12/2/2009
Human Geography provides more information for any one person to look at and retain. The information that has been given within the readings, speakers, and from class discussion has affected my point on what the world is doing to provide for its people. I know the United States has had its flaws but I hardly ever hear about the other countries unless the U.S. is fighting with them or the president is meeting with other rulers.
Talking about the president brings me to his speech which was presented on December 1, 2009 about “Decision Afghanistan.” In this speech, President Obama notified all who watched that he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, but is slowly removing the troops from Iraq to place them in Afghanistan. Also, he believes the war will have some conclusion by July of 2011 and troops will be brought back to face the troubles we as a nation face. Personally, I like what is being done but there is no way to clearly end the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. The people over there will still have attempts of terrorism, and as we can look back in history and see that we have been attacked by terrorism. If we as a nation thought it was under control then, why did we get attacked on September 11th, 2001? It is simple, there is no such thing as full security especially over such a wide spread of land. There are people entering the U.S. illegally every day and this allows them to target government and normal people. We think of terrorism to be a governmental issue but over look the societal point of view. People in the U.S. don’t look alike and there are wide spreads of ethnicity. This is what allows people to be overlooked and allowed to live the American dream. I am not trying to take that away from anyone considering the fact that I am allowed to live the way I do because I am a “White American” but we don’t see the danger within our own walls. As given from one of the readings, “Walls,” many different types’ walls were built to keep the enemies away and from attacking their people. There is nothing that is going to keep people completely out of the reach of what they want. If someone were to offer a certain amount of money to be let into the U.S., do you believe they would be let in? Scary to think that something as simple as money could bring terrorist straight into our country and be given a false identification to simply turn around and fly planes or set bombs into buildings to bring a great country to their knees. A subject such as this could be talked about for hours upon days but I must move on to another issue that falls in the lines of money.
Moving on to the great subject of money and how many countries abuse and use it for power. Dr. Pillay spoke to the class about his background in South Africa and how HIV/Aids are affecting the country. On top of the disease, the doctors they are counting on to solve this dilemma are concentrating on other needs. One is money from richer countries to pay for a pill that helps treat disease but also the aid of Viagra for older men with erectile dysfunction. I wonder why doctors always have to look at the paycheck to determine how they must live their lives. There are dying people overseas and within their own reach that need them to step to the plate and provide the service they went to school for. People don’t become doctors to make the money but to do something they enjoy. I know money is one of those issues that keep families afloat through hard times but doctors must realize they have the power to change someone’s life and get paid a lot of money. They could be killing two birds with one stone and broaden the range of people they are helping. Viagra is only helping one group of individuals, as a cure for Aids would be helping all groups of people, whether they are young or old.
Another side of money leads me to a reading and partial class discussion on oil and coal. This nation we live in thrives from the production of oil but is too greedy to find the other sources to do away with such a polluting factor. A few years back the U.S. discussed fossil fuels and other alternatives for gasoline which is a product from oil. These product ideas came about, one is the electric motor in the car and another is hydrogen cars. The electric motor has stuck around throughout the states but hydrogen cars aren’t found in small towns such as Canton. We as a country need to be thinking of the future for generations to come and provide the environment we live in with some decency. The nation elected one man into office that stated over and over that he had no factor in the price of oil but he never thrived to help the country out by reducing the price. Why is it that Americans think of their pocket books before their hearts and minds? An easy answer to question would be that, we as a nation are corrupt and hypocritical. If our nation would live under the golden rule and provide the needs of our country and allies then we would be set and not ranked 40th of all nations. For a country that was once set at the top or the world is now ranked as low as 40th is embarrassing. The U.S. is suppose to be “The Land of Opportunity” but I believe we are a nation of “disappointment,” that could also be an understatement. There are suppose to be jobs available for all people who enter the U.S. but the problem with that is we don’t have enough jobs for the people that already live within the nation. This causes problems for both the legal residents and illegal immigrants. That is correct, there are illegal immigrants that are taking over the jobs of those need the jobs for a living that are legal. Then again we think this could be the reason for part of jobs being taken, but there are more robots taking over the auto industry that is slacking each day. Should this to be blamed on the government or future presidents?
We as a nation look over an obvious sector of downfall that causes this recession we are in, which is the fall of Enron. Who is to blame for such a fall? Is it Skilling, Lay, Fastow, or possibly nobody? To be exact, what Enron did wasn’t illegal at the time but the fraud that was committed was wrong and illegal. One person that everyone in our nation overlooks time after time is our former president, and what actions he should be accounted for. President Bush and Ken Lay were close friends but he claims to know none of the business that Enron was conducting and being involved with the CEO of a great company, is this our president’s stupidity or pure genius that sticks out? I feel that we as a nation have been screwed over by our past president and he knows all the wrong doings he has done to us. We step back and look at all the great presidents and inventors who brought us such great success but one president that will stick out above most of those great creators. President Clinton sticks out like a sore thumb when it comes to wrong doings but, why don’t we see the president who had oil stock, friends with the largest fraud company in Enron, and ties to bombing of the Pentagon. Then that takes us to our new president that has a different skin color than any other president we have had and that is an issue. Every man has his flaws but he is intelligent and has the right mindset to bring this country out of this hole. Even though our president shows me his brilliance every time he steps up to the podium, he speaks above the intelligence of the U.S. people. As was said in class, the education of the U.S. is below some of the major countries such as; China and Vietnam. So, do we blame our president for these actions of talking above most people or do we turn it to our parents and teachers? Teachers take the blame for our students not learning anything in school but we miss the largest part of it all, the parents. Each child spends more time at home or with their parents, than they do with their teachers. I understand that it’s easier to blame someone that has little to no control over their students due to new laws within the U.S. government, but it’s obvious that students need the comfort and extra help from their parents. I could go on and on about the government and other issues within this section that we have covered in class but would like to gain more knowledge of such problems that could be changed.
Questions that may relate to this class:
Who is responsible for our view of terrorism, or the actions that happened on September 9th, 2001?
If money is such an issue for countries why do they spend it? Do we blame this era on plastic cards and loans?
Does a party really matter when a “president” is selected?
What is the projected view of the o-zone in ten years?
Will there be better products subject to gasoline?
If we know that HIV/AIDS men are have intercourse with virgin women to cure their problem, what are we going to do about this? Will government step in and have an impact on this situation?
Is race still an issue? If so, why?
If terrorism is such an issue, why don’t terrorist attack sports games, presidential speeches, the Olympics, or any type of entertainment show?
Who do we as a nation have as allies?
Is the fall of Enron significant to our past president Bush? Does this cause discourage or pressure for our new president?
What is the point of learning more about human geography when we can study both human and general geography in the same course?
Could this class be directed toward debate of class member’s views?
Posted at 10:30 PM by Ryan Burns