The Whole World is Watching

Submitted by: Jackie Butorsky

     When one thinks about what Utopia is, what kind of images appear? A place where there is equality amongst humanity; an unachievable piece of Heaven. When I sat down to write this piece, my strong feelings about the subject overwhelmed me. On one hand, we have people who are obedient to authority. They blindly follow, without question. The term "sheep" comes to mind. Then, there are those like me, who question authority and their actions. I (and those like me) tend to view authority as an evil force, with evil intentions.



     Respecting rational and reasonable laws is one thing. If a country did not have law and justice, we'd eventually become like cave men. But, to blindly follow those with more authority than you, to never question, to never ask "Why?" is insanity in my opinion. Take for example the women who fought hard to have equal rights as men and Black Americans who fought to have equal rights as Whites. They had the balls to ask "Why is it that I do not have the same rights as my fellow men?" They dared to get arrested, dared to question authority, and dared to challenge. If they blindly obeyed authority and the status quo, god forbid where they might be today.
     My point is this... I would love it if police and politicins respected the law and didn't abuse it; teaching people that they are indeed allowed to question and to never back down when not answered; to have equality amongst everyone. Perhaps my way of thinking can be compared to communism. Every one has an equal share, no one is richer or poorer than the next person. Share and share alike. But communism is great in theory, never in practice. My little piece of Utopia is where everyone never has the desire to make others submit to them just because they hold a badge and a gun.



     In conclusion my dear readers, respecting the law and respecting humankind is okay with me. Submission to authority without question is entirely different. It may be because they do not wish to be confrontational, or simply they don't know any better. The point is, things will never change if we continue following the status quo. The fat cats will get fatter, as the poor get poorer. It's about damn time "we the people" rise up.

God Bless Our American Troops!

Submitted by Morgan Williams
 
                "No. He would never do that.  He wouldn't even hurt a fly", said a mother of a twelve year old boy name Sam. Sam's mother just received the news from Sam's principle that Sam punched a classmate during lunch.  She is shocked to learn this because Sam is a very good kid and always has been. Plus Sam just enrolled in this new school, and has never caused in problems at his previous school. What she doesn't know however that this new school has a different environment from what he is used to at his other school. The students in this school are hostile, violent, and mean. Sam adopted this way of behavior and end up punching another student in the mouth because the student shoved him while walking. Sam's bad behavior is an example of The Lucifer Effect, which is when a good person is placed in a hostile environment then turns for the worst. In todays society one can compare American soldiers to Sam, and Sam's new school to Iraq. American soldiers are men and women who are looked at as great wonderful people by their loved ones, and by American citizens who support troops. These set of people can be compared to Sam's mother who thinks Sam wouldn't hurt a fly. Of course the soldiers loved ones and the American citizens know that the soldiers will have to fight and kill over in Iraq, but only if its necessary. They would never think their good justice seeking soldiers would torture another out of pleasure. Nor, would they think they would rape Iranian women for laughs. Unfortunately there have been many reports of American Soldiers abusing, raping, and mistreating Iranian citizens. And not because it was for "justice" but because they felt like it.

Above are two pictures of American Soldiers abusing Iranian citizens. The first picture shows an American Soldier pointing amusingly at the genitals of Iranian men who stand naked in shame. The second picture shows an American Solider sitting arrogantly and staring proudly at a Iranian men who is bent over in pain and fear.  Both pictures display cruelty and humiliation done by American soldiers. The two soldiers are probably good citizens of America, and probably never thought they would ever do what they are doing to these Iranians in their life. Their loved ones and other people of America couldn't imagine them doing these things either. Not out of enjoyment that is. Being placed in this war over in Iraq has lead this good men and women to act cruel and inhumane. 

War is a very violent and disturbing event. It is said to make many people change for the worst. This is what happens to our troops who go to war. They see and witness unthinkably and horribly things that make them angry and upset. They end up seeing Iranian people not as human beings but, as animals or worse as vermin. Our soldiers turn into evil abusers when they were once just men and women who wanted to fight for justice for our country. Torturing others out of spite is not justice, and never will be. I found more cruel pictures of American soldiers beating Iranian citizens to death, and a few gang rapping pictures. The two both are the most innocent ones I found. These pictures are exampled of good men and women experiencing the Lucifer Effect. Going from being a good fighter for freedom, to a evil master of torture. 

On Wednesdays, We Wear Pink.........

Submitted by: Alyssa Feudo

When we think of obedience, we generally imagine images of animals obeying their masters, or children complying with the requests of their parents, but we rarely wish to picture ourselves, as adults, obeying the commands of someone who makes us feel inferior. However, as human beings, we are inclined to conform to certain social groups and obey the rules of those who possess the most power in that group. We see this not only in everyday experiences, but also through the use of shocking scholarly experiments.

Take, for example, the first video above. A clip from the popular movie, "Mean Girls," portrays many different high school students all doting over the very popular, very attractive, very rich, Regina George. Each one of them seems as though they would love to be associated with this girl because she possesses a certain status of adoration and acceptance within the school. In the second clip, we can see that this girl even has power over the people who are already in her social group. Her "friends" must consult her when they want to invite someone new to lunch and they also must follow her rules of fashion, such as only wearing pink on Wednesdays. While this is only a movie, and is somewhat over-dramatized, we have all had a Regina George at our own high school who has made us feel inferior, whether it be because of looks, money, etc. Whether or not we admit it, at some point we all probably wanted to be a part of that popular clique, because all humans want to be acknowledged, accepted and part of the "in-group," even if that means doing things we wouldn't necessarily do on our own.
       Experiments like the Asch Experiment demonstrate just how far people will go in order to be accepted by their peers. It is here that we can actually see normative conformity taking place, that is, a man is publicly agreeing with a group while facing internal disagreement of his actions. In the Standford Prison Experiment we see how the Lucifer Effect makes the "guards" demean any rebellious "prisoners" and treat them very harshly. As a result, the "prisoners" comply with all the demands of these power hungry "guards." It is human nature to fear embarrassment, so we agree to follow even some of the most ridiculous rules in order to avoid humiliation and refrain from being treated like an outcast.
        When seeing this happen as an outsider, many of us, including myself, tend to make judgments regarding the intelligence of those who continue to follow some of the ridiculous rules of certain social groups. Comments like, "Why do they care what others think?" or "Who would want to be like her?" are common thoughts that come to mind. However, once we are placed in the situation ourselves, we tend to think entirely different than how we did as outsiders. Think about it, if the opportunity presented itself, how many of us would like to be a part of that popular group? How many of us would follow the unspoken status quos?
 How many of us would wear pink on Wednesdays?

OFWGKTA

Submitted by: Tim Hicks

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All.....

Imagine the most antagonistic, deranged, corrupt, and devilish bunch of teenagers that you never wanted to meet. Pair them with tons of allure, collegiate vernacular and rap ready. What would you think of these kids? Odd Future is these kids. The Los Angeles-based music group, started by Tyler Okonna, also known as Tyler the Creator and consists of singer Frank Ocean, Hodgy Beats, Earl Sweatshirt, Domo Genesis, and a host of other characters. Golf Wang as they call themselves, do whatever they want, when they want, without caring about the repercussions.

Odd Future are known for raps about drugs, sex, rape, anarchy, Freudian damage, epic self-conscienceness and a ton of obscenities. For example in the song Yonkers, Tyler the Creator stated "Jesus called, and said he is sick of the disses, I told him to quit b*chin, this isn't a f*ckin hotline" basically disrespecting our Lord and Savior. From their actions, down to their apparel is an example of opposition of authority, without question. Its not like they are from the inner city or the hood, but these individuals are from the suburbs of Los Angeles. They have alot of other outlets but they are choosing this way to express themselves. Below is a video of a song created by Tyler, The Creator called "Cult Sh*t."

My thoughts on this group are that its really something troubling them. Others view them all as the Anti-Christ being what they rap about and they symbols of their group. No one in their right mind would disrespect Jesus Christ, not even an atheist, or someone who isn't a Christian. The fact that they do it and really don't care brings a real problem to the table. Is this what is next for our generation? The crazy part about it is that EVERYBODY likes them, seeming will this be the next big "In-Crowd?" Then what happens to the people, like myself, who refuse to be apart of this travesty?

In Conclusion, I feel like Odd Future is a group whose behavior obeys themselves and opposes authority. Who knows if this is what is next for generations to come but if it is, then our Future really will be Odd.

Boxed in by Discrimination

Submitted by:

Rasheedah Abdullah

A form of discrimination starts before we are born when our parents prefer a particular gender.  Would not a healthy baby have limitless possibilities regardless of gender?  Wikipedia defines discrimination within sociology as the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category.  Discrimination is the actual behavior towards members of another group.  It involves excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities of another group.

As a child my memories of family vacations and travelling were the “COLORED” signs in public places as shown in the photo.

In bus stops, restaurants, hotels and restrooms these signs were usually accompanied by an arrow depicting the only course of direction or a large, bold line on the floor that was not to be crossed by that social group.  As a group develops there are other discrimination behaviors that are exhibited based on employment, religion, physical abilities, origin, etc.  Individuals fleeing social discriminations oft times form counter social groups that idealize their social group and subsequently create more social imbalance.  Much research and theory has to continually be put into understanding human behavior and the impact on society to understand discriminatory practices.

The internet provides an enabling range of resources that allow broader access to information on discriminatory practices past and present, local and worldwide.  With a few clicks of the mouse the internet can browse to a particular form of discrimination, give statistics and laws created to prohibit such discrimination.

In summary this topic demonstrates how a particular group can suffer because of what another group considers “norm”.  The topic also depicts that we all are vulnerable to being discriminators if we only see value when it excludes others.  Can we not impress other groups with who we are without devaluing their culture, set of beliefs or practices? 

Perhaps if we can think outside the box.

Sociolgy 101 Assignment

            The first assignment in sociology 101 is to pick a topic to write about from a list of topics out of all the topics what stood out for me was the word Deviance the word itself brought about a strong reaction within me and that is how I have come to chose Deviance as a topic.

DEVIANCE

AT FIRST GLANCE

            What comes to mind when I first saw the word Deviance is the controversy with the Catholic Church. Too many priests are being accused of child molestation (which constitutes deviant behavior). One of many vows for a Catholic priest is one of celibacy. This seems to be violated across the entire Catholic diocese. Too many victims are coming forth as adults to unearth this awful and horrific behavior. Yet, many of the believers are blinded by their faith and do not question the cover -ups made by the Church to keep these scandals hush- hush. Where is the outrage?

            I honestly believe that no Catholic wants to believe those they hold with such reverence who often demonstrates moral leadership throughout their parishes and communities are actually pedophiles.  For a priest to violate any of his vows I would consider his actions deviant.   This behavior corrodes the trust that once held a faith together. Today this behavior spreads like a cancer and perhaps will bring down the entire Catholic religion. It makes me question the vow of celibacy when it is obvious that not all can follow it.

            Another theory that comes to my mind is perhaps within the Church there is another subculture that perpetuates the molestation of children. These priest may feel that it does not break their vow of celibacy.  These are the people to whom I should confess my sins!  I don’t think so. I don’t need a priest to be a middle man between me and God. The way it is today, it just scares me to think of my child alone in a confessional.

Conclusion:  after reading Schaefer pp 108 What is Deviance?  shows me that depending on who’s perspective Functionalist, Interactionist or Feminist one has a slightly different definition of the word for Deviance. Each definition or perspective gives one another view of the word and the context that the word deviance is in. I chose to go with the definition that is provided in Schaefer’s What is Deviance?  For sociologist, the term deviance does not mean perversion or depravity. Rather deviance is behavior that violates the standards of conduct expectations of a

group or society (Wickman 1991:85)…pp, 108 Schaefer. My first reaction definitely was one of depravity and perversion. The lesson that I learned from this assignment is that there is another approach that one can take instead of reacting out of one’s emotions to do further research and not to be so quick to react base on how one feels.

S WOODFORD

The Talk of the Town

Many propably reconginze the poeple in the picture above and instaly know that these people are the cast of reality show the Jersey Shore. Shows such as this one and many other such as Keeping up with the Kardashians and Tia and Tameria  have caught the attention of people everywhere and it is these people who will spend hours watching this shows for pure enjoyment. many would agree with the fact that since they spend hours on end watching these shows that socialization as a whole has fallen as people spend more time watching these shows then going to a friends house or simply talking to ones neightbors. however,I think that thos is completely wrong. almost everyone these days has a phone and areable to keep in contact with each other rather simply with a hit of a button. Its my belief that these shows actually cause more socialization. these shows open up new reasons for people to talk to each other and if confronted with a stranger who also has an intertest in the same kind of shows providesa good ice breaker for those who might be nervous and dont know how to approach the situation. These reality shows are so talked about that almost everyone knows about them or at the very least is familiar with the on goings of the show.

while many would speculate that socialization is on the decline,  i would say that the way socialization is looked at is just different then it previously was.