blog #8

         97.5% of people in Manorville are above the poverty level. That leaves only 2.5% that is below the standard line. This is why we really have no idea how bad poverty really can be, because we really don't see it too often. We all live in decent houses and have more than one pair of shoes and coats and every article of clothing. Yes, our parents may be struggling, but its no where in comparison to the 46.5 million people in the united states that live in poverty. I know for a fact that my parents are always complaining about money and say that it's a struggle, but here I am typing on my Macbook laptop in my heated house and realize that somehow there will always be enough money available for me to eat when and what I want and I won't know the struggle of living on the streets. I am in no way shape or form rich and my family and I definitely have our monetary issues but compared to the homeless people I see when I go to the city I feel like a billionaire where I am.
        I feel an incredible sense of guilt for owning all of the clothes and material items I have but I don't know what to do about it. Sure I donate whenever I can and always participate in food drives and give my clothes to the churches but besides that I feel hopeless. I know how bad the economy is these days and how many people struggle while there's the top 1 percent trying to decide which color Lamborghini they want to drive today or which country they want to fly to in their private jet and it really just disgusts me. When did the United States become this bad and when did everything start to become so unequal? I even fear for when I grow up and have to live by myself in the real world and what kind of struggles I'm going to face economically. This whole thing just frightens me and I fear that things can only get worse for America if we continue on like we have been.

Freedom of Speech

Quite obviously our constitutional right to freedom of expression here in the US is pretty nifty, I can speak my mind freely about just about anything i choose granted that it doesn't classify as libel/slander or invoke widespread panic (such as screaming fire in an enclosed area). We are free to say things like "That president Obama guy sure is lame" or "wow isn't this YouTube thing pretty great guys!" all without worry of being thrown in prison or executed on the spot which although may seem like a bit of a hyperbole but in some countries around the globe *cough* *cough* North Korea *cough*, and at the very least freedom of speech were it is present is quite often limited in some way.

So seeings as how its such a marvelous and exemplary privilege to posses its a shame that its very essence is often completely disregarded, or used in a way that can only be described as deplorable. If you asked any average American to list off all of their principle constitutional rights many would be very quick to include the Freedom of Speech, especially over something like the illegal quartering of soldiers, however many often take it for granted and don't really appreciate it. I turn to Walter Lippmann with his essay "The Indispensable Opposition" in which he reveals how many people only tend to truly value freedom of speech when it applies to themselves. I would love to go more in depth on his argument however I could spend an hour just on that so instead I'll put the link at the bottom for anyone who wishes to give it a look.


One issue that irks me more than any other is that of the movie "The Interview". To think that at any time OUR rights and privileges can be stepped on by the whims of terrorists is just absurd. Although no i am not asking for a nuclear missile to be jammed down our throat i do not condone SONY's actions in delaying (initially cancelling) the release of their movie simply because of a threat from one of the most politically corrupt countries in the world. Although the most dramatic, it wouldn't exactly be the first time someone has made a video making fun of North Korea (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxDgQJBVJxg). I believe Jon Stewart like always provides a very striking (and humorous) perspective on the subject. http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/o3r1be/the-silence-of-the-film

regardless of whether you are a journalist or a political activist or just an average Joe, freedom of speech applies to all of us and we must respect and uphold it no matter what. A great man (François-Marie Arouet) once said "I wholly disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it" and i hold that truth to be of the utmost importance if we truly are to remain a "Free" state.
 
http://grossmont.gcccd.cc.ca.us/bertdill/docs/indispensableopposition.pdf

How Has Poverty Changed Over Time

In the late 1950s, the poverty rate for all Americans was 22.4 percent, or 39.5 million individuals. These numbers declined steadily throughout the 1960s, reaching a low of 11.1 percent, or 22.9 million individuals, in 1973. Over the next decade, the poverty rate fluctuated between 11.1 and 12.6 percent, but it began to rise steadily again in 1980. By 1983, the number of poor individuals had risen to 35.3 million individuals, or 15.2 percent.

For the next ten years, the poverty rate remained above 12.8 percent, increasing to 15.1 percent, or 39.3 million individuals, by 1993. The rate declined for the remainder of the decade, to 11.3 percent by 2000. From 2000 to 2004 it rose each year to 12.7 in 2004.

Since the late 1960s, the poverty rate for people over 65 has fallen dramatically. The poverty rate for children has historically been somewhat higher than the overall poverty rate. The poverty rate for people in households headed by single women is significantly higher than the overall poverty rate.

Is social media ruining us or are we ruining social media?

Social media has definitely become a big part of my life. I constantly find myself scrolling Twitter, Instagram, Vine, and Facebook, checking my email, updating my Tumblr and watching videos on YouTube. Majority of the stuff I see is harmless, but you get the occasional "black vs white twitter" joke, or body shaming pictures on instagram and even the "if your boyfriend hits you, stay with him because if he's risking getting thrown in jail for you, he must really love you" videos on YouTube. (ill include the link below) Some of the stuff I see literally leaves me speechless. It's sometimes embarrassing to say I'm from this generation. People always ask how old I am and I'm not gonna lie, I hesitate to say 17 because many older people will think "oh she's 17 and immature like the rest of them" but what makes us all the same? There are only some of us that do things so cringeworthy that they give the rest of us a bad name, and yeah they have some growing up to do. Some of us just express our opinions. But again, some of us who express our opinions take things way too far on social media. I think the idea of social media comforts us because we're behind a computer or a cellphone and for the most our location is pretty anonymous. We find comfort in saying "if you don't like what I post, don't follow me" or "don't look at my page then". But some of the things we say, whether we realize it or not, can be really degrading to some people. Not every guy is a 6 foot 1, athletic scholar, with perfect features and a hot girlfriend. Not every girl is a victoria secret model. Body image is definitely targeted more than anything else. And then comes race superiority. I constantly see people making jokes like "blacks girls are only good for..." this "latina girls are crazy..." that "white boys think they're great because they have dads" and to be honest, it pisses me off. Society is accepting abuse on social media, and its so easy for us to blame them. We might not realize it but WE are society. We are adding fuel to the fire on social media. The idea of social media isn't ruining us, what we post on social media is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGrbGpdEftc <- one of the things I saw on facebook that literally left me mind blown.

Poverty in New York

After doing some research about poverty its come to my attention that 1 in 5 people living in New York are living in poverty. There are six grades being taught in our school, with an average of three hundred students in each grade. Three hundred multiplied by six is 1,800. 1,800 divided by five is 360. So in comparison to the poverty in New York, if our students represented people living in poverty there would be 360 students which is more than an entire grade. Imagine the entire senior class living in poverty... There wouldn't be a prom. We wouldn't all have cars to drive to school everyday, most of us might now eat lunch. None of us would go to half priced apps at Applebee's on friday nights. Many of us wouldn't be able to play sports because we don't have money for equipment, and many of us wouldn't be going to college. Think about that. On Long Island last year it was estimated that about 900,000 people were living in poverty. Thats like our school population multiplied by 800. Can you imagine 800 schools of just children in poverty? 1,500,000 is the population of suffolk county, now imagine more than half of suffolk's population living in poverty. Long Island is the 6th richest-populated island in the world and its so filled with poverty. Thats intense to think about. I looked up and was surprised to find that the biggest population of poverty was found in Riverhead, which is literally only 10 minutes away from Manorville. Freeport is a close follow to Riverhead and has the highest crime rate on the Island. Not surprising, but I researched Manorville and was pleased to find it is one of the top 50 safest towns in America with very little crime rate. We may be fortunate but some in our district are still facing difficulties and I feel like its our job as a community to help them out.

The Robbery of Innocence

Whilst daydreaming, I pondered on the term "robbed of innocence". As we know, we usually accosiate this saying with a traumatic experience that someone faces or perhaps the spoil of youth via violence or sexual media. But while in thought about this, I've come with my own view on the saying.

I personally feel that innocence cannot be robbed.

Innocence as we feel, is something we accosiate with children but if you reflect on yourself today, you can probably find that you've shed your "innocence" long ago. "Innocence" being the feeling we have as kids that the world is magic or that nothing exists beyond the extent that you've travelled. But as you grow older, you know that the world is quite ordinary and that there are many places that you have never been.
Now I'm not going to try and display my own definition of the term "innocence" but I believe that my point can apply to any. Now to that point.

Innocence is not a possession. It's not something you can hold. It's not something you can pick up, hide somewhere, or steal. It's an ideal. An ideal that we use to define children and in some respects, ignorance. Regardless, the "robbery of innocence" or perhaps, just the loss of it, is a natural part of life. Whatever age you begin to shed your innocence, if you rid of it yourself or you lose it by force, it's apparent that it's a natural part of life. By the mid-teenage years, we have already gotten rid of the views we had as a child. We know that the world is a scary place, and bad things happen, and people of the opposite gender can be more than "friends". We accomplish the realization that the world is not innocent. In turn, realizing that we are not innocent. It's built into our DNA and evolutionary story that we need to rid "innocent" views on the world to survive. The first cavemen needed to realize that the mountain lion over there is a threat, and not cuddly just cause it has fur.

As adults, we know that we've lost our innocent views for awhile. We go through most of our life without it. And admire those who have it. But children look up to adults. They look up to the wisdom they have. The wisdom that is obtained through living life and shedding innocence at a normal age.

Now we may grow and our views on the world take darker turn for obvious reasons. But that's not to say that the world isn't amazing. Just because bad things happen shouldn't deter us that life is a beautiful thing.

Through all the hate and sadness, the key to make the world magic again, is to find the prevailing magic in life. When finding the love and beauty in our own lives, we can have a brighter view of hope in the world.

The Working Poor

   Today in class we discussed the present issues surrounding our local population of poor people, with thoughts regarding what makes us empathetic (or not) to the laborers we see waiting on the side of the road for work.

   I had given it some thought and in class realized that I didn't really think much of it when I saw them standing there. I wondered about this - what kind of person did this make me? Wouldn't I want some compassion from my fellow man?

   Well I quickly convinced myself that this was not actually the case, that I did actually feel sympathetic towards the poor, and proceeded on through my day. However, on the way home, I saw a Hispanic man riding his bicycle through the pouring rain. I drove right by.

   An hour and a half later, I realized what I had done. I had made the same mistake. In fact, I realized I had even been a little angry with this gentleman; he had been a little too close to the road and I had to swerve around him. I, in my dry, warm vehicle that could have easily fit him and his bicycle, passed him right by and went home. Not only that, but I had the audacity to be frustrated with his presence, which he could not help because he was simply heading home as efficiently as he could.

   After all that we discussed in class and the stance I had made up in my mind to take on it, I had decidedly not acted upon any of my views. I was ashamed, really, of what I had done - or rather, what I hadn't done. Sure, one can argue that offering this man a ride would not have been the safest thing to do, but that's not the worst part: I hardly even noticed him.

   In summary, I'm not suggesting that we all offer transportation to people we see walking in the rain (though it wouldn't hurt). What I'd rather we all do is not forget these people when we see them and maybe have a little human compassion for them.
 
   Regardless of where they come from or whether or not they're here legally, the point is that they certainly are here, and they're not leaving, so we might as well lend them a hand. This can be done in many ways, of course, and it doesn't matter how you go about it; it's the principle that counts. Just don't forget that they are there, and that, if misfortune seeks you out, you might someday be among them.