State’s issues become another State’s issues as well.  Another benefit may be the benefit of shared border responsibilities.  Some say that supranationalism is undemocratic and may restrict sovereignty which would defiantly be a negative aspect of supranationalism.   Another negative side of this would be that some States may receive unequal costs and may also get unequal benefits which may result in issues.  Although I still believe that the pros of supranationalism outweigh the cons this debate did help me realize all the negatives that supranationalism did cause.  

Borders #2

After going over spaces and borders again last week I believe that I understand it more.  There is a lot more to borders than I have ever thought and so many different kinds.  It is interesting how many different ways that you can describe a border and space and I always just figured that a border was a simple line between two places.  A border must be demarcated, delimited, and defined.  The assignment that we did helped me understand more in depth and helped physically show me what makes up these borders and spaces.  Even something like Little Italy can be considered a border (anthropogeographic).  Many conflicts are also caused because of certain borders and spaces and I have learned a lot about some conflicts.  Some types of borders are simple such as a straight line while others can be more complex and really make you think.  Although descriptive and genetic borders are the main borders there are many subsets of each.  Descriptive is based on the features or system of boundary establishment or formation while genetic is based on the time of boundary establishment or formation.

State powers #1

I do believe that some states are more important than others.  What makes a state more important than another is whether they have any power that separates them from another state.  For instance, I believe the USA is more important than a state such as Haiti because of our military and all of our other technological advances, where as a place like Haiti does not have much power making it not as important.  There is many different sources that a state is able to gain power such as military power, food power, technology power, natural resource power, and many others.  Some countries are not doing too well because they lack a lot of these powers.  A country may be poor because it lacks natural resources and other things that are vital for a state to flourish.  Even something such as having a good sports team can make a specific state more important than another which seems like it wouldn’t make much of a difference in that aspect but it definitely can have a large impact.  Being an important state means having something to offer to others by having a certain power that someone else does not.   To be respected by other countries you must have something to offer that may help them and then in return they will help your country causing it to become even more powerful.