#4: The scary world of politics....

On the Political Compass test I scored as a Left Libertarian. Honestly, I wasnt TOO shocked, but somewhat shocked.. Maybe I misunderstood some of the questions but then maybe I just had a skewed view of the way I actually thought. I thought of myself as more convservative, but when it comes down to it I honestly have NO idea how I think. I want to agree with the way my conservative parents and grandparents think, but my sister is lesbian and I support every ounce of her being and listen as well as support her beliefs as much as I do my parents and grandparents. So maybe I am a little on the edge? Maybe. Im not sure how someone who wants to CLASSIFY my beliefs would classify me but I can explain how I think and feel toward politcal views.

Well. First I would start off by saying I dont think you can directly classify any one belief because no two people have EXACTLY the same beliefs.. Republicans disagree with eachother as well as Democrats. There is a very broad range of what you want to classify a certian "view/belief" on. You can narrow it down as much as you want but it is ALWAYS going to be broad because no two people believe the exact same thing and even if you think they do, they will argue and even change their minds just to have a heated discussion, because what american doesnt like a heated discussion? With that being said I will explain my view on politics..

I believe people should mind their own damn business about everything. Nothing is anyone but your own business. You can marry who you want, sleep with who/ how many people you want, I enjoy the democratic way of voting, but really, its skewed in all aspects and ridiculously easy to manipulate. I dislike the way our education system is set up as well as how taxes work, seriously dont get me started on social security, or medicare. Why should I pay for something that I wont even get to use? Religious Freedom? By all means, please find your faith in something, Im not saying God or any other higher being, it could be your dog for all I care, but faith is important to develop as a person.

#3: Enlightenment

The age of Enlightenment was a time when people began to think scientifically. People began testing what was possible and what was impossible. People began believing what was proven instead of what was said. The biggest connection of the two videos and text is that not everyone is the same. In the video Changing Education Paradigms the narrator says something along the lines of "No two people are the same." when talking about the way we are taught in school. This is the same in every aspect of life. No one thinks the same, talks the same, learns the same. No two people have the exact same understanding of any one thing. People interpret everything differently. There may be a "general" understanding of something but that is the way we are taught to think, not the way our minds intentionally think. The age of Enlightenment is thought to be a period of time where people began to understand this more and more but we are proving that wrong with the way our education system is set up. Almost like a King (principal) and the workers of the castle (teachers) and the peasants (students), this is another thing thought to  be somewhat left behind during the age of Enlightenment and yet we are trying to teach our children this way.

#2: Is that what they are REALLY saying?

Introduction: THEY SAY

This exerpt is much like the previous reading we did. I related it much back to streotypes and how easily people are persuaded to believe anything they hear. In this age of technology advanced materials we have multiple ways of getting information from point a to point b as fast as a text message gets to your girlfriend or boyfriends phone. In this article the author asks the question "Who are they? and why do they say so much?" I believe THEY are everyone. Everyone is trying convince someone of something. We are all trying to be better than someone else or something else.  Everyone is blindly aware of this, that advertising and persuasiveness are encripted in everything we do, see, eat, and everywhere we go. Is it not ironic to you that we see advertisments for car accident attoneys on billboards around new circle? So you can try to get that number as you drift out of your own lane and into another car? Rushkoff does a very good job of remaining nuetral in his position, in my opinion because, without this persuation the world would be bland and advertising would be non existent but at the same time he doesnt want to agree that the worlds population as a whole is lacking in the IQ department because they dont recognize the techniques that many of these companies use... Like Apple for example, the smartest thing they could have done was make the newest Iphone all glass. Why? because people are destructive and they will make bookoos of money replacing screens and selling new phones for ones that cannot be replaced. and on that I rest my case.

#1: Stereotype Theory

Theory for Beginners talks about several ideas, all of which are related to stereopyes. In my opinion, Michael Ryan, author of this reading, does a very good job of pointing out several stereotypes that many people do not recognize. What I liked most about the stereotypes Ryan pointed out were the global identity of them. He did not just pick on one community, like, Americans, for instance. The way Ryan writes leads me to believe he does NOT agree with these but that could just be his way of getting a rise out of his audience. I truly like the way he makes the readers mind work, he truly gets the gears in my head going and thinking about these streotypes. In a few paragraphs he talks about 9/11and how people of the United States think of Middle Easterners. He talks about George W. Bush and a speech he gave after the attack on the World Trade Center. During this speech the president talked as if the only terrorists in the world are middle easterners and because of this we the people of the united states have began to think of terrorist as only middle easterners and middle easterners as terrorists. This is something that stuck out like a red flag in this reading. I could not agree more with him.
The shooting in Colorado during the new Batman movie was a very terroristic event, yet no one sees it that way. In fact, a few days after the shooting I saw a picture online that said, "If I were Arab, the shooting would be terrorism. If I were black, I'd be a thug. But Im white, so its mental illness." I believe this directly relates to the point Ryan is trying to convey, that is, that we allow the media to set these stereotyical standards into our minds like a branding. Ryan is trying to convice his audience to do their own research on matters and not allow your local news station or CNN make your mind up for you. A LOT of what we see in our news is embellished to be more interesting.