"Shift Happens"

Changes in information processing and availability have improved our lives in a dramatic way. Even in this class we can see how much it has changed. Just a few years ago no one would have ever thought that people would be able to get a college degree in the comfort of their own home. Even online proctoring has made taking tests at home a viable option. Companies like Amazon make it so I can also order something from my phone and have it delivered the very next day. Efficient and technologically savvy, Amazon even makes the transaction cheap. Everyone in the world has become dependent on having information at the touch of their fingertips within seconds and even now people are complaining its too slow.

I do feel like this is detracting us from our lives in some way. Just as an example, going to college meant leaving your parents to grow up, meeting new friends and sharing life experiences. This is no longer the case. Many students never have to set foot in a campus. Fairfax County schools are even implementing an online program. High school is a major source of socialization, in years to come, when the vast majority of graduates have earned their dimplomas or degrees online, what will their communication skills be like? I think technology is great and although it has also helped humanity live tightly together in "megacities" it couldn't have pushed us further away from each other.

Urban/Suburban/Rural Life

I grew up with a father who was in the Air Force so we had the opportunity to move around quite a bit, although we typically found ourselves living in suburbia.  A good portion of my family, however, lives mainly in rural areas. For example, on my father's side they live in a small farming town in North Dakota.

Although I've never lived in North Dakota with my family I have spent a great deal of time there and over the last 25 years have seen a great deal of change. McCranahan and Beale theorized the "aging in place" phenomenom and in the town that my family lives this is exactly the case. The closest "big" town (a big town would be considered a town with a Walmart) is a 40 minute drive away. When I first visited the town when I was a child there were about 700 people living there. As the old got older and the young pursued education rather farming, the town slowly dwindled. The young moved to the larger cities of either Fargo, Grand Forks or Bismarck while the old slowly faded away. To this day only about 300 people live there. Most of my family moved to Fargo, since my younger cousins were now of college age. We can easily see urbanization at work even on this small scale.

Who Has the Power?

When I take a look at Democracy and the riches and freedoms it has brought America I feel proud. Democracy breeds capitalism and at the heart of capitalism is every man for himself...a dog eat dog scenario. In no other government and economy can someone rise up out of poverty to become wealthy. We've learned of course that this is not typical and most people tend to stay in the classes to which they were born into. This trend tends to keep the small wealthy group rich, the middle class stuck being "average" and the poor destined to live in poverty.  I firmly believe in C. Wright Mill's "power elite" theory where a small group of people (more than likely white males) run the economy, the government and international influence. These business and political  leaders all work together to find solutions to problems that mainly benefit them and then the people that support the infrastructure last. In theory Democracy should give power to the people but in reality the people ARE given the right to choose but usually have to choose between two people who both already reside within the power elite.

Is Walmart Good for America?

I think Walmart in it's present state is horrible for America. When Sam Walton founded the store in 1962 it was about selling American-made goods at low prices. Now Walmart has turned into a conglomerate bully by forcing its suppliers to turn to Asian manufacturers and by taking only the lowest of bids. According to our textbook Walmart has the 22nd largest economy in the world, that's higher than many European countries and most African, Middle Eastern and Latin America countries. Walmart also has low employee moral. Although Forbes marked Walmart as one of the top 100 companies to work for the employees on average take home pay of under $250 a week. This pay scale puts employees below the poverty level. Many of the employees are not allowed to work more than 32 hours to reach full-time status and to receive benefits. 

Walmart is a great example of how influential a company can get under capitalism.

Domestic Division of Labor Exercise

From my child until now the tasks in my family have changed dramatically. I was raised with my mom and dad with no siblings. When I was a child and too young to do any chores my dad was the breadwinner in the family (he worked in the Air Force) and my mom worked part-time and cared for the home and cooked and cleaned. My father's responsibility on the weekends were to maintain the house and yard. Then and up until this day my father has been responsible for paying bills and managing the finances. Once I grew older both my mother and father worked full-time. I helped by keeping the house clean after school and cooking some of the family dinners, alleviating some of the work of my mother's "second shift." At this point in time my father works full-time and my mother cares for the house. She does most of the yardwork and some of the household repairs since she no longer cares for any children or pets and is able to dedicate a good portion of her time to her religion.

I firmly believe in the division of domestic labor that work should be divided evenly between the husband and the wife. Personally I love to cook but hate to clean. I love to fix things around the house and care for the yard. Since my partner doesn't mind cleaning, I do my best to make things easier for her (ie. rinse of dishes, put things away, etc.) If my partner does not work or works part-time I would consider it lazy not to help around the house. Essentially, work hours and domestic hours should be equal between partners.

Do you think that our society, and/or the world, is secularizing, or not?

Its very difficult to measure secularization or even define religion. For me personally, I do see a secularization in our society. In fact, a decrease in religious practices can be seen in industrial societies as science, technology and rational thought evolve. However in non-industritial societies I don't believe that secularization is taking place. According to the article "Scientists suggest reason for religion's decline" Dan Margolis states "There are less religious people in America than ever, and that percentage is far higher than in many European countries." Basically the article goes on to suggest that being a member of a social group, such as political party, fraternity and even a religion comes with certain perks.  "The model indicates that in these societies the perceived utility of religious non-affiliation is greater than that of adhering to a religion, and therefore predicts continued growth of non-affiliation, tending toward the disappearance of religion."

References
Margolis, Dan. "Scientists Suggest Reason for Religion's Decline." Scientists Suggest Reason for Religion's Decline. People's World, 23 Mar. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://peoplesworld.org/scientists-suggest-reason-for-religion-s-decline/>.

Race and Ethnicity Topics - "Tale of Two Families"

Max is white and Byron is black, they both lived different lives but now share the same job, same salary and live in the same neighborhood. The only difference is Byron has half the net assets of Max. The "Tale of Two Families" shows that Max's family started off with financial support from his parents and a low-interest loan from a government VA loan, Byron's family struggled to scrape together $1,000 downpayment for their $6,500 house. Byron's family is treated to the lower paying jobs and confined to the poorer neighborhood while Max's family thrived in the white neighborhoods.

When you read about poverty in the textbook the weight of the issues of race inequality doesn't really hit home unless you see it in action. There's an obvious issue and although it has been getting better for the last few years since the Civil Rights movement, discrimination is in the workplace is still evident. Gender inequality in the workplace is even more prevolent and this makes it even harder for a black woman to succeed.