Deliberation of America

This week in socialogy class we had a debate about a conflict that continues today. I'm talking about the gay/straight marriage. As we where spread apart into groups we had been put into the pro side or the con side of this debate. We would read about this debate and gather information that would soon be used to deliberate. I was chosen to be on the con side, moreover i was against gay marriage. Many points where brought up and so some of our values where also tested. This was a test to see which values are more important then others. For instance, this debliberation goes into conflict with values such as freedom and change because one group of people want the freedom to marry anyone, while change is not being used to fix the problem because another group of people believe it to be against their beliefs. This is a great example of ethnocentrism, which means to judge ones beliefs,morals and actions based on ones own beliefs and morals. All in all this is a deliberation that is made for the public to decide on because for a class such as our own and the limited resources presented we would have not been able to accurately make a decisien.

Dealers of America

This week in socialogy class we went deep into the world of drugs dealers and their habits. This was very interesting from a socialogical perspective because drug dealers will sometimes work near each other or together to sell their drugs. In this economy this is a business that takes away from other legal businesses and can heavily impact the capital of any area. To learn about how a drug dealer lives and works we would go into a study done inwhich we would follow a drug dealer through his day. We would learn that it is common to have more then one dealer in the same area and that sometimes drug dealers would take corners of streets individualy. As the dealer day progress we would learn that dealers happen to be in gangs and not that gangs always have dealers. In this case the dealer was part of a gang and would live with them in an appartment building where many of the other dealers, crooks, cons, and gang members would live. And sometimes their would be people running from the law or someone they owe money to. This shady life style influenced by gangs and intercity life can leave a person trapped to this life. In conclusion the dealer of America did not so much chose to become dealer but they did not know better and/or they may believe this to be their calling for a bigger pay check.

Women And Men in Conversation

So in this week we learned about women and men in conversation. Interesting enough i found that i already knew most of these life lessons through talking. Ironicly i still get into trouble for criticisms that i have made to women about things that they have done or said. Because women taking expect more they can also be shot down more often. For example if i responed to someones cooking by saying "it could use some salt" I would find myself in the dog house. Although i thought it was constructive criticism, a women expectations would be crushed thus make her unhappy while i find myself looking at what i said and wishing i would have said something nicer first. One interesting thing that i did learn was that women apologize too much. They apologize for things that aren't even their problem or their fault. They say sorry to take half the blame but, in return they expect you to take half the blame yourself. Interesting but take look for yourself in happens all the time. My favorite lesson of this was how men and women deal with their problems. While men just want to fix their problems, women will sometimes want to wallow in them for a bit and they want to fix it themselves without the help of others. If a women asks for help she may not really care how you would fix it because she wants to fix it her way and maybe get some attention while shes got the problem. Today all men still deal with this weather its takes forever to fix the problem even when all possible answers are presented or weather she just wanted everyone all eyes on her. All in all coversations between men and women are different and will most likely stay that way.

The Norms and Values Of America

This week we discussed the norms and values that Americans have learned to live by. We broke these down into 13 separete values. The values are Personal Control over the Environment, Change, Time and Its Control, Equality, Individualism/Privacy, Self-Help, Competition, Orientation, Action/Work Orientation, Informality, Directness/Openness/Honesty, Practicality/Efficiency and Materialism/Acquisitiveness. Although these are the values that Americans follow other countries might have completly opposite values such as Tradition instead of Change or Hierarchy/Rank/Status instead of Equality. Through democracy we are able to change the norms and values of a country and the United States is a mix of many cultures norms and values. America impacts other countries values to change and as do other countries on America. A great current example is how America imposes its Democratic values on countries such as Iraq, Afganistan, Russia, etc. Maybe one day, all countries will have the same values and norms but, currently values of America are looked down appon by some other countries. I agree that some values are not Personal values of my own like Materialism but to fit into this society you must accept some of the American values. Ironicly to remove Materialism i must accept Change. This is also true to change a value in another country. To challenge the values of another country you must break the values of that country, even in the United States.

Bemused in America

In Socialogy class this week we talked about America and its culture. To other countries things like 24/7 stores is a crazy idea that is illegal in some countries, yet we take it for granted and expect this as a norm. The local seven eleven is home to daily users who come to shop at the most odd of times including late nights, early mornings and sundays which in a country like Germany would get you a hefty fine and possible jail time. Another norm of America is running in the morning. Really? Running? Seems pretty normal but, to a newcomer this is a bad trend that never came around to their country. Most of every other country prefers to play a team sport that involves running but not so much a solo sport that has no interaction or point. Interesting enough is that although America is a country that is hooked on running it continues to be the heaviest country in the world.