Shift Happens

I was pretty shocked to watch the video clip on youtube.com. It was shocking how much size mattered. With 1,300 people like "you" in China and 1,100 people like "you" in India. 25% of China's population with IQ's greater than the total population of North America! It was saddening to see how Nintendo invested over $140 million on research and development one year and the United Stated Federal Government spent less than half as much on research and innovation in education.Why would we spend so much money on Nintendo than on research in education? Shouldn't we strive to get information on education instead of Nintendo? I was also suprised how the number of texts sent and recieved each day exceeds the population of the planet! I do have to admit, I text a lot, but I didn't think people texted that much. I think our educational system needs to improve to help students learn more. I think all of us in the United States need to really focus on education and to not be so focused on technology as much.

Urban Life

I would have to say that I have lived in Urban areas my whole life. I lived in McLean, VA for 18 years and I have been living in Herndon, VA for the past 2 years. The book talks about more urban industrial areas being developed and that is definitely true. There is always so much construction going on with the roads or new houses. Everytime I get on the highway, there is always some type of construction going on causing traffic to occur. Now I think they are (or will start) to be working on the Metro out near tysons. I think that will get a lot more people to come to that area so that they do not have to waste their gas, since gas is expensive, and the metro is always pretty efficient. I'm kind of glad I have never lived in a rural area. I don't think I would get used to it easily and I feel like I'm more of a city girl.

Who has the Power?

With the theories of who holds the power, I agree with the Democratic Elitism. With nature and limits of modern democracy. It states that direct democracy is impossible as means of regular government in large scale societies, running a complex society demands expertise.
It also says that it needs parties to have different interests and outlooks which is true so we have options to agree or disagree with so its not always hearing only one side. Another thing it says is that political leaders with imagination and courage to escape inertia of bureaucracy with importance of leadership. I definitely agree with that. Political leaders need imagination to come up with new ideas and being able to brainstorm what is right for our country. Leadership is very important!

Is Walmart good for America?

I do think that Walmart is good for America. So many of us shop at Walmart to save some money. I personally by hair dye, and at places like CVS it's probably $14, but at Walmart it's only $3. It is such a big difference when you don't have that much money to be able to spend. They mentioned in the film about $256 billion in sales! It's better than our recent black friday! Walmart has a push to pull production. Where they decide what to provide and retailers tell what to produce and when to produce. Walmart even beat out Rubbermaid, which was a popular retail store. Walmart has been voted the Nations most admired in the past. I think it's good how much money Walmart helps you save so you don't burn a hole in your pocket.

domestic division of labor

I filled out the chart more on, how it used to be in my house. Since my mother is going through cancer and all of her treatment, the roles have reversed tremendously with my father, brother, and I doing the household chores that the mother usually ends up doing.

I found it pretty amusing when I did the chart. Almost all of the work was done by the mother. With the laundry, dishes, cooking, and so forth. Basically all of the household chores/tasks are done by the mother unless she asks the father/spouse/children to do them. The lawn and outside chores/tasks are mostly done by the male in the house. The women really do have a "second shift", with her first job being going out and working/getting money and then coming home to her second job of taking care of her kids and home.

Secularizing society(religion)

I do think that our society is world secularizing. I feel that religion today is not as important as it used to be back in old times. Not many people really fight for their religion like they used to. People don't even really talk about religion these days and if you do, sometimes you are looked at differently from believing in something that someone else doesn't believe in. Since religion is a form of culture, I definitel think that the culture is decreasing as time goes on. In the textbook it says, " Sociologists believed that through alienation, human beings attribute their own culturally created values and norms to alien, or separate, beings because they do not understand their own history." I think that in order for religion to become "more popular" or increase as to say, people need to know more about the past, and how their religion/what they believe in, was in the past and not just the present.

Blog on A Tale of Two

It is pretty crazy how the two stories differed so drastically. To me it seemed like the African American boy (Byron) must work more hard in life than the white boy (Max). It seems like the white boy had everything handed down to him and he didn't have to work as hard for what he wanted in life (including his house, which his parents even helped with the payment for). I feel like i relate more to Byron because my parents are already at a financial problem because my mom is going through cancer and is a therapist; so she has not been able to work for the past 6 months with all of her chemotherapy. I even work two jobs so that I can help out with some bills at home, and Byron seems to have worked hard in his life as well, considering he also helps his parents from time to time with the bills/finances. It was a pretty eye-opening story to read about how different two people's lives from two different cultures can be.