Class- for this post, I would like you to access the MSU library databases and find an article related to the readings. Potential topic areas are animal rights, meat production, consumerism, group ideology, etc. Please read the article, and report back on the blog about what exactly you read and your reaction to it. Please cite the article and provide the title, author, and what journal you found it in. Responses are due by 5:00 pm, Friday, March 6th.
"Community" is a good warm word frequently invoked by citizens, social workers, and politicians. There is hardly any shadow to it. The word "society" invokes something large and impersonal; on the other hand, something elitist and exclusive, as in the expression "high society" or, closer to home, the American Geographical Society. the word "Individual" is often bracketed with society, but even more than society, the individual came under suspicion in the last third of the twentieth century. Not too long ago the individual was the pride of Western civilization, and individualism was a concept and a value that distinguished the West from other civilizations. Now "Individual" and "Individualism" seem to connote largely selfishness. in this article i plead for restoration of balance and esteem among the three terms, for it seems to me that, absent balance and esteem, we have a stunted and distorted view of the possibilities of human welfare, happiness, and fulfillment.
ReplyDeleteThe Geographical Review. 92. (3); 307-318, July 2002
Copyright 2003 by the American Geographical Society of New York
this is a piece of the article that expresses what i observe in society today. there are many things people think when it comes to the word individualism. like the article says there is a sense of selfishness that you feel when someone else talks about the individual. i think that society today needs to shift away from individuality a towards a more community based society, but only a little bit. we are at the extent of people looking out only for themselves and no one else matters. There needs to be a general consensus among people that they are not the most important thing on the face of the earth. i think this would benefit not only the individual, but the society or country as a whole.
Title:Hooked up or just hooked: teens spend four hours per day either watching television or online.(Demography).
ReplyDeleteAuthor(s):Patrick Tucker. Source:The Futurist 43.2 (March-April 2009): p.16(2). (849 words) From General OneFile.
This article discusses the effects that technology and electronics are having on todays teenage population. It presents the idea that electronic devices are beginning to take over our generations' lives, instead of enhancing them. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, nearly half of adolescent activities in the United States are driven by technology. The market for these devices is rapidly growing and according to Marc Bauerlein, The private bedroom upstairs has become the focal point of social life for these kids. If you want to send them into exile, tell them go outside and play." He is concerned that the social life of teens will become totally overwhelmed by technology, which is already having a negative effect on how bright we are.
Response:
The topic of this article is very relevant to me because I am a part of the generation it is pertaining to. In my opinion, technology is having a negative effect on teenagers, not only because it reduces the amount of time being spent outdoors doing healthy activities, but also because it causes a lot of them to become obsessed with their social lives. In the article Bauerlein suggests that texting is beginning to lower the writing and reading skills of teens, but I disagree with this because whether or not proper grammar is used, our communication skills are still being strengthened in an informal way. Like Bob Dylan said, the times are changing and with it comes new technology. It seems to me that Bauerlein's hatred for technology comes partly from not being a very social person because he fails to mention how healthy it is for young people to interact with one another, whether it is face to face or over a text massage.
This article dicusses three ways to think about self esteem and talks about the pros and cons of fixing self esteem.
ReplyDeleteThe first way is to believe low self esteem is the primary problem of our contemporary society, our social society and the complexity of it. The second thought about self esteem is that self esteem itself is one of our many problems in the world, no different than having a headache; that there is no cause to self esteem. The third falls under our family influences. We as a people believe that self esteem ios the key to human growth but what about those who are socially isolated, do to self esteem, will they be able to grow in society?
Undesirable Side Effects of Enhancing Self-Esteem.
Wesley R. Burr and Clark Christensen
Family Relations, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct., 1992), pp. 460-464 Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Very well stated Devin!
ReplyDeleteNice job guys. I wonder about that myself, as in, what if the problem most have is really low self esteem, and not self esteem that is too high. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteTitle: Biofuels:Potential Production capacity, Effects on potential livestock sectors, and implications for food prices and consumers.
ReplyDeleteAuthors: Hayes, Dermont. J Babcock, Bruce. J
This article caught my attention because it discusses things that will directly affect my generation and all others that follow. In the summer of 2008 fuel prices soared to record highs putting added pressures on all aspects of every industry because regardless if your company uses fuels or not you are linked to somebody that does. So auto makers started to come out with vehicles that would run partially on a blend of gasoline and corn which we call ethanol. At first this was widely accepted as a cure for the crisis at hand. With further review it was apperant that this was not in the cards, the rising demand for Ethanol had a nasty side affect. Consumers noticed an increase in the price of everything food related, this was true for everything from pork chops to a chicken salad at your local Outback. So all in all the effort to improve the situation backfired with increasing food prices and an added cost of living.