You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train

      Howard Zinn's "You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train" is a very interesting topic. I like the idea of the whole thing just because i agree with it as well. The comparison is true because in today's world to be neutral, is not a very good option. This piece is basically saying join the movement. which is true, and i believe to be good advice. In today's world you have to find something you believe in and stick to it. That's the only way you'll stand for anything. This video was very inspirational to be a leader, rather than a follower.
      Not only is this a great idea to point out and express to the people of the world, it can also be seen as a life lesson. In life i have been brought up to believe that it is much better to be a leader and believe in what you stand for, than be a follower (neutral) and fall for anything. If you don't stand for anything, you'll fall for anything. That's not a life i would want to lead. This video opened my eyes to new ideas shared across the world and an ispirational story on how it matters to be a part of things. Those who stay neutral and don't stand up for what they believe in, or in some cases, not believe in anything except for what everyone else is doing. It is a beautiful way to describe life by saying that you should find something you believe in and back it up. The term has so much more meaning than when it is first brought to attention.
      "I as a teacher, do not want to be a collaberator with whatevers going on in the world." probably one of my newfound favorite quotes.

Drug War

I attempted to watch the video on the drug war. im not sure if the video part was messed up because all i heard was talking. The individual was talking about the rising drug problem in america, which i agree with totally. he gave some statistic about the percentage of drug related crimes happening in the past few years and the increase is a little shocking. im not sure of the actual statistic he gave but i do know that it blew my mind. Drugs are becoming more and more of a problem every day in our society and it scares me. Young people dont want to work aymore they want to make a quick easy dollar. It's so easy for a young kid to aqcuire drugs now a days that its becoming a more common thing. I've seen first hand how out of hand a thing like this can become. I've experienced what drugs can do to someone. I have seen family member ruin their life due to drugs. ruin jobs, relationships, and just lose all focus on what is important in their life because they were too busy worrying about when the next time they were going to get high was. Drugs are a scary thing. A lot of the things you see on the news about someone getting murdered, was due to a drug related issue. I wish we could find away to rid of every drug because all i've seen is problematic things come of them. i've seen athletes throw their lifes away because they got hooked on drugs or they were selling them trying to make some fast cash. Everything that was said in this audio i listened to spoke to me. It makes you think. Drugs are a bad bad thing and they scare the hell out of me. to know what they can do to one's mind a body. the audio also talked about the drug war. The war against the gangs that do and sell them and the officers who are trying to take them out. This war is everyday and will probably never be settled. The amount of people who are involved in drug related crimes also scares me because there are hundreds of thousands of people that are related to the drug cartel in some way. officers fight a war with these people everyday to get drugs out of the way of everyone, but i doubt they will ever fully succeed. this battle will continue.

Politics

When i think of politics a lot of things come to my mind. i think about government, health care, schooling and all of those things that you hear about the most when it comes to a presidential race. I believe in whats fair to all of us. i believe that if you aren't able to work and you really do have a sickness or disability that's holding you back you should be helped by the government. I also believe that if you are able to work you should work for your money, just like the rest of us. I wonder if it's really true that the rich get richer and the poor get more poor. I dont like the thought that my parents same the same amount of tax money that very rich people do. But that doesn't mean i think the rich people should pay more tax money. I know that it seems very indecisive but i am when it comes to that part when speaking about politics. I think the way things are ran in the United States are somewhat decent right now, my only complaint is the economy. The economy is getting better than it was but there for a little while the recession was a scary thing for a lot of us. i remember being a child and gas was something like $1.00 a gallon. i remember my dad being able to fill up his truck for $20.00 no problem. now it takes him anywhere from $80.00 to $90.00. thats a very big jump and im sure its not easy on his pocket. there's got to be someone out there with a good idea for making our economy better and making life a little easier on us working citizens. I had always heard different complaints about the workforce as a child and never really thought anything of it. But, after entering the workforce at 16 i saw the real world. Its hard to work for your money now a days. I know people who break their backs just to make it, just to put food on the table and keep their children going. There's got to be a way for us to change these things that we struggle through everyday. Or maybe theh government keeps things from us for that reason. I sometimes wonder if there is a way to fix all of the problems we hear about everyday, or does the government use it to their advantage to keep them in power. Safety is becoming to be a big issue now a days too. I am concerned when i look at the news and see someone going on a rampage and shooting innocent people because they were inspired by a movie. I would bet that anyone will agree with me on that one. law enforcement is very important. Crime and illegal things might be something that we will never be able to stop completely, but i think too many things are getting by. I've seen some things that are very wrong and it is scary to know what might be out there. Politics is something i could ramble on about for hours but i wont waste too much of your time. Thank you for your time this a little snippet of my view on politics.

The artice on enlightenment was interesting. I didn't understand %100 the whole article, but i get the idea. The videos on the other hand i was hooked on them. the first video was very catchy because it covered all basis like race, gender, freedom all the good broad topics that are open for a very long and very argumentive discussion, and always will be for as long as the world is here. one of the videos mentioned that we are trying to cheach the young people how to grow up in this society and become a useful piece to society. i like the comment the author made about we try to teach the kids these things so that they can use them years down the road, but we don't know how the economy will look tommorrow. which is the whole truth. Enlightenment is a very interesting topic i like the videos they simply make you think about things. i was never interested in these topics before because quite honestly i never cared. but these videos and the article makes you really sit and think because it is us that gets affected. people my age are the ones who need to focus on these things because shortly here-after college i will be entering the workforce in search of a career. Everything discussed in the two videos and the article are things that can not only effect jobs and careers but, society as a whole. My perspective gets a little bit better and more educated after involving in these types of discussions and entries and i love it. There's nothing better than having an educated opinion and point of view on topics that are truly important to all of us/

They Say

"They Say" is my favorite article yet. They say, but who's they? what a great topic for an open discussion. if you introduced that first paragraph to a classroom full of people the discussion would go on for hours. the article is basically implying that they say and we do. and then asking the question who's they? well that's a good question but "they" is the people we have been trained by on how to live. "they" are the ones that we look up to because they're in the mainstream and on t.v. telling us what is cool and what isn't cool. what looks good and what looks bad. the thing that hooked me about this article was that it is so true. the author talks about the sales person in GAP telling you if those blue jeans are right for you or not. how do we know that they're opinion is the one that matters? well because that's what are beliefes have been based upon over the years. we believe their input because we are told to. who else is around to give their real opinion but you and the sales associate. some of us do not realize that the sales associate is a person, just like us but will do anything to increase sales because they benefit from it. They do not care about your well being and what makes you look good but we are sought to believe that they actually do. i totally agree with everything this author says. The author also mentions the internet and all that it is able to do now a days including banking online and putting very important very personal info on there. and the scary, but truthful fact is that any 14-year old with skill can access it. Very  interesting and fun article.

Theory for Beginners

This article was very interesting to me. Might be the first piece i have read all the way through in a long time. The whole thing is based on life as we know it and the author kind of throwing some what-ifs in the mix along the way. Ideas he brought forward were very interesting to me because he had good explanation and clear detail to back up his statements he was making. I found the part where he talked about "we know what we know" really interesting because i agree with all of it. My opinion is the same as his. we do what we do and know what we know because thats all we know. How do we really know this from that and right from wrong? because we've been told all along what is and what.s not and what's right and what's wrong. The use of the term "terrorism" was very clever. The use of this term and the way he used it really made sense to me and i have to agree with him. The article mentions that the use of the term is just another way of discrediting natives from the middle east in oil-rich countries like Israel. instead of calling them middle eastern or anything of that nature we call them "terrorists" and in conclusion, they cant be taken seriously.

Another point that was made in the entry that interested me was"Power is Belief" This entry from the article talks about those in power remaining in power which is the truth. I agree. Life, the way we live it now a days has been built around a commerce. Most of us assume that this is how it is supposed to be and no one argues with the way things are run. But there are those among us in Jail who disagree, the article mentions. They tell us everyone is equal, but wealthiness is not distributed amongst us in a fair way at all. and those of us who are locked up think that their role at the bottom of the food chain is to blame. all in all a very interesting piece that i am glad i got to read and put my input in.