AMOL Big Paper:

Intro ---
Every America has there own definition of their American way of life, a lot has to do with their background and experiences. Every one wants to achieve the “America dream”, but what defines that. We live in a land of opportunity and most want to take advantage of it. Status is very important to most people and it is most of their goals in life to make it to the top. American is supposed to be a place where everyone, people born dirt poor or filthy rich are given the same chances and opportunities to succeed in life. People from other countries have a painted picture in their head that everything is possible; a lot of their perception is influenced by the American and worldwide media. Through observation and interviews of the American people we were able to discuss as a class many of the dominant frameworks of the America way of life. While closely looking at all the aspects of the AWOL we were able to better analyze it and see how much of it is actually true, and what is made up to be more than it actually is.

Through the eyes of an American ---
What is The American Way of Life? At first it seemed like there would be and obvious answer: “2.5 kids, two cars, a white picket fence and a dog.” However, it turns out that its a little more complicated than that, depending on who you ask. In the beginning of the year on the many trips we took walking and observing our surroundings. Through interviews with peers, family members and strangers on the busy New York City streets, I was able to I gathered an overall idea about what the American Way of Life actually is. Although everyone’s definition of the American Way of Life is different, both Fred Taylor and John Fanning, two middle class white men, were able to agree that they thought it was structured around freedom and the right that people have to persue what they love. They felt it is “Important to live the life you imagined and follow your dreams” (Taylor), and that “People should be able to seek what they feel is necessary in life” (Taylor). It’s interesting that the majority of what they said was similar, possibly due to the fact that they went through some of the same struggles in life; both coming form artistic backgrounds.

The American Way of Life is a never-ending cycle, which involves numerous subjects left open for discussion. Living in America in this day and age has been extremely tough. It a melting pot of different cultures all having different views of what the American Way of Life is, and some of the challenges that go along with it. Financially it has become very difficult to support American family lifestyles “at this point in time the economic system is horrible. The Richer are getting Richer, the middle class is becoming smaller and more people are becoming poorer and poorer.” (Taylor) For the most part everyone that I have interviewed felt America was based on “opportunity,” but with the current government opportunity seems to be getting smaller, and one thing seems to lead to another. How much freedom and opportunity do we actually have? Generally speaking the lower class seems to have a much larger struggle. While walking around the streets I interviewed a lower class Hispanic women who said, “If you are born from a poor family life is harder to get by in life. We do not have the access to the best education, which can make or break our careers.”

People claim you can do anything you want in life, as long as you put your mind to it. But how true is that? Although she felt not everyone was able to seek the “American Way Of Life,” it seems that people agree that education and money play a very important role in the socioeconomic status of Americans. “People who are educated do better in this country” (Fanning). Education seems to be a large part of how successful people become in life. Why were people 40 years ago able to support families without graduating from high school or having a college degree? Why has it changed so much? People who get a lower level of education usually are not able to get highly paid jobs.

Does everyone living in American dream the same dream? Is it to“ work hard, start families, try and make money, and pass down tradition and values to the next generation.” (Fanning) Is that the typical American Way of Life? Who is the one who determines the way we choose to live our lives? People all around the world go to great lengths to get to America because of the “freedom” and “opportunity” they hear we Americans have.

Capitalism ---
Capitalism is more complicated than most would understand, there are many different aspects to the way it is run. The official definition of Capitalism is an economic system in which goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed through the mechanism of a free market based deeply on the right to private property and the profit motive. The three major defining concepts of capitalism are Land, Labor, and Capital. These all have a lot to do with the production of a product. Land (the natural world) is the natural resources the product needs. Labor involves all the work necessary to produce and sell the product, lastly Capital which is the resources (the stuff) used to "re-shape" and sell the final product. People who have money to start off are able to get father in life than people who don't. There is a lot of strategy behind capitalism many companies and businesses try to make the most money possible while spending as little as possible this is also known as profit motive. It the seller and the consumer who both try and get the most out of every dollar they put towards the product, the price of their product set according to the market price. That is the highest price the seller will sell their product for and the lowest price the consumer is willing to pay for (buy low, sell high). Based on supply and demand the market price will shift. If demand of a product goes up price and quantity will also go up, if demand goes down so will the price and quantity. If Supply goes up price goes down while quantity goes up, lastly when supply goes up quantity goes down. A free market economy will cause competition between business because the government does not impose regulations with leaves the market to set its own level, this lack or regulation is what is causing the economic crisis occurring right now. Why do people work as hard as they do? Is it because they want to? The invisible hand is what pushes you to do not always what you want, but what you know you have to do in order to provide a comfortable life for yourself and the people in your life (self interest). One of the most common stories you will hear in American is the "Rags to Riches" one. So many people are drawn to the fact that we have upward mobility, where you can start at the bottom with little money but still make it to the top. That motive knowing you can make something of your life encourages people to continue to work.

Constitution and government---
We studied the constitution and took a deeper look into the meaning behind it, before that it was important to understand the basic concepts.

Pre-Amble
To ensure that America stays free and that Justice is always served, this constitution was created so that laws and rules must be abided by, the constitution serves the purpose of making sure that everyone is unified and domestic peace is kept in place.

• Legislative Branch:
- Made up of Congress, House of Representatives, and Senate
- Makes Tax laws
- Makes laws controlling trade between the United States and other countries
- Representation in senate remains the same, different from the House of Representatives which varies on population of state
- Senate can say yes or no to treaties that president makes
- Approves the production and making of money
- Can declare wars with countries

• Executive Branch:
- Makes sure that laws of US are followed and obeyed
- To be a president, you must be a natural born American and have lived in the US for at least 14 years
- The President has a cabinet that he can turn to for advice. i.e) The Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce
- The President has the power to approve or disapprove laws that the Congress creates

• Judicial Branch:
- Justices have to be trained in law.
- Supreme Court is made up of 9 justices
- Is The Supreme Court

In the constitution, it states that the supreme law of the land is that all of the decisions are made under the authority of the United States of America. Nothing is based on religion and no test has to be taken in order for a person to qualify for a job in the US office. If this was the case for every situation I think things would be a lot different then they are. This law is supposed to show how the Untied State is not only based on a dominant religion, when Bush was elected president he made the separation between church and state extremely hard to find. Supposedly it does not keep anyone who is not of the prominent religion in the United out of office. It also allows citizens that currently live in the US; practice any religion they choose because there are no consequences. It will not affect them negatively and they can pursue a career in a office of the United States. I think religion had been a huge part of the AWOL for thousands of years and has become a trap, when this law was written I think it was just a cover up tricking people to think that they could believe in anything they wanted and not be effected, but people are judged all the time and discriminated against because of religion preference and beliefs. The constitution was written not to be like any other country assuring people that they were given freedom one of them being the tight to choose and live by their religion.

According to the constitution, the fourth amendment states that the government is not permitted to search a person’s house or take a person’s items with a good reason and a warrant. I think a persons privacy should be respected but I believe it can be broken to ensure the safety of other people/citizens. My only objection is that when the law was written it should have been made more specific, it clearly states that random searches are not allowed. After 9/11 security became more intense and while traveling places more and more random searches started. They were not searching people’s items to make it any less convenient or to intentionally invade their privacy. It was done to ensure the safety of the people around them. Events and situations have taken place in the United States that left a lot of people shaken: terrorist bombings and many alleged plots for future attacks on the US. Looking closely you could conclude that there are exceptions being made towards the 4Th amendment but the reason why are acceptable.

The 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th amendments of the constitution are considered to be extremely crucial because it lead to the US’s change as a government. They introduced the Electoral College and the abolishment of slavery. For many years the white people had all the power, when these amendments where passed the American citizens of color to have more freedom mainly putting and end to slavery. The 12 Amendment changed how both the president and vice president became elected. Instead of electing a president and vice president together they made the decision to put them on separate ballots. Now a day the president makes the decision on who is appointed vice president.

The 13TH, 14TH and 15th amendment are the ones that allowed the United States citizens freedom. When slavery was abolished things seemed to become more diverse, the government now seems to consist of a few different races and backgrounds (Obama). The 14th amendment states that laws can’t be made that rob people of their lives and freedom, the 15th amendment stated that all citizens of any race had the right to vote but women were not allowed that privilege yet. Every amendment was a milestone in American history because they were the first amendments that allowed all citizens (with the exception of women) to be somewhat equal, attempting to bring the country closer.

I think that the amendments where passed around that time because although race was still a heavy weighing issue people were starting to realize that slavery would not last forever. Minorities began to stand up for themselves making it known they too had a voice to be heard. For many years it was the whites that had total control and dictated to everyone “below them”. I think Martin Luther King Jr played a large part in the process of getting equal rights for all people. During the movement, he referred frequently to the constitution and relied on it to help get the idea across to people that all people no matter race should be treated equal. Minorities showed their determination to be free, and probably helped to make it known that many of them weren’t scared of breaking the rules anymore. Although White supremacy was still to be feared, it was slowly becoming less of a threat. Things were changing in the world, and people began to realize that they deserved to have rights that whites only had. More and more Black leaders and speakers began to immerge. Although it would be nice to say we now live in a time where the race card is not played that is not the reality. It has without a doubt become much better but I don’t think it will ever go away completely.

Inauguration Analysis:

I was surprised how emotional this past week was, especially the Monday (Martin Luther King Day) before the inauguration. Talking to family and friends everyone seemed to be amazed that they lived to see the day where "MLK'S dreams became a reality". I stayed home to watch the inauguration with the surprising permission of my parents, they felt it was a extremely historical day that could not be missed. To me if felt like the first day in many years where people has some sort of hope for the country, it was a good feeling to know that a president i actually wanted and many of the people closest too me choose, won!!! because that has not been the case for the past two elections. This election seemed to have a slightly different vibe from previous ones. People seemed more desperate, as if Obama was the our only answer, treated almost as god: he had all the answers to our problems, as long as he is out president we have no more worries. Although i agree that he will lead us in a better direction then McCain, there is only so much he can do in the time he has to get us out of the mess we are in. It seemed to become a trend to show support for him, most celebrities used there power to promote him, appearing in TV specials, commercials, and ads, making it the "in" thing to do.

while watching the news coverage, I was really surprised and inspired to see how diverse the crowd of people (more than 2 million) gathered together in Washington to show support for Obama, many reporters compared it to the march on Washington when MLK gave his most famous "I have a dream" speech. I think it gave many hope that the road to end racism was coming to an end, but in reality there is a long way to go, we have just made a huge leap. when the Bush's showed there face at the celebration i was surprised at how calm to crow was, i was expecting to see more anger and hate in people actions.

I was also really surprised at how much the media took interest in the outfits the Obama family was wearing, it seemed like a very insignificant thing compared to the rest of the day. Everyone was talking about what the new up and coming young designer Michelle was wearing, and J Crew made it very clear that they provided the outfits for Barack, and his two daughter Sasha and Melia.

Overall I enjoyed watching the inauguration, i thought it was very thoughtfully planed out with all of the preformences, and it was a good feeling to see so many people (black, white, hispanic, rich and poor) show their support in the freezing cold weather. That was a historic event that im sure will be talked about in out children's american history classes. All of us can say we had the privilage of watching it live.
Posted by tribeca92 at 3:59 PM 0 comments

Holidays '09 continued...

A few weeks ago in class we discussed how our holidays went and how they relate to the typical American Way of Life. There is an overall trend that people follow when it comes to the holidays especially new years eve. Everyone used it as an excuse to let loose and have fun one way or another. alcohol seemed to be common topic of discussion weather they were at a party or at home with family watching the ball drop. I feel that American teenagers (our generation)especially hypes up the party scene and therefore people follow in there friends footsteps to fit in.

eBay Analysis:

This was my first time ever buying something from eBay, I had heard a lot about it and knew my mother was familiar with it and had used it a few times to buy stuff but was unfamiliar with putting up things for sale. I had never actually been on the website and I was really surprised to find that they sold just about everything you could possibly imagine (cars, postcards, clothes, books, etc.) I Originally did not have an idea of what I wanted to buy but I found it very interesting that they has a ton of new/never been worn American apparel clothes in one style but in a variety of colors and sizes for half the price of what it cost in the store. I had my eye set on a shirt selling for $11.95 but because there was so many of them it was an easy item to win. Although there was not a lot of competition for the item I wanted, I talked to my mom and she told me about her experience and said there is strategy behind it. like Andy she was telling me about J-bid, you can set the computer to automatically send eBay your final bet seconds before the action will end leaving very little time to out bid you. Although there are lots of good finds, I think there is also a down side if its a hot item that lots of people are interested in than the price will get higher and higher, hopefully people will be smart enough to stop throwing out offers if the price gets to high and it becomes not a good deal anymore. I like the fact that it is like recycling, instead of someone going out a buying a new coat they can buy one that is almost new but from someone else. This can relate back to the AWOL because eBay is yet another place that offers deals and steals for people looking to buy stuff.

2008 Holiday Analysis:

The older I get the less exciting the holidays become. This year seemed to be much more mellow than previous, I saw a lot less of family and noticed my general attitude towards Christmas and Hanukkah changed. Previous years i remember the holiday season being a competition between friends: who got everything they asked for and who got the most expensive gifts. Christmas morning before being able to even enjoy and appreciate what where were being giving, it was spent on the phone, exchanging the full run down of what we had gotten. Thinking back i think it was just a hidden ego boost, making us feel good about what our parents could afford and displaying the amount of love they had for us though the money and thought that was put into all the gifts we received. Most years i would just make wish lists to make one, usually asking for things i didn't really need or want. This year was different than most, I did not expect anything and was happy with whatever i did or didn't get. I discovered a new appreciation for what i have already, compared to most people in America and around the world.

I feel the holiday season has become more about giving and giving then actually taking the time to realize what you have and understand the meaning of each holiday and what it is all about (if you believe in it, spiritually). when and why did religion start and how has the birth of Jesus turn into a day celebrating consumerism and bring companies millions if not billions of dollars. seems to me that it has just become another excuse to buy materialist possessions that most people could live without. Living in American we will always be buying something, it is hard not to because that is what we have all become accustomed too. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that 80% of American live in places other than cities, where they all drive cars and their idea of fun is meeting a group of friends at a mall (normally a place to doing nothing but shop). It is a normal thing for Americans to do, so they continue to do it because they want to fit in (keeping up with the trends and sporting the latest gadgets advertised on TV). Christmas seems to me to just be another day in the AWOL, the only difference is that it is a day where people are expected to give and receive things that where bought for them.