This article will throw a new light on the issue of the socioeconomic conditions of Native Americans. Remember that there are nearly 600 federally recognized tribes within the borders of the United States. And at least one of them is getting rich off of liquid black gold. Mind you, as you can read in the article, it is not without negative consequences that always come with sudden infusions of money into any system. But it’s worth thinking about.
Of course, oil refineries ALWAYS bring pollution and this will be no different. Pollution will destroy natural resources and harm people’s health. Cost-benefit.
I’m curious about what you all think of this. The problems of not recognizing same-sex marriage/unions are far ranging and leave deep wounds on many families….and “the children.”
I’ve been discussing freedom and determinism in a serious way for about twenty years and I’ve delivered yesterday’s class one hundred times if I’ve done it once. And Tuesday…for some strange reason I was in the zone in a way that I’ve never been with that particular class. I’d like to think that I stirred some things up in people with regards to how they…you…see the world of causality. I know that I rocked my own world in those 75 minutes and I suppose that that is all that really matters.
So why don’t you watch the video below just to jog your thinking and then kick out some thoughts. Perhaps now is a good time to consider reading the ideas of some other people and respond to them and not directly to the class. I’m quite curious about how you manage other people’s interpretations of the ideas.
This issue has meaning for me now that I visited one of the most conservative of Muslim countries where women in the “niqab” or “abeyya” or “hijab” were all around me. Certainly many of the more Western oriented women only worn the abeyya intermittently, and many refused to wear it at all, but many extremely progressive women wore it in the same way that many “progressive” women in the U.S. wear high heels, make-up, and nylon stockings. Like their American counterparts, few claim to be victims of a male-oriented, oppressive culture. Rather, they take it as a matter of course.
No doubt there are more than a few women throughout the Muslim world who feel oppressed by the mandate to cover up, but I’m thinking that the vast majority just go along for the ride–and a much smaller percentage totally embrace the experience as a path toward spiritual and psychological growth. (I have to believe, much like the two women in this video.) So my question is related to the French government and people who think they know best for Muslim women — “We are going to turn you into enlightened French citizens.” What should they wear to demonstrate this? Perhaps skin tight jeans and high heels? A tight fitting shirt with an under wire bra? Thong underwear? That’s enlightened…not to mention comfortable.
Seems to me that truly enlightened governance allows people to pursue the path toward self awareness and growth that best suits them — as long as they don’t harm others in the meantime.
