Who really IS to blame?

People ask me all the time if I want to go into politics when I'm older because I am now in the student government. The truth is, I really don't. The way I regard American politics is pretty negative. It's a dog eat dog world, and that's not something I want to be a part of.

But just to cross-examine my claim that politics are nasty I did some research and came upon an article by Jonah Goldberg from The Baltimore Sun called 'Who's to blame for America's nasty politics? Tom Brokaw.' In this article, the author blames a news anchor for the "terrible tone in American politics."

This changed my mind a bit. I realized that while politics itself might be a bit unfair, it's really the media that plays on the small indiscretions that come about during an election. America is a prime example of a Social Darwinism society where the politicians with the fewest amount of flaws excel and the ones with more than a few flaws fail. For noticing these flaws, we can thank the media. It is up to news anchors like Tom Brokaw to take a normal flaw and blow it up. Once he has blown it up, it is available to other news stations and other news castors to take it and run.

To be fair, the media is sometimes used as a medium through which political candidates send videos and pictures that demean their opponents. In this case, the actual politics are nasty. The media, however, is just as much at fault for showing these compromising videos and pictures.

So while I do partially agree with Goldberg, I also think that politics are to blame as well.
What do you think?  

Battle of the Genres

Foster the People: #1 on Alternative Top 10

This past week, my grandma from Nashville came up to celebrate Thanksgiving. One of her favorite things to do while she's in Chicago is indulge in our famous deep dish. On our way to pick up our order, I plugged my iPod into the car and immediately some quality Young the Giant emanated from the speakers. "What's the go music nowadays?" she asks innocently. Little does she know that the answer is not so simple.

LMFAO: #1 on iTunes Top 10

For ages there have been two major types of music genres: mainstream- the norm music of society- and alternative/indie- the norm music of college life. (For a comical look on mainstream and alternative music, click here.) But at the moment, I know as many alternative/indie listeners as I do mainstream. Hence the confusing answer to my grandmother's question.

Even more baffling is the thought that alternative music has now become a mainstream. The reason alternative music was dubbed "alternative" is because it was something other than what everyone else listened to. When you went to college you automatically got a more "refined" taste of music and preferred lyrics with a meaning rather than lyrics about drugs, sex, and alcohol. So how did high school kids start listening to Foster the People and Young the Giant?

Clash of the Races

The best part of our American Studies excursion this past Wednesday was going to the Steppenwolf Theater to watch Clybourne Park, a two-hour play about difference in societies; namely the difference between black and white societies. The first act shows the controversy that is sparked when a black family buys a house in a white neighborhood and the second act is about the controversy that is sparked 50 years later when a white family buys a house in the same neighborhood, which is now prominently black.

This play reminded me of my favorite books: the Noughts & Crosses trilogy by Malorie Blackman. In these books that take place in England, society's minority role is played by whites (noughts) and the majority role is played by blacks (crosses). Blackman portrays the ever-present racial discrimination and hardships through the story of a male nought and a female cross who are in love but are forced apart because of their background. You should really check them out.


In the back of the playbill for Clybourne Park, Rebecca Rugg notes that when the play was taken to London's West End, it won the Oliver for Best New Play. This makes me draw a parallel between England and America. Racial discrimination is not just in our society. Racial discrimination is everywhere. In a British article I found, I learned that while blacks make up only 2.2% of England's population, they also make up 14% of criminal court cases. A review on Black America that I read said that blacks make up 13% of our country's population and 50% of our prison population.

My question to you is how did it get like this? How can these statistics be true? America prides itself in being a tolerant nation while at the same time being racist against people who aren't white. Is this behavior something we learned from our motherland- England? If you look at the statistics I stated, the numbers are pretty proportional. We fought so hard separate ourselves from the Brits, but the way I see it in this respect, we're just like them.

Intelligence vs. Entertainment

news

 [nooz, nyooz]  

noun (usually used with a singular verb)

a report of a recent event; intelligence; information: 

His family has had no news of his whereabouts for months.

Today in class, after finishing Good Night, and Good Luck, we had a discussion about how news has changed overtime. One change we talked about was the presence of segments on life, style, and entertainment. Being curious, I searched the actual definition and got what you see above.

In the sentence given as an example of how to use the word, "news" means information. But now when we turn on the news, we are told which movies to go to or what hotspots we should hit downtown. Even when you go to CNN- "FBI releases Russian spy ring video" is found right next to "Actor, vet, breakout ballroom star" (CNN.com). Learning about an actor slash vet slash ballroom dancer does not make the cable-viewing world more intelligent about their surroundings. Learning about Russian spy ring taking action within the US that could possibly very close to us? That is something that is good to know. While it may not affect us personally, it affects Americans. The actor-vet-dancer doesn't even affect America as a whole. He's just on another reality talent show. 

Maybe I'm part of a minority, but I would much rather know what is going on in the world than watching 10 minutes of weather. But you decide. Would you rather watch a segment about spies that could really affect us, or a segment about a dancing and acting vet?

5 More Minutes.

When my alarm goes off each and every morning about 6 hours after I went to bed, I find myself wishing for just 5 more minutes of sleep. Just 5 minutes would make such a difference. Just 5 minutes would give me that extra energy I need during the day. But I can't sleep for 5 more minutes. I have to get up and get ready for school so that I can be on time to class in order to receive more homework and better my education. But recently I've been thinking, does homework nowadays really better our education?

According to the NEA, 11th graders are supposed to spend only 110 minutes on homework each night. That's an hour and 50 minutes. I think it is safe to say that Freshmen spend that much time on homework on a day that they hardly have any. Yes, it's all about how you manage your time, but the truth is that even with time management skills we are seriously burdened with homework. I know people who are staying up until the wee hours of the morning to finish (or start) an essay. Add extracurriculars to the equation and you have yourself a sleepless night.

Because homework is so much of a burden, it has been my understanding that all students want to do is get it over with. This mentality does not help us improve our learning skills. Most of the time, we complete a math assignment by peeking in the back for the answers or we write a reflection that we would not be able to tell you anything about the next day. In addition, staying up late to finish homework is taking a serious toll on our sleep needs. While adults may be able to run well on just a few hours of sleep, teenagers aren't. Biologically, we are programmed to need more sleep so that we can grow. Adults don't need that extra growing time. The consequences of sleep deprivation are undisputed: lack of concentration, drowsiness, delayed reflexes, depression. The American Psychological Association even says that 100,000 car accidents per year are because of fatigue at the wheel, and more than half of those accidents included teens.

Maybe we feel we have to get all of our homework finished on time and to the best of our ability because the competition is so extreme at school. Or maybe some people just don't know how to manage their time. I don't even know if I'm one to talk, since I am posting this near 11 pm. But whatever the case, the increase of homework time and decrease of sleep time benefits no one. I fear the future when I'll have even more homework and even less sleep.

Unhealthy Competition

While reading Act I of The Crucible, I couldn't help but draw a parallel between their views and the present-day views of Americans. 


The literature states,  “…while there were no witches then, there are Communists and capitalists now, and in each camp there is a certain proof that spies of each side are at work undermining the other" (33). The idea that each group works to undermine another was ever-present then and continues to be ever-present today. Especially in America, where competition can be found at its nastiest. 

There is a need, in America, to be the best. To be at the top. This mentality is seen everywhere: schools, workplaces, social groups. The list goes on. A little competition is healthy. It pushes people to do their best, but when competitors cross the line into being underminers, we run into a problem. 


The problem is this: America calls itself a safe environment where everybody can succeed and everybody is a winner. The truth is that there are only a select few who can succeed. Survival of the fittest, if you will. People come to America expecting a fair fight to the top, but like The Crucible says, "spies of each side are at work undermining the other." 


A clear example of this is seen in political campaigns. Take the campaign ad seen at the bottom left targeting President Obama in the 2008 election.


Notice the small caption at the bottom that says, "PAID FOR BY JOHN MCCAIN." This shows the slandering of a name in order to reach the top. If people running for the highest office in the United States can't even play nice, how can students and business people be expected to?

Times of Peril?

In class this past week, we've been talking about perilous times. What defines a perilous time? Are we, as Americans, going through a perilous time right now?

A perilous time in America means that people are not able to live the "American Dream." During past wars, families have not been able to stay together because of drafting and the extra work women had to take on. That broke up the American Dream. People have become poor due to funding for the war or have come back from the war to no money. That means that they cannot buy a nice house for their family or educate their children. That has broken up the American Dream.

In order to be secure and out of peril, a family must have their white picket fence and college education. This ensures a home and a bright and prosperous future. This is so true, that insurance companies are making their profit by guaranteeing the protection of the American Dream. Take American Family Insurance (click on link for American Dream commercials from AmFam). They sell the idea that by investing in their insurance company, the life they want for themselves and their children will be secure. And of course the life they want is the true life of an American.

In my opinion, we are kidding ourselves. In America, over 20% of American children are living in poverty. The number of impoverished children has gone up by 2 million in 2 years. If this doesn't define perilous times, I don't know what does. Yes, the majority of children are living the American Dream. But when we have to say that 1 in 5 children doesn't have a secure home or a proper set of meals, something has to be wrong. Maybe we aren't going through perilous times in the sense that people are being drafted for war, but we are living in perilous times if there is a large percent of our population that has no security.