The film assigned for this week was something that
reminded me of my experience in school. It says a lot about the world that we
live in if many students are in difficult situations that prevent them from
succeeding in school and in life. To me, it looks like it is all connected to
capitalism that controls the rising standard of living, causing drastic struggles to
find security in food, warmth, care, staff, resources, that creates opportunity
gaps, lack of confidence, and the absence of participation in every force of
education. The money is there, it exists somewhere, it may exist out of nothing, as
something that was created from nothing and put into controlling everything,
but the money is there. If these issues continue to exist, it is because those who have the most power and money are not taking the steps to
improve the factors that cause deteriorating schools, poverty, unemployment, crime, drug abuse, and
whatever else is decreasing individuals and families chances of success.
It seems like America founded itself on selfishness, the privatization of hope in
those who had as much as they needed to gain more and more from the free or
cheap labor of those who were forced to work or were desperate to make
a not even a minimum wage to survive, the rich did not care about anyone except themselves, and
it is still that way today. The fact that social categories emerged and still
exist, shows that there have been systems in place to organize society in terms
of only benefiting the few that control the many, which seems to be by
consumerism. There is so much more that we could do with our lives but we have
been integrated into this world where we now have choices to make, that are
so limited, based on where we are, who we are, and who we can actually
be depending on a wide variety of factors. If capitalism, government corruption, power, oppression, privilege, and racism could just vanish
from our lives, I believe that the world could be a better place, and we could
all work together more efficiently towards achieving the goals that would assist and aid
everyone to attaining the American dream of equal opportunities in the land of the free, which is not free at all like it used to be in the very first place as Native America was.One other thing that I have also started to think about is the word "race". I wonder if whoever came up with categorizing people to a specific race in terms of color, did so in terms of which actual race was superior or inferior in their opinion. Like, did the white race think it was going to win and the other races were going to lose? I have started to dislike checking the box on any application or form that asks which race I am, like they are trying to see what race I am in, as if I am in a particular race; I am not in a race, I am in a body that is driving to succeed and live as God intended me to do. If anything, I like to think that I am a part of the human race, with a soul that is from a whole other dimension, of such magic or divinity, which I believe that we all are. But in the world that we live in today, race can determine a lot of things, unfortunately. Acknowledging this has helped bring me closer to my finding my calling on earth, the journey of my soul. I will not stand in solidarity with the white race, I will do the best that I can do to be involved in achieving justice and equity for all other humans that are considered other races, because it’s like, we are all in the same race; to live life the best that we can, to be happy, and succeed, and nothing should be stopping anyone from doing so.
Your right, the groups of class, race, and gender created by society elites were all made from a system of money. The rich seek ways to keep and to expand their own wealth and deny others from obtaining it. They use their status and wealth to exert power over others. We as a country have the money and the resources to provide a better education to all of our students. According to a video about wealth inequality, about 1% percent of the wealthiest people own nearly half of the wealth in our nation (Politizane). The poor and the middle class are struggling more today than decades ago, and the lowest of the rich are experiencing a decline in their rates of investment. The division between the 1% wealthy and the poor widened each year, and the lines of difference between white and black, rich and poor, man and woman darken by class, status, and wealth.
ReplyDeleteYour words are without question a shocking truth about the oppression inside our society and politics. In a country that is divided, I think about our frustrations on current events, we need to unite and channel those emotions in avenues for change. We go and spread out as social justice advocates into community centers and neighborhoods. We educate and motivate clients and neighbors to invest into our community, by voting and expressing our voice to our leaders and congressman. I look forward when our society unites beyond the labels of groups, and class, race, gender, dissolved into just one, humanity.
Works Cited
“Wealthy Inequality in America.” Youtube, uploaded by Politizane, 20 Nov. 2012,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM.
I often think about the money situation that you wrote about and how our resources are poorly allocated. Where I grew up, there were two islands bordering the “mainland”, and the differences between the quality of life on the islands in comparison to the mainland was staggering. My high school brought students from both places together, and the inequality was very apparent. While one girl I knew NEVER repeated a single outfit throughout all four years of school, there were some students who essentially wore the same two or three shirts each week. Some students would take their brand new cars to go out to eat for lunch everyday while other students qualified for free lunch. Our focus on wealth and material items has blinded us to the very intense struggles that others are facing. It has always puzzled me why we as a society continue to justify rewarding a few people will billions of dollars each year instead of helping the masses who are truly in need. Often times, celebrities will make philanthropic donations of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and people seem to exalt them for that. However, these amounts of money are likely nothing to them. It may sound a bit too much like socialism for many people to be comfortable with, but I honestly believe that we need to even the playing field some. It is outrageous that we have become complacent with the way things are. We drive by homeless people struggling every day, and yet social services remain horribly underfunded. Addressing this economic inequality needs to be a priority!
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