Part D

Given the distinction between a constitutional amendment and a law - if you had the influence how would you amend the constitution?

I don’t think that the constitution has any problems except for the wording. The constitution was amended so that now the clause about slaves is nonexistent. The constitution has a lot of good ideas because it keeps everyone’s rights equal and makes people feel like they are in charge of their own lives. People in the United States (for the most part) don’t have a problem with the laws enforced by the government.

I think the real problem is that people in America (particularly those in power) take advantage of their constitutional rights which is extremely unfair. If I were to amend the constitution, I would create an amendment that prohibits people (particularly government members and police officers) from abusing their power. Although the constitution states that people will not be discriminated against based on Gender, Race or status in society, many times, officials disguise their discrimination and say that they are “serving and protecting” when in actuality they are abusing their power. Just because it is written in the Constitution that no one shall be discriminated against, doesn’t mean that it will actually be put into effect.

If I were to write something like this into the constitution, whenever we see a case of police brutality or corruption on the government’s part, the people would decide if the official in question deserves to be punished. Hopefully this would create police brutality and such to be unconstitutional for real and stop the trouble. Again, just because it is written as an amendment, doesn’t mean that it will be upheld.

People in the government are rich and want to keep their power which is why they hold the constitution so highly, because it reserves their power and protects them by giving them certain rights that make them “different” from the “lesser people” without making it seem corrupt. Whether or not making amendments to the constitution will help create a more just society is too difficult to tell. It has more to do with how the people of the U.S. act and how they preserve their rights.

What is the general tendency of the Constitution and Amendments in your view?

I feel as if the constitution is a contradiction of itself. Many times in the constitution we see that in the beginning it will say one thing and then later on it will say something different. We see that it states: “…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States,” and then goes on to say: “…Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord…” They talk about how no religious views will be viewed as a problem when a President comes into office, but then they place a minor religious view in the constitution almost as if to show off the amount of power they have. This seems to me unfair because all people didn’t believe in God and “the Year of our Lord” refers to God.

We also see that in Article 4 of the constitution it states that every state may create any laws and rules they feel are adequate, yet later on in this article it states that the Federal Government is the highest government there is and can overrule any law that a state makes. It also states later in amendment 14 that the U.S cannot make laws that go against the people’s right to decide what they want to do with their lives. Yet the constitutional law still stands that the Federal Government is the highest power. Should they decide that they disagree with a certain persons decision (such as gay marriage and such) they can rule it unconstitutional and make abortion or gay marriage or any number of things illegal. Here we see that in actuality the people of the United States don’t actually have much of a say in their lives.

The 4th and 5th amendments state that people have the right to remain silent in a case that they are convicted of a crime and that they have a right to their privacy. Government officials are not allowed to search a citizen’s belongings without just cause and a warrant. Officials often abuse this right because as we see often, in libraries, airports, subways and national landmarks etc. we have our belongings raided and then are told “its procedure” and that these officials must “protect their country.” We also see that our “right to remain silent” can be constantly used against us. If someone remains silent, they are considered suspicious and sometimes guilty because our officials decide that the convicted is hiding something. This may make us wonder why it is we have rights to our privacy and the right to remain silent when they can then be contradicted without a second thought.

How does the Constitution, as amended, create/constrain/shape the American Way of Life?

When taking a step back and looking at the constitution, we can see that it shapes the basic emotions and look Americans have on their way of life.  The constitution is written in a way that gives people a sense that they have a lot of power in the way their country is run.   If asked what system of Government is the United States based upon, many people would proudly state “a Democracy.”  This, however, is untrue because to the well informed, we know that the United States is a Republic.  This little fact plays a big role in the American way of Life because everyone is pulled towards America because of our “Democracy,” but living under it shows people how unevenly balanced the power actually is.

The constitution states that every state must have a representative (or 2) to help make decisions for that state.  This gives and maintains the rich people’s power.  American citizens don’t even get to directly elect their President.  Although we vote, most of the decisions are based on the votes within the different branches of government.  Our government tells people that they have certain rights that taking away will be unconstitutional.  But the government uses excuses like protecting the country to break these laws without getting into trouble.  They follow the constitution and penalize those that break it in order to maintain the rich people’s power and to make the “lesser people” feel as if they have some importance.

Knowing that our country is run by a “great document” like the constitution, gives many citizens a sense of pride and dignity to be an American.  Yet no one ever really takes a step back and looks at exactly what the constitution says.  They see that they have certain rights that cannot be taken away and that they have power to elect a senator and can vote for their President, but they don’t see that fact that the government states in the constitution that the Federal Government is the highest form of government and has the most power.  If they find something not to their liking, they have the power to find it unconstitutional and find a way to put an end to whatever the “unlawful” act might have been. 

If the President finds that in the Supreme Court there is a case that he considers unconstitutional, he has the power to add as many justices as he likes and whomever he would like.  He can elect a majority of people who agree with him thus making the Supreme Court rule a certain act as unconstitutional.  This proves how easily rich people in power can manipulate the constitution.  They can use it to their advantage and not get in trouble for most things they do.  They can simply do what ever they please and then turn their heads as if nothing happened.   

 

Part C

What is the importance of the 12-15th amendments?

Amendment 12 is an extremely important amendment because it is the rules on how a President (or Vice President) comes into office. It is stated in the amendment that the electors would cast their vote for President and then the votes would be counted and the candidate with the most votes wins the election. This amendment basically gives our government its structure and makes people believe we have a democracy. The 13th and 14th amendments are very important as well because when they were created, they introduced the idea that slaves and all people born in the United States are thereby under the law of the United States and shall not be discriminated against based on what or who they are. The 14th amendment goes into greater detail and talks about the qualifications for being a Senator and the qualifications for those who will be voting. The 15th amendment continues this trend in saying that all people shall have the right to vote and this shall not be revoked based on color, gender or previous status in society.

These amendments are extremely important because they show how the views of the United States were in the process of changing. These amendments reiterate constantly the fact that slaves will be (in a way) treated as equals and that people will not be discriminated against. It also gives us our voting procedure which, if we had none, would create confusion and possible chaos in our government.

How does the 14th amendment conflict with gay marriage and abortion rights?

The 14th amendment states that: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This means that no state may create a law that takes away a citizen’s right to be happy or to make decisions for them that will better their situation. This amendment strongly conflicts with certain rules that state that gay marriage is illegal and that abortion is illegal. The 14th amendment gives people the right to better their lives and make decisions that will make them happy. Should any state ban gay marriage, they are taking away a person’s “liberty” and the right to be happy. The conflicts in this amendment are great and can cause many issues. The amendment states that “we the people” have the right to choose what we need, want and will make us happy.

Enforcing this amendment will be extremely hard because there are many, many different people with views that support and are against gay marriage, abortion and a female’s rights to her body so no one will ever agree on an amendment to this amendment. States will have their own laws because it is their constitutional right, but their laws may go against this amendment. It is stated in the constitution that the federal government has the most power over every government, yet the federal government can’t enforce this amendment because within the Federal Government, many people disagree with the idea that gay marriage and such should be legal.

The significance of Amendments 11-27:

Amendments 11-27 go on in detail about how the President will be elected. They state that no one shall be denied the right to vote based on gender or race. We see that most of the amendments after #12 are regulations, rules or qualifications about the election of Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the rules for Congress and Senators etc. We see that the importation or exportation of intoxicating liquors are denied access into the states. The Congress has control over this and other imported and exported goods. Some of the amendments give people the right to choose their happiness and that the government cannot get in the way of other people’s justice.

Personally, I think that all of the amendments in which we find qualifications for the voting process and rules for who shall enter office are the most important. These amendments (such as the 12th) give our government its structure. They tell each house in some small way a short summary of what powers they have and how they are all even. We see what happens if the President dies, when a Vice President takes over, what are more powers the Congress has and many other jobs of the houses of government. Without these amendments, our government would not have any constructive way of choosing a leader and the government would not be split up into the powers that it has so each house would be fighting for the most power.

Part B (continued)

How do the 4th and 6th amendments become distorted in our Country?


The 4th amendment states that people of the United States have the right to their privacy. They may not be searched or investigated unless the government has a warrant with a sufficient reason as to why they are searching this person and only a select few places may be checked. The 6th amendment states that should there be a criminal convicted who does not have a lawyer; one will be provided for them. This amendment is often contradicted because of the hunger for power. These amendments distort our society because they show us that the government promises us that we will have privacy and we can do what we please, but in actuality when we enter the subway station or an airport, we are randomly checked because the government is “trying to protect the country.” Police officers often discriminate who they check based on gender or race and possibly religion which goes against the 5th amendment. In terms of the 6th amendment, when criminals (or innocent people) are convicted of a crime and cannot supply their own lawyer, they are provided one. But if the court and police find the convicted guilty no matter what, they can provide the convicted a lawyer who is unhelpful.


Although the Bill of Rights states that we have privacy and will be helped in a case where a person cannot help themselves, the government takes over these amendments and gives themselves power. They create it so that they control people’s fate in terms of trials and such by giving a person a bad lawyer and they control who and what is private in the lives of Americans and cover it up with the idea that they have to “protect the people from enemies.”

How does the 4th amendment conflict with Section 4 Article 4 of the Constitution?

The 4th amendment gives people the right to their privacy; they may not be searched without just cause. Section 4 Article 4 of the constitution states that the government ensures the safety of the people of the United States from enemies. These 2 rules conflict with each other because it is not defined what is just cause to search a person. People are randomly searched in the U.S. all the time based on what they look like. The Government uses this excuse that they want to protect its people so that they have a “just cause” for searching whomever they please.

Being able to randomly search through people’s belongings gives police and in turn the Government a sense of power because they write amendments and parts of the constitution that make people feel safe and free. They’re happy because they can have privacy and be protected by a strong government, but they don’t realize that they are stuck under a government which thirsts for power and obtains it by raiding peoples belongings for no just reason.

Part B

How does the Constitution trick people into believing that they have power in the country yet give the government the most power?


From Article 4 in Sections 2-3, we see that the “Framers” say that states must respect the rules and regulations of every other state. The states are allowed to have their own laws, but they cannot go against the constitution. It is also stated that the government has the only rights in creating a new state and the Congress has the power over which of their new states becomes part of the union. In Section 4 we see that the “Framers” wanted people to know that the government still has most of the power. Federal Government is said to be the most powerful government. It protects states from all “enemies” and ensures that people have a representative government.

From this, we can contract that the “Framers” wanted people in every state to feel as though they have most of the power in how their lives were run. The states make their own rules and that’s ok and they will be respected, as long as they abide by the constitution. The government lets people deal with the prosecution of a criminal in their state and ensure that their laws are abided by, but should the government dislike the occurrences and find them unconstitutional, they are able to change what they disagree with. They give people rights, yet they still say that the Federal government no matter what, will be the most powerful government. They will create new states and decide who gets to join the union and should they feel that a state is “unworthy” they may deny them access to the union. This article shows how the government is afraid to give the people a lot of power because they want to ensure that the rich people stay in power and don’t lose their superiority. The government tricks the “lesser people,” saying that they can have rules and they can make up whatever type of laws they want for their state, but they MUST abide by the Governments “outlines.” This actually takes AWAY from the rights that the people have than adds to them.

Why is the “No religious test” rule placed in the Constitution?

The constitution states that there will be no test of religion required to be qualified to become part of office. This is placed in the constitution so that people in the state feel that it is safe to practice any religion within the United States and no one will be penalized for it, not even those running for office. The “Framers” of the constitution wanted to make the constitution seem as though it opened the state to everyone and everything no matter how different. Yet, they contradict themselves because they don’t count slaves as part of the population; they call them “Person[s] held to Service or Labor.” They constantly refer back to the Indians and treaties that were made with the “savages,” as though they don’t exist or don’t matter even though these “savages” were the 1st to reside in the land. They later state: “Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth.”

We see that the “Framers” try and use religion in the constitution to make it “equal” for everyone, but obviously with the way they refer to slaves and Indians, they tried to use words that still give them the upper hand. They also say that the constitution was created “in the year of our Lord” meaning God. Although they say that religion won’t really matter, but then they “sneak” God into the constitution, although not a major part, still being biased and in a little way forcing Christianity into the lives of all who live under the constitution.

Part A

The Preamble states that people in America have the right to protection by the government and justice within the system. It states that the constitution was created in order to form a closer bond within America and its citizens, preserve liberty and ensure the safety and fairness that people deserve. The constitution states that the government is split up between 2 houses that distribute the responsibilities and such equally between them. They balance each other and keep the rules “fair.”

Legislative Branch:

The Legislative branch is the only bicameral branch consisting of “The House of Representatives” and “The Senate.” Although they reside in the same branch, both of these houses have semi-different responsibilities. The House of representatives, for example, is more closely related to the people of their state. The people elect them directly while members of the senate are chosen by state legislatures and there are only two senators elected. Both of these houses are responsible for keeping power equal within every branch as well as within every state. Senators ensure that larger states do not try to overpower smaller states. This branch (as well as the others) keeps a record of their own proceedings and determines laws for their own branch. Yet this house has the ability to create bills, which in turn may become laws. Other powers consist of collecting taxes, creating punishments for counterfeiting, determining the value of money, declaring war, laying claim to resources. They also have power over land and naval forces.

Executive Branch:

The Executive branch consists of The President and The Vice President. The people do not directly elect a president, the legislatures from other houses have most of a say in the matter of a president. The president can be commander and chief of the army or navy should he decide to do so. The President mostly focuses on the states affairs with other countries and treaties and such. He may right pardons and reproves for army, navy or military officials should he feel the need. He may also make agreements and treaties with other countries. Although he is elected by the legislatures, the President elects members of the supreme court and has a right to change or add the number of justices on a supreme court council. Should a President do anything unlawful or unconstitutional, he can be Impeached by the Congress. The president must be sworn into the White House and must abide by certain laws and rules. He may veto laws should he find them unacceptable or disagree with them yet he may be overthrown by the Congress in a case that 2/3rds majority disagrees.

Judicial Branch:

The Judicial Branch consists of members of the supreme court. The supreme court is only tends to cases that have to do with unconstitutional acts. The supreme court decides if a certain act is considered unconstitutional or not. They also deal with crimes having to do with treaties, treason or federal law. The supreme court makes sure that all states are at peace with each other and that they do not discriminate states based on their personal laws. The Supreme court may rule an amendment or a law unconstitutional and may talk to congress so that they amend the law or amendment.

Feelings:

The constitution is basically a giant list. It states that people have certain rights and that the government has certain rights and powers, yet it is written in a way that makes people believe it is the greatest document ever written. When we actually take a step back and look at the constitution we can see that it is basically a very craftily worded document that makes people feel powerful and important so that there are no rivalries in the system.

Questions/ Insights:

•Slave = “The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit.”

•Everyone at the time knew that there were slaves and knew how they were treated. Why then, did they not use the words slave and try to “beautify” the job?

•If the constitution was created so that the government had equal power, why is it ok for the President to elect as many and whomever he/she wishes for the Supreme Court?

•Doesn’t this cause an imbalance in justice if the president chooses those who agree with him?

•Should any other house see this and think it unjust could they do anything about it?

Class Argument

I really don’t have any opinion on what happened in class today. I really don’t care at all because it’s just a typical thing that happens in our classes every day. Our grade always yells and screams and curses at each other. It never really gets anywhere. I really don’t even see the point of reflecting on it.

As for the man killed during black Friday, I feel as if the man being killed shows how Americans don’t really care about each other. They put their own happiness and their own needs before anyone else’s and then when asked what they cherish most, they put up an act and say that their family is most important. This brings me to another idea which is that Americans are very dependent on image. They say family is very important to them only so that they can look loving and caring when in actuality only a hand full of those Americans will really truly mean what they say. This man was killed because people felt the need to fulfill their own materialistic needs. That and the fact that he was trying to do his job when the boss told him to stand in front of the glass doors with the angry mob on the other side.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

I basically had a typical “Americanized” thanksgiving. I ate food with my family I watched the parade in the morning with my sisters I spent time with my boyfriend and his family and there was nothing really out of the ordinary. I didn’t really bring up the topic of genocide at dinner and the only reason I brought it up was to say “Andy told me to mention how thanksgiving is a genocide so I thought I’d mention it to you, but I don’t really feel the need to spend time talking about it.” I just honestly didn’t think that it was something that needed to be brought up in the middle of a family dinner. I understand that it was something horrible that happened and it should be acknowledged, but I don’t feel like the middle of thanksgiving dinner is an appropriate time to talk about it. People our right in saying that thanksgiving is a day in which we celebrate the pilgrims coming together in “our new America” and breaking bread with the Indians, but it has been taken and molded into a new, more Americanized holiday that revolves around people spending time with their family and eating a lot. No one ever really thinks about genocide or really wants to think about something that depressing on Thanksgiving.
As for Black Friday, I went shopping with my boyfriend like normal. We weren’t rushing for sales, shoving people, scavenging for low prices or any of that. It was just 2 people going out shopping with each other making fun of each other, other people and spending time together. I really don’t think that shopping on Black Friday is such a problem. I don’t think it has to do with anger or being unable to share emotions. I just think it’s a natural thing that people do in typical AWOLs that can get out of hand when people become greedy. If certain people want to throw the whole capitalism thing into it, Black Friday can help in terms of leading us out of a resection and boost the economy at least a little bit.

My feelings about the Election

I am really happy with the outcome of this year’s election. To say that I am overly happy would be an overstatement because I don’t really follow politics so I’m not going to lie and act like I know what I’m talking about. I don’t actually really know much about where the candidates stood and what their arguments were so to say that I am so proud that Obama won and I am so pro Obama would be slightly ignorant. Although I really don’t know much about the arguments and such I do support Obama because from what little I know of him, I know that he is articulate, well educated and from what I’ve heard made good arguments as opposed to McCain’s rants on Obama’s flaws. Another big reason why I support Obama was because the things I do know about the election lead me to feel that Palin is EXTREMELY clueless and ignorant to the world around her.

I am glad that Obama won the election because I have noticed since the end of the election; people all over New York have been brought closer because of their happiness and pride in our new president. We’ve never had a black president before which is showing people all over the world (not just the city) that things are changing and the beliefs and values of society are changing. Even little children are thinking that when they grow up they don’t have t become the stereotype that society has thrust upon them; they can be something out of the norm, something they’ve always wanted to be. Obama has many expectations to fulfill and I just hope people are patient and give him a chance to change things and not expect things to become better automatically.

Intro: Dominant Frame works

Societies are molded based on ideals and values that differ based on where you go. The American way of life in particular, is based on a number of dominant frameworks which give America its "shape." Some of which includes capitalism and the government. Although these frameworks help shape our way of life, they mean nothing if we do not understand them.

Positive aspects of capitalism:

No one can really truly explain capitalism because only a select few fully understand it. When defined, we usually receive the answer that capitalism is an economic system in which goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed through the mechanism of free markets, based deeply on the right to public property and profit motive. This definition means nothing to us if we don’t understand certain aspects of capitalism such as profit motive and the ingredients for capitalism. Without land, labor and capital, capitalism wouldn’t be what it is today. The invisible hand gives us the land aspect of capitalism. The invisible hand is the “magic” aspect of capitalism which creates the demand for workers and products to be produced. When someone wants to sell an item, there are always natural resources that just “appear” thanks to the invisible hand. The invisible hand also gives us labor because people of the world have a specific need for jobs and money, so the rich people will always have others to employ. Capital (which is the main word in capital-ism) is basically any resource or object that will aid one in the creation of their product. "A great part of the unprecedented wealth creation went into sanitation and more abundant food and later into the research necessary to produce vaccines and antibiotics." (Boaz) Without the use of Land, Labor and Capital, we would have never been able to find all the resources needed to advance our technology and aid the people of the world in becoming more aware and healthy. In the definition of capitalism we also see this concept of profit motive which is a concept in which provides rich people with some incentive as to where they can get the most profit for their product. But profit, as many people may think, is not the money that is received from selling products, it is the money left over after paying the workers and other business expenses. Depending on the consumer, the market and many other small aspects, profit may change due to Market price. Market price is the highest price the consumer is willing to buy and the seller is willing to sell. Depending on the supply (total amount of resources for sale at all prices) and demand (the total amount of resources that products will be bought at all prices) the market price will increase or decrease. "General stores don't close down because of big evil Wal-Mart. They close down because they can't compete. They can't deliver the quality good at the lowest price. The market mechanism dictates these losers be replaced with the firm that will best serve the public interest."(Bland) As described here, depending on the market price, supply and demand, the little geral stores will have to compete and try and sell theyre products at a lower price that the consumer is willing to pay for, but still make a profit. Once the store is unable to lower their prices anymore and still make profit, they are run out of business and lose their store. This leads to many other aspects of capitalism which many do not fully grasp. These are the basics of economics. Although I may not have portrayed all of them, these are a few and will aid in the process of learning about our countries economic system.

Paraphrase

This article basically states how simple things such as pencils can be connected to a bigger picture. It talks about how there are many steps that go into making pencils, but no one in the entire world knows, or participates in the whole entire process. This then connects to the fact that, this article wants to inform people about how in terms of America and our rights and such, no one truly knows how EVERYTHING in America works and a lot of people work hard so that we can function “correctly.” The message the author tries to portray is that if we just let the countries “rules” run themselves and everything will be fine, but we cannot rely on just one “God-like” person to lead us all the time.

Quotes

“There isn’t a single person in all these millions, including the president of the pencil company, who contributes more than a tiny, infinitesimal bit of know-how.”

“Merely organize society to act in harmony with this lesson. Let society’s legal apparatus remove all obstacles the best it can. Permit these creative know-hows freely to flow.”

“No trace of such a person can be found. Instead, we find the Invisible Hand at work.”

Analysis

The pencil is only a minor way of connecting to the world. As explained in the article, we see that this pencil has many people that contribute to its “birth” and if missing even one of these members, the whole process is thrown out of function. The pencil needs many people to operate machinery, gather supplies, combine these supplies and put them all together to create pencils. While no one really knows every step to making pencils, when everyone does their job, the pencils are created the way they were meant to. Similarly in capitalism, people do not necessarily understand every aspect of it, but (ideally) if everyone does their job, everything- is supposed to- work out in everyone’s favor and help everyone in the end. Also, many many people work hard to follow the rules of capitalism, creating supplies, capital, profit and gaining land and such. From this connection, we can infer that the author is pro capitalism. He says that if everyone “listens to the rules” everything will work out.

What is AWOL?

America otherwise known as “The Land of the Free and The Home of The Brave,” says we have freedom and equality. To most, this is an extremely positive factor in how they perceive their way of life. While interviewing several people, I have found a general consensus as to what aspects of the American Way of Life (AWOL) are. The points made were that in America, “People have the freedom to work hard and achieve their dreams whatever those may be.” Men like John Fanning (a principle at SOF) and Kate (a producer at the Play Company) agree that values of AWOL are family and making enough money to support themselves and their lives with their families. While everyone I interviewed agreed with this statement, there were many different answers when asked what influenced this way of life and this thinking. An Employee at American Apparel (who appeared to be a Hispanic living in “the ghetto”) had this idea that “The only thing Americans value is money. Nobody can do shit in this country unless their rich. This whole damn country is a fucking hustle. All people want to do is get even because they hold grudges against the minorities. We can’t go to college or get good jobs because the cops are too busy putting our fucking people in jail. And we can’t fucking get jobs so we have to sell drugs in order to get money and then we get fucking thrown in jail because it’s cheaper to do that then send our boys to college.” In the meanwhile Lauren (another producer at The Play Company) suggested that “AWOL is now more than ever based on Materialism, Consumerism, easy answers and easy ways out. Americans are now expected to have their success and dreams handed to them. For example we have easy weight loss programs where you don’t have to do anything, college on the internet, internet dating. No one really has to do anything anymore.” While Lauren has a steady working job where she is, most likely, highly paid and held in high regard for what she does, The employee from American Apparel said she was struggling to put herself through college, to make enough money to support herself, she lives in “the hood” and she isn’t happy with her life. From all of this we can conclude that factors in one’s life such as financial status, social status and living environment. Because Lauren is financially well off and has a good environment, her answers to the question of values and pros and cons were less cynical and angry for lack of a better word. The Employee from American Apparel shared that she was struggling and she wasn’t financially secure and her environment left much to be desired so this influenced her to feel so strongly about this topic. From her cursing and big gestures as she explained her harsh, cynical thoughts about how America is run. Although the employee from American Apparel leads this life, Isa Claudio-Abdul (My mother) led a very similar life and has different thoughts. Isa was born here and lived in Puerto Rico and then moved to “the hood” in the Bronx. She wasn’t financially stable, she had difficult family life and she had to deal with gangs. She expressed that “AWOL is a myth. We as Americans have a right to grow up and be whatever we want. But we as the “super society” know nothing of our culture. We glorify our society and cause immigrants to want to come here to lead a better life and when they get here, the Americans don’t feel like working and they get mad at the immigrants for taking jobs that they didn’t want to do.” Living in Puerto Rico could have possibly shown my mother how America was glorified and how people in Puerto Rico really wanted to be just like America. So because she heard all of these good things about America in Puerto Rico, she could have inferred that other places in the world held America in extremely high regard. In agreement with my mother, Linda (the third producer at The Play Company who also lived in Germany for sometime) spoke about the differences in society. “Europe used to think America was one of the greatest societies, but now they are becoming more and more fed up with us, yet they still are dependent on America. Some Germans admire the fact that in America, you can change your profession based on your dreams. This is extremely difficult in Germany due to finances. Although this is a positive aspect of America, a negative aspect is the fact that in America, politics and religion are mixed more than they should be. Germany is less religious than America and while it is good that we get to express any religion, the Constitution states that church and state should be kept separate and this idea is getting more and more lost.”

Image Links Based on AWOL:

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Living in other countries and states has shown these to women different views of America. They can see how America is glorified and, now that they have lived here for a while, what it actually is. While my mother spoke about ignorance and seemed more cynical towards ideas in America, Linda seemed more undecided because of the fact that she believed that you could only tell what the American way of life was if you compared it to something else. And of course if you compare America to a terrible regime, America will look wonderful. Not only is religion playing a big role in AWOL, but according to John Fanning, “Americans are being force fed a certain way of thinking and feeling about AWOL and being raised to think that they need to be patriotic and pass that down through the generations. The media is feeding people ideas of what AWOL should be and while the ideas like Family are good, they still don’t learn good aspects of America and the mistakes we’ve made. John has led an extremely interesting life, one in which he has seen Europe and the things that go on there and gotten to know what life is about. He explains negative aspects possibly because he knows what other countries think about America and he knows what America is actually like. This possibly makes it easier to see what things are good about American and what things are glorified and what needs to change. In summation, all of these people came from different backgrounds, different social statuses and essentially different AWOLs, but they still have equally strong arguments on what they think AWOL is. From the information compiled I can safely say that there is not one AWOL, but categories of AWOLs those of which are lived by those based on education, life experiences, social status, financial status, media and many other aspects. What one chooses to believe in, change and hold in high regard forms their AWOL. So there really is no one answer to what AWOL is. You just have to observe, take in ideas and except that there may be more than one answer.

Assignment 2

Sam C.'s Video-

AAAAWWW Sam I love your video and I love that you put videos and pics from spain. I like ur
volleyball video too.

Binta B.'s Video-

BINTA!!! I love how you added pictures of your family in Africa that was really cool and I like how your video started off with the video with the black and white effects

Esther D.'s Video-

I love how you put video of the Jonas Brothers lol and I love when you were singing your video is soo cute!!!

Chelsea G.'s Video-

I like how you put the words in your video and how you used all those different songs to represent differnt people and things.

Karl L.'s Video-

Karlito i love the song you chose and I love all the pictures of you and your family.

Insights:

I noticed that in all the videos family was important although in 2 out of the 5 videos family was not mentioned, you saw pictures of family. People say that family is really important in their lives and it makes me wonder if they put family in their video because they really do hold family as a really high value or if they just put family there to show that they hold family in high value when in actuallity, they hold freinds first or something else first. I also noticed that in the 5 videos, friends were a big aspect and some videos may have (while not meaning to ) portrayed that friends were more important than family or any other aspect. People also picked songs that reflected how they were feeling in the video and to represent different people in their video.

Mi Vida

In this video I have included some of the most important aspects of my life such as my sisters and my friends. Music, family and friends are a really important part of my life because my friends and sisters are always around me and my music is what keeps me going through the day.
My sisters make me smile all the time and I have to take care of them. Taking care of them helps me to be responsible. Without my sisters I wouldnt really have a music career because putting our 3 voices together gives me the confidence that we will make it somewhere with our music one day. My friends make me smile and keep me focused on my goals and are just always around (even when I dont want them there LOL). My boyfriend keeps me focused and I talk to him all the time and he boosts my spirits when I need to be comforted.
I really like everything in my life. I dont think Ive ever been happier with the way my life is going. The only bad part about my life I would say would be that my sisters and I fight a lot which sometimes gets in the way of our music "career" and that my boyfriend is so far away. But as much as I dont like that my sisters and I fight and for as much as I wish that my boyfriend was closer, it is all natural to be fighting with your syblings and for older boyfriends to have to go away to college. But I love singing and working on new material with my sisters or even by myself and I love that my friends and I can just goof around and not care about anyone else.
I love all of these things but I also would have liked to include my parents because I can talk to them about anything and everything that ever bothers me and they are really understanding and know how to make me feel better. I would also have liked to include my grandma who I have been extremely close to since I was born. My theatre that I attend on the island where I live is another big part of my life because in the spring I am in the theatre woring hard everyday as well as the soccer feild which I love to be on and totally kick ass (lol).




My Life

I think I have a very rushed way of life. I go from singing to school to friends to talking to my boyfriend so fast that my life is pretty much a blurr. The general pattern is just that I go to school, do whatever afterschool classes I have, go home, do homework, fight with my sisters and talk on the phone with my boyfriend. My life is structured and organized, but extremly rushed. Although im rushed I feel as if my life is turned toward a successful point. Just everything I need to do is (in its own weird way) falling into place and making priorities known.
Fighting with my sisters, while it may be bad, gives us a chance to break apart when working together for too long so that we can all collect our thoughts and take a breather so that we can come back. After coming back we end up singing and working together even better. At the same time fighting and singing with my sisters helps to take my mind off of the hurt that I feel that my boyfriend is gone. So in their own ways, these things all fit together really well and balance each other out.
I feel like my way of life can be considered the typical "American Way of Life" because I dont think there is just one way to live the "American Way of Life." Some of the typical american children are expected to work hard to be successful and I work really hard on all aspects of my life that could possibly help me in the future. And at the same time, I can be a typcial american kid in the sense that I make fun of people in class and I dance and make random outbursts when Im not supposed to. Different things I do are different aspects of different american ways of like not one thing specifically.
I really wonder sometimes how my relationship with my boyfriend will effect my relationship with my sisters and my family. In some ways I see that my relationship brings my family closer together because when I am with my boyfriend, my family is always goofing on each other and everyone seems like they really have a great time, but at the same time I spend less time with my family. I also wonder if my parents and sisters and friends will help and/or disrupt my school work and what I need to be successful in the future.