4. political values

If you had asked me what my Political views where 2 years ago I would have given you a completely different answer, and honestly I didn't believe in any of the things I believe now. Growing up in a very religious, well off family, with a father who was the head of a health care company. I thought if I believed in free health care or Obama's health care plan I was going against my family and, I thought my dad would lose his job in affect from Obama being elected. As of a month ago I am a registered Democrat. I am now in full sport of free health care. Living on my own since I was 18 and seeing the other side of finances. Working full time and hardly being able to make ends meet, I understand that many people could not afford health care. Me being one of those people.  Another reason I changed my views from republican to democrat is, I am a passionate believer in Gay rights I believe everyone should have the same chances to fall in love and get married, and who are we to decide who can and can’t get married?  Democrats also help with grants for school they believe in helping giving more grants for school then republicans. I am in complete support on every issue that democrats support with one exception abortion. I do not believe abortion is moral unless you were raped. I changed my political views because I believe that Democrats help people on a bigger scale. They make it easier to go to school and to be able to see a doctor if you can’t afford it. These are some of the reasons I changed my political views to democrat.

3. growing as a country

After watching Changing Education Paradigms and 21 century enlightenment I believe that Matthew Taylor's  point was we need to do better as a nation, we need to raise standards and lift the bar higher. In the 21 century enlightenment he talks about how he believes people have the ability to adapt. He states that we are not very good at making long term decisions and these are the kind of things that get us into trouble not only as people but as a nation. We need to plan for our futures like it says in Changing Education Paradigm less and less people are deciding to get a higher education because they believe there is no point. If we stop believing in high education that will affect so much of our future as people and as a nation. As people it will defiantly effect our job opportunity, there will be fewer doctors and lawyers because no one would take the time to go to school and better themselves. Then as a nation we will have fewer people that are employed. Unemployment will get higher and higher with every passing year. He goes on to say that he does believe we have the ability to change we have come so far since our cave man days and technology has advanced with every passing year. So we are intelligent we are capable of making this world better with each passing day but we are also capable of destroying it. This is what he was trying to make us think about we are a country and a world with such great potential how we use it determines everything.

2. Public enfluence

"I have been studying the what marketers, politicians, religious leaders and coercive forces of all kinds influence everyday decisions." this is the quote from the article that really got me thinking I had never considered that decisions could be influenced by what "they say." Being a strong willed very opinionated person I be leaved my decisions and opinions where things I changed as a developed on my own. After reading the article I started to ponder what influences me, friends, family, my husband, The media, but what kind of things are we not aware of that influence us? "It's not always easy to determine when we have surrendered our judgment to someone else. The better and more sophisticated the manipulation, the less aware of it we are." I tried to think when could I have been talked into changing my mind about something without being aware of surrendering my opinion. I came to the realization that it happens all the time, for example last week me and my Husband where shopping for a new computer, and the sails man was describing different programs and things we could get with out new computer, But they way he said it made it sound like these where all things we had to have if we wanted our computer to last a long time, expensive virus protection, cooling pads, 24 hour calling with best buy. We ended up buying a few of his suggestions thinking at the time we needed all of them. A few hours after we left we realized we had been sweet talked into something. After reading this article It really changed my opinion of when The media and sails employees are using there knowledge to influence you. I realized I'm unknowingly Influenced everyday.

1.View points

Brittany Howard

8/19/2012

Eng 102

Viewpoints

            Personally I believe our viewpoints are altered, even in the slightest notion every day; however some views remain strong for various reasons such as upbringing, general daily attitude, religion etc.  Personally my views have drastically changed since attending college, and I agree with the article as it states on page 172, “We may think our preferences are our “own” but many of them replicate those of our fellow in a particular social circle and economic class location”.  For me growing up in an upper-middle class, strict, religious, conservative household, without much freedom to explore my own viewpoints, I garnered my parents every word as fact.  Since branching out on my own, being in college and now as of June 1^st being married, marking 3 years since I left the nest, I find my views more liberal and secular than I could have ever imagined.  This certainly makes me a strong candidate now to have my views changed with anything that provides sufficient evidence I should do so.

            Before I began college and somewhat before reading the article it was easy for me to stereotype “terrorists” as Middle Eastern men.  The article makes you broaden your thinking as to what terrorism really is.  I was struck by a line on page 163. “Terrorism is a general category rather than a specific thing”.   After September 11^th, it was easy to believe our government and other sources practically telling us terrorism only came from specific countries.  And this was easy to digest at the time because at my age the only real act of terrorism I could ever remember would be September 11^th.  I agree that terrorism is not always justified by anger; some people are just plain crazy.  Quoting one of my favorite movies, In the Dark Knight when someone asks Alfred what makes the joker tick he just says “Some people just want to watch the world burn”.  It doesn’t have to be political or religious, or any other rational anger it can just be someone who has snapped.  This article helped exercise the parts of my brain on terrorism and connect some dots that I had already started on.