Class 9.- Culture of the United States

There is no one best way to know a culture that through its history. There is no excuse to say that America is synonymous of  junk food and the glamour of the Hollywood stars. The United States is much more than that. As we all know, it is no longer about one person or two or three people, it is about the whole nation. A nation  with victories and defeats. A nation that is trying to go forward and does not surrender to adversities.  I think we can learn from all the positive and negative things and infect ourselves with the Navajo spirit, why not?  I just hope that they do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

I like the history of things because is so deep. Also I found it both informative and entertaining. I am especially interested in the thought of what is hidden!! So, I enjoyed this course, I cannot deny it.

Class 8. Fahrenheit 9/11

In this class, we talked about the regrettable events that occurred after the attack of September 11, 2001. Many people say that the documentary that Michael Moore made is a fraud to discredit the former president, but nobody can deny that there are many coincidences that arise suspicion. It is so unpleasant that I find it difficult to believe that it is true. I think the film was interesting, not only for the information but also for the sarcastic way of telling people the truth on the face.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, the abuse of power makes me angry. But that is not the worst of the war. What I now find the most worrying are the consequences that this brings, such as the seeds of hatred between the two countries. I clearly remember seeing how people discriminated the people who looked like Pakistani. People automatically lumped them with terrorists. How many abuses were committed! One of the most shocked things I saw was many Pakistani adults and children that were celebrating the World Trade Center fall. What will be the future of these Pakistani children and the others that had been affected by the war? Is there any way to alleviate the pain and leave the hatred behind?

As you know, I like the website TED a lot! So,  I have just seen a video related to this two months ago. I hope you see this video. It is very touching. It is about two mothers who turned hatred into strong friendship by forgiveness. One of them is the mother of one of the victims and the other is the mother of one of the terrorist who participated in the terrorist attack. The relationship  between them and how they served as examples to other families is incredible.

Class 7. School desegregation orders

What most called my attention was the doctrine “separate but equal”. It was a shameful mockery that African Americans were forced to accept. As it is the case with any problem like this, children are the most affected. What is more, it is shocking how the American society taught hatred to young children! So far, discrimination remains present.  A contemporary example of this is the Pakistani schools that teach hatred for Indians and Hindus. I know it is very difficult to change people’s mentality among generations, but not impossible. At a certain point, adult children are able to reason and  know what is right and wrong. So, there is no excuse for it!. I strongly believe in karma that what comes around, goes around. In other words, what you do to others, the same will be done to you.

Furthermore, I really admire the courage of those people who struggled to abolish segregation and discrimination in general. Otherwise, the currently president of the United States would not have been elected by many people. This is a clear example of the major change of mindset of American people. Much had been achieved in recent years, but much still remains to be done to ensure a lasting and real change.

Class 6. Bilingual Education

I think Bilingual Education has many positive aspects. It gives foreign children the same opportunities as American children to make choices, explore their own interest and try to have a life which is better than their parents’.While it is true that children have the ability to learn faster, I have friends who suffered to adapt themselves to a new life in another country with another language and culture even if they had a little knowledge of the language. Unfortunately, not all the countries have bilingual education. Aren’t children supposed to be the future of the world? So, in order to develop the world, it is our duty to support children to have the best start in their lives. That is why I support it. The United States is one of the countries that has a great amount of immigrants so it would be great if it continues to support the bilingual education, creates more programs to improve it and responds to the language need of the children who deserve a better education.

There are still people who reject bilingual education. Down with racism and xenophobia! How long will this go on? I don’t get it!. Whatever differences they have, they must not make life difficult for the kids.

Class 5.The role of big corporations in America

I think big corporations are good or bad depending on how they work. On the one hand, they give job opportunities and better health and retirement benefits, contribute to the high level of convenience and the most important aspect is that they help to the development of America. But some of them control America. They dominate local markets, exploit their workers paying them little amount of money. Consequently, this can produce recession or even worse economic stagnation. Besides that, some big corporations are corrupt and take part in government’s decisions.

I recommend you to see the documentary film called “The Corporation” on youtube. This filmthe capitalist system and the negative effects of corporations getting out of control and horrible things that they did, intentionally or not. It’s incredible how people become blinded by greed and lose sight of their own principles, and are capable to sell their own mother! How disgusting they are! How many things happen and we never find it out. Thanks to the testimonies of courageous people who did not engage in corruption, we can find out these horrible things now. Unfortunately there are more people who fall into the temptation of corruption than honest people.

Class 4. Economy

It’s sad to know the current situation of the United States. It’s seems that there is no way out of this bad situation. Although President Obama is trying to avoid a second recession and make dramatic decisions to help the country, He will need a miracle to save the United States from an economic crisis. Unfortunately, President Obama  has to pay the consequences of very bad decisions made by the former President George W. Bush in his last term and has to deal with disputes between political parties as well. Maybe the economic recovery is going to take time and American just have to be patient, as Obama said, in his last speech. However, everybody has to be prepared and aware of uncertain times. As far as I know, the economy is not going better and tax cuts will continue.  It’s very difficult to not be negative but we hope that the United States recovers as soon as possible and the problem become major, especially because children are the most affected in the crisis.

The recession won’t affects us as bad as other countries who has a strong relation with the United States. Nevertheless, we can not ignore that the world is living a terrible moment. Maybe the recession kills the American Dream, or maybe not, but there many people that still believe in their nation even the President can do nothing to save them.

Class 3. American Government

We learned about the structure of the United States Government from the readings and the presentation of Shirley. What called my attention was how each branch of the government depends on the other ones. It’s equal to everybody and nobody has the absolute and damn power! How different is it from our chaotic system! Maybe it’s not totally perfect but it’s a good plan, don’t you think? The dispute between Democrats and Republics can become a problem even so the intention counts. The political differences occur everywhere. It’s impossible!

Another good point to remark is the actively participation of the citizens which really matters for the development and success of their country. They are so compromised with the democracy and have special groups in charge. Finally, I clap the fact that each year the federal government publishes the officials who have been convicted of corruption  and point at the bad politician. I just hope Politicians don’t have a memory as bad as ours.

Class 2. We the People

In this class we saw some videos about Indigenous Native Americans and listened the speech of Shadia about the history of immigration in the United States. we also talked about the second reading “We the People”. One particularly interesting thing was the Native American philosophy and beliefs. I do not agree with them on some things and agree on lot of others. I believe that we have to treat mother nature with love and respect because it’s part of us and  vice versa, but I reject any type of wish ritual; however, I respect their beliefs.

Moving to a different subject, I can’t understand why there are a lot of people who are against restrictive gun laws. Guns are not the solution. There is a lot of proof that it is an awful mistake. One example is the movie “Bowling for Columbine” which  shows the violence in the American society and how easily you can get a gun in the United States. It’s very alarming! Unfortunately, nowadays we are seeing an increase of crime committed with the use of guns in Peru as well. I hope the new President can solve this problem to improve our future.

Class 1. Search of America

Unfortunately,  I didn’t go to the first class however, I got a lot of information from the readings. So, I feel I can give my opinion on this subject. I found this course interesting and informative. I think the American society is a salad bowl because people don’t lose their individual culture  no matter where they are. People  cling to their identity and share their own traditions without interfering with others.

On the other hand, I think is very important to know the two sides of the coin. I’m very  impressed by the openness and self-critical of the American society for better or worse.  Despite we receive a lot of positive and negative information about American society from movies, television and books , under no circumstances we can’t fall into the error of pre-judging or generalizing as usual. Beyond a question, there are a lot of stories behind it. Long ago, I saw this video on TED that I want to recommend to check out. The talk is entitled “The danger of a single story” given by the novelist Chimamanda Adichie.