Affluenza

The American dream, or is it really? In class the other day we discussed some excerpts from the book Affluenza :the all consuming epidemic. In the reading it discusses our American culture and how we as Americans have become overly materialistic. I never really looked at it before but the more I think about it, I agree that America has become very materialistic.  In the reading it talks about how America's values have become so selfish and individualized. In the excerpt,it says, "the accumulation of material goods is at an all time high, but so is the number of people who feel an emptiness in their lives". This shows how we have forgotten what values are all about. In other cultures peoples values are less about status, but more about family as a whole. In America people think bigger is better. We work all the time and a lot of people spend most of their time at work, while not even seeing their kids till bedtime. We as Americans have become so fast paced with drive-thrus , shopping online, and working non-stop. I think that the author of the this excerpt is on the right track about the fact that the American culture does need to take a step back and realize that we have become too materialistic and need to go back to more humble, family oriented values. I think that Americans need to think more about family and less about material objects. We as Americans need to become more of a community again and remember that the American dream is not only about having a good income and high status, but also about family and friendship as a whole. it is also about freedom, and not becoming slaves to materialism. I know this is easier said then done. I noticed that I tend to be materialistic too. I work hard in school so I can go to a good college, and then get a job to make a lot of money to be able to buy and live the way most Americans live. I realized from this that through my life I have to remember to be less materialistic and value my family and friends and to spend time with them.

Culture Shock

In class the other day we played cards, but there was one rule, we couldn't talk. As you can imagine it  was very annoying not to be able to talk. We started playing in a group and were given a set of rules for the game. When time was called the winner would move to one table and the loser would move to another. When I started playing with my new group, I put down an ace and thought  I won because for my rules it said an ace is the highest card. Though the other people thought that it was the lowest card and started hand gesturing that it was lower and I lost. When the game was over our teacher told us that each group had a different set of rules explaining why I thought one way and the other person thought another. He explained to us that we were representing different cultures and that each culture has different rules. Each of us were experiencing culture shock. When I traveled to London, I was going to dinner with my family and British family friends. When we got seated and while I was sitting in the restaurant I noticed this person drinking a beer and did not look old enough to drink. I asked my British friend what that was all about and she said that in London at the age of 14 you are allowed to drink if you are with your parents. This was a total shock to me because in America if I was sitting in a restaurant drinking a beer with my family and there was a cop in the restaurant my parents would be arrested right away. As well as London, in Greece I experienced culture shock when I went to a beach and people were naked. This was totally normal and acceptable to them, but to me I thought that this was totally weird and uncomfortable. Back at home if someone was naked at a beach people would find this very disrespectful and inappropriate. From what I have learned in class and looking back at my experiences, I realize that every culture has a different way of living and that doesn't mean that it is the wrong way and we shouldn't judge the way they live. Instead we should think like sociologist's and use cultural relativity and be more open to the way they live.

A Bronx Tale

In class we have been watching the movie A Bronx Tale, based on a true story, directed by Robert DeNiro. I think the movie is very interesting and from watching have noticed how it has many aspects of sociological ideas.  One in particular is the groups the main character Collogero belongs to. Sociologists don't judge or put someone in one category on how they act, instead they look further and see all the different groups the person is apart of to understand how the person is the way they are. Collogero groups are, his family, friends, ethnicity, and Sunny. From watching the movie I think that Collogero's master status would be his family and Sunny. I think these are his master status's because his family is very important to him. He realizes how hard his dad works and admires his dad for this. I chose Sunny as his other master status because even though Sunny is not seen as a good person, he helps  with Collogero  growing up and sets him on the right path. He tells Collogero to stay out of his friends stupid fights and that school is most important. In a way Sunny  is kind of a role model to collogero. While Sunny tends to look bad, he really looks out for Collogero. In my life my master status would be my friends and family. My  family is very important to me and they as well as my friends  have  helped shaped the person I am today. 

Gang Leader For A Day

I thought that  the story Gang Leader For A Day was very interesting.  In the story Sudhir Venkatesh sets out to study how young black people are effected by neighborhood factors.  In doing this he asked people to fill out surveys. One of the questions was, "how does it feel to be black and poor?", and the answers were multiple choice one word answers.  He met one gang, and the gang leader named J.T. laughed when he asked the question. He tells Venkatesh that this is not going to give him all the results he needs.  From this he learns that he has to also take the time to interact with them to understand where they come from.  After talking in class the other day about the story I realized that you can not just look at someone or a group of people one way and really understand what it is like to live or be like them. Sociologists call this  quantitative observations, which are surveys and data, and qualitative, which is observing and interacting with people.  I think that it is true that  both are needed to really understand and collect the best results. I recognize that in the world this sometimes happens. When people get interviewed for a job the person interviewing asks questions about the persons information regarding how they did in other companies and their numbers on how many deals they made. The interviewer also sits down and chats with the person to get to know who they are and about their family.  Many people tend to only look for the quantitative information when forming an opinion and never actually interact with people in an effort to better understand someone. I now understand the saying, that you should not judge someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. This means that until you have experienced what that person has gone through, you can't judge them because you don't understand what it is to be them.

Social construction of reality

Who decides how we experience the world? Our friends, our family units, and our society we live in, but surprisingly rarely us. It is all about social construction of reality. Society controls what people feel. If someone came into a classroom and spit we would think that is gross and repulsive, but if someone spits at a baseball field we think that is ok. In the united states when a women gets engaged, right away she starts  a diet to lose a ton of weight to look skinny for her wedding. However, in Africa when a women gets engaged, she is sent to a hut and is fed fattening food in order to gain weight to look good for their wedding. It is all how society constructs us. Another example is, if I saw a biker on the street with a bunch of tattoos I would think that was totally normal, but if I was having open heart surgery and my doctor walked in with a bunch of tattoos I would be worried and a little concerned about how my surgery would go. When you think about it though their is really no difference between a biker with tattoos or a doctor with tattoos it is just because how society has created our views. I am really glad we did this exercise in class because now I am going to take a step back and look at the world through my eyes and decide on things based on what I think and not how society has led us.