Reflection on Thanksgiving and Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day '08

After the conversation we had in class the Wednesday before Thanksgiving day break we discussed what the meaning behind it was and how it relates to the "typical" American way of life. It came up numerous times that we are celebrating family and it is a day dedicated to being thankful for everything you are given but that the reality is that, it was the day genocide started between the Pilgrims and the Indians, where were all slaughtered to death. For my family it is not so much a celebrating of that day but more a celebration of my grandfathers death who passed on thanksgiving many years ago. Its an excuse for my dad to cook and have lots of there friends and out family together. I really enjoyed this thanksgiving more than most cause I realized how to appreciate my family and their friends more, i might actually have "cool" parents. I was really surprised to find out how many of the people at my house knew about buy nothing day and the organization they run. I am surrounded by the artsy type that don't fall easily into that trap (maybe I should learn from them a little more). Although I did not set out to buy stuff on black Friday, I found it sad how desperate people where to get their hands on the best sale possible. Consumption has become a competition and everyone just wants to find a sale to feel better about the money they are spending. It is all a trap the money hungry companies send millions and millions or people promotions or sales to encourage people to spend money they might not have in the first place. When I was walking (at least trying to) across 34th street all I could see where thousands of people, I felt i had lost a sense of freedom, literally being trapped in that crowd and pushed where ever direction the shoppers where going.It made me realize how not worth it, it really is and I don't plan on going next year.

Constitution Assignment
PART A :
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

I found the constitution to be a very boring thing to read, I thought I was going to be able to better understand the reason behind why the government is run the way it is but instead I felt it was just a long list of rules that should be kept, but continue to be broken. I am not quite sure why the Constitution is the highest law of the land because it seems many of the rules could be easily disregarded and there would not be much or a consequence. An example would be when they talk about the "freedom and justice for all" when that law was made many native Americans and Africans were being put through slavery.

Does anyone have the power to change something written on the Constitution? If so who? Why?

Why does it seen the politicians are the only really people being provided common defense?

Why does the president have to be born in the uniter states even if he comes from at least one citizen of the US?

2008 Elections

Watching the 2008 election brought back a lot of memories, going with my parents to vote, staying up late in front of the TV flipping to different news stations, waiting anxiously for the results to come in. This election however was a little different, because I am older I seemed to follow more watching the debates although I felt they became excessively repetitive and boring I felt I understood more about the candidates how the whole electing a president thing actually works. It seems like the past 3 months that is all anybody has been talking about, and because Obama was the candidate for the democrats he had more of a “celebrity” status than previous elections. I think many people who were not normally interested in elections took an interested because they wanted to feel as much a part of making history as the next person. Overall I think Obama did a really good job campaigning and got his voice heard where it needed to be heard most. I thought it was a very smart move for him to elect Joe Biden as vice president because he has a large appeal to once Hillary supporters.
I think it was clear that the American people were ready for a change, but how much can Obama really do? Being as though the country has been left in his hands in such horrible shape because of the bush administration. I am afraid people will be impatient and when they don’t start to see improvement as fast as they would have liked and blame Obama for not addressing every problem he “promised”.

Dominant frameworks of 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.

I,Pencil Response:

I, Pencil - By Leonard E. Read is about the general history of the pencil, what it is used for, how the everyday person does not really think twice about using it. Very few take into account the many hours of labor that went into making such a ordinary, everyday object. A pencils journey to life is more complex than most would expect, using a Cedar tree from California to form the exterior eventually traveling to the Mississippi river where clay is collected for the graphite. Going through hours and hours of manufacturing to make school and office supplies for the millions of people in America. It not the people who produce the pencils that demand them, they do it because they have to make a living for themselves.The pencil wants the person using it to let creativity flow, great ideas and meaning full thoughts can evolve from it.

"Pick me up and look me over. What do you see? Not much meets the eye -- there's some wood, lacquer, the printed labeling , graphite lead, a bit of metal, and the eraser." That is the pencil talking explaining how most people just see the pencil for what it looks like and not how complicated the design actually is. One thing i found every interesting while reading was this quote "It has been said "only god can make a tree." why do we agree with this? Isn't it because we realize that we ourselves could not make one?" I think that makes a lot of sense, many people believe that what we as humans have no control over on a "higher power" or some spirtial performance. What we can not prove people have a hard time believing. "I, Pencil, seemingly simple though I am, offer the miracle of my creation as testimony that this is a practical faith, as practical as the sun, the rain a cedar tree, the good earth." very simple objects can play a large role in someone else's visions, weather it be artistic or not. Objects we take for granted are made from the environments that surround us.

AMOL essay:

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. Through interviews conducted with family members, teachers, peers, and strangers from the streets of New York City, 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.

1st draft AMOL essay:

What is The American Way of Life? At first it seemed like there would be and obvious answer “2.5 kids, the cars, a white picket fence and the dog” turns out its a little more complicated depending on whom you ask. Although everyone’s definition of the American Way of Life is different both Fred Taylor and John fanning were able to agree on the fact that they think people should peruse what they love. “Important to live the life you imagined and follow your dreams.” Mr. Fanning said “People should be able to seek what you feel is necessary in life.” Its interesting that a lot of what they said was similar, is it because 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; Mr. Fanning felt the AMOL was “ based on opportunity. People like and work hard, start families, try and make money, and pass down tradition and values to the next generation.” Although he felt not everyone was able to seek the AMOL, it seems that people agree that education, and money play a very important role and one thing relates to the other. “People who are educated so better in this country.” (Fanning) Education seems to be a lager part of how successful people become in life. Why has it changed so much, people where able to get jobs with out graduating high school or having a college degree, now not so much? People who get a lower level of educated are not able to get as high paying jobs “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)