I thought that the Pro Choice website had a better argument. They stated their mission right away on the home page and everything else on the site clearly related back to it and proved that they following their mission statement. The Right to Life website was not as convincing for me. I think it is because I have an education. Their website only explains different types of procedures used to abort a pregnancy and uses language to try to scare away women. The Pro Choice site addressed the fact that Right to Life does this and explained why they were wrong and what really happened. The language used in the Right to Life site also reminded me very much of how Sarah Palin would explain an abortion and the reasons she would give to make it illegal. That right away pushed my vote towards the Pro Choice website. One topic that really cleared up confusion for me was the section about the Crisis Pregnancy Centers on the Pro Choice website. In the video we watched I was very confused about what these were. They seem like they are supposed to be clinics to help women who are trying to get abortions or decide if that is the right choice for them. Then when the women get in there they are told that they cannot get abortions because it will damn them to hell and even birth control is unreasonable. The Pro Choice website explained how these centers draw pregnant women win by making them look like abortion clinics but then do everything they can to scare women into keeping the baby. Seeing both of these websites helped me learn how both sides of the issue makes their arguments and has kept me in a pro-choice mindset.
Thinking responsibly I would say that a parent does have the right to know whether their daughter is having an abortion or not. However, seeing as I am a 17 year old boy I do not think this is necessary. At this age we are old enough to make our own decisions, even if they are stupid ones. If a 17 or 18 year old girl has sex and gets pregnant then it is her choice how she wants to deal with it. If she decides to abort then she should be able to do so without her parents having to be notified. As a 17 year old male I also have a few selfish reasons for this thinking. If I were to get a girl pregnant at this age I would not want her dad to know about the abortion because I value my life and do not need him to take it away from me.
I don't think that the father should have the right to consent to the abortion no matter what age. It is not his body to decide about. Just because he is the father of the pregnant girl doesn't mean he knows what she wants or whether the abortion would be right or not. If a woman is raped and the father refuses to let her abort then she will be stuck with the reminder of what had happened to her for the rest of her life and she won't be able to have the chance to let it go by not having the child. It is easy for men to say that abortion should be legal or should be illegal because they do not have to go through the procedure. In the end it is the woman's choice and only she knows what is best for her body and what direction she wants her life to go in.
It is interesting to me that the Governor of Illinois is prove choice, yet there are a lot of Pro Life laws about abortion in our state such as the Abortion Ban. It says that a woman can only abort the fetus before the 12th week of pregnancy. I think this is a good thing because in the very early stages like this you can't really tell that a woman is pregnant. The fetus is still just a little blip on the ultra sound and, to me, doesn't even resemble a baby. It keeps it less personal so it would be easier to have an abortion. However, it has been ruled unconstitutional because it places an undue burden on the woman. A few of the other Pro Life laws in Illinois were also classified as unconstitutional so I think this state is still very much Pro Choice.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Abortion
Monday, November 8, 2010
Clifford Boggess
When I was first introduced to Clifford Boggess I thought right away that he should have been executed. All I knew was that he murdered two old defenseless men. He said that he was in total mental control and knew exactly what he was doing as the crimes went on. The second murder was even premeditated since he planned out his target without even knowing anything about him except for that he had the money that Boggess was looking for. Boggess even said that in the first murder he was just "hurting to be brutal". As time went on though I started to feel less strongly about my first instinct. He was adopted when he was a baby and by age four he was abandoned by his adoptive mother. His birth mother was abusive and he came from a long family history of abuse. When thinking back on his childhood, Boggess talked about how he craved attention whenever he could get it. I think this is because he probably felt unwanted since he had been abandoned by two different mothers. Based off of the rough childhood that he had, I am not surprised that he ended up committing the crimes he did. After the whole film though, I do not agree with the execution of Clifford Boggess. However, that is just because I am not one of the victims of the murders like Frank Collier's brother or the granddaughter of Jim Hazelwood. If I were one of them I would have wanted him dead right away instead of nine years after the murders. I do believe that he should have gotten a life sentence in prison though, with no chance for parole. I think that his crimes were terrible but I believe that over his stay on death row Boggess changed as a person. I think he was able to see that he committing horrible crimes. I think that he should have lived with the guilt of what he did though. Even though he believed Jesus forgave him, I think knowing that the victims families are never going to be the same would have eaten at him for the rest of his life. I don't think that his life would have had societal value as a Christian since there are plenty of people who do crazy things and then think they are off the hook because of Jesus, but I think his artwork was good and could have brought something to some people.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Bullying in Today's Schools
I am still very shocked by the number of suicides recently due to cyberbullying. I had no clue that the issue was as bad as it is and unfortunately it took the death of all these kids for people to catch on. The Phoebe Prince story is still a big deal even though it happened months ago. I was reading in a magazine a couple weeks ago about how the school is now forever tainted by what happened. All other schools in their area just refer to them as the bully school. It's going to take a while for them to get over what happened. Even our school is still thought of as the party school where students died on homecoming. However, bullying here at DHS isn't as bad as it is in other places. This could be because not as many people see it or because the people being bullied don't speak up. I think another reason we do not have a huge issue with bullying is because our school is not very diverse. We are almost all white middle class citizens in a very Jewish area. There isn't much that someone can make fun of someone else for that wouldn't also apply to themselves. I don't want to say that no one is bullied here because I'm sure there are some, but it is not as prevalent as in other places. I think that there are also a lot of students who are confident enough in their own skin that can brush off something a bully would say or laugh about it with a friend. For the most part we are a very tight knit group of kids since we all grew up in a small town where we all know each other. I think that if we want bullying to be eliminated completely then it is the responsibility of the students. We need to educate everyone about bullying and how it affects people. We could do something similar to Challenge Day or something like what Highland Park does with the Anti-Defamation League, where they bring together all the freshmen to discuss bullying and share personal stories as a way to stop it before it even starts. If we make it known that bullying is not acceptable and even try to make it look like it isn't cool then I think kids will stop since they won't get the glory that bullies may have gotten in the 1950s.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Drug Testing in Schools
I am strongly against drug testing in schools. I understand that once you walk into a school there are very few rights that apply to you. After twelve years of the public school system this is very obvious. I get that sometimes bags need to be searched in order to keep schools safe. I have been subject to that twice so far in my four years of high school with two different bomb threats. However, drug testing is a step too far. School officials do not need to search a students body to keep schools safe. This is the ultimate invasion of privacy. What students do on their own free time should be of no concern to the school. By instating drug testing for student athletes, schools are just trying to go out of their way to catch someone in the act. It is also unfair that just the athletes are tested. This leaves students in clubs and other extracurriculars free to get high and go about their day. Student athletes are held to such a high standard today and that causes plenty of problems in schools. School officials seem to still be in the 1950s mindset where the starting quarterback and head cheerleaders rule the school. However, from a students point of view this is not true. Plenty of people go about their day and hang out with their own friends and don't even pay any attention to what the athletes do. They are no longer the biggest influence in schools anymore and don't need to be held to such a high standard because most people just don't care. If the school wanted to do drug testing right they would include the entire student body. However, most people would find this search to be unreasonable and, based on the ruling in New Jersey v. T.L.O., if the search is unreasonable then it is also unconstitutional. This whole idea of reasonable leaves too much in the eyes of the paranoid school officials. We have seen plenty of unreasonable decisions made by our own school officials to feel warm and fuzzy about the fact that they will be deciding when it is and isn't reasonable to search our bodies for drug use. Things like free pizza or plastic cups at lunch set off our school administration and cause them to make unreasonable decisions. How are they going to be able to convince us that what they say about drug testing is reasonable. In my opinion, the students should be able to decide what is reasonable when it comes to their own body, not school administrators who are more worried about high test schools so they get more federal funding instead of the students themselves.
Keeping Religion Out of School
In 1995 President Bill Clinton said, "Nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones, or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the schoolhouse door." This is a very important policy because it allows religious students to take time out of their day, if they need to, to pray or do anything else to honor their religion. However, the separation of church and state prevents public schools from preaching religion and making their students practice religion. The Portland Adventist Academy tried to push the limits of separation of church and state. Since they were Seventh Day Adventists they could not do work on their sabbath which went from sundown Friday to sundown on Saturday. Because of this, their athletic teams could not participate in games or tournaments during the sabbath. The state basketball tournament was generally played on Saturday afternoon which would keep the Portland Adventist Academy from participating if they were to reach the State Finals. The school board tried to petition to change the time of the State Finals.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
7 Days of September
Watching the destruction of 9/11 and paying attention to it's effects on people for the first time since third grade was not what I expected it to be. As an eight year old it is hard to really understand what is going on. All I remember about September 11th was being walked home from school by my mom and going home and seeing images of the planes going into the towers on CNN. As a third grader it is really cool to see all the fire and explosion. It was like watching a movie. Now watching it as a senior in high school the experience is very different. The most disturbing thing to me is the sight of people jumping off the top of the building. I can't imagine a situation where I would ever have to throw myself out of a window a hundred stories above ground instead of waiting to be burned alive. I liked watching this film because it showed how not only New Yorkers but how the rest of America reacted to the attacks. When people watch documentaries about 9/11 most of the time it is just about the towers being hit and collapsing and the events of that day. I liked being able to see how the rest of the week unfolded because when it was happening I was too young to understand what was happening. I think that this movie gave a great perspective of what happened and how it affected America. After watching it I found myself feeling a stronger sense of patriotism and anger towards anyone that would want to do this to my country.
Speech Codes on American Campus
The students in the fraternities having race parties should be punished without a doubt. After all the things that went on in this country with the Civil Rights Movement and racism in our country it is amazing to me that people can still act this way. Based on the video we watched in class with the Harvard professor and the speech codes packet we read i don't think that they'd be able to be seriously punished since they were not violating the First Amendment. However, the university should be able to suspend the right for the fraternity to hold parties or even be on campus because the black face party is not only offensive but it could be considered fighting words and can incite violence between those white kids with the paint on their face and the black students on campus. I know that if I was attending that university I would not want things like that going on because I would not have to deal with the uncomfortable tension that comes as a result of this party. I also wouldn't like it because I would be worried about which minority they would go after next. As a Jew outside of the North Shore, I would be a minority and would not like to be targetted like the black students were in this case.
Monday, February 22, 2010
What I Learned About Gays and Lesbians
The presentation on Maria’s blog did a great job showing what gays in America have to go through. I thought that our country was taking some steps towards equal treatment of everybody since in the news we hear about state allowing gay marriage. I guess I was wrong. I had no idea that it is legal in 31 states to fire someone because they are gay. That to me is crazy. If someone is good at their job and does a great job for the business, then what does it matter if they are gay or not. Why in the world should that be the reason that the person should lose their job? The interview with the middle school student was interesting as well because it showed firsthand how people are treated and what kind of affects it has on the individual. It is even worse that a child has to deal with things like this since adolescence is the hardest time for anyone. It is when people establish their opinions and become a person and for them to grow up and feel hated is a crime. The video about the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy” got me very frustrated. It is amazing to me that some people can be so stupid and think like that. If that angry old man truly believes that gay people are going to be the reason that our country is taken over by terrorists he should be hit straight in the head, and I’d love to be the person to do it. I think that honestly this man is scared that other soldiers will be upset that the gay soldiers are going to be the only ones getting any and the straight ones have to wait to go home to their girlfriends. In a country where military service is not mandatory like some other countries why would you ever want to turn away someone willing to help? This country is in the middle of wars they shouldn’t even have started in the first place and that fact that some people are willing to fight in it is a miracle so why turn people away. Especially the people who speak the language of the people we are fighting against like the example they were talking about. Fox News was able to do it. They made themselves look even stupider than before. Halfway through their segment they stopped just to laugh at a stupid mistake that the president made. If you actually look at it the bottom says “NO REACTION FROM THE PRESS”. These people only want to bash the man in charge because they have nothing better to do. This presentation did a great job informing me about a topic I didn’t know much about and even provoked me into having an opinion on the topic now.
Responce To Colleen's Thoughts
Before I read Colleen’s blogs about education all I knew was that where we live now is full of very good schools and that in other places, such as inner city environments, schools were not as good as us. I had heard of the No Child Left Behind Act. All I knew was that it was supposed to make our schools better. I have seen it take effect since there are students in our school who live in other close by cities but can attend our school because of this law. I thought this law was helping American education. I guess since we live in our own little perfect bubble called Deerfield, IL I had nowhere to look at for real proof. After seeing the photos of inner city schools compared to middle schools in our area it is clear that this law hasn’t changed much. I also found it extremely interesting that there were only 1% white students in the city schools and more than 90% white students in the suburbs. I know that our town is not very diverse but I thought that in the city there would be closer to a 50-50 ratio of students. I think Colleen did a great job pointing out where the American government has failed in the area of education. She made a lot of great points that are easy to understand and I feel like I have a whole different perspective of education in America.
Works Cited
Kern-Jedrychowska, Ewa. "On a corner in Brooklyn, Polish gives way to Spanish.(women day job)(Metropolitan Desk)." The New York Times. (Jan 29, 2010): A17(L). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 9 Feb. 2010 .
Ceasar, Stephen. "In Arizona, a Stream of Illegal Immigrants From China.(National Desk)." The New York Times. (Jan 23, 2010): A11(L). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010 .
Steven A. Camarota. "Illegal Immigrants Create a Drain on the U.S. Government." Current Controversies: Illegal Immigration. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010 .
Weyrich, Paul M. "Illegal Immigrants Should Not Receive Social Security Benefits." Current Controversies: Immigration. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010 .
"Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. .
"Theodore Roosevelt: Gentleman's Agreement (1907)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .
"anti-immigration movement." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .
ID: 290653
"immigration." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .
Thursday, February 11, 2010
What's Really Going On Now
In the past, many Americans were opposed to any form of immigration to the United States of America. Now however the focus seems to have shifted toward illegal immigration. Many Americans are extremely opposed to illegal immigrants in our country and feel that they will be the downfall of the United States. There are many people trying to fight to keep our borders closed to everyone. These people feel that all illegal immigrants should be deported and that America should stay for Americans. In "Illegal Immigrants Should Not Receive Social Security Benefits”, the author, Paul M. Weyrich argued that illegal immigrants should not be eligible for social security when they retire even if they worked in the US. Weyrich felt that because these people are not American citizens they should not get to benefit from the money that Americans have deposited over the years. According to Weyrich there is no reason for illegal immigrants to benefit from Social Security because they have not done anything to deserve it. Others like Weyrich believe that illegal immigrants are taking away money from Americans and the American government. Steven A. Camarota wrote an essay entitled "Illegal Immigrants Create a Drain on the U.S. Government." He gathered many facts about the national deficit such as "Households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household." Facts like these cause many people to be opposed to illegal immigration. They see illegal immigrants as people who sneak into this country, take away jobs from Americans, and do not repay the country for the opportunity they have taken. Now with the economy the way that it is, even other illegal immigrants in this country are starting to get upset. In New York City for example, illegal Polish immigrants are starting to lose their work to illegal immigrants from Latin America. Even though it is illegal, the day labor market that the illegal immigrants have created is being threatened by other illegal immigrants. "The Hispanic women may be willing to accept less money -- $7 or $8 per hour -- than the Polish women, who generally charge $10." This undermining of the Polish day labor market in New York City is causing not only Americans to fight against illegal immigration, but now other illegal immigrants are frustrated with the number of people entering this country illegally each year. It is clear that as the number of illegal immigrants rise each year, the amount of frustration in the hearts of Americans will increase as well.
A Closer Look at The First Seven Years
One main theme in Bernard Malamud’s The First Seven Years has to do with the achievement of the American Dream. Immigrants come to this country in order to obtain what they call the American Dream. Immigrants try to make a better life for them in America than they had in their home country. This could mean getting a better education, making more money, or even something as simple as being able to raise their children in a safe environment. The main character in this story, named Feld, worked hard to achieve the American Dream. He left Poland to start a new life for himself and his family in America. Even though he could not make much as a shoemaker, his main goal was to allow his daughter to get all the opportunities in life that he never had. Feld wanted to send his daughter Miriam to college but she would protest and tell her father she would rather find a job. “He had begged her to go, pointing out how many fathers could not afford to send their children to college, but she said she wanted to be independent” (Malamud 14). This push for his daughter’s education shows Feld’s desire for his daughter to grow up with the best. Because she had not had to grow up in the conditions he did outside of America, it may be hard for Miriam to understand that he father only wants the best for his daughter because he did not have it in his home country. Feld did not want for his daughter to grow up to be like her mother because he felt that he was unable to provide the best for his wife. When his assistant Sobel admitted his love for Miriam and the desire to marry Miriam, Feld was crushed. “He felt for his daughter a strange and gripping sorrow, as if she were already Sobel’s bride, the wife, after all, of a shoemaker, and had in her life no more than her mother had had” (Malamud 25). Though this may not be the American dream he sees for his daughter, he knows that it will make her happy and will give her a fulfilling life so he allows this to happen. This story showed some of the things that motivate immigrants to come to this country and start a new life for themselves. In their homeland they might not have been able to do all they wished to do with their lives or it might not have been safe for them to do so. In America however, even if they try and do not succeed, most immigrants will be happy with the choice they made because it is possible here. This story shows the better side of immigration that the history books do not express as much. It shows why immigrants come to this country and how they improve their life. It does not show any negative side to people coming in and living in America. The fear that America had of immigration in the past is not present in this story. This story just shows how hard immigrants have to work to get what they want out of life in the long run.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tying Together the Background
America prides itself in being a country full of immigrants. Some even call it the world’s melting pot. Immigration undeniably played a huge role in the development of America culturally, socially, and economically. However, immigration was not met with open arms. Most Americans were very opposed to immigration and fought hard to stop it all together. Today people are still fighting against immigration, only now it’s a fight against illegal immigration. When massive amounts of immigration started to occur in the late 1800s Americans started to take a stand. In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. This law banned the immigration of Chinese people for ten years. Many Chinese people were coming into the country through Angel Island in California and people were afraid that the Chinese would overpower the Americans. This wasn’t the only time that people were restricted from coming into America. In 1921 and 1923 the government passed the Quota Acts. These laws limited the number of immigrants allowed into America from each country throughout the world. This law is still in effect today and only a certain number of people are allowed to immigrate to America from certain countries. The number of people allowed in is based on things like the number of people from that country already in America and the number of people who want to immigrate. All these laws express the fear that Americans have had about immigration. This fear has been very evident in most of the research found on this blog. Many people have expressed their fears in different ways such as political cartoons or public demonstrations. Most people wouldn’t say that their opposition comes from fear but it is very clear that they are afraid immigrants will “dirty up” America. Even other countries have been afraid of the massive amounts of immigrants in this country. In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt made an agreement with the leader of Japan and the Japanese government to limit the amount of Japanese coming to the country. The Japanese were afraid that they would lose too many people to America and that the country would suffer. This agreement allowed the Japanese to limit the amount of their citizens entering the country instead of leaving it up to the Americans. This held up pretty well until the Quota Acts were passed and it was no longer needed. Even though this is a country made of immigrants, immigration has not been the best thing in the minds of Americans for many years. America as a whole is still struggling with the idea of immigration, legal and illegal, and it doesn’t seem like there will be an end anytime soon. The fights for and against it in this country will be going on for a while until something can finally be settled in the minds of Americans.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Corner Cleaners
Many immigrants who come to the United States illegally have to make their money as day laborers, both men and women. In New York City many Polish women are used to day laboring. The most common way they make their money is by house cleaning. Many of these women stand on a corner and wait for people to drive by and stop to pick someone up. "There were originally maybe 40 or 50, according to veterans of the hiring corner." Recently that number has doubled, mainly because of the increase in immigrants from Latin America and the rough economy. Right now many more Hispanic women are getting more jobs over the Polish and are causing a total flip in roles on the corner of Marcy and Division Avenues in Brooklyn. "The Hispanic women may be willing to accept less money -- $7 or $8 per hour -- than the Polish women, who generally charge $10." American citizens aren't the only ones upset about the amount of illegal immigrants in this country. It's starting to get hard for other illegal immigrants to make a living. The American argument that illegal immigrants take away jobs from Americans never really stuck with me. I never believed it because nobody wants the jobs that the illegal immigrants have. However, it is very interesting that certain illegal immigrants are now saying that they are losing their jobs to other illegals. This is one argument I'll believe because they all have the same jobs since none of the Americans want them.
Kern-Jedrychowska, Ewa. "On a corner in Brooklyn, Polish gives way to Spanish.(women day job)(Metropolitan Desk)." The New York Times. (Jan 29, 2010): A17(L). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 9 Feb. 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
The New Face of Illegal Immigration
The New York Times had a great article about illegal immigration. It revealed to me something I would have never thought of. I have always had the impression that the illegal immigrants that everyone in our country is so opposed to were all Mexican. According to this article, that is not true. Recently there has been an influx of many illegal Chinese into America. They are mostly making their way into the country through a very popular smuggling route in Tucson, Arizona. The number of Chinese entering America "increased tenfold in the last fiscal year, according to the United States Border Patrol in Tucson." This trend doesn't look like it's stopping either. So far "Border Patrol's Tucson sector arrested 281 Chinese immigrants from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, the first quarter of the current fiscal year." More surprising to me than the numbers of Chinese coming into this country is the way in which they get here. It has gotten a lot harder for them to come directly to Mexico from China so instead they make elaborate plans. "In the most common one, immigrants fly from Beijing to Rome, board a plane to Caracas, Venezuela, fly to Mexico City and work their way up to the northern border and into the United States. In another, they travel to Cuba, fly to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and travel north into the United States." Because of this Chinese immigrants commonly have to pay $40,000 dollars to smugglers instead of Mexicans who pay $1,500 to $3,000.
The influx of Chinese immigrants went unnoticed for a while. "In 2009, 11,628 of the Tucson sector's 241,673 arrests were non-Mexican -- nearly 5 percent. Only when the sector noticed the influx did it tally the number of Chinese entering in recent years." Still most people don't even know about this. They focus all their attention on the Mexicans that come across the border and don't even stop to think that maybe there are other groups of people that could be coming in either. I never even thought that other people would try to come in this way until I read this article. Some immigrants even have to pay a deposit before they can even leave China. Anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 dollars is paid and not guaranteed back in the immigrant gets caught and sent back. This article helped open my eyes to the idea that people from all over try to come into this country illegally. I think just because they don't fit into the stereotype of a Mexican illegal immigrant, people over look all others and don't think twice. I wonder how many other people are here illegally from other countries that we don't even realize.
Ceasar, Stephen. "In Arizona, a Stream of Illegal Immigrants From China.(National Desk)." The New York Times. (Jan 23, 2010): A11(L). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Drain on the U.S. Government
According to a study in 2002, illegal immigrants actually are found to cause a financial drain on the government. The article listed many major findings to help prove this point. The first thing they said was, "Households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household." Where is that $10.4 billion dollars supposed to come from? How are U.S. citizens supposed to try to help close the gap and what will it cost us? I know that I'm not a fan for higher taxes and if that is the only way that we can make up for that money then I will vote against that plan. Why should I have to pick up someone else's slack? Another major finding was, "With nearly two-thirds of illegal aliens lacking a high school degree, the primary reason they create a fiscal deficit is their low education levels and resulting low incomes and tax payments, not their legal status or heavy use of most social services." I found this really interesting because I would have never thought that the reason they cause such a strain is their education. It never occurred to me that if they were properly educated they would have the opportunity to get better jobs. I never thought it was possible for illegal immigrants to get a good job in America since people just give them whatever else is left and the jobs that they don't want. I also learned that "Costs increase dramatically because unskilled immigrants with legal status—what most illegal aliens would become—can access government programs, but still tend to make very modest tax payments." This statement silences people who say that all the illegals in this country should automatically become citizens. If they were automatically citizens, but still uneducated, they would still be making the same amount of money but this time they would have access to things like welfare that they didn't have before. This also makes me question why they should have access to welfare when American citizens need that money. This topic is starting to make me understand why people have such a problem with illegal immigrants. I always thought that saying they take away from Americans was a lame excuse. I still think it is but I can understand now where these people are coming from because these illegals are taking away from us what is not theirs.
Steven A. Camarota. "Illegal Immigrants Create a Drain on the U.S. Government." Current Controversies: Illegal Immigration. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010
One Man's Argument for American Social Security
The article I read was called "Illegal Immigrants Should Not Receive Social Security Benefits" by Paul M. Weyrich. After reading what Weyrich had to say, I find myself agreeing with him. Weyrich talked about a term called "totalization". What he was talking about was talks between Mexico and the United States about totalization. This is the idea that an illegal immigrant from Mexico would be able to come into the United States and work for a few years then go back to Mexico and finish the rest of his working years there. Then after he grows old and retires in Mexico he can get American Social Security because of the few years he spent working in the US. This frustrates me as an American citizen. I will be turning 17 years old in month. I have had a job since I was 15. For two years I have had to have some of my pay check taken from me and given to social security. By the time I get old and can actually see this money again I will have most likely put in almost half or maybe more than the total amount of money I have made in my whole working life. Why should someone who isn't even a citizen or who doesn't even live in this country get to benefit from the years of hard work I've put into this system. There is already speculation about whether or not Social Security will even be around by the time I can benefit from it. Why should the little amount that I'm entitled to be shrunken even more? Weyrich quoted a US Congressman saying, "The Federal government may actually allow someone who actually came to the United States illegally, worked less than the required number of years to qualify for Social Security, and then returned to Mexico for the rest of his working years, to collect full U.S. Social Security benefits while living in Mexico. That is an insult to the millions of Americans who pay their entire working lives into the system and now face the possibility that there may be nothing left when it is their turn to retire." I have no problem with immigrants. Personally I come from a family of immigrants and couldn't care less if there were any in our country or not. But the idea of someone coming in and staying here for a few years, then going back to the country he came from, and taking my money is insane. If someone wants to live and work in the United States and receive Social Security in their retirement years then they should plant themselves here. They should take all the steps necessary in becoming an American citizen so that they actually deserve the money they are taking away from me.
Weyrich, Paul M. "Illegal Immigrants Should Not Receive Social Security Benefits." Current Controversies: Immigration. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The First Seven Years
The First Seven Years by Bernard Malamud shows the thoughts and feelings of immigrants in the United States. This is the story of a Polish immigrant in America living as a shoemaker trying to live out the American Dream. He wants to be able to provide for a good life for his family and make sure that his daughter grows up with all the opportunities and advantages she can get. In my research I found out that many immigrants did this. They would come to this country and even if they were unable to make a great life for themselves they made sure their children were able to grow up and be very successful. The shoemaker in this story tries to push his nineteen year old daughter to continue her education and go to college. She is a bright girl who loves to read and learn. The shoemaker feels that the best thing for her to do is to further her education so that she can grow up educated and find a good job for herself and be happy and successful. The daughter is hesitant and wants to get a job instead of go to college. When the shoemaker learns his efforts to push education for his daughter are not working he tries finding her an educated man to settle down with. After setting up a college boy with his daughter, the shoemaker learns that his daughter has no interest in this boy and felt he is too materialistic. After speaking with his assistant, another polish immigrant, at the shop, the shoemaker learns that his assistant has been in love with the young daughter for all five years that he has worked at the shop. After a small argument about marriage to his nineteen year old daughter, the shoemaker tells his assistant that he must wait two more years for his daughter to turn 21 before asking her hand in marriage. Though this may not be the American dream he sees for his daughter, he knows that it will make her happy and will give her a fulfilling life so he allows this to happen.
Where I'm At Now
After some initial research into immigration in America one theme seems to be occurring in everyone article I read, the theme of hate. Most Americans were extremely intolerant of immigrants and immigration into this country. Even the government passed laws banning certain people all together, and others that limited the number of others. As I go deeper into this research project I will probably start to focus my attention on hatred toward immigrants and various anti immigration movements. There seems to be plenty of information about why people didn't want immigrants out there so this seems logical to make my main focus for this project.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
In 1882 the US took drastic measures in preventing people from entering the country by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law prevented the Chinese people from immigrating to the US for a period of ten years. This act was passed because "in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof." Americans, and even other immigrants, felt that the rapid immigration of such large numbers of Chinese took away many jobs for people already in the US. The government's plan to ban the Chinese was very effective. For ten years no Chinese were allowed to immigrate or even come to America. To make sure this rule held up, the government would even punish any American boat captain who helped the Chinese sneak into this country. The offender could "be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars for each and every such Chinese laborer so brought, and may be also imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year." This is a pretty heavy fine to have to pay just for trying to help someone else out so it made most people not want to risk any sort of punishment. The American government meant business when they said all Chinese were banned for this country. They had no problem punishing "any person who shall knowingly and falsely alter or substitute any name for the name written in such certificate or forge any such certificate, or knowingly utter any forged or fraudulent certificate, or falsely personate any person named in any such certificate." Anyone that tried to create a new American identity for the Chinese sneaking in to our country were punished the same way that any boat captain was in they were caught. The United States was so set on keeping all Chinese out and opening up jobs for Americans that no one from China was even allowed to visit for fear that they would stay in the country and start a life here illegally. The only exception to this rule was if a Chinese government official or diplomat visited the country on business. In that case they would have all their personal servants checked out and make sure that they left with the same number of people they came with. This was a very intense way to filter immigration but I would not be surprised if we see something like this with immigrants from Mexico today since many people feel the same way about those now as they did about the Chinese then.
"Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Gentleman's Agreement
In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt made and agreement with the Japanese government. The agreement that was made was to stop all immigration from Japan to America. The Japanese government was afraid that it would lose to many young men and that the Japanese military would suffer from the small numbers. Japan would only issue passports to the people that were not laborers because they wanted people the go back to Japan if they were to visit. The only exception to this rule was to people who already had family living in the United States or had previous interests in the farming industry in this country. Hawaii was a separate case for the Japanese because it was much closer than the mainland of America. When dealing with those islands it was up to Japan whether or not they wanted to give passports to their people. They decided to "be limited to former residents and parents, wives, or children of residents. This agreement stayed in place until the US tried to limit immigration even more with the Immigration Act in 1924.
"Theodore Roosevelt: Gentleman's Agreement (1907)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.
Voice of Anti-Immigration
The anti-immigration movement started around 1870 when many immigrants started coming to America. Between 1870 and 1920 America took in 27 million immigrants from Southern and East Central Europe. These immigrants were different from the normal Anglo-Saxon culture. Many people did not like these new people and tried fighting against it. "Anti-immigration activists sought to keep certain classes or races of people out of the United States, fearing that the Anglo-Saxon culture of the country would dissolve in the influx of new people." These people were so afraid that they went to Congress to try and stop the immigrants from coming in. In 1921 and 1923 Congress passed the Quota Acts which limited the amount of immigrants allowed in the country each year from any one certain country. Many of the Americans in this time period were against of the people they referred to as "polygamists" and "anarchists" because they did not want the religion and culture they had established in the US to be dirtied or changed in any way. Many people also believed that the immigrants would not be able to assimilate into America. "It was tied to attempts to "Americanize" immigrants with citizenship classes, literacy classes, and even cooking classes." The only way that the American citizens would allow in immigrants was if they were able to take away all of their foreign culture and bring them up to the Anglo-Saxon norm. "Ultimately, all immigrants experienced some assimilation, with such groups as Scandinavians becoming completely Anglo-Saxonized" Even today many people still feel that we should not allow immigrants into this country legally or illegally. In the 1980s and 1990s political figures asked for "renewed restrictions on immigration, especially in the light of increased illegal immigration from Mexico and Cuba." Even though there are not as many people trying to immigrate into this country as there were about 100 years ago, there is still a big issue with the idea of new citizens. As long as people continue to immigrate, there will always be a big debate and loud voices from anti-immigration activists.
"anti-immigration movement." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.
Friday, January 29, 2010
America's Biggest Fear
This cartoon depicts the biggest fear that Americans had not only had back when this was published in the 1860s, but it shows the fear that many Americans still have today. As a country we are afraid that immigrants will come in and take away the jobs that we feel should be reserved for Americans. Many people also believe that immigrants will dirty up the culture of our country. This cartoon depicts an Irish man on the left and a Chinese man on the left. Both of these men are swallowing Uncle Sam. This cartoon represents how the American people were afraid that all of the immigrants would swallow up all of the American culture. Cartoons like this were, and still are, used as a way to scare the American people into keeping immigrants out.
ID: 290653
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Teach Me About Immigration
This first article that I read about immigration shows the same pattern occurring over and over again. Foreigners move in, Americans get mad, Foreigners are kicked around and treated awfully, Americans accept them, and new foreigners come in and the cycle starts all over again. This country prides itself on being a nation born of immigrants but it never said how the immigrants were treated. It never mentioned what they went through to become true Americans, which according to this article doesn't happen until you become second, third, or fourth generation American. Americans were so scared of the huge intake of immigrants that they were convinced the country would never be the same. "In fact, the Pledge of Allegiance was first introduced as a means of reinforcing traditional American values in the face of overwhelming immigration." Now the Pledge doesn't mean much too that many people. It's just another thing that is forced upon us in the mornings as a way to keep our children American. If you were to ask just about any student today why we say it most of them will not be able to tell you it was because of paranoia of new people coming in to help our country grow culturally and economically.
Immigration was so feared in this country that our government put quotas on the number of people allowed in from each country. Some people weren't even allowed in at all. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a law passed that, for ten years, banned the immigration of the Chinese people. The American people believed that if they were able to reduce the number of immigrants that came into this country they would not have to fight for jobs and space to live. Today people are very upset about the amounts of immigrants in this country, mostly the ones that are here illegally. The main argument against them is that they are taking away jobs for well deserving American citizens. If this were the case then I guess we should start seeing more and more people working at fast food restaurants and day labor jobs. Everyone is so afraid that they will lose their jobs to these immigrants but the only way that would happen is if they work the jobs that nobody else wants since those are the only jobs we give these immigrants. "Illegal immigrants provide significant economic benefits to society. It is estimated, for example, that between 30% and 50% of the seasonal farm workers in California are illegal aliens. Without them, many crops in California and similar states would go unharvested or be forced up so dramatically in price."
People can complain all they want about the immigrants in our country, illegal or not. What they don't realize is that these people come to this country to work hard and make a life for themselves. Many Americans feel like since they are born in this country and are already given citizenship and all the rights reserved for them in the Constitution that they don't need to work as hard to survive. If this attitude keeps up then we might as well get rid of all immigration quotas since the immigrants would be the only people in this country willing to work and keep our economy moving.
"immigration." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010.
Let the Foreigners Flood In!
Immigration is a funny thing. It causes many heated discussions amongst many people and yet others couldn't care less. I feel like immigration is a great thing. How else could our country grow and develop without the intake of new cultures and customs. My family is made up of immigrants. All of them came in after World War II and brought in their own unique characteristics and ways of life. In my family we like to refer to it as the "defective gene". It is something that is embedded genetically within all of us that causes brief moments of instability. The only lucky ones are the people who marry into our family. However, they have to be a small bit defective as well to be able to put up with all of us. One minute I can be sitting at a nice quiet family dinner with my mother, father, brother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and about fifteen of my thirty six cousins and the next thing I know the room explodes with conversation and argument. Anyone outside of our clan would just consider this noise. My uncle has a strong belief that every immigrant that comes into this country should have to learn the English language and that the bilingual schools are taking away from assimilation. He's just a little bitter because he learned English by watching the Three Stooges. For better or for worse, this country was founded on immigrants and it doesn't matter how you feel about them because they will be everywhere and will only help push this country along.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The State of Change
After hearing what President Obama had to say tonight in his State of the Union Address a few things have instantly come to mind. First I wonder if the President is the leader of our country or a high school gym teacher trying to whip his students into shape. At times it felt like he would just say things so that the people in the room would stand up and applaude and then sit back down. I'm not sure if you've ever tried it but standing and sitting and standing and sitting is a great work out. I know my Jewish friends know what I'm talking about. We've all been there at services on the High Holidays. Obama seemed to have the Democrats fooled. They were constantly up and down in their seats. The Republicans in the room were clever. They caught on quick. They knew that if they were to fall victim to Obama's secret plan for fitness then eventually they would have to agree with his Healthcare plans. Obama did have the whole room standing though, on a few occasions. Everyone seemed to agree that America should be second to no country. If we are to be the America that the rest of the world knows and loves we must be number 1, not only in their hearts but in their global markets. Obama has a new plan he is working on for America. Jobs for everyone! This sounds as easy to obtain as the Health Care Reform or the Change we can believe in. Too bad that one year later we are still in the same place. However, it would be nice to see more jobs available for Americans. It would be nice to know that in a couple years when I'm leaving college behind and starting off life as a real human being I will have a decent chance of finding work. The president also mentioned the fact that this country needs to focus its attention on better education and that colleges should cut back on costs of tution. This is one bill I hope will pass since I don't plan on spending every penny I make as an old man on an education I got years ago. As I finish up this post and bring my ramblings to a close I sit here waiting. I am waiting to see if Obama can show he deserves the Nobel Prize and can actually follow through with these promises he has made. But more importantly I wait for to hear what John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have to say about the state of our union.
