What were your three most important issues? Why are they important? Did the articles you read and discussed relate to these in any way? How? If not, did you consider any new perspectives during your discussion? In the end, did your opinions change?
Blog posts must be 200-400 words, proofread, and void of common grammatical errors.
Your blog posts are due before the start of class next week.
Please email kualbreaks@gmail.com if you have any questions!
My three most important issues were poverty/access to food and water, human rights, and education. To me, poverty and access to food and water are closely related because it is very common for those living in poverty to not have access to food and water. This is an important issue because as part of society what we do is work for each other. If people are left without food and water then they are being left behind, and this is not healthy for society in general because we are all human and we all deserve access to a healthy lifestyle (including food and water). The next most important thing is human rights because even though we may be feeding one another, that does not mean we know how to live together and how to treat each other well. If we don’t treat each other well, then we are only increasing the amount of suffering in our world because others outside of ourselves are not being properly accepted and celebrated. Education is the next top issue because it is a very powerful thing to have. Those who are educated are able to recognize patterns in history to know when the politics or society around them are not doing as well as they could be. Education empowers individuals to stand for what they believe by allowing them to make reasonable arguments that can change not only their own world but also the world of those around them.
ReplyDeleteThe article we read was related to education issues and how America’s educational system is currently failing our students. We agreed with the article, saying that our education system is not up to par. And we also discussed how education can be a human right because it is so fundamental to how we treat ourselves and others. After this discussion, and speaking with other groups, my three most important issues did not change.
My three most important issues were access to food and water, human rights, and healthcare. Food and water immediately stood out as essential to survival, the very basics, and as such I decided that they should be the foundation of my values. It's difficult to focus on other needs when the most necessary ingredients for life aren’t available. After food and water, human rights seemed vital; I interpret this as a variety of issues, but namely respect, a voice, access to housing, access to clothes, and fair treatment. Every individual deserves to have his existence acknowledged and no one deserves to be discriminated against, particularly based on his biological gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, socioeconomic statues, education, etc. With human rights come the other ingredients for a livable existence; while clothing isn’t as essential as water, no one should have to go without. And while food is more important than an equal voice, everyone should have the power to change the status quo. Lastly, I put healthcare. This is the maintenance that comes with living; along with the necessary ingredients for life, one needs a way to stay alive and doing so without healthcare is often infeasible.
ReplyDeleteMy article was about an aquifer in Kansas and, as such, didn’t relate to my top three choices. Reading this article made me realize that my issues are very human-centered and, while this isn’t a bad thing, it would be beneficial to include the environment as one of my priorities. Additionally, talking in a group about the other two articles reminded me the importance of education and fair treatment, the latter of which was one of my priorities. However, what most shocked me was the distribution of wealth in America. Previously, I had no idea that our middle class was struggling this much and that our top one percent was holding so much wealth. After viewing the short video, I changed my last priority to poverty. From the beginning, I knew all the issues were interrelated; but for me, it seems that universal human rights are impossible to achieve without a better distribution of wealth. Of course, my issues may change by the time I go on another Alternative Break, and I think that speaks to how connected they are. But at the moment, I believe that all humans deserve the basic ingredients of life.
My three most important issues were Peace/Security, Human Rights, and Access to Food/Water. I had a really hard time identifying what I thought to be the most important issues because I felt that all issues listed were almost equally important. I think that Peace/Security has significance because I want everyone to be able to feel safe where he or she lives. I think that Peace/Security is one of the oldest global issues that people have had to face and is relevant to everyone, everywhere. I think that Human Rights are important too because they are related to many different global problems. Everyone should have equal rights and opportunity. To me, that is something that is not debatable. Access to Food/Water is significant because to be able to live, people need food and water. I think that people that do have access to food and water take it for granted and that is why I list it as one of my top issues. The article that I read was about the Ogallala Aquifer. Although the aquifer situation relates mostly to environmental issues, it can also be related to Human Rights and Access to Food/Water because the aquifer will eventually run dry which will contribute to agriculture that feeds people. If there is not water for the crops, there is not food for people to eat. I would say that my opinions did waver while participating in discussion. Some of the videos and articles that we discussed addressed points that I do not think about very much and definitely contributed to me reconsidering my placement of some of my issues. I truly feel that all issues have significant importance, which made the process of ranking them difficult, but I appreciated the exercise because it made me think about my values.
ReplyDeleteMy three most important issues in descending order were peace and security, access to food and water and human rights. I believe that peace and security is important because I am studying Latin American culture and focusing in on the systematic exploitation and manipulation that happens in many of those countries, which makes me value day-to-day peace and security. I value not having extreme fear of the power forces in my country. Access to food and water is a biological need to survive; therefore, it stands rather high in terms of important issues. Additionally food and water are resources that a great percentage of the world lacks access to. Also, human rights are extremely important to me and I feel it goes along well with peace and security and access to food and water. Human rights also encompass freedom, liberty, and equality, which are all very important to me. Something that stood out to me the most from this class is that everyone has problems, everyone has hard, and there is no reason that anyone should compare their “hard” with another persons “hard”. We are all facing challenges and I need to recognize that as opposed to who has the greatest challenge.
ReplyDeleteMy three most important issues were access to food and water, peace and security, and human rights. I feel that access to food and water is so important because they are both necessary for survival and without access to these resources many people across the globe would be dying. If humans were competing to find these resources that are necessary to live then I believe worse issues such as war would arise because of this competition. Without peace and security many people would also die off because of mass crimes being committed without any control. The world would be full of mass chaos for a while without peace and security. Human rights are also important because without human rights people all over the place would not feel safe or enjoy life. We need our rights in order to stand up for ourselves and have a say in what is important to us. The article my group and I read on water conservation in Kansas related to my issue on access to food and water. The article discussed that if farmers do not cut down on their water usage from this aquifer their water supply will be gone in 60 years. Without water they cannot grow crops and this will be a major problem for access to food. This article made me realize even more the significance of having access to food and water and how this could actually be a real problem in the near future.
ReplyDeleteThe three most important issues for me were economy, human rights, and access to food and water. Human rights are often not respected, even today. Wars, climate change, and inequality contribute to the problem. A framework should be followed, as proposed by the United Nations, to insure that human rights are effectively respected worldwide. Access to food and water is one of these human rights. From Africa to India to the United States, far too many people do not have their basic caloric and nutritional needs met. This problem will only increase as the globe warms and becomes less suitable for growing crops and as the population increases. The economy, for me, is the most important issue. All of the issues, in some way, relate to the economy and its function. The global economy needs to be set up in a way that favors humanity over economic growth. The globe is incredibly non-egalitarian today. Making the world more equal would help other issues such as access to food and water as well as human rights.
ReplyDeleteAll of the articles read and discussed related to the concerns that we talked about. Issues of the failing American educational system, the depletion of the Ogallala aquifer, and the poor practices of Monsanto all involve these issues. My group read the article about Monsanto. The company’s practices have lowered peoples’ access to food and water while impeding their human rights, particularly in India. Additionally, it is the lack of economic regulation that allows the company to do this. Reading and discussing the articles did not change my top three. However, it helped to illustrate how all of the issues listed are incredibly important and interrelated.
The issues I ranked as my top three were human rights, the environment, and poverty. The issues of human rights and poverty are issues that have affected me in my lifetime substantially. As an openly gay, androgynously identifying, feminine man, my whole life has been affected by the inequality and the discrimination of the gay population. Most of my childhood was spent in darkness as I tried to deny and hide who I was, and there are millions of children, not only in America, but in many other countries across the globe that are going through the same things. The fact that there are entire minorities that are treated in such a way that they are afraid to be who they are, and live in literal fear for their lives, is astoundingly disgusting to me, and I think it is something that needs to be changed immediately. Most of my childhood was spend below the poverty line, and on multiple occasions my family has been homeless. The video shared in class on Thursday showing the distribution of America’s wealth, is something that amazes me. I can’t believe that there are people who literally don’t have a roof over their heads, and then the top one percent of America’s wealthy class has ninety percent of all of the country’s wealth. My family was lucky enough to come out of that rut, but many families are not so lucky. The environment has become one of my top priorities as I have started to mature. As an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major, the environment is something I have come to cherish. Many people take our environment for granted, and honestly have no clue how much of a negative impact we are having on it, and the future consequences of these actions.
ReplyDeleteThe article my group got was about the environment, the Ogallala Aquifer to be exact. The Ogallala Aquifer is a natural water source used for much of the Midwest’s agricultural needs, like irrigation. Over the years, this aquifer has began to be drained more and more, causing people to panic about the consequences of this aquifer being drained completely. However, even with growing concerns, no plans have been put into action on how exactly they can stop the chances of it drying out, meaning no more agriculture in the Midwest. This is a perfect example about how people care more about monetary concerns than the concerns of the environment. This only strengthened my ranking in my top three issues and they stayed the same after the discussions.
The top three issues that resonated with me the most were poverty, human rights, and education.
ReplyDeleteThere is a vicious cycle associated with poverty, preventing people from achieving their full potential. The incredibly unequal distribution of wealth in our country is keeping our poorest Americans struggling to eat and survive daily, while the top 1% holds on to 40% of the nation’s wealth. Poverty affects millions of people in our country, and leaves them powerless to do anything about it.
Basic human rights are, unfortunately, are not given fairly to everyone in today’s society. The right to feel safe and secure in your own identity, the right to marry who you want to, the right to feel welcome in any environment no matter who you are. All of these are concepts that seem logical, if we are all created equal, yet for some reason are lacking today. Rampant biases and discrimination create a society where the majority rules by privilege and it’s tough luck for the rest, and this severely holds our country back.
Educational inequity exists today in our schools, and puts those who suffer from it at a significant disadvantage. Great opportunities and teachers are offered at some schools, while other schools directly nearby might not have anything similar. This creates a learning gap starting at the youngest ages and multiplying every year this inequity exists. This results in only 8% of children in low-income neighborhoods graduating from college by age 24. Of the 400,000 students in Chicago’s public education system, only 60% graduate from high school. Clearly, the number of students this inequity is affecting is enough to deem it a primary issue in our country.
The article about the Ogallala Aquifer and the overuse of water in Kansas make me rank the environment a bit higher on my personal list. When the water supply runs out, the farmers will be forced to find a more sustainable approach to farming if they want to continue working. This can be applied to a much broader scale. If we don’t, as a society, focus on finding sustainable ways of living, we will eventually destroy our current resources. At that point, if we don’t have an alternative plan in place, we will not survive. Environmentalism is a very important cause, and one that I now realize is a lot more important that I thought it was.
The top three issues that I think deserve most immediate attention are poverty, access to food and water, and human rights.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of poverty resonated with me most because I have witnessed the lives of people who lived in extreme poor conditions. These unfortunate people are often doomed to bad faith that their poor conditions will remain the same forever because it seems almost impossible for them to improve their lives. This results in a vicious cycle that forever puts the poor people in the lower bracket of the economy – not because they are unwilling to work hard but because the opportunity was never presented to them in the condition they were restricted to be in.
Secondly, I think everyone deserves access to food and water. It is absurd to think that some people in the country – especially in America, the largest power nation in the world – do not have access to such basic necessities when the rich or even middle-class are able to enjoy the luxury of buffets and swimming pools.
I have human rights as my top three most important issues because I believe the society needs to grant every human being equal basic rights to maintain a politically harmonious atmosphere. Evidences of social disunion (riots and wars) are recorded throughout the history of mankind as the consequences of lack of equal human rights. For instance, the blacks rioted against the whites during the Red Summer in 1919 because the white people ripped the blacks of their human rights by publicly assaulting and lynching the colored population.
The article about Monsanto’s dictatorship over the seed economy in India relates to the issue of access to food/water. The article frustrated me most because I feel Monsanto’s claiming of absolute power towards entities of life (which are destined to grow and reproduce) is against nature and humanity. When the world is threatened by the lack of food resources, Monsanto should be more long-sighted in their company missions instead of worsening the issue by shortsightedly earning immediate profits from devastated farmers. The people I discussed my article with agreed with my opinion. However, they pointed out that there may be other dimensions to the issue which the article did not mention which may make Monsanto look 'less like the devil'.
My three most important issues were human rights, access to food/water, and the environment. They are important because human rights relate to everybody and allow for people to feel as if their existence is worthwhile. Access to food and water is important because it is the core requirement for life. Without access to food and water, none of the other issues concerning humans would be important because the people affected would not be alive. The environment is important because it affects everybody whether directly or indirectly and affects future generations. If we do not care for the environment, we do not have a place to call home that is sustainable for the near future and new generations. The articles I read related somewhat to the environment by pointing out that our resources (Ogallala) are finite and we must work to conserve them. However, if we do not pursue these conservation efforts through legal action, most people will be unwilling to cooperate and very little progress will be made. During our discussion, I also learned about how honors and non-honors tracks affect individuals through their schooling. I can see how sorting people into groups that get differing levels of attention affects individual success in the long run and I agree that this sorting should not occur so early in the schooling process, if at all. While I agree that these issues are important, they did not challenge the order of my list of issues because they do not stand in the way of the basics needed for humans to survive. Overall, I gained new information on nearly all issues mentioned and consider my knowledge expanded.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the three most important issues were access to food and water, human rights, and education.
ReplyDeleteFood and clean water were the most important for me because our bodies physically can’t survive without them. Two of the articles touched on these issues. The first was the article about the seeds and how the debt associated with farming in certain areas is leading to increased numbers of suicides. I think this article reiterated my opinion of this issue being the most important. It shows how important access to food is since the corporations can manipulate the prices so much and the farmers are still forced to purchase it. I put human rights next because to me almost all of the issues we are discussing fall under the topic of human rights. If I could rank them all #1 I would because they are all extremely important. Education came third because education is what spurs change. When people are properly educated they can make more informed choices that can spur changes that will affect the other issues at hand. I didn’t personally read the article about the education system but through our discussions it was clear that there is a need for reform within the US education system.
In the end, my opinions on my top three didn’t really change but my ranking of some of the other issues did. It was through our discussions that I realized I had interpreted some of the issues different than my peers and after discussing the matters their arguments swayed me to change my list.
The three issues I considered the most important to me were the economy, education, and access to food and water. Although I struggled throughout the class on deciding which of the 10 issues were most important to me, I continued to put the economy at the top of my list. I believe that with an efficient and stable economy other social issues have a much better chance of being resolved. I also think that continuing to educate future generations and ourselves is very crucial to fix the ongoing problems we have in the world. Another incredibly significant issue is access to food and water. I had a very hard time placing this issue on a ranked list because quite obviously without food and water the human population would cease to exist. Easy accessibility to food and water is unquestionably important to those in need and finding a clean solution to this problem is crucial.
ReplyDeleteThe article that my group read in class dissected the movie “Waiting for Superman”, which involves the current problems within the American public school system. We spent a large portion of our time discussing the experiences we each had within the public school system. Ultimately we each realized that all of our schools were very different when it came to tracking and separating students based on intelligence levels. I think this discussion solidified my opinion that we need to strengthen our educational system to be competitive with other superpower countries. I also was able to talk to other groups who read the Ogallala Aquifer article. As an out of state student I did not have any previous knowledge about the aquifer. I soon learned that it is absolutely necessary to try to sustain and try to reserve this resource, as it is used by many Midwestern states. After reading this article I reconsidered how I placed the environment on my list. I think that preserving the environment is an immediate concern and I should place more importance on the environmental issues facing the world.
My three most important issues were Human Rights, Poverty, and Access to Food and Water. I picked those three, because I saw them as being interrelated. Access to food and water is basic human right that is often limited for those in poverty. Thus, they’re important because the inherent nature of a human right is that everyone deserves and should get it. Therefore, if certain individuals are not getting their natural rights, it’s most important to ensure that they get them. The article that I read was on one cotton growing companies GMO cotton plant causing Indian farmers to commit suicide, as they were forced to grow expensive cotton and reaped little to no profits from it. This, then, related to my three main issues, as their poverty denied them access to basic human rights of a life without suffering.
ReplyDeleteIn discussion of the articles we got to the discussion of animals rights. This was particularly interesting for me, because I put it at number 4, where as many people put it at the bottom of their list. They put it at the bottom of their lists using the thought that it is most important to fix human problems before moving on to animals. Although I see and understand their point, my perspective didn’t change. (I don’t think any creature should have to suffer, and institutionalized inhumane treatment of animals negatively effects those instituting. Also, as animals can also feel pain, I don’t think they should be subjected to it, the same way humans shouldn’t be.)
I chose human rights, access to food/clean water, and education from the list of causes as my top 3 most important issues. I felt they were important because they each encompass a basic need that, once met, allow people to more capably address other needs. Each of the issues on the list are so interdependent that it is difficult and perhaps ineffective, to consider any one exclusive from the others. In order to address an issue it is necessary to consider it as comprehensively as possible and also within its context. Much like the many identities we have discussed in this course, there are many intersecting/overlapping facets of each issue on the list.
ReplyDeleteThe articles we read in this lesson illustrated the magnitude of these issues, provided multiple perspectives, and humanized the facts and figures. Also, the connections amongst the issues were apparent in the articles. For example, an article about ethically questionable practices of Monsanto featured an examination of human, environmental, financial economics, hunger, and nutritional economic impacts.
After reading the articles and discussing them with other people in class, I did not really feel I should change my list. I do think the lesson was a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas with others and exercise the skills needed in productive discussions.