Saturday, April 10, 2010

Evolution 5

Socially the world has been transformed since 2000. our societies have been saturated with sex, materialism and egotism. Moral values are almost non existent as well as divorce rates reaching astronomical numbers and infidelity has become commonplace. More people have tattoos (which used to be taboo) but are now the norm. STDS, HIV Rates, cases of child and sexual abuse have all risen. our family values are at risk as society has become increasingly focused on the media, fashion, and the culture of individualism. From a cultural standpoint people's values from their birthplace are being replaced by American Values. For example my parents are from the Dominican Republic and most Dominicans are losing their cultural values and customs which are being replaced by American ones. Paradoxically so individualism has increased but nobody feels comfortable in their own skin and originality is frowned upon. Everybody wants to follow the next trend and lose their sense of self rather than think critically about society. Furthermore, incarceration rates (especially for young black men) have risen and abortion rates have dropped since 2000. Moreover drug abuse has risen and gone overboard to the point where drug users have resort to pain killers such as percocet and vicatin as well as other prescription to attain a new high. I believe that the mass media has influenced culture a lot since the 60s and more recently since the year 2000 by promoting sex more aggressively and emphasizing market values such as materialism, and egotism.

Society has also changed a lot since religiously. The scandals in 2001 about Priests molesting young boys has changed the way the world views religion and has put the Catholic church under more scrutiny. In addition the way that extreme capitalism has affected religion has been incrediblle. Mega churches have evolved the and the sole focus of certain churches are to genlerate revenue. Greed and materialism have corrupted the church. Certain pastors are taking tithes for themselves rather than putting the money towards services that the church needs and for the public good. Most sermons focus on prosperity and acquiring wealth rather than improving your well being and strengthening your relationship with God and giving glory to God. We have forgot to exhibit Christian ideals such as compassion, kindness, loyalty, dignity, faith, and altruism.

Evolution Part 4

The world has had a climactic shift in the environment (pun intended) over the last decade. There have been growing concerns about the climate change and excessive CO 2 emissions that are blamed for it. CO2 emissions are professed to be the main cause of global warming. Polar ice caps have been reduced by 15 percent the highest ever which reflect sunlight but when they are not present sunlight warms the water which circulates around the world and causes a shift in the climate and abnormal weather. In addition to global warming there have been some anomalies in geological events within the past 5 years. In 2004 there was a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that devastated Sri Lanka along with other countries that claimed over 220,000 lives. Then in the year 2005 there was a Hurricane that terrorized New Orleans mainly because the levies of the damn that are supposed to protect the overflow of water broke. There are still parts of New Orleans that are suffering form the grave impact of that tragic natural disaster that killed more than 1830 people. This year January 2010 another natural disaster happened. A massive earthquake struck Haiti and killed more than 250,00 people. There was another earthquake that hit and killed approximately 1000 people in March 2010.

Evolution Part 3

Economically our world has turned upside down. In September 2008 Americans witnessed a series of events that would lead to the financial crisis that we are still suffering from in 2010. A combination of the housing bubble, predatory lending, cds (credit default swaps) and cdos (collateralized debt obligations) contributed to the economic downturn. We are still in a state of recession in April 2010 and our unemployment rates are higher than they were during the Great Depression. In a nutshell greed, excess, and a lack of moral values led to this economic meltdown which had a trcikle down effect on the average consumer.

Politically our world has turned upside down as we have our first black president (bi-racial) to be exact. I thought I would never live to see the day. Barack Obama was elected to be president in November 2008. He was inaugurated in January 2009; it was a monumental event which I was fortunate enough to see. Unfortunately he inherited the country in a really bad shape particularly in the economy. He was received with skepticism from the Republican side but the majority of the American public was in favor of Barack Obama being president of the United States. One of his goals as president was to achieve bipartisanship in congress and hoped to work across party lines. Some people criticize the bail out of AIG and the burdening of the tax payer with this debt. This is one of the most difficult decisions Obama had to make early on in his presidency. The success he has achieved thus far has been in passing the health care bill. This was a long and hard fought win for the democrats and citizens of this country in general. Through the health care reform there will be more than 30 million Americans insured, pre-existing conditions will be removed from health insurance policies, adults under the age of 26 will still be covered under their parents' insurance until they are able to establish economic stability, and there will be stronger focus on preventative care. The changes that will happen as a result of health care reform in the next couple of years should be interesting.

Furthermore in 9/11/2001 a national catastrophe happened. The twin towers in the Lower Manhattan (known as the world trade center) were hit by the two planes. Other government buildings were attacked by planes but the damage was minimal. Both planes were said to have been operated by terrorists from the terrorist group Al Queda. But suspiciously so these "terrorists" took flying courses on American ground. This horrific event claimed close to 3000 lives. Everybody has their own views on the attack on 9-11. some say it was a conspiracy by the government to get us to believe that the terrorists were the enemies others believe that terrorists really did strike the twin towers. Well at any rate in the year 2003 the united States declared war on Iraq with suspicion that Iraq was responsible for the terrorist attack and that they had weapons of mass destruction. The ultimate goal was to find Sadam Hussein, capture the terrorists along and find weapons of mass destruction so they can achieve peace. Well it didn't exactly work out that way. Now the government pulled all of our troops out of Iraq to have them deployed to Afghanistan and to complete a counter terrorist mission there. Our country is now in 11 trillion dollars of debt because of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We owe China approximately 2.5 trillion dollars. This is the biggest and longest war our country has seen since Vietnam and so far 5000 soldiers have been killed. this has been an unfortunate event in the past 10 years.

Evolution of society 2

Scientifically the world has been revolutionized. The discoveries that have been made in genetics and stem cells will have a pivotal impact on humanity. Stem cells are cells that are made in adult bone marrow. Pluripotent stem cells can mature into different cells throughout the body (can turn into a neuron or liver cell) and has the unique capability of regenerating itself. The therapies that will be derived from stem cell research shows a lot of promise in terms of clinical application. These therapies that are being tested in research laboratories is projected to have the ability to cure cancer and neurological diseases such as Parkinson's.

In 2003 the mapping of the human genome was completed successfully. Now we can say that we know the secret to life. The deeper understanding of our genetic makeup will become crucial as we progress into an age where cancer is the second leading cause of death. Through genetic research and analysis ideally, cancer causing genes, proteins and promoters will be isolated and shut down before they can be expressed in the human body and possibly lead to the eradication of cancer in the human race. I know it may far fetched but with the rapid advancement of genetics and science in general this could become quite feasible.

Evolution of society 1

In the last ten years American society has changed dramatically. Over the last decade the world has made leaps and bounds in arenas of science, technology, politics, social issues, economy, and religion. Some changes in these arenas have revolutionized the way we interact as humans as well as how we establish global connections.

Technologically our world is entirely different from what it was in 2000. Our level of mass communication is unforeseen on a global scale. With the increasing use of the internet and other forms of technology such as GPS we have made it possible for globalization to occur. Furthermore the use of cell phone has risen by amazing proportions. I remember in the year 2000 when I was in grade school people in the in-crowd only had beepers. I would say in the year 2001 when I was in high school only a select few owned cell phones. However, in 2003 there was a shift in the population activity and more people began to purchase cell phones as they more readily available to the public. Then there was another shift in activity circa 2004 (when I first got to college) everybody began to utilize text messaging more frequently. A whole new era emerged in early 2007 when texting (text messaging) began to replace phone calls and personal interaction. House visits and phone calls are becoming obsolete because they are being replaced by text messaging. Text messaging has its advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that it decreases personal communication which can gradually deteriorate a community. In a text message there no non verbal cues or tone changes that can be detected so it is more difficult to understand somebody and a message can be easily misconstrued and taken the wrong way. The brevity of a text message is good if you want to get straight to the point.

Worldview

Everything that you have experienced in life affects your worldview: how you were raised, where you attended school, family background, and where you were raised. A kid who grows up in the projects in the South Bronx will view the world differently than a kid who grows up on 67 and 5th avenue in Manhattan. Unfortunately these disparities are ostensible in different aspects of a kid's life especially in education.

Even for kids who grew up similar environments there may may be a significant difference in the way they view the world. A simple example is two childhood friends who were raised on the upper east side in Manhattan but one grew up with an alcoholic father and an abusive mom while another one grew up in a normal single mom household. Our world views will vary based on our circumstances. Another scenario is where two childhood friends are raised in the housing projects: one friend attends a private school and his father takes him to different museums from ages 3-8. The other friend attends a local public school and is raised by a single dad who works two jobs and under his time constraint was not able to take his kid to museums. The kid who attended private schools will view the world as nurturing, full of opportunities and promising. In addition the museums he visited, different activities that he participated in,and the the people he met in school will lead him to be more open minded. On the other hand there is a large possibility that the other boy who was practically raised by himself and was not exposed to a world outside the projects will be more close minded, desolate, and view the world as hopeless, and devoid of opportunities. The richness of diversity is invaluable. Encountering new experiences, seeing new things and meeting people from different ethnic, religious, and/or economic backgrounds broadens a child's scope on life.

In general something as simple as going to the museum and seeing the Egyptian exhibit can change the way you look at your surroundings. In the long run knowing that there is more to this world than the Bronx or the upper east side in Manhattan will revolutionize your view point and will make you better equipped to handle life's challenges. Being open-minded can have a positive impact on the way you relate to people and ultimately provide you with more opportunities. The more extended the social network the more opportunities you will have, its just common law. This will increase your social capital and will put you in a better position to achieve success.