Racism

     Racism is a terrible, terrible, terrible, thing. Hopefully I have hit this thought home. I think it in no way should influence a person being entered into a country club, getting a job, or doing anything else they want to in life. What I do think however, is that we as a country are a bit over reactionary to racism. In a country the size and prowess the United States, of course there are going to be individual people who hold prejudices against others, just like there are in all countries across the world. Is it truly so bad here though? Do we not have a president that is a minority? Is He is not loved and coddled by almost all forms of media because if you do not like him, you are or have the potential to be equated as a racist? This is not fair. I have unwisely been a part of discussions in varying places where I have named my dislike for the current President, and this very thing has happened. I then go on to remind these individuals that I would like to be a missionary, preferably in Africa where most would agree a lot of Black people live. I am from a part of the country lacking a bit in the area of enlightenment, and though I have undoubtedly seen some raging cases of ignorance and intolerance, this is hardly the case in a Southeastern Alabama farming community, and is not looked upon in favor by the communities Caucasians as well as minorities. Why should every case of an African American being arrested or the recipient of lethal force make the headlines as a bigot policeman oppressing a minority? Is this always the case? Racism is bad, and I hope for a day where this does not occur, but let us not go overboard with it…

Furman Engaged Reaction

I think the Furman engaged is a great thing. We might be better off as a University as whole if we would back off splendid ideas such as the black swans a bit and implement more great ideas like this one. It shows as a whole who we as a University and what focuses our academic disciplines lead us to while showing the individual research and interests of many varying students in all the fields. I know it is relatively larger for seniors to present their research brain-child’s, but also have a friend on the football team who is an underclassman communication major who just presented a project on Twitter. Furman engaged is a great gathering of success in what many of our students have accomplished at their time here and is an indicator or their future individual success to come. It allows us to show the community both locally and in a much broader sense what we value enough to research and where this leads us in pioneering academic studies.

Abortion and Equality

               Before I completely dive into this hornet’s nest, I think I would be only fair to start with some basic facts so we are all on board. Some of the numbers are not 100% accurate as some states as California and Maryland amongst others have not publicly released their numbers so some of the numbers I find are skewed, but should be for the most part an accurate estimate. Our topic was legalized in the famous Roe v. Wade case in 1973. A largely accepted study by the Guttmacher institute states that from 1973-2011 well over 57 million abortions took place. In 2011 more than 85% of abortions occurred to single women according to the CDC. Statistics show that abortion rates are much higher amongst lower income individuals and families as well as minorities. Cases of abortions that occur after rape or incest are a rather smaller percentage (Some years usually averaging between 1 and 3 percent). Some studies suggest that around 70 percent of voting mothers find abortion wrong, but that they think it should be the legal choice of others to decide. These are some facts I hope we can all agree on and form the basis of our discussion.

               So what is the point? It is not for me to make a religious argument to win you over to my side, though that would be ideal. I aim to appeal at something which I think we might all agree with; Equality. I have spent the better part of the semester making ignorant remarks and causing conflicts, but it is here I wish to clear my conscious to my female friends and class mates, especially those with somewhat feminist tendencies. I was raised by a single mother, and I hold independent women with the utmost respect. The fact that I think abortion is wrong has nothing to do with telling a woman what to do with her body. I hold women in every bit high as esteem as their male counterparts. I think it is their duty to relinquish their personal preference the second they become pregnant, just like it is right for the man to aid her in this, and be a father to the child. Both individuals in equal part acting as responsible citizens and accepting the consequence of their actions. It is here I would like to refer to a statistic that an overwhelming percentage of women getting an abortion in 2011 were unmarried. I can only infer that many of these women were left with no other options by the man responsible in getting her pregnant, and though I do not find her actions correct, I can understand that I cannot possibly realize their feeling of hopelessness. It takes two in equal part to conceive a child, but I must confess that I believe a father who would willingly do so and then abandon a women who in desperation turns to abortion will surely burn in one of hell’s deeper circles, as he let two people down in this situation, not including himself. That is just not fair.

               As I find men and women equal, I also find children as such, regardless if they have been born yet or not. It is here that I do not expect some of you to agree with me. That is completely with in your own right. I have talked to many people outside of my sheltered and beloved Alabama, and many said they were just not convinced that unborn children were living beings, especially very early in the first trimester. Like I said, I do not expect you all to think I am right. Let us just consider for a second that my opposing view is right and I am wrong. That would mean that millions of children would be born to varying circumstances, many of them not ideal as well as many of them rather sad. I can live with the fact that these individuals had a chance at life, and that though many of them will surely face adversity, that it can be overcome, and that they had a say in their own fate. They had a chance, and though circumstances vary and life is certainly not fair, they have a basic shot at life in by being allowed to start it at birth. I can live with that. Say, however, that I am right, and that unborn children are our equals in humanity, then our country alone in the window of 1973-2011 would have in many cases willingly terminated more than 57 million lives, some out of circumstances that are above my pay grade such as rape or incest, but the absolute overwhelming majority out of a form of convenience. That is 57,000,000 lives you leave to chance. I have a lot I am going to answer for one day, this is without a shadow of a doubt for me. I am personally very sorry for anyone in the class I have offended at some point and in some cases repeatedly, (Sorry girls…) but this is one event that I will not have on my conscience. At the end of the day I think abortion can be seen as a question of equality. Men are as equally responsible as  women to be equally responsible in treating children regardless of being born yet or not as Equals in humanity. That is only fair…

Schools Stifling Our Learning

    

In one of my high school English classes there was an individual who always seemed to draw the entire class. Every day without fail various students would chuckle at what look liked obvious discontent with whatever the teacher or his fellow students was saying. One day the kind-hearted teacher who truly only wanted the student to do well caught on to what was happening by observing the amusement of the other students and told him to take notes and to please pay attention to her. The whole class looked somewhat shocked when he politely and with a straight face told the teacher that this was exactly what he was doing.  When the teacher questioned him he showed her and the rest of the class his drawings, which were just illustrated notes. Every creative detail tied in to the lecture and he recalled it almost word for word. This teacher was as kind to her students as she was open minded, and was truly intrigued with how this student’s mind worked. What is not shown in this story is how many countless other teachers would have stopped this student’s method and forced him to take notes the conventional way. I think this directly relates to Isaac’s story in the fact that schools do not do a great job in helping their students learn. Our school systems focus on generic testing and methods which reflect the schools achievement, and though this is definitely a necessary evil, I think our education should try other methods that would make students want to learn in different ways and want to focus on things that interest them. While there will and should always be an implemented core curriculum, school systems should try their bests to not stifle the learning that they are meant to encourage and support

Students of a Shrinking World

Sorry I am so late, as I did not know that Kat had a blog posted. I think that as the world continues to seem to shrink, that we as a nation need to ready ourselves for both the opportunities and trials that come with this fact of life. As Kat very thoughtfully brought up, studying abroad has many benefits. Just think of all the countries of the world that send millions and millions of students every year just to the United States and Canada. Travel and language barriers are being diminished at constant rates. We consider this along with the fact of our liberal arts education in which we are supposed to prepare ourselves for the future, but do not put enough fair emphasis on the fact that the future is going to be a global one. To be adequately prepared for these changing times, I do not think studying a language is sufficient enough, but for all of those who are able I think they should take the next step and spend a semester immersed in the very culture of the language they wish to learn. It is thought by some that at the current rate of events, that Chinese will be the next big language of the business world, and will be similar to English in the fact that many nations will learn to speak it for business purposes. Though I do not take away from the obvious benefit of learning the language, I think It would be exponentially more helpful to spend at least some time, though not necessarily a semester in the country to learn the customs behind the language, and the people you will be communicating with. It is as Students of this shrinking planet that we must prepare to not only live in it, but to thrive regardless of the country you are in.

What do we Value?

We live in an interesting society. As an advocator for a free market and a government hands off agenda, I think that what a person makes should be up to them. What I find very curious is that when you look at what people make, you also see what our society values. Doctors obviously get paid respectable amounts because they keep us healthy. Politicians get paid a decent amount because they are lying, deceiving leeches who make sure that policy favors them in such a way. Policemen and first responders make slightly upwards of $30,000 for keeping us safe and secure, all the while 23 year old kids without degrees are making fortunes playing sports.

     Like I said earlier, It is not my place to say who should make what. What I am trying to say is that according to what we pay people, we value them more than others. We are saying that as a society we value entertainment “any given Sunday” over the 24 hours and  7 days a week we expect a policeman to rush to our aide or an EMT to resuscitate if us if we go under. It is also ironic that the very celebrity athletes who are paid such high salaries are free to act according to their own wishes, but we as a people badger our own law enforcement officers as a whole for the mistakes made by a few.  So I ask you this: if we did not have these brave men and women protecting our livelihoods, enforcing the law, putting out our fires, and giving us CPR on the way to the hospital, would it still be ok if we had good sport games coming on? Maybe it is time we re-evaluate what we value to begin with…

Wrongly Accused

     The thought of being falsely accused probably makes everyone  as uncomfortable as It does myself. Our legal apparatus, for all of its success and efficiency still fails on occasion, but for such an esteemed device the consequences of failure are utterly tragic. Your good name that has taken your lifetime to acquire dissipating in all the time it takes for a charge to be summoned to court. Crippling legal fees are more of a moot point amongst years in prison apart from your life and loved ones, or in some very rare circumstances being put to death even. This is hard to swallow for those that are actually guilty of the crime they were accused, so how about those accused wrongly under false accusations.
     The wrinkles in our system are always trying to be ironed out, and as more efficient sciences replace shaky witness accounts, or at the very least confirm them, the numbers of such things are reducing every year. I am afraid to admit that there will always be such issues. For example, any tool used in the legal process must meet a minimum accuracy of 95 % to be mandated and fully weighed in a trial. Consider that if any said tool is 95% correct, and is used in 100 trials, it will be wrong 5 times, which can lead to 5 innocent people being punished. That being said, scientifically backed DNA sampling and other related methods are at success rates of over 99%, and improving rapidly. Our system is definitely far from perfect, but progress is being made, and hopefully a day will come soon where no innocent people are punished for the crimes of others.