First off, GROSS!!!! That is definitely on my list of Nastiest Things I've Seen. Now that I have that out of the way I can begin discussing certain things I thought interesting.
In truth, humans are animals. We do a lot of things similar to them and childbirth was one of those things at one point in time. Until all the machines, video cameras, and doctors came into the picture. They took over the natural, peaceful, and beautiful time in a women's life and turned it into this lab experiment in which the women is the guinea pig. Watching these videos shows me the differences and similarities between a women giving birth and an animal giving birth.
The video of the giraffe giving birth was intense. We saw the giraffe walking around in what I'm guessing is an attempt to ease the pain. Humans are also told to do this once they arrive at the hospital because it helps them move along faster with the dialation process. The mother is just pacing around when the baby just plops out onto the floor. We see the fluid and all that released with the baby. She even starts to lick her baby in clean in contrast to a human mother who gives the baby up to the doctors so that she can recover. What I found more interesting is that just like a women giving birth in the hospital, a bunch of strangers were sitting there gawking at this event and then clapping when it came out. They sat there and videotaped something that it suppose to be private and secluded and turned it into this big event in which everyone should see just like a human birth.
Same thing happened with the dolphin. Only she was swimming around which can be seen as an equivalent to walking. I noticed that the fin of the baby came out first. In human births this is uncommon and is called a breech birth when it does happen. The head of the baby comes out first so it can have a fresh breath of air. The baby's first breath is also something that a baby dolphin and a human have in common. They must get that first breath in order to survive. I also noticed that the fluid comes out with the baby unlike in a human birth. In a human birth they must push out the amniotic sac after they are finished pushing the baby. Again I see that we are recording the marvelous moments of birth when that is not the way it was intended.
Now a human birth can be done in many ways. In this case we saw a vaginal birth. With all the doctors, nurses, other patients, and family members and/or loved ones, it can get very crowded. A hospital is alreaady chaotic when a prego about to burst walks in. Once she walks in she has to be given an epideral, starved, dilated, and exposed to about everyone on the floor. All the machines, drugs, and pressure that is put on and into women is just ridiculous. Before these machines came around, women used to still have kids. And then videotaping it for the world to see?! As if the child really wants to see coming out of the mom's belly and all the other things that come out. It amazes me how selfish and dramatic everyone is in a situation like this.
Another form of human birth is a cesarean section. This is when a women's stomach is cut open to release the baby. It is disgusting beyond belief but yet rising in popularity. A lot of women know want to have C-sections for no medical reason. Why would you want your stomach ripped open? I don't know but apparently people now want this. I haven't seen the video on C-sections so I cannot go into details but I can really justa imagine.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Reactions To Babies Coming Out of Mommy's Tummies Draft #1
First off, GROSS!!!! That is definitely on my list of Nastiest Things I've Seen. Now that I have that out of the way I can begin discussing certain things I thought interesting.
In truth, humans are animals. We do a lot of things similar to them and childbirth was one of those things at one point in time. Until all the machines, video cameras, and doctors came into the picture. They took over the natural, peaceful, and beautiful time in a women's life and turned it into this lab experiment in which the women is the guinea pig. Watching these videos shows me the differences and similarities between a women giving birth and an animal giving birth.
The video of the giraffe giving birth was intense. We saw the giraffe walking around in what I'm guessing is an attempt to ease the pain. Humans are also told to do this once they arrive at the hospital because it helps them move along faster with the dialation process. The mother is just pacing around when the baby just plops out onto the floor. We see the fluid and all that released with the baby. She even starts to lick her baby in clean in contrast to a human mother who gives the baby up to the doctors so that she can recover. What I found more interesting is that just like a women giving birth in the hospital, a bunch of strangers were sitting there gawking at this event and then clapping when it came out. They sat there and videotaped something that it suppose to be private and secluded and turned it into this big event in which everyone should see just like a human birth.
Same thing happened with the dolphin. Only she was swimming around which can be seen as an equivalent to walking. I noticed that the fin of the baby came out first. In human births this is uncommon and is called a breech birth when it does happen. The head of the baby comes out first so it can have a fresh breath of air. The baby's first breath is also something that a baby dolphin and a human have in common. They must get that first breath in order to survive. I also noticed that the fluid comes out with the baby unlike in a human birth. In a human birth they must push out the amniotic sac after they are finished pushing the baby. Again I see that we are recording the marvelous moments of birth when that is not the way it was intended.
In truth, humans are animals. We do a lot of things similar to them and childbirth was one of those things at one point in time. Until all the machines, video cameras, and doctors came into the picture. They took over the natural, peaceful, and beautiful time in a women's life and turned it into this lab experiment in which the women is the guinea pig. Watching these videos shows me the differences and similarities between a women giving birth and an animal giving birth.
The video of the giraffe giving birth was intense. We saw the giraffe walking around in what I'm guessing is an attempt to ease the pain. Humans are also told to do this once they arrive at the hospital because it helps them move along faster with the dialation process. The mother is just pacing around when the baby just plops out onto the floor. We see the fluid and all that released with the baby. She even starts to lick her baby in clean in contrast to a human mother who gives the baby up to the doctors so that she can recover. What I found more interesting is that just like a women giving birth in the hospital, a bunch of strangers were sitting there gawking at this event and then clapping when it came out. They sat there and videotaped something that it suppose to be private and secluded and turned it into this big event in which everyone should see just like a human birth.
Same thing happened with the dolphin. Only she was swimming around which can be seen as an equivalent to walking. I noticed that the fin of the baby came out first. In human births this is uncommon and is called a breech birth when it does happen. The head of the baby comes out first so it can have a fresh breath of air. The baby's first breath is also something that a baby dolphin and a human have in common. They must get that first breath in order to survive. I also noticed that the fluid comes out with the baby unlike in a human birth. In a human birth they must push out the amniotic sac after they are finished pushing the baby. Again I see that we are recording the marvelous moments of birth when that is not the way it was intended.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Curiosity killed the Cat
I chose the following questions to find answers for:
1) What percentage of infants are never born ?
This is every year-
- 1,995,840 pregnancy losses
- 600,000 women experience pregnancy loss through miscarriage
- 1,200,000 women experience pregnancy loss through termination
- 64,000 women experience pregnancy loss through ectopic pregnancy
- 6,000 women experience pregnancy loss through molar pregnancies
- 26,000 women experience pregnancy loss through stillbirth
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/main/statistics.html
2) What are reasons for women to get abortions? What are those statistics?
- Wants to postpone childbearing: 25.5%
- Wants no (more) children: 7.9%
- Cannot afford a baby: 21.3%
- Having a child will disrupt education or job: 10.8%
- Has relationship problem or partner does not want pregnancy: 14.1%
- Too young; parent(s) or other(s) object to pregnancy: 12.2%
- Risk to maternal health: 2.8%
- Risk to fetal health: 3.3%
- Other: 2.1%
http://www.abortiontv.com/Misc/AbortionStatistics.htm#United%20States
3) What is the percentage of teenage pregnancy?
- 468,988 babies are born to teenage mothers each year
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/main/statistics.html
4) How has this percentage changed in the last few years?
- The teenage pregnancy rate among those who ever had intercourse declined 28% between
1990 and 2002. - The teenage birthrate in 2002 was 30% lower than the peak rate of 61.8 births per 1,000
women, reached in 1991. - Between 1988 and 2000, teenage pregnancy rates declined in every state and in the
District of Columbia.
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf
5) What percentage of teens have abortions?
- Nearly 4 in 10 teen pregnancies end in abortion
6) What is the percentage of women who die during child labor?
- Every year in the U.S more than 1000
women die during pregnancy or shortly
after.
7) How does the abortion process work?
- One procedure used is Dialation and vacuum curettage (suction). It is when they suck the baby out of you. There is also mini-vac aspiration which is done with a hand held syringe to take out what's in the uterine. This procedure is done up to 12 weeks. Surgery used for 12-14 weeks pregnancies is started by inserting a laminaria (dialator). This is used for longer pregnancies because the longer the pregnancy, the more the doctors need to dialate. After enough time has passed the laminaria will be removed and they will use the vacuum curretage to complete the abortion. For a non-surgical abortion there are qualifications. In order to get RU-486 = Mifeprex/Mifepristone (Abortion Pill), you need to be less than 9 weeks from your last period and less than 7 weeks from the time of conception. This pill works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which is needed for a body to keep an early pregnancy. As a result it causes the early pregnancy to detach from the uterine wall. Also used with this is Misoprostol which helps the uterus to contract and the cervix to dialate.
http://safestabortion.com/depoprovera.html
8) What is the percentage of men that get circumcised?
- 30% of men are circumcised worldwide, 68% of which are believed to be Muslims.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision
9) How often does the AWOB change? ex(C-Section, Midwife)
10) What percentage of women opt to have fancy sh-mancy birth test?
- Survey of sexually active women ages 18-44 result in 79% using pregnacy tests as soon as they realize they might be pregnant.
http://www.testaccurately.com/newsroom.html
11) Is aboriton frowned upon in other countries or accepted/tolerated similar to how it is in America?
- 60% of the world's people live in countries where abortion is used with a specific reason or not questioned at all.
- 26% of people live in countries where abortions are prohibited.
http://reproductiverights.org/en/document/world-abortion-laws-2008-factsheet
12) What percentage of C-sections are elective?
- Between 2000 and 2001 C-sections jumped 7%
- One in four babies is now delivered by C-section
http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030305/c-sections-necessity-choice-issue
13) What percentage of women squat?14) What is the average age for women to have kids?
- 25.2 years old is the average age to become pregnat for first time mothers says a survey done in 2005.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_17-surprising-facts-about-birth-in-the-united-states_1372273.bc
15) What is the most common form of birth control?Sidenote.
I found a website that says statistically childbirth is 9 times more dangerous to go through than abortions. Found that interesting.
http://safestabortion.com/surgical.html
Tuesday is the most popular day for babies to be born.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_17-surprising-facts-about-birth-in-the-united-states_1372273.bc
Monday, February 9, 2009
Group Vier/ How pregnancy occurs? Birth Control? Adoptions? Abortions?
These are the following questions Sandy, Sam, Kevin, Francesca, and I came up with:
- What percentage of women get pregnant on purpose?
- How available is birth control to people of all ages?
- What is the percentage of teenage pregnancy?
- How has this percentage changed in the last few years?
- What are reasons for an abortion to occur?
- How do different races compare and contrast in birth rates?
- What is the average age of pregnancy?
- What are some reasons for women to place their kids up for adoptions?
- Is abortion or adoption more traumatizing for a women?
- What is the most common form of birth control?
- What percentage of men used condoms?
- What could be reasons that men choose not to use condoms?
- What percentage of men take responsibilitly when they get a girl pregnant?
- How many types of birth control actually work?
- What types of adoptions are there?
- What are the most common forms of adoptions?
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Amazing Journey Of Life
Mother A starts her pregnancy in her late teens. She works two jobs all through her pregnancy and still attends school. All through her pregnancy she was alone, scared, and troubled. At the time of her water breaking, she felt anxious and scared. "What was it going to be like bringing a child into this world? Could she take care of it? What would happen if she couldn't?" were just osme of the thoughts running through her mind. She went with her boyfriend's mother and uncle to the hospital after her water broke only to be sent back home. She asked the nurses at the hospital "How can you send me back home when a baby is about to pop out of me?" After arguing with the nurses she went back home. Upon arrival at the house her contractions began to be 7 minutes apart so she went back. They put her in a room and gave her ice chips to eat. (Note. Ice chips are disgusting.) When she was 10 centimeters dialated she began to push. The room was crowded with doctors and it was a very long birth. The DOL (duration of labor) was about 15 hours. After the birth she was happy and hopeful. She got to bond with the baby for about 10 minutes before they took it away. It was a natural birth and she was in the lithotomy position. She said it was definitely worth every second of it and that even though it hurt she would repeat the experience again.
Mother B was feelling happy, tired, and emotional all throughout her pregnancy. Although she does not remember all the details from the day of birth, she remembers how much the contractions hurt. The worst part of her pregnancy was the morning sickness and the best part was her child. When I asked her if it was worth all the pain and embarassment she said "It definitley was." She had a natural birth and was in the lithotomy position. Her husband and her doctor and nurse were the only people in the room. She described the atmosphere as calm and relaxing. It helped that her husband was being really supportive and helping her through the contractions and actual birth. The DOL was about 2 hours. She got to hold her son for about 10 minutes after they cleaned him. He was wrapped in that famous hospital blanket that she still has for memories. After the birth she was happy, tired, and feeling emotional again. It kind of shows us that pregnancy is a cycle of feelings.
P.S. She was telling me all of this as she was screaming at her child. I'll let you think what you want about that.
Mother C says that at the beginning of her pregnancy she was overwhelmed with nerves. Towards the middle, she began to feel oversensitive. In the end it was painful and she was "shittin in her pants." Her birth story begins at her cousin's house where she was spending the night. Along with her was her neice who was thrilled and wanted to be with her aunt every step of the way. In the middle of the night she awakens to find herself in a wet bed. Knowing that she did not pee just leaves one possibility, her water broke. She wakens her cousin screaming about having to get to the hospital. Her cousin not having any kids of her own is confused and frantic. They call her sister-in-law to come get her so they can go to the hospital. Now during all this commotion her neice was still deep in sleep. When she arrived at the hospital she was extremely nervous. Her sister-in-law wouldn't let her sit down saying that she would dilate faster if she stood up. In pain and tired of carrying this weight around, she became cranky. When it was time to begin the process of birth, she learned that her doctor was a beginner. Her room was filled with doctors, nurses, and two supportive famly members. It was extremely stressful and embarassing to have so many people staring at her with her legs open. She was in the lithotomy position and it was a natural birth. Her DOL was 11 long hours. The worst part of the pregnancy were her contractions and the best part was getting to hold her child. When asked if it was worth all the pain, she said it definitely was. After all of this she felt depressed, confused, it was a big change (post partum depression). She got to hold him for like 5-10 minutes like Mother A and B.
Other Perspective of Mother C
I got to speak to someone who was in the delivery room of Mother C. She described to me her perspective of the birth and the atmosphere of the room. She stated it was the doctor's first delivery and that the doctor was confused and asking for advice the whole time. The birth went from beautiful to nastyin a matter of seconds. The baby was a nine pound child and the doctor couldn't manuever the baby's head or shoulders out of the vagina. The doctor did not perform an epiziotomy leaving the patient to tear naturally. It was an extremely blotchy birth. Since it was her first time delivering a baby it was also her first time stitching the vagina from the tear. It was extremely nasty and there was much more blood then their needed to be. She said it was very nasty and she wouldn't want to repeat the experience.
Mother D hated being pregnant. She felt miserable but excited at the same time. The experience was more stressful for her due to the fact that she was a high risk pregnancy. She had a brain tumor at the time and was therefore monitored even more than most women. The story of her pregnancy goes like this. She had just come home from Bennigans when she began to feel cramps. She started timing them and they were about 20 minutes apart. She called the doctor and the doctor said when they were about 5 minutes apart, she should head out to the hospital. Mother D replied that she was a high risk pregnancy and did not want to risk it. She went to the hospital and found out that she was dialated 5 centimeters. That is half of the required dialation. The doctor asked her to walk around in order to help move the birth futher along. Mother D walked around for about 2 1/2 hours and then became tired. She went to her room and the nurses broke her water. Due to the amount of screaming pregnant women in the hospital, she became nervous and decided to ask for the epideral which is not recommended when you are 7 centimeters dialated because you are almost done. She relaxed and slept. The doctor came in for one last checkup before she went home and found that Mother D's baby was already crowning. She hadn't felt the contractions because of the epideral. They induced her and had no time to get in gowns. She began to push. Her daughter was born in less than 10 minutes. They let her hold her for about 5 minutes then took her to the nursery to run all those tests. (Note. She was wrapped in a hospital blanket) The mother was not at all happy about the recovery room. It was just a bunch of mothers who had just given birth and "where all dirty and whiny". From there she could not see the baby for another 5 hours but she did get to go home early. She was in the lithotomy postition during the birth. The atmosphere was described as calm and private. Her DOL was 10 hours. The part of her labor that she wished had not happened was when blood was squirted all over the doctor's unmasked face. Can we say embarassing? All in all it was worth all the pain that she went through.
P.S. She was also screaming at her child to clean their room as this interview was in progress.
P.S.S After the baby was born, the tumor started to shrink and then disappeared. Til this day it has not reappeared.
Mother B was feelling happy, tired, and emotional all throughout her pregnancy. Although she does not remember all the details from the day of birth, she remembers how much the contractions hurt. The worst part of her pregnancy was the morning sickness and the best part was her child. When I asked her if it was worth all the pain and embarassment she said "It definitley was." She had a natural birth and was in the lithotomy position. Her husband and her doctor and nurse were the only people in the room. She described the atmosphere as calm and relaxing. It helped that her husband was being really supportive and helping her through the contractions and actual birth. The DOL was about 2 hours. She got to hold her son for about 10 minutes after they cleaned him. He was wrapped in that famous hospital blanket that she still has for memories. After the birth she was happy, tired, and feeling emotional again. It kind of shows us that pregnancy is a cycle of feelings.
P.S. She was telling me all of this as she was screaming at her child. I'll let you think what you want about that.
Mother C says that at the beginning of her pregnancy she was overwhelmed with nerves. Towards the middle, she began to feel oversensitive. In the end it was painful and she was "shittin in her pants." Her birth story begins at her cousin's house where she was spending the night. Along with her was her neice who was thrilled and wanted to be with her aunt every step of the way. In the middle of the night she awakens to find herself in a wet bed. Knowing that she did not pee just leaves one possibility, her water broke. She wakens her cousin screaming about having to get to the hospital. Her cousin not having any kids of her own is confused and frantic. They call her sister-in-law to come get her so they can go to the hospital. Now during all this commotion her neice was still deep in sleep. When she arrived at the hospital she was extremely nervous. Her sister-in-law wouldn't let her sit down saying that she would dilate faster if she stood up. In pain and tired of carrying this weight around, she became cranky. When it was time to begin the process of birth, she learned that her doctor was a beginner. Her room was filled with doctors, nurses, and two supportive famly members. It was extremely stressful and embarassing to have so many people staring at her with her legs open. She was in the lithotomy position and it was a natural birth. Her DOL was 11 long hours. The worst part of the pregnancy were her contractions and the best part was getting to hold her child. When asked if it was worth all the pain, she said it definitely was. After all of this she felt depressed, confused, it was a big change (post partum depression). She got to hold him for like 5-10 minutes like Mother A and B.
Other Perspective of Mother C
I got to speak to someone who was in the delivery room of Mother C. She described to me her perspective of the birth and the atmosphere of the room. She stated it was the doctor's first delivery and that the doctor was confused and asking for advice the whole time. The birth went from beautiful to nastyin a matter of seconds. The baby was a nine pound child and the doctor couldn't manuever the baby's head or shoulders out of the vagina. The doctor did not perform an epiziotomy leaving the patient to tear naturally. It was an extremely blotchy birth. Since it was her first time delivering a baby it was also her first time stitching the vagina from the tear. It was extremely nasty and there was much more blood then their needed to be. She said it was very nasty and she wouldn't want to repeat the experience.
Mother D hated being pregnant. She felt miserable but excited at the same time. The experience was more stressful for her due to the fact that she was a high risk pregnancy. She had a brain tumor at the time and was therefore monitored even more than most women. The story of her pregnancy goes like this. She had just come home from Bennigans when she began to feel cramps. She started timing them and they were about 20 minutes apart. She called the doctor and the doctor said when they were about 5 minutes apart, she should head out to the hospital. Mother D replied that she was a high risk pregnancy and did not want to risk it. She went to the hospital and found out that she was dialated 5 centimeters. That is half of the required dialation. The doctor asked her to walk around in order to help move the birth futher along. Mother D walked around for about 2 1/2 hours and then became tired. She went to her room and the nurses broke her water. Due to the amount of screaming pregnant women in the hospital, she became nervous and decided to ask for the epideral which is not recommended when you are 7 centimeters dialated because you are almost done. She relaxed and slept. The doctor came in for one last checkup before she went home and found that Mother D's baby was already crowning. She hadn't felt the contractions because of the epideral. They induced her and had no time to get in gowns. She began to push. Her daughter was born in less than 10 minutes. They let her hold her for about 5 minutes then took her to the nursery to run all those tests. (Note. She was wrapped in a hospital blanket) The mother was not at all happy about the recovery room. It was just a bunch of mothers who had just given birth and "where all dirty and whiny". From there she could not see the baby for another 5 hours but she did get to go home early. She was in the lithotomy postition during the birth. The atmosphere was described as calm and private. Her DOL was 10 hours. The part of her labor that she wished had not happened was when blood was squirted all over the doctor's unmasked face. Can we say embarassing? All in all it was worth all the pain that she went through.
P.S. She was also screaming at her child to clean their room as this interview was in progress.
P.S.S After the baby was born, the tumor started to shrink and then disappeared. Til this day it has not reappeared.
Birth By Yazmin
Birth is a wonderful, amazing process. (I would know. I was born.) Although it hurts the female extremely and it is an awkward situation for some, the results are beautiful. I would like to be financially stable and be married before I have kids, but when I do have them I want a lot. I know it is going to hurt like crazy but my kids will hopefully be worth it. The birth of all my children will hopefully be natural and calm unlike those seen in television.
When having kids, I think people should be completely sure about bringing another life into this world. Having a sturdy relationship and enough money to bring a child into this world are some neccesties but I also think there are other things to think about. For example, why you are having a baby, being mentally stable, and making sure your partner is not some pedophile. Just some things I think should be in your check list when having kids.
When having kids, I think people should be completely sure about bringing another life into this world. Having a sturdy relationship and enough money to bring a child into this world are some neccesties but I also think there are other things to think about. For example, why you are having a baby, being mentally stable, and making sure your partner is not some pedophile. Just some things I think should be in your check list when having kids.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Revised Big Paper
Essential Question-What is the American Way of Life?
Thesis
AWOL is an abbreviation for the American Way of Life. Now, one might say that they know what that is, but how can one person's definition be the true meaning to all of America. In order to better understand what the American Way of Life is my class had discussions, asked random people on the street as well as family members, and did multiple stimulations to see if we could get down to the bottom of the traditions and customs that form our lives. My results led me to believe this: The American Way of Life is based on principles that are laid out for us by the Constitution and such documents but not reachable in most circumstances because of the social classes in which we are born into.
Other Perspectives
To better understand certain things, you must of course gather sources and information on the matter. That is exactly what we did. We set out to the streets of New York (well more like 22nd-23rd, 1st ave to Park ave) and asked pedestrians what they thought the American Way of Life was. Now, I wanted to keep variety in people I asked so that I could get a variety of answers but I just couldn't bring myself to stop a girl so these are all men responses. I did however vary in men. I asked capitalist, rich, worker, poor, black, Hispanic, and white (Asians are hard to stop). There responses to me were broad and not well thought out except for this one guy who kept taking forever to answer but, came up with the same answers as the others. From the capitalist, I got the most outrageous response which is how I knew he was a capitalist. First off, I had asked the gentlemen he was with to answer my questions but, he told me he didn't have time and his friend responded "You just go, I'll do it." with a sigh. I brushed it off and immediately wrote down rich. I asked him what he thought the American Way of Life was. He responded it was health, happiness, and freedom. Straight from the Declaration itself. I then asked what he thought were the good and bad aspects of AWOL. He said a good aspect was that we had "the best criminal justice system in all the world". At this point, I was erasing rich and writing capitalist. When he answered to the bad aspects was that I was really appalled. He told me that the bad aspect of the American Way of Life was the TRAFFIC. What?! We are in a recession and this guy thinks traffic's bad? That has capitalism written all over it because evidently he is financially secure enough to talk about traffic when thousands of families are losing their homes everyday because they cannot pay their mortgages. I was in such shock that I just said thank you and walked away.
From the working class, I received more sane answers. they told me that money was the main aspect of the American Way of Life and that corporations are always trying to take it all from the small guys. Some other responses were of course opportunity and freedom. One even said that smoking, drinking, and working were the American Way of Life. Who can deny that this is what a majority of Americans do? So is that what the American Way of Life is? I think not but if this is what people have in their heads then it must play a small part. They didn't really vary in what they said were the bad aspects of AWOL as most said war and related things. This just goes to show that AWOL is based on money, how we can get it, and what we can do with it.
My family has migrated from different parts of the country. I asked my father what it was like when he first came here from Mexico. He replied that it was extremely different. In Mexico it is based more on family values rather than money unlike here in the U.S. He told me his family moved here to live the American dream. Get a good job, make money, and live in happiness. What they found what they got here however was hardship and people that looked down upon them because of their ethnicity. They looked at them as immigrants that only deserved jobs that the regular Americans would not take. Because of their social class being the lowest of all (immigrants from Mexico) they did not get to live the American Dream that many immigrants want to live. Over the years, my family has struggled to work for what they have and although they tried not to Americanize themselves, the changing of generations has forced them too. Today we are seen as Mexican-Americans celebrating both Christmas and Three Kings.
Capitalism
One major aspect that are class studied was capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which the goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed through the mechanism of a free market fixed deeply on the right to private property and the profit motive (says the dictionary). Andy's definition is that capitalism is an economic system in which the overwhelming majority toil for the profit of the tiny minority. In simpler words, "We work, they profit." In AWOL, we went over capitalism and tried to see if this was really the basis of the country we live in. If you think about it, it makes sense. For example, if you work in a clothing store. You work and put in the hours that can get you the type of money you need to survive, while the old, white man who owns the clothing store you work for, is sitting in his Malibu home sipping cocktails. I went into American Apparel (of course Americans must shop there as it is American). There was a very frustrated, opinionated saleswoman who started telling us what working in American Apparel was like. She said that in order to get a job there you must send in a picture of yourself with the application and was telling us how degrading and horrible the job was. My question was if the job was so horrible, why is she still working here? Simple question. She answered me simply with the answer "I do need to live." I was in shock that she would respond this way but in a way a totally understood. What else could she do but stick to the job that degraded her if she wanted to survive?! So here are thousands of Americans represented in this woman. We are not working hard and long for these corporations because we like our jobs, but are doing it so that when we go home we have enough money for the basic utilities. We work until we can no longer stand so that these rich families can go on vacation in Tahiti. However, we cannot do anything about it because that was how the American Way of Life was long ago created.
Critique of Capitalism
Karl Marx was a critic of capitalism. He came up with the ideas of alienation, labor theory of value, crashing capitalism and primitive accumulation of capitalism. The way that people started capitalism is the primitive accumulation of capitalism. Capitalist did this by enslaving, stealing, and genocide. The collecting of more and more capitalism leads to the capitalist of today. Alienation is something that was you but becomes not you. For example, doing something that you had once liked for a capitalism. The labor theory of value means that the source of all wealth comes from labor. Workers make less than the products they are making are worth. The surplus goes to the capitalists who build more capitalism from this money. Crashing capitalism is when the rate of return drops so low that people start to drop out. As people drop out, more people are left without jobs. The unemployement rate grows and in turn leads to a recession. This is the kind of United States we live in now. With so many people losing their jobs it is impossible to live a fulfilling American Way of Life that is promised to us in the Constitution. The Constitution gives us this fake sense of hope that we are able to accomplish many things because we have all these rights. In reality however, if you are not at the top of the economic ladder you do not get the same privileges as those on top.
Constitution
We also took time to go over the government. Stuff like the Constitution and how the powers are divided. This contributes to the American Way of Life because it divides us into our social classes. It is a base line for what is acceptable and what isn't. The government tells us the things we can do and what we can't but they trick us into believing they are doing it because we want them too. We elect our officials who are looking out for our best interest yet they are getting paid thousands with money that can be helping the working classes. This relates to AWOL because again we are working hard just in order to survive but we can't do much about it because after all it is the American Way of Life.
Thesis
AWOL is an abbreviation for the American Way of Life. Now, one might say that they know what that is, but how can one person's definition be the true meaning to all of America. In order to better understand what the American Way of Life is my class had discussions, asked random people on the street as well as family members, and did multiple stimulations to see if we could get down to the bottom of the traditions and customs that form our lives. My results led me to believe this: The American Way of Life is based on principles that are laid out for us by the Constitution and such documents but not reachable in most circumstances because of the social classes in which we are born into.
Other Perspectives
To better understand certain things, you must of course gather sources and information on the matter. That is exactly what we did. We set out to the streets of New York (well more like 22nd-23rd, 1st ave to Park ave) and asked pedestrians what they thought the American Way of Life was. Now, I wanted to keep variety in people I asked so that I could get a variety of answers but I just couldn't bring myself to stop a girl so these are all men responses. I did however vary in men. I asked capitalist, rich, worker, poor, black, Hispanic, and white (Asians are hard to stop). There responses to me were broad and not well thought out except for this one guy who kept taking forever to answer but, came up with the same answers as the others. From the capitalist, I got the most outrageous response which is how I knew he was a capitalist. First off, I had asked the gentlemen he was with to answer my questions but, he told me he didn't have time and his friend responded "You just go, I'll do it." with a sigh. I brushed it off and immediately wrote down rich. I asked him what he thought the American Way of Life was. He responded it was health, happiness, and freedom. Straight from the Declaration itself. I then asked what he thought were the good and bad aspects of AWOL. He said a good aspect was that we had "the best criminal justice system in all the world". At this point, I was erasing rich and writing capitalist. When he answered to the bad aspects was that I was really appalled. He told me that the bad aspect of the American Way of Life was the TRAFFIC. What?! We are in a recession and this guy thinks traffic's bad? That has capitalism written all over it because evidently he is financially secure enough to talk about traffic when thousands of families are losing their homes everyday because they cannot pay their mortgages. I was in such shock that I just said thank you and walked away.
From the working class, I received more sane answers. they told me that money was the main aspect of the American Way of Life and that corporations are always trying to take it all from the small guys. Some other responses were of course opportunity and freedom. One even said that smoking, drinking, and working were the American Way of Life. Who can deny that this is what a majority of Americans do? So is that what the American Way of Life is? I think not but if this is what people have in their heads then it must play a small part. They didn't really vary in what they said were the bad aspects of AWOL as most said war and related things. This just goes to show that AWOL is based on money, how we can get it, and what we can do with it.
My family has migrated from different parts of the country. I asked my father what it was like when he first came here from Mexico. He replied that it was extremely different. In Mexico it is based more on family values rather than money unlike here in the U.S. He told me his family moved here to live the American dream. Get a good job, make money, and live in happiness. What they found what they got here however was hardship and people that looked down upon them because of their ethnicity. They looked at them as immigrants that only deserved jobs that the regular Americans would not take. Because of their social class being the lowest of all (immigrants from Mexico) they did not get to live the American Dream that many immigrants want to live. Over the years, my family has struggled to work for what they have and although they tried not to Americanize themselves, the changing of generations has forced them too. Today we are seen as Mexican-Americans celebrating both Christmas and Three Kings.
Capitalism
One major aspect that are class studied was capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which the goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed through the mechanism of a free market fixed deeply on the right to private property and the profit motive (says the dictionary). Andy's definition is that capitalism is an economic system in which the overwhelming majority toil for the profit of the tiny minority. In simpler words, "We work, they profit." In AWOL, we went over capitalism and tried to see if this was really the basis of the country we live in. If you think about it, it makes sense. For example, if you work in a clothing store. You work and put in the hours that can get you the type of money you need to survive, while the old, white man who owns the clothing store you work for, is sitting in his Malibu home sipping cocktails. I went into American Apparel (of course Americans must shop there as it is American). There was a very frustrated, opinionated saleswoman who started telling us what working in American Apparel was like. She said that in order to get a job there you must send in a picture of yourself with the application and was telling us how degrading and horrible the job was. My question was if the job was so horrible, why is she still working here? Simple question. She answered me simply with the answer "I do need to live." I was in shock that she would respond this way but in a way a totally understood. What else could she do but stick to the job that degraded her if she wanted to survive?! So here are thousands of Americans represented in this woman. We are not working hard and long for these corporations because we like our jobs, but are doing it so that when we go home we have enough money for the basic utilities. We work until we can no longer stand so that these rich families can go on vacation in Tahiti. However, we cannot do anything about it because that was how the American Way of Life was long ago created.
Critique of Capitalism
Karl Marx was a critic of capitalism. He came up with the ideas of alienation, labor theory of value, crashing capitalism and primitive accumulation of capitalism. The way that people started capitalism is the primitive accumulation of capitalism. Capitalist did this by enslaving, stealing, and genocide. The collecting of more and more capitalism leads to the capitalist of today. Alienation is something that was you but becomes not you. For example, doing something that you had once liked for a capitalism. The labor theory of value means that the source of all wealth comes from labor. Workers make less than the products they are making are worth. The surplus goes to the capitalists who build more capitalism from this money. Crashing capitalism is when the rate of return drops so low that people start to drop out. As people drop out, more people are left without jobs. The unemployement rate grows and in turn leads to a recession. This is the kind of United States we live in now. With so many people losing their jobs it is impossible to live a fulfilling American Way of Life that is promised to us in the Constitution. The Constitution gives us this fake sense of hope that we are able to accomplish many things because we have all these rights. In reality however, if you are not at the top of the economic ladder you do not get the same privileges as those on top.
Constitution
We also took time to go over the government. Stuff like the Constitution and how the powers are divided. This contributes to the American Way of Life because it divides us into our social classes. It is a base line for what is acceptable and what isn't. The government tells us the things we can do and what we can't but they trick us into believing they are doing it because we want them too. We elect our officials who are looking out for our best interest yet they are getting paid thousands with money that can be helping the working classes. This relates to AWOL because again we are working hard just in order to survive but we can't do much about it because after all it is the American Way of Life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
