Ignorant, Oblivious, or Both ?

According to Mark Hertsgaard in The Oblivious Empire, Americans are oblivious to the countries and governments around us and overall it is our actions overseas in these countries that makes foreigners not only hate America, but mainly the American people. However, I seem to disagree with Mr. Hertsgaard. I believe that Americans are not oblivious, but that they just are flat out ignorant to the core of their soul. I don't believe that we as Americans intentionally try to disregard others needs, or that we intend to be inconsiderate, I just feel that we feel that what ever is best for America is best for everyone else. This misconception is a very common American flaw, but all in all I feel that most Americans mean well. In fact, I believe Mr. Hertsgaard is right about something and that is " the embarrassing truth is that most of us know little about the outside world, and we are particularly ill-informed about what our government is doing in our name overseas" (Hertsgaard 783). So there is no way that we can possibly be blamed for everything our government does. The American people only have so much control over their government and it's actions. The problem isn't just that Americans are ignorant in foreign countries but that we are ignorant in our own country. We even ignore our own people's needs, wants, and feelings. I love America and I myself can be considered ignorant in some ways, but everything has faults. No one ever said America had to be perfect.

The Demand for the "Magic Kingdom"

Hollywood and places like Disney Land which can be referred to as the "Magic Kingdom" are the way the mass media portrays America. I agree with Todd Gitlin that the whole world is "speaking American by wearing jeans, drinking Coca Cola, and eating at the golden arches" (Gitlin 825). In a sense this is transforming other cultures and their values too. I mean it is possible that American culture and necessities are globalized so much that it is universal to find American entertainment, clothes, and food almost anywhere you go. However, it isn't the same for other cultures. If people from other countries say from places such as the Middle Eastern countries, it is going to be very hard for these people to find authentic Muslim entrees, or clothes. I mean think about it. How many malls can someone walk into in America that carry a Hijab (the Arabic term for "cover" or veil for a woman)? Yet, I could go almost anywhere in the world and eat a hamburger and drink Coke, or buy a baseball hat or all types of Western clothing. Globalization is largely based around American culture. Each time something is created in another country, we as Americans utilize it and Americanize the product. We even Americanize food from other countries. We may have Hispanic Food, but that doesn't mean that it is authentic. There is too much demand for American products in my opinion, but not enough demand for foreign products. America is dominate in countless ways across the world through popular culture, through things such as clothes, food, entertainment, and even the "English" language has been Americanized. In a way globalization should be called Americanization.

Americans Are Prisoners of Compulsory Education

The point of having an education is to have knowledge, but what happens when this knowledge is taught forcefully? Shouldn’t learning be a decision rather than a requirement? Things such as wealth, politics, and religion are some examples of things that are slowly corrupting students from the age of five until they graduate from high school. The reason why this happens is because the schools allow this corruption to occur, and for that I don’t blame students for rebelling against compulsory education. I believe the American population is disempowered by compulsory education because students are forced to attend school, and public schools are lacking funding and an emphasis on individuality.
Compulsory schools have too much authority over attendance. Students are dropping out since they are forced to attend school. This authority is so outrageous in some schools that it could be described with “enough reason to think of our schools ---- with their long-term, cell-block-style, forced confinement of both students and teachers ---- as virtual factories of childishness” (Gatto 153). Locking up students inside a classroom all day, teaching them the same repetitious lessons does nothing but shelter them from independence and adulthood. In addition, every school has a different curriculum, which means that there are different classes and graduation requirements for each region. If a student attends a school in Nevada and only needs 21 credits to graduate, but then moves to California, he/she may need 3 more credits than what was originally required in the previous school. This is a factor that the student has no control over. It’s almost like punishing the student when they did nothing wrong at all. Unnecessary consequences such as a lowered G.P.A. from moving and so forth discourage students. Eventually, many end up with a lower income job if they drop out, meaning a lower standard of living. This increases the number of Americans living in poverty.
Every public school is lacking funds in one department or another. Some examples of this, including insufficient amounts of textbooks, desks, and even sanitary products such as toilet paper, lead me to believe “American schools are literally falling apart” (Moore 140). Inadequacies such as these make it difficult to learn. If students didn’t have to worry about having a desk or a book, it would probably be easier for them to focus more on learning. Keeping in mind schools can barely afford sanitation products, it is understandable that with little funding a large amount of teachers are underpaid. Teaching is an important job, yet Michael Moore reminds us, “ we somehow can’t find the money to pay a starting teacher more than $31,900 a year. And we act surprised when we can’t get results” (Moore 140). If teachers were paid more money, society would consider them more valuable based on this higher level of income. Teachers would be more motivated to teach students more effectively if they had a higher annual income, even with the rigid structures they must teach under. Besides teachers not getting paid enough, the facilities teachers have to teach their students in are overcrowded and unsafe. Too many students are crammed into tiny classrooms with capacities that are meant for only a small number of children. These students are supposed to be the product of America, but the government doesn’t seem to be investing any time or money in them. It’s simply easier to take advantage of uneducated people rather than educated ones.
Most importantly, compulsory education is lacking individuality because most schools are promoting conformity. Consequently, students are taught to imitate “so the kids learn to submerge any personal expression. They learn it’s better to go along so that you get along” (Moore 147). For example, almost every school has some type of dress code or uniforms that students must follow. Conforming to promote equality is fine. However, as an adult in society, I learned it is better to have students differ in thoughts, emotions, and actions. Since students are limited on how to dress in school, it also limits how students think and act. Limiting such things makes it easier and more efficient to be followers rather than leaders. Not only are students being taught to conform, but they are also being taught the to bored. No one ever said that learning couldn’t be fun. Instead of focusing on test scores or standardized testing, they should be more focused on students individually, allowing them to be creative. Schools should realize education is about the students learning important things that benefit the students rather than what school officials think is beneficial to the students. This lack of individuality leads many students to feel uncomfortable. It is hard to do anything when you feel uncomfortable, especially learning. Letting students be more individual would make compulsory education and possibly higher education more desirable. Americans that have a good education usually have higher paying jobs that contribute to the economy.
Ideally, an education involving less authority and more freedom, the correct amount of funding, and individuality is one only obtainable in one’s dreams. The real solution is change. In a complex society such as ours, it is hard to recognize this. The benefits that all students should have will undoubtedly take years to arrive. It’s disappointing, because by the time these benefits arrive, it will probably be too late.



Works Cited

Gatto, John Taylor. “Against School.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical
Thinking and Writing. 7th Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston:
Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2007. 152-159.
Moore, Michael. “Idiot Nation.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and
Writing. 7th Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St.
Martin’s, 2007. 132-149.

Mormon Missionaries And How They Harass The World!!

Mission Impossible

Every weekend at my home in Las Vegas until I moved to Texas, Mormon missionaries would knock on my door while I was in a deep sleep guaranteed before ten in the morning so they could try and convert me. Overtime this became very annoying and I felt as if I were being harassed. One would think after the fifth or sixth time that I told the same little missionary boy "No thank you, I wouldn't like any information about the Mormon religion," that he would stop coming to my house but it never phased these people one bit. I mean how would they feel if I went to his home almost every day or weekend and said " Excuse me sir, would you like any information today about converting to Satanism ?" I'm sure if I did this, it would seem as though I were wrong, almost like I was committing a crime in the eyes of these people. Just for the record though, I am not a Satanist. In the first two minutes of the video that I am posting, it shows exactly the kind of harassment I dealt with weekly. While watching this video think of how it would feel if this happened every weekend at someones home.

Elmira

Elmira is not a very lively looking woman. In fact, in this portrait of her she looks depressed, hopeless, or possibly pained with anguish. Her facial features are soft and sensitive and very feminine, however, her expression is strong and serious. Empty is the only word that could describe her eyes. Western garments cover her body. She is wearing a brown bonnet that articulates her face, and a matching yet ragged brown dress. These articles are not the most glamorous of a western-style wardrobe but she is as fashionable as any other woman from the west. Her presence is powerful.

Kiddie Propaganda

Last class we discussed how American popular media portrays the wealthy and the middle class through mainly the mass medium of television. I never realized until recently how it is common to portray a middle class man as a fat, alcoholic, idiot parent or American man. We also mentioned that most often the middle class on T.V. are portrayed as violent. At first, I overlooked the violence in our video games, and T.V. shows as harmless, that in almost a jokingly matter I would laugh about a show persuading someone to kill someone else. I thought that it was dumb to think that a T.V. show or a video game or even a song could persuade someone to do something.
Then one day I remembered babysitting my nephew who at the time had been about 4 or 5 years old. He constantly was playing a video game that had violence in it or watching a T.V. show that had some form of violence. Never once did I think he would imitate any of it, but he did so with his brother. In fact, it scared me to realize that he was imitating professional wrestlers on T.V. with his older brother. If he imitated that he could imitate almost anything.
Hopefully, he won't always imitate everything he sees on T.V. What upsets me is the fact that some of these shows on T.V. are there to influence little children and if they can get them to think they can wrestle like a pro who knows what else they might idolize. It might be saying its okay to be a fat slob, or an alcoholic father. So what if you can block the channels, there are always video games, songs, and new shows on different channels that are just as bad as the others. Some of these trashy shows have trashy characters that these kids are going to idolize and I just wish there was a way to stop it.