social media influence

Communication is key to success in almost everything. The technology in our generation today has made it easy to publish every single thought we have onto social media for the world to see. It has its benefits and draw backs; for example, accessing information for educational purposes has been made so easy you can learn about it on khan academy in about seven minutes. On the contrary, the mean tweet or the secret you exposed on a group chat can be the cause of a social media war. Celebrities tend to have this problem when posting support on social media that regard international conflicts or societal conflicts. For example, our beloved Rihanna star, Zayn Malik, Kim Kardashian and many others have posted a tweet regarding the Palestinian-Israeli war, supporting Palestine…but then deleted it due to arguments and all of the hatred that has been stirred up due to that. We would usually think that celebrities are the reason we think a certain way about a situation however in some cases celebrities aren’t powerful enough to influence everyone. An example of a way celebrities have succeeded in advocating for social change deals with the most recent case, Caitlyn Jenner. Bruce Jenner an olympian gold medalist who we all thought was a macho man turned out to be very feminine to the point that he became a she. Caitlin received both hate and support but more support than hate due to celebrities and our society today. LGBTQ people and supporters have advertised about it in a positive way since the 60’s . LGBTQ is something that takes over the social media, if you hate on it you will receive hate back. Social media today can be used to create powerful movements, impact lives and to modify our society today.

Kennedy the American Icon

The 1960’s were a time for people of different races and beliefs to speak out and fight for their liberties and rights. John F. Kennedy was looked up to and admired for all of his efforts to promote liberties for all, which made him a role model that people across the globe looked up to. In 1960, during John F. Kennedy’s presidency, one of the first things he created was the “New Frontier”. It was basically a new and improved “New Deal”. This new deal, allowed for segregation and discrimination against the LGBTQ, race minorities, genders, and religions to be reduced to allow for everyone to have an equal chance to obtain jobs and live happy lives. John F. Kennedy has earned this title because he gave the people what they wanted and what they have been denied despite the fact that having the liberty to express ones self and to feel safe isn’t a privilege but a right. John F. Kennedy didn’t allow for his personal opinions to affect the decisions made for the country, which is what many leaders don’t do. John F. Kennedy also deserves the status of the American icon because he shows traits of a leader by taking a risk, which led to a reward; his legacy lived, his laws were enforced by the vice president who also takes part in sharing the status of the American icon.

Tennessee Williams and Capitalism

First of all who is Tennessee Williams and what is capitalism? Tennessee Williams is the author of the novel called The Glass Menagerie:  and capitalism by definition is the trade and exchange of wealth made by private individuals and corporations. Capitalism is one of the causes of the great depression and Tennessee Williams addresses that matter but towards the people. Tennessee Williams has an interesting way of approaching this matter. He targets the people of the middle class rather than putting the blame on a bigger element such as businesses. Some may say its because he believes in change and the change starts in the people. However in this quote, we see that Tennessee Williams is trying to make a point. But the question is what is the point? “I reverse to the quaint period when the huge middle class of America was matriculating in a school for the blind. Their eyes had failed them or they have failed their eyes, and so they were having their fingers pressed forcibly down on the fiery braille alphabet of a dissolving economy.” Clearly we see that Williams doesn’t appoint a person to blame but he focuses on the effects of the dissolving economy on the people. He states that they are blind and their fingers are pressed forcibly down on the fiery braille alphabet. Braille is the language of the blind and their fingers are pressed forcibly meaning they didn’t choose to be put in that situation so they have to deal with it. More importantly he states that it’s fiery, meaning painful. As we’ve discussed in literature class one can conclude that Tennessee Williams believes that there must be pain before gain. I find it interesting that Williams chooses to target the people to make the change than the ones in charge of government, because most people will choose to target government and politics.

connecting it all to corruption and if we should worry?

In world literature we first learned about the American Dream and how it affected people in the 1920’s. Everyone was inspired to pursue this dream but not everyone made it. There were two kinds of people living the American Dream, those who were born into it and those who got lucky and worked their way up there. However we did see that during this Era there was the prohibition act, which made alcohol illegal. Even though it was illegal to sell, buy or consume alcohol we saw that the elite attended and owned clubs in which boos were sold and bought. This brings me to my central concern on political corruption. As we have learned in American studies today, corruption always existed however became more evident in the 20’s and exists today. Many examples of corruption today can be found in today’s society by looking at our Wall Street business owners and our politicians. Most corruption is the cause of the Marxist’s categorization of society today. The bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie are the multi billionaires who become rich so quickly we can tell that their life becomes categorizing things as products that have exchange and sign exchange value. However, is there really a solution? No, it’s a matter of choosing a point of perspective, and accepting that life isn’t fair but it doesn’t mean we can’t achieve happiness.

Why America?

America in the 19^th -20^th was known as the land of opportunity. Many countries at that time were underdeveloped and America had the most stable economy. We were the most advanced in that time essentially. Now around the world there were many great conflicts, whether dealing with poverty, running from the government as a criminal or for safety, or just for a new start. Most of the immigrants were European, mainly Jews, Slavs; Irish, Russian etc. many Jews were seeking their “homeland”. During that time the holocaust was occurring in Germany. As we all know about the holocaust, it was genocide for any non-Arians. 6million Jews were killed, while the survivors fled to either neighboring countries. But it got to a point where the Nazis would retrieve these run away Jews and Germany took over most of the other countries by violent actions. Many countries didn’t let the Jews come into their own homes due to that reason. It was destroying the land of others who didn’t get involved. Now otherwise many other Europeans were seeking a new beginning or at least to give their children a new chance a new way of life. Many called America the land where money was on the floor. However that wasn’t the case, once immigrants came and started to settle they found themselves in tenement homes that were shared with another family. The only benefit of that is that they were with others who spoke their language or from their countries. They also faced health issues due to the lack of hygiene created by the conditions of their life style. Companies wanted to basically own the employees. The expectations of the employees and of the employers didn’t agree always. It was a melting pot, but nothing was melting.

lets talk about Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving to everyone first of all. Thanksgiving is a holiday that has been commercialized in America. Today we don’t think about it origin or it’s true meaning, but a day where families reunite, have a dinner that includes turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, and many other traditional foods. Sometimes people like to incorporate their own culture into the food. However, not many of us know about its true origin and are against this national holiday. My question is “should thanksgiving be seen as a day where families reunite and be thankful, or as a memorial for the genocide of the Native Americans?” As we have been learning about the relations between the Natives and the settlers, their relationship was quiet full of hate and the opposite of harmony.  The Native Americans were mistreated and killed by the hundreds. Society in America makes it hard for us to not celebrate this holiday because it has a new meaning to it. Everywhere you go there are little turkeys and pumpkins, with a banner that says happy thanksgiving. Celebrities wishing our families and us a happy thanksgiving, influencing our perspectives on the holiday itself. However, I personally like to think of the holiday as a day where our families get to come together and be thankful for each other. For me thanksgiving is everyday. Even though the Native Americans were killed by the hundreds, its important that we know about it and acknowledge the fact that it was wrong. But I think that we shouldn’t turn a day that everyone is happy on to a day where anger and grief is shown.