An American Progresses?

This is a now abandoned steel factory in our “valley of ashes”: Gary, Indiana. Gary is not our typical “nice neighborhood”, but a place where “passengers on waiting trains can stare at a dismal scene”(Fitzgerald 24). I actually have ridden a train through Gary, and when I read this exerpt from Gatsbty, I remembered this depressing train ride, (and it was depressing for the senses at least)For my family as a whole, Gary is a place to drive through to get to “nicer” places, like my summer camp in michigan, or colleges in Michigan to visit. One experience I would like to mention, involving my family, is to make an example of this desolate town, my parents purposefully took a "detour" on our way to South Haven (a "nice" town) to look at Gary. They said something to me, similar to what Nick Carrway's dad said to him in the opening chapter: "Just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages you've had"(Fitgerald 1). They were delivering this speech as we drove through Gary's neighborhoods, containing abandoned houses with broken windows, fire damage that no one has done anything about, and disgusting furniture piled on lawns.
This place was once a booming industry town. Now it's a desolate wasteland in a constant depression since factories left to go overseas. I looked at a graph of its population since 1950, and the curve only gets lower and lower. Its caucasian population has decreased more drastically than its minority inhabitants. The quote, "Middle class whites had been moving out and they were being replaced by poor blacks squeezed out of the south side"(American Pharoah) reminds me of our discussion of Garfield Park, where Mr. O'Connor mentioned that his family was one of the last white people to live Garfield Park, and today, Garfield Park is a place where poor, mostly African-American people live.
Gary, similar to Garfield Park, “badly needed economic uplift that a major university would bring”(American Pharoah). Even something that wasn't a major university, maybe a company, a working factory, some tourist attraction, would bring so much to this depressed town. History is repeating itself in this instance, because we, as a country, continue to neglet these areas and make them worse by doing nothing to help them. Literally, nothing. Progress? I don't think so.

New use for those plasmas at New Trier!

As I was strolling the halls by the administration buildings, I noticed that the plasma screen tvs that everyone complains about were displaying pictures of New Trier Seniors and the colleges they were about to attend. The caption below the continuous slide show of portraits described these people as trevians, but I only saw athletic pictures. Plus, the colleges that these students were about to attend were top-tier colleges (according to Newsweek, at least). But,Literally, the only pictures that were scrolling were head shots of players on our varsity teams. And I wondered: 'why only athletes?' I know that athletics are a huge part of new trier, but there's also a portion of the school that isn't involved in any sport, whatsoever (me). So does this public display mean that we, and the administration, consider the athletes of New Trier the elite? The ideal of our school? What we want to identify ourselves with to visitors and everyone else? I just thought it was an interesting use for the many tvs in our school.

Freedom on the Freeway

As I was driving along the edens, I saw a house sporting two flags along the highway. One is American and one is Mexican. Each were at equal heights on two sides of an apartment. They look very tattered, as the ends are a dull brown color and the ends are split. They were flapping ferociously in the breeze, only supported by flimsy plastic poles.
I was stuck in traffic and couldn't help but notice these flags. It wasn't remarkable to me that both of these flags were flying side by side, but for some reason, I really liked the fact they were. The inhabitants in the house are most likely immigrants, and it seemed to me that since they were flying at the same heights and were tattered equally, these inhabitants are proud of being a member of both countries. It really spoke to me because of issues that some people in the US have with immigrants, within a country created by immigrants. In this case, I think that someone who is from Mexico can be an equally patriotic American (or a real American in that case), in comparison to someone who has had an American "history" here, and whose family has lived here for decades/centuries.

How Should I Protect It?

After our discussion in class pertaining to the treatment of the American Flag, I decided to research the "Flag Code" instilled by the US Government. Here are some particular articles/regulations that stood out to me: (All obtained from Ushistory.org)

- Section 8D: "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel"
Every fourth of July, I see hundreds of people wearing shirts with the American Flag on it. Old Navy, especially, sells t-shirts with the flag like hotcakes every year, so I'm confused. I see a person with a flag shirt almost every day. It's so common, I don't even think twice about it, but to see it banned puzzled me because no one really does anything about it. I've never heard of an instance on the news or anywhere where someone wore a flag shirt and received a hard time. I mean, I've seen it all: flag shirts, flag pants, flag capes, flag headbands, flag accessories; you name it. My cousin told me that he wears flag boxers! Imagine that. I really don't understand how that is legal, especially because it allows someone to cover and protect their genitals with the flag. If I practiced the flag code, the last thing I would want to hear about is old glory touching a taboo. I think that even might be worse, in the scheme of things, than dropping a flag on the ground; but that's just me.

-According to the flag code, a flag is a flag or anything "by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag"

This, according to the website, means that literally ANYTHING with the American Flag on it, or anything representing the flag is an American Flag. Yes, folks, that includes drawings of flags by children, the Bank of America Logo, flag postage stamps, a Jasper Johns flag, my American Flag beach towel, and many more! On the website I visited, it even had a picture of a dog's chew toy where the American Flag was the design on the bone. This really puzzles me because the flag code applies to all of these items. Meaning, the usual regulations: you can't drop it, burn it, or display it in the wrong way. I'm not sure if that is at all possible considering the items I found bearing the flag.
But once again, I can't drop the flag, but a wet body could wipe itself all over the American Flag and my dog can gnaw on it for hours. I'm perplexed.

An Introduction (finally!)

I had trouble writing my intro, so I decided to write and plan my body paragraphs first. Here it is. Any problems I had with it, I wrote in brackets. Help please?



According to Building Suburbia, between 1994 and 2002, real estate developers created about 1.5 million housing units in planned communities per year (Hayden 3). These suburbs, however, are hardly a recent phenomenon. For almost two hundred years, Americans have sprawled into the outskirts of cities, idealizing the suburbs and planned communities with their spacious houses and generous yards. Although some criticize the homogeneity and poor land use of these communities, the majority of America does not heed this particular criticism because more people live in the suburbs than rural and urban areas combined (Hayden xi). [Trans into thesis] Planned communities have become the American Ideal because of safety and because they embody [different adjective?] the American Dream. [too much repetition?]

Tentative Thesis

Planned Communities have become the American Ideal because of Predictability, Safety, and ensure the pursuit of the American Dream.


What do you think?
With these issues, I will address isolation within communities (I'll possibly address gated communities), as well as safety. Even with this isolation, I can make references to the social issues behind these communities, as most did not allow Minorities at the time of construction. In terms of the American dream, I'll address the created myth of how every citizen wants a house of their own with a yard to bring up children. I can also bring up gender roles, and how some communities were built and specifically designed to have men work and have women domesticated.
Are there any problems with this that I should address? Thanks for your help.

Steroids for my Thesis?

Mentioned in the previous post, I could not decide on a tentative thesis for my junior theme. I'm doing my paper on planned communities, and after reading up on what is considered to be the first planned community, Levittown, I finally found some articles describing the social issues behind these Utopias. After reading a page on the University of Chicago's website, I noticed that Levittown's initial contract and signing agreement ensured that no "races other than Caucasian" were allowed to live there. Mentioned in the earlier post, I'm one step closer to bringing these social issues out in my junior theme, but I still can't prove that all people in these communities believe in this contract or are racists. Hmmm (I'm terrible, I know, but I still think the silent issues and "secret messages" of race and race barriers today are really interesting.) Maybe I should limit my thesis to the people who created these super-towns?
I'm not sure, but I received my main book in the mail today: "Building Suburbia" by Dolores Hayden, and it follows suburbia and planned communities from the 1800s to today, and it is mainly about the social issues surrounding this movement of "new urbanism". I hope this will provide a basis for my paper and my thesis so I can make up my mind! Until then, I'll be struggling to uncover info.

Disturbia

So my Junior theme topic is suburbia, mostly planned communities, and the social issues surrounding it, but I've had a really tough time coming up with a thesis. I'd really like to address isolation, race, and safety, but I can't prove that everyone who lives in planned community is a racist or an isolationist, nor would I want to label them as this. However, I do know that a lot of planned communities were built for isolation of mainstream culture and safety, but I can't prove that the people in it to this day follow or support these issues. What's really frusturating is that I can't come up with a thesis so I can start my paper. I guess what I'm saying is that I need to narrow my thesis to the builders of these communities, find proof that everyone living in these communuties is crazy, or change my thesis completely. Help?

Suburbia

As an emerging topic that I might want to write my junior theme on, I recently watched a very interesting TED talk by a man named James Kuntsler about Suburbia. It mostly discussed the architecture of a majority of suburbs and a general layout of each town. This man really hated the suburbs and really hated the choices we made as humans, and Americans, to build boring, "depressing", and uninteresting buildings that weren't nice to look at. He said that waking up in the morning to find yourself staring at empty space, a roadway, boxy looking buildings (a la 80's) and a huge target that violated the curves in the earth make us as humans depressed and that must change. He made an example of a town with a nice outdoor place to sit, many surrounding shops, and a charming atmosphere as a superior place to be. He believed that that was a place where someone would actually volunteer to go inside and want to hang around in. But if Americans built ugly buildings, where he believes the architects just said "f**k it", this says to the world that we are not a worthwhile or interesting people. He proposed that we turn these disgusting monstrosities into townships with a common square, that people in America would be happier just from being around this positive atmosphere.
I had never thought of any of this before, and it was an interesting perspective and comment that American society creates places that are "not worth caring about," as he says in the talk. I agree with him completely when I have to take long car trips through Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and other states where I hate looking out the window to just find a big, boxy abyss filled with huge Wal-Marts and other enormous stores. It's well worth investing in making America more worth while, but we'll have to wait until we get the money. Bummer...

What is Twitter??

It seems like a new craze is sweeping the nation: Twitter. But I really don't have a good grasp of what it is. It's changing facebook, it's allowing faster communication somehow, and everyone from politicians (President Obama, for example) to Rock stars seems to be using it. Twitter allows the user to post what they're feeling at any time of the day, as much as the want during the day, but it's limited to a certain number of characters. I never knew that the internet would really want to know what was going on at every second of my life, or even if they cared, so maybe Twitter is a tool for conversation? Or if chivalry and the feeling to want to know about other people besides ourselves is emerging? Who knows. Or is it just another blogging device or a facebook-esque tool? Enlighten me.

Myth of Rules and Incentives

After listening to Barry Schwartz's TED talk about rules and incentives, it really got me thinking. Are rules and incentives really the best thing for society? Sure, I believe that a society must have some basis of law, such as regulations against murder, abuse, theft, etc., but I believe that a lot of rules and regulations can keep a person from taking ownership on the smaller things. For example, as a girl of 17, my parents have many rules for me. One is that I can only go out with friends once a weekend (bogus), and that I have to be home at a certain point. Sure, it's normal for me to be against this because I'm a teenager, but my parents have never given me a chance to try to set up my own schedule for evenings. Never once have I violated any rule of theirs or have been involved in anything a parent would call sketchy, so then why do I have rules like some sort of drug addict? I mean, I love my parents, but I think that it would be a better approach to have very little rules for outings and see how that goes. Morally, I would be taking responsibility and ownership for my actions. I would feel more obligated to abide by standard customs and the expectations of my parents because my they would be trusting me, and I would feel worse if I violated their trust when they gave me freedom. Instead, I'm pretty cynical towards these rules and feel like breaking them often.
In terms of the myth of incentives, when hearing about the people in Switzerland who felt morally obligated to dump toxic waste in their neighborhood because it was their civic duty, then about people in the same situation who were offered incentives and turned them down, I was very intrigued. It was very interesting that less people let the government dump in their area because they were offered some amount of money. I feel this same way about incentives. I feel like my incentive for all of the teenage pressures (grades, college, etc) should be me feeling good about my work, and about me taking responsibility for my own actions. I would much rather have an accomplishment, or a failure, and know that it was up to me to make it happen. Instead, I have incentives to do well because I'll "get into the college of my choice" or I'll "have more time to spend with friends." I really hate it when people breathe down my neck about these things because I think incentives, especially when used on me, are useless. Will someone please let me live with my achievements and failures, and the consequence be on me and not the tangible things around me?

Will the Spirit Snag the Statue?

The academy awards are tonight and the average viewer basically has one category in mind: Best Supporting Actor. I saw the Dark Knight this summer and really enjoyed it. We all know, however, that the Joker stole the show. Heath Ledger was great, but will the academy choose him? I feel like his nomination is overly hyped. If Heath Ledger weren't dead, would his role receive the same amount of attention? I don't think so, but basically everyone I talk to about this subject begs to differ. They think he's a great actor and that he deserves it, regardless if oxygen isn't flowing through his lungs at this point in time. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, but it's pretty obvious that he will win tonight. I'll be sitting at home, slightly disappointed. I really hate when people hype things for me. It just ruins my outlook on the movie; I expect more than the people who saw it first, going in with little to no expectations. Especially if this hype involves a beloved dead man--an attractive man, who plays an unconventional role for a nomination: a super villain. I mean, if best supporting actor means that this actor steals the entire movie from all other characters, making the audience focus on them the entire time, then yes, Heath Ledger deserves it. Call me cynical, but this was not my favorite year for movies.

What is Race?

We attempted to answer this question in class, but I've never really thought of the answer. It just never entered my mind. I thought it was some vague definition, with ethnicity, skin color, heritage, cultural identity, and physical features of some sort included. It seems really complicated; or not. Maybe it's something that we as a society makes up for the sake of labels and stereotypes. I'm torn.
This morning, our teachers also asked how many races there were out there. Now that's impossible to answer. There must be hundreds; thousands. I remember there being a really controversial case on the Evanston School Board about Hecky (a black man who runs a really great BBQ restaurant on Green Bay) and how during a discussion about issues within the school about being black, and what it means to be "truly" black, he said "We're just a bunch of mutts anyhow. I don't know what the big deal is." He was fired afterwards, but I'm not sure why. I completely agree with him. People have not been breeding with just their own race since the dawn of man-kind. No one is "completely white"or "completely black". There are millions of variations of people, skin color, and ethnicity in the world.
Today, My friend ironically wore a "stereotypes make everything easier" shirt in school. I guess the fact that there are millions of variations on race just complicates things :)

Superbowl Ads: Relating to the Demographic

I, the 17-year-old, white female watched the super bowl this Sunday with a couple of friends. the first ad I witnessed was some sort of car ad with Mr. and Mrs. Potato head driving around. Mrs. Potato head wants to give her husband some directions, but Mr. Potato head decided to rip her plastic mouth off and throw it into the road. This ad struck me as very bizarre and didn't sit well with me and my friend. Sure, we were so shocked that we laughed, but what kind of ad is this? Is it okay to shut your wife up when she makes a mere suggestion? This ad wasn't the only semi-sexist ad, played for the demographic of 25-54 year-old white men that night.
The next commercial break sported the idea that every time you crunch a dorito, a women's clothes disappear. Next, tons of "Go Daddy" commercials, showing a choose your own adventure of pornography? (I'm not sure what they're for, but I have an idea...)
The list goes on and on. The commercials were so true to the demographic it was ridiculous.

This is me, thinking critically about the media

During the past few days, we have been discussing minority involvement in dramas (or the lack thereof). Mr. Bolos and Mr. O'Connor said that there were basically two types of minority involvement in network dramas: no involvement at all or tokenism. To me, this is a problem.
But going beyond said dramas, where does someone like me, who goes to an extremely un-diverse school, form their opinion of minorities, mainly, African-Americans? There seems to be two options besides a homogeneous cast or tokenism on network dramas: All-Black sitcoms and MTV.
Reiterating what the teachers said, black sitcoms are rarely dramatic or serious, and the various casts are basically clowns; just there to entertain us, the 25-50 year old males.
The current MTV is a waaaay different story. This channel projects that all blacks are "gangstas", "thugs", or "pimps". The music videos, mainly rap and hip hop, make black men seem violent, sex-crazed, and basically illiterate, while the videos make black women hoes and objects. Bill Cosby, in one of his routines, compared rap music videos to minstrel shows. I whole-heartedly agree with him on this one. Even at school, I hear the influence of the videos through language that people use and the treatment others. I mean, when I start to overhear a white male my age say something like, "Yo, get off my grill, hoe" and another white male respond with, "Hey, stop acting so black," you know that something is a little fishy. I swear to god I hear similar conversations to this all the time! Since when can one "act black"? Are people really that one-sided?
These videos never project a positive image of an African-Americans, yet I'm not sure how to stop them besides expressing my opposition. Any suggestions?

Teach Your Children

As I was sitting at home today, I turned on the IFC channel and this movie called "Jesus Camp" was playing. I decided to watch it, as I remember it being nominated for an oscar a couple years back and by recommendations from friends who watched it for their junior themes last year.
It's about an Evangelical Reverend (Becky) in Missouri who takes children under 15 and their families to a camp in North Dakota to "spread the word of Christ" and create some sort of "God's Army".
That movie scared me in many ways. The documentary basically filmed reverend Becky's sermons to the children, as well as her encounters with many of them. The way that the 5 or 6 children the movie followed acted while in church or conversing about their religion puzzled me. It's hard for me to understand the impact that religion or god has on you, as I was brought up completely heathen by my parents. I never went to church or temple on weekends, nor did I attend holiday services. It never was a part of my life, and to see these kids completely consumed by it; reciting verses to strangers, wearing bible paraphernalia 24/7, and being politically active in issues such as abortion and gay marriage (I mean, I didn't even understand the meaning of abortion when I was in elementary school, so how are they supposed to understand the context and choices that one has when they get pregnant at such an early age?)
In Reverend Becky's words, she was creating an army of children. It was scary to see her speak and try to convince these kids that president bush is their hero because he supports the evangelicals and appoints them to the supreme court, or that the devil uses children as targets so they must never do anything that the bible prohibits, or using popular music and energy during sermons to attract the attention of the young so they're not at a "dead church" in which ordinary people just sit around and listen to a sermon.
It was just freaky in general to watch all of these kids eat up everything she said and live by it to the core.
I guess now I know why this class is teaching us to think critically about what people are saying to us; who knows, without that, I might have joined god's army...

Values

After discussing American Values in class, here, what I think, are the top values held by most Americans (not in order):

-Safety is big, in terms of having a system of laws, the police, army, and homeland security precautions.

-Materialism/Consumerism- Americans dedicate most holidays to buying and indulge in sale days such a black Friday; pretty much any luxury or necessity has a cost.

-Simplicity- such as topics/ depth of typical conversation, design; basically, Americans design events/products within reach of the "common folk".

-Innocence is a big one, in terms of corruption on wall street, politics, sheltering children, etc.

-Family- big because "a family is always there for you", "will love and cherish you", etc

-Vanity- Americans constantly buy things such as makeup, hair products, or plastic surgery to feel better about themselves or look more presentable.

-Humility- Being humble. Elitism is not widely accepted nowadays, as most Americans do not want their president to be one.

-Success- Climbing higher to the top. No one job is good enough. One must keep trying for better and live accordingly.

-Religion (or lack thereof)- Most people either surround their life with it, pondering if there is a god, or spend their time bashing it.

-Freedom- Americans pride themselves with freedom; we have a constitution, a democratic republic, etc.