The Parental Choice

One thing that may hit home for some people at Hamline, or any person in general, is having gay parents. In society it is normal for most people to have a father and a mother.  But what if your parents are gay?  Many people argue that having gay parents hinders success, creates social instability, and makes their children have problems defining their gender. I beg to differ.

I grew up in a so-called "normal" household with both an active influence on my life from my mother and father.  I had no problems distinguishing my gender and have lived a normal upbringing.  But one peer from high school grew up in a gay parental household.  She grew up with two mothers.  Openly lesbian, her parents had no problem raising a child.  I asked her if she saw a difference in how she was raised compared to her friends with a normal household and this was her answer.  "Not one bit.  Like most relationships, there was a dominant parent, but never once did I feel that I was raised any differently.  I am still successful and attending college.  My parents let me identify my gender without pressuring me to be lesbian or straight.  I want people to know that it wasn't weird or awkward having to mothers.  They still treated me with respect, but the only influence that my parents pressured me with was their liberal point of views.  And I thank for that because it has allowed me to open my eyes and accept everyone.  I understand every household is different and each culture has respective point of views on how you should live your life."

I wasn't surprised by this answer.  Having gay parents never made her depressed or pressured her into drugs.  The only thing she learned to deal with over time was the ridicule from other kids growing up.  They didn't know how accept her parents often made repulsive remarks about them. She quoted, "At first I didn't know what to do about this, but my parents taught me that everyone is entitled to their own opinion so let them think what they want."

I idolize her for this.  It has helped me accept the gay community which ultimately helped me fit in so well at Hamline.  I just want everyone to understand having gay parents might bring rude comments or misunderstandings, but it won't effect your future unless you allow it to.  Here is a great video backing up my argument:

"Live your life with eyes wide open and understand everyone is equal."  This is an inspirational quote from my father, and one people should follow for their entire life.

"Fat" America

One huge sociological problem that the world faces today is obesity.  To narrow this down a bit more we must look at the best of the best of obesity... The United States!  But is it true that we are the fattest country?  And if so, why do other countries seem to be "skinnier"?

Obesity- grossly fat or overweight; exceeding 30 or more on the BMI scale

First and foremost, lets take a look at the percentage of obesity among the individual states:

How do we know America is fat?  Well, as of 2010, not one single state had an obesity rating lower than 20%.  And the sad reality behind this is that it continues to climb from year to year.  But how does this compare to the rest of the world you might ask?

In relation to the rest of the world, we are "normal" with our rate of obesity, but still the number one in the world for fattest country.  Worldwide obesity has doubled (almost tripled) since 1980, with America being the primary cause.  Although we may think we are the only ones getting fat, we are wrong.  But yes, it is true, we are the ones to blame.  With our innovative ideas of food packaging and processing, we have implemented a fleet of "Westernized" foods to the rest of the world.  These foods contain high amounts of fat, oils, and preservatives which in turn are extremely unhealthy.

Statistically, the percent of obese men in the world went from 4.8% to 9.8% from 1980 to 2010.  And as for the women, they went from 7.9% to 13.8%.  So from this we can see that we are not the only country who fails to "watch what we eat."  Only eight countries worldwide didn't have a change in body mass index ratios.

Even with the weight loss programs, gym memberships, and catchy tv commercials promising weight loss it will be hard to change anything we do.  We keep making the fatty foods, eating McDonald's daily, and skipping workouts.  But many people are trying to attempt a healthier lifestyle.  Here are a few links if you want to start a new healthy path in your life!

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/healthy-living/10-tips-for-a-healthy-lifestyle-783833.html

http://www.dumblittleman.com/2008/04/50-ideas-for-healthy-lifestyle-that.html

http://healthylifestyletruth.com/blog/33-healthy-lifestyle-tips/

Not So Quiet Racism

I wanted to do a post on something that hits home.  Something that really effects me or someone close to me.  This is why I made a connection with the concept of quiet racism.  Quiet racism is lined to the traditional forms of personal racism by negative feelings toward certain groups.  The advantage I have with this social problem is that I am part of the majority so I see and notice the oppression of certain (or all) minorities.  Also, being able to grow up within a family business has also give me a whole different perspective on this issue.

First and foremost, I want to talk about a few examples of personal experiences of quiet racism.  In high school I had this friend named Chris (we are still friends).  Chris is an African-American and was the first generation of his family to be born in the United States.  He knew growing up in a split household that he would need to create his own success.  I idolize him for these traits, but one day he came to make and said something that made me take a different look at life.  He came to me and stated, "Man these people I keep meeting at job interviews and around town are racist."  Me being the curious man I am, asked him to explain what they said to him.  He followed by saying, "It isn't what they say.  It is how they act around me.  They might tell me the aren't racist or they try to be opened-minded, but I just know that they don't like me because I am black.  Why do people act that way?"  I didn't really have an answer for him, but I tried to reassure him that this was normal and that he probably got the wrong impression.

But did he really get the wrong impression?  Or was Chris right?  I will agree with Chris and go with the ladder of the two.  This is where quiet racism fell into place.  People might try to act like they aren't racist or that they are non-prejudice, but it is the look on their face and the attitude they portray that sells it.  After fully understanding this concept I watched as customers at work, friends, coaches, and teachers all did this.  Now, I am not implying EVERYONE does this, it is apparent that you can see it among certain people.  One of the causes of this in today's society is the thought that racism has disappeared.  It has certainly not, and by people not voicing their racial views vocally, they are doing it with nonverbal signals such as: tone of voice, eye contact, handshake (or lack of), and etc.  The said reality behind this is that many people do not believe they are in the wrong.  They have a false conscience telling them if the don't talk about racism then they aren't racist themselves.

This is something that has to change.  I want to see people quit using these subtle signs of racism.  It is almost as if many years of racial freedom fighting is being swept under the rug.  Ignorance will only make the racial issues worse.  People will always have their only perception on minority groups, but I think basing your racial beliefs off of stereotypes shows incompetence.  I want to see more information and classes available in grade schools and offices nationwide.

One prime example of quiet racism is the death of Treyvon Martin.  A man went use stereotype intuition and an innocent young child died because of it.  And the killers is essentially getting away with it scot free.  He claims he is not racist and racial prejudice had no influence on the outcome of the scenario.

Take a look at this article and tell me if you see how the quiet racism connection:

http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20120419/TEEN/304199995/-1/news?Title=Did-Zimmerman-act-out-of-fear-or-racism-

The question still has to be asked...  How close will we ever get to eliminating racism?  Will it always be the "white-perspective"?  Will you notice more quiet racists in society after reading this?  If you do, don't be afraid to question the scenario or demand respect for yourself or a friend.  

The only way to change something is to have the confidence and belief that you can do so!

Polygamy Marriages

One of the topics in our book caught my eye when I was watching TV the other day.  I watched a show where a man was happily married.  Seems normal right? Well, he wasn't just married to one woman but four women total.  With shows about hoarding, reality shows about getting drunk nightly, and cat whisperers, I wasn't too shocked to see that our society accepts (more so fascinated) polygamy.


Polygamy by definition is he practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time. I wanted to figure out some of the history behind polygamy.  To me it has always been related to the Mormon religion and I knew very little about it...


Polygamy has never been accredited to one specific culture and has been seen in many cultures worldwide for thousands of years.  Poly gamos is literally translated in late Greek to "often married", but polygamy is broken down into three categories:

Polygyny- a man having multiple simultaneous wives

Polyandry- a woman having multiple simultaneous husbands

Group Marriage- multiple simultaneous husbands and wives

Most commonly practiced is polygyny, but some countries may restrict polygamy laws to only having one form of polygamy practiced instead of all three.  Currently, forty-nine countries acknowledge polygamy as part of their civil law, but the United States not being one of them.  Also, nearly ten religions ranging from Celtic Traditions to modern day Islam and Christianity all have separate beliefs about polygamy.  This is surprising considering most people only recognize multiple marriages as a part of the Mormon faith, myself included.


It is an interesting concept, one that I neither believe is wrong nor do I support it.  I never knew that there was actually three separate categories.  Although it is not accepted or followed much within the United States, our society is breaking the social norms and trying to put a positive light on the situation. 


Here is an article of how it is impacting us currently:
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-09-13/entertainment/27075123_1_19th-wife-polygamy-ann-eliza-young

Living On the Poverty Line

The government's official poverty line is around $22,113.  Is this too low?  Is it substantial?  This is what I am about to find out.  First, I am going to to figure out the monthly expenses for a typical four person family and then compare this to the poverty line and see what the results are.  Then, I will see what expenses could be eliminated.  Finally,  I will analyze my results.  Here we go!


Assume this family is renting a small house in the Midway area...

Food- $500
Car payment- $85
Gas for one car- $120
Insurance for car and renters insurance- $160
Rent- $1100
Water and heat- $90
Clothing- $200
Internet and cable- $120
Toiletries- $100
School supplies- $30
Misc. (spending money or to fix car)- $150

So I could add even more expenses if needed, but at this point I am already at $2,655.  Multiply that by 12 (monthly basis) and you get $31,860. That is a difference of $-9,747  And this is barely more than the NECESSITIES! Now, I want to trim out some items...  The ones that could be considered "extras" are: Internet and cable (not needed; use a public library if needed), a chunk of the spending money ($75 or so instead), and a decrease in clothing as well.  The negative side to decrease the money spent on clothes is the fact we live in Minnesota and require warm clothing which usually costs more.

Even after trying to eliminate some of the "extras" the total is roughly $26,000, which is still above the poverty line.  I cannot imagine how difficult if would be to live off of that amount of money and try to provide a healthy lifestyle for my family...

Even having $26,000 to spend this family wouldn't be living comfortably.  There would be no vacations,  limited extracurricular activities for kids or parents,  poor quality clothing, no second car, and the list could go on for days.  Factor in the possibility the car might need repairs, you might get a ticket, you may have to pay hospital bills if someone is sick and you can already see it would be near impossible to live an average life with this income.  Over time this would take a toll on the whole family.  Parents may get extremely stressed and use a drug to compensate the stress.  Kids might be made fun of at school for having trashy or cheap clothing and eventually lead to lack of success in academics.  Parents might be working so much that they won't be active in the children's lives, causing the children to experiment with drugs or hangout with the wrong kids.  The possibility of living a normal life would be extremely slim.

I know I couldn't live like this and part of what made me want to be successful was watching my parents succeed.  These kids would never see this and have a hard time reaching their potential in life.  The poverty line is a depressing statistic and changes NEED to be made.  Time to make a stand and help people out living in this situation...

Social Structure

For this entry I took a look at the social structure of the United States education system.  Social structure is defined as: the framework of society that exists above the level of individuals and provides the social setting in which individuals interact with one another to form relationships.  To relate this to the education system we must understand that there are national, state, district, and individual school structures to the education system within the United States.  Each one implements a different type of authority that or structure that guides us to accomplish set goals.  Nationally we might have to meet certain test scores to enter college or graduate.  Each state might have a specific test that each student must pass to meet national requirements.  It is a hierarchal approach to social structure.

The individual school structure or requirements is what I am more familiar with.  Each school sets standards or ways of teaching that are supposed to further your education.  My high school was not exactly the most renowned school in the state of Minnesota, but it accomplished what had to be done.  Ultimately, all I had to do was pass high school and pass the mandatory state tests to earn my degree.  But what if I wanted to go to college?

This is where I saw the importance of the social structure within our school systems.  Grades.  Grades are ultimately what determined if I would make it to college one day.  Also, it wasn't just grades but the difficulty of the class I was taking.  I knew that if I were to finish high school with a high GPA that would be awesome, but the social structure insisted that I could get a lower grade in a more difficult class and colleges would respect that much more.  Is this a flaw within our social structure or is it the right thing to implement?  I was an advocate for the AP or Honors classes because they made me concentrate on a specific issue within a subject and elaborate more.  This helped me build more thinking skills that I still use today.  These classes set me up for success within my college courses.

I never thought about the social structure that was implemented into my brain from a young age.  But is it truly fair to say that if someone doesn't have a high GPA or test scores in high school that they are dumb?  There are plenty of people that I know personally who are extremely smart, but they accomplished neither a high GPA or excellent test scores.  Most of which have a very entrepreneurial mindset.  This is why I am skeptical of the social structure that has been pounded into our brains for years now.

Do you think only good students end up successful?  Think again...
Check out these extremely successful people who did not even graduate college... or high school for some of them!

http://www.neatorama.com/2009/10/13/7-highly-successful-high-school-dropouts/

Funny how you can follow the structure of society and it will bring you success, but you can also break the social structure and create your own success.  As an entrepreneur I have much respect for the people who rebel against the norms and I hope people continue to do this!

To Be Deviant or Not

Deviance is an interesting subject considering I have met many people in my life who would be considered deviant.  If you are unfamiliar with deviance means it is the behavior, ideas, or attributes of an individual or group that some people in society find offensive.  The range of deviance is extremely broad, but a topic that caught my eye was the labeling theory.

This theory defines itself by stating that deviance is the consequence of the application of rules and sanctions to an offender; a deviant is an individual to whom the identity "deviant" has been successfully applied.  A person within a relationship who might be unfaithful is labeled as untrustworthy and will likely repeat the same actions.  An ex-convict will be labeled as a criminal and that they will not succeed in life without being a criminal.  Finally, if a coach were to pay players to hurt someone on the opposing team how would he be labeled by the public eye?

Coach Sean Payton

This question connects with a current issue with Sean Payton.  He is (was) the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, a NFL team. Sean Payton and defensive coordinator, Greg Williams, put a bounty on opposing team's players.  If the bounty was met and the player was hurt they would pay cash to their players.  Sean Payton is currently suspended for one season and Greg Williams is suspended indefinitely.

For more info regarding the allegations go to this site:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bounty-345628-suspended-payton.html

Regardless of the outcome of the trials and appeals that will occur over the next year or two, the big question is how will these coaches be labeled for their deviance?  Does celebrity status allow deviant acts to slide by or are they taken more seriously?  We will never truly know the answer to this.  Many people speculate that Sean Payton will keep his coaching job with the Saints and will continue his successful legacy.

Is this fair?  Within the past year, coaching great, Joe Paterno was put under the chopping block for the sex scandal of another coach at Penn State.  He had no affiliation with what happened but was labeled as "dirty, naive, and irresponsible" for being the head coach at the time of the events.  So how can one coach assist in a deviant act of promoting the injury of opposing players without much negative labeling and a coaching legend has his persona torn apart because of the acts his fellow coach committed?

This is where I see the flaw in the labeling theory.  People misunderstand the actions of a person and the affects of the environment at the time of the deviant act.  Sean Payton did take full responsibility for his actions, but he is still given the chance to appeal his case and continue coaching.  Meanwhile, a coaching legend is ripped of his job and livelihood because of the selfish acts of a fellow coach.  I see a large discrepancy and do not agree with the labeling theory.  I would put a label on someone depending on the severity of their actions and only if they personally were affiliated.  And I believe everyone deserves a second chance and if they ruin this chance then it is fair to give them a negative label.  Whether or not you agree, deviant acts will be deviant acts and society will immediately label a person whether they like it or not.  Just another reason why our society is no where near perfect...