posted by Sam and Michelle
Post your 450 word (minimum) comment and 100 word (minimum) response to a classmate. You should be responding to the two lectures about social inequality. You can write anything you want about whatever you hear in the lectures.
play, but all of us that play poker know that sometimes a 7 deuce just won’t cut it and you have to work extra hard to stay in the game at that point! And two, that even when people do try, there can sometimes be such an insurmountable number and never-ending wave of continual obstacles in one’s path that as emotional beings, sometimes people, spent, just eventually crack under the pressure. Thus, it is
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imperative to always when tempted to only want to debate the right foot, try walking in both shoes of the person or people that you’re judging because as Professor Richards pointed out until you live that life and have to trudge through it yourself, you can never guarantee that you would end up with the same hand that you are currently “lucky” enough to be playing.
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One thing keeps coming to mind for me, you play with the hand life dealt you. Life totally sucked for me growing up. I moved out at 12 years old and began to make my own way; my mother played the "as long as you live under my roof…" card (ya that backfired big time). I was determined that being poor was not who I was but just a current state of economics that would change if I made it do so. I lived a lot of that woe is me life but never buckled to it or accepted it. Many others did accept the role they were given instead of creating their own and bucking the system, their loss.
I am now 41 and retired and have had a fairly adventure filled life with all the ups and downs, but not once did I ever say poor me or give up.
With that in mind I can not accept it when people give some BS sob story about how hard life is and they were not born with privileged or money, or they were born into a bad neighborhood (try living in a friggin box and see how bad the crappiest apt is after that). I hate to hear someone complain about how life is hard and they focus on what others have instead of driving on for what they want and Earning it. There is no limit to what a person can accomplish if they set their mind to it…….bullshit. That is totally not true, but dont blame it on life and circumstance because YOU can control that, blame it on biology. If you are born stupid you are screwed for the most part. There really is only so far you will be able to go, but for the rest out there, no excuses. I saw a 2 legged dog walking, a woman with no arms flying a plane and driving a car, so when I hear moaning and boohooing about "life" I think of people like that and consider myself a slacker LOL. People like to attribute self made people's situations as Good luck or right place right time, the reality is the vast majority of those people worked harder and smarter than the rest and that is why they "made it". They refused to be set in place and did not let others dictate to them what life IS.
There is a social liability that some have in regard to race, and there will continue to be one. Whether it is the same race time and time again, who is to say, but everyone can not be at the top. Society has got to be made of of people in every social and economic level and it will always be made up of those willing to allow themselves to be held there. It all starts with individuals pushing harder, studying more, working longer and smarter and then encouraging others to do the same. Giving in is easy, standing apart and leading is hard. Take the hard road no mater what color or socioeconomic level you are at. I agree with Sam, if your born into money and you want to really test your metal, set that aside and dive in doing the crap work. No mater what happens in my life I always keep in mind where I started and all the hell I went through to get where I am now, but I also understand that "Rich" has many definitions and I like that one that fits for me. Pick what you believe "rich" is and never stop, slow down, or allow obstacles to deter you. Those obstacles are there to weed out the weak, and the test those that really have what it takes to Take life on head to head and bend it to what they want regardless of what others may say or do.
I hope I didnt stand on my soap box too long LOL.
Ding-fries are done.
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Undoubtedly my favorite lesson so far in the course. I very much enjoyed learning about Social Inequality as it pertains to the entire sociological spectrum, versus the subliminal way we deal with it on a daily basis. In the example Sam gave during lecture where he had the eight individuals line up in front of the class, something struck me as odd. It’s common knowledge that as a whole, whites have a higher family income than blacks (just using these two “groups” as examples). Sam’s example displayed this effectively, but with the whites and black/browns interdispersed throughout the line of wealth. The point that I gathered from this whole exercise was that while we recognize that as a group whites are wealthier, individually we can infer nothing.
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I believe that although people do have many factors that play a huge part in their success, we all do have the power within ourselves to do whatever that we can to survive and succeed. In most people’s lives there are obstacles that will prevent you from being able to do certain things, but it is up to you to be able to try your best to overcome what you can. There are many people who cannot afford to go to college, but still do. People get so used to believing that what they are going through is too hard and that they will not be able to make it because of factors that make it impossible to them, but if you are always thinking this way then this is the way that your life will be. I was an inner city kid from the Bronx, and there were many factors that made it difficult to succeed. I have had teachers and administrators who didn’t even care about the well being of the students. It wasn’t until my senior year in high school that I realized the differences in peoples drives to succeed I life. College was not an option for me, my father made it clear that if any of his children did not want to go to college we can all move out the day after high school graduation and begin our adult lives. For many people it’s the opposite, college wasn’t even an option. I had friends, who never considered applying to even a community college, let alone a university. I also had friends who decided that they were going to go to ivy leagues and they actually did. When I was accepted to Penn State my own high school advisor was telling me that I should go back and look at my acceptance letter to make sure that it said Penn state, because she thinks it might have said Pennsylvania State Community College instead. I was dumbfounded and I couldn’t believe that she would even say something like that to me! I had just as good a chance as anyone else to get into Penn State, so why would she say something like that to me? Sadly this is how many people are in the public school system in urban areas. Coming to college has been the most difficult task in my life thus far, but I am here and I will graduate, and continue my education from here. If more people believed that they could do the things that they wanted to do there would be more drive within people to set goals and actually meet them. Rich or poor there will always be obstacles to overcome in life, so you must make the necessary actions to ensure your personal success.
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I was never a person to believe that just striving for success would get an individual far. To me, this is a lofty and unfounded belief that is supported by individuals who have made it using that notion. It does not include outside factors such as race, social status, and discrimination. Some people just cannot achieve at the rate they wish to because of their situation. For example, as much as a young black male from the "projects" may try to overcome the odds he is faced with, he will always face some resistance. He may get into college but he will still have to worry about achieving and working twice as hard as his white middle to upper class counterpart just to gain acceptance and a great deal of respect. However, many may view that situation and say that can apply to a lot of people. But in my opinion it is different. Success is achieved when an individual realizes what odds are stacked against them and plans a way to overcome them all while believing in themselves and that they actually can rise above. To just put faith in the methods that have worked for other people's success is not wise. A prime example could be the SATs. If an individual is attending a low income high school in a low income area that has yet to efficiently teach college prep arithmetic and English they cannot expect to have the same scores as their peers who attend a private or middle class high school. They must understand the challenges in front of them. They cannot take that test with the knowledge that was taught to them. They have to search for more, they must aim higher. The people that have done so are the ones that made it to college and are the ones that have a greater chance at success. This is not to discourage those is less that optimal situations. It is actually an attempt to encourage. Success is not a static formula. It is ever-changing. People have to manipulate it and make it work for them. They have to understand that a black person's success and how they gain it is different from what a white person may do which is different from what someone with a Muslim background may try. Success is related to race and gender and class. It is possible for everyone to reach but it may be easier for some than others. Time after time I have seen people primarily in the Black community discouraged because of the unseen obstacles that weren't taught to them in the textbooks and in the media. They were always taught to aim high and not necessarily how many steps are needed to do so. In the end, I believe that if people were realistic and open to the idea that injustices are still present for many individuals a more concrete "guide to success" could be made.
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