RAWRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Blog

We have been posting and commenting on this class blog for the majority of the semester. Did your experience writing on the blog change the way you write in class? Did it do anything at all? Did it help you reflect on the readings for the class? Would you like blogs to be included in other classes as well? What are your overall feelings about the blog? Does your experience with the blog make you want to take some online classes or experience do more school related work online?

How has your life changed during this semester of college?

After our first semester of college I'm sure a lot has changed in everyone's lives. It was the first semester living away from home. This puts a lot of responsibilities on ourselves like managing our money, time management doing laundry, buying food, doing school work. How have you handled these responsibilities? What us the hardest part of bring in college? What is the easiest part of being in college? Also how has your relationship with your family changed? Have your parents been treating you more like an adult? How so? Finally, there are a lot of benefits of living at home but what is the one thing that you miss the most about living at home?

On Turkey and Consumer Culture Protest Movements

Every year, around this time, my thoughts turn toward home, family, and...the destructive potential of the American market economy. As Americans, we are expected to gather around our tables, give thanks to whatever higher power we may believe in, and enjoy the fruits of another year's harvest together with our families. Then, the day after, we are expected to make a pilgrimage together to a mall, or Wal-Mart, or some other Temple to Cheap Consumer Goods, and pay homage to another god. And every year there is at least one news report of devotees to the dollar trampling one another in the early morning rush to buy.

So, every year, I feel the need to take a step back for a moment and consider what effect my own purchasing habits have on the rest of the world. Certainly, I'm not trampling anyone to grab a coffee at Starbuck's. Nor am I kneeling at the CD racks within the hallowed halls of any capitalist temple by downloading an album on iTunes. In fact, most "Black Fridays" I don't even leave the house. Sometimes, I count myself among the few participants in the annual social protest event known as "Buy Nothing Day." The Buy Nothing Day website calls for a "24-hour moratorium on consumer spending." I can do that. I'd rather not be at the mall on Black Friday anyway. I'm more than happy to sit at home, watch some football, and feast on leftovers.

But, every year I wonder...is this really an effective form of protest? Would it, in reality, be better for me to go out and spend a few bucks for the people who have to work on the day after Thanksgiving in order to afford a decent holiday season? Is my ability to stay at home and comfortably enjoy a hot turkey sandwich and a football game really just symptomatic of the degree to which I am immersed in our consumer culture? Another blog post I found on a fashion blog site through Google makes a similar point. These bloggers suggest that "there needs to be a more sound concept where everyone could bind together and help causes instead of hinder businesses."

Is Buy Nothing Day an effective form of protest? Is Black Friday even a day worth protesting about? Are there other, "more sound concepts" out there for one who is critical of consumer culture, but also skeptical of forms of protest that seem a bit too "easy"?

Cavemen

In the "Caveman" episode we watched in class on monday, we saw many different cultural myths. One of the cultural myths that was prevalent throughout the episode was that of the conception of cavemen as being primitive beasts. Through your own experiences or the experiences of others, have you encountered any type of misconceptions because of your race or gender? How did that make you feel?

American Eagle Ad 2

http://www.ae.com/web/index.jsp. Go to this link and look at the American Eagle ad. What American myths does it portray and why? Do you think these myths still exist? Why do you think that American Eagle has ads like these? Do you think it helps thier sales?

From Rags to Riches

Horatio Alger wrote a lot of rags to riches books. Unlike Herbert Spencer, Horatio tells us that anyone can achieve the American Dream if only they work hard, have concern for more than just themselves, and stay persistent. His character in Ragged Dick shows us his concern for others as he dives in to save the boy. We have heard stories about those who had nothing and became successful (Abraham Lincoln) and those who are just born into a rich and successful family and earned their way with their father's name (possibly George Bush). I guess what i am asking is do you think that out of all of today's "successful and rich" people how many of them earned their success the hard way or did most of them just inherit the fortune and fame?