THIS MY HOUSE

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0416-08.htm

http://leap.cc/

http://www.nationalreview.com/gaffney/gaffney200406070910.asp

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0818/p02s01-usju.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0818/p02s01-usju.html

Over the years America has been constantly involved with the
Middle East for various economic and political reasons. Our relations with the countries in this region are not as progressive and efficient as we’d like them to be. This is mostly due to their unstable governments and the sectarian violence that engulfs its people in hatred for one another.
America is strictly focused on the oil available in this region yet it cannot acquire it as speedily because of this instability. Our main objective is stabilizing this region for our own economic benefit. One must understand that at home the government talks about freeing these oppressed people and instating democracy so the entire world can work together for a peaceful future. Clearly that is not the case and the people of the
Middle East are aware of our true intentions. Maybe the American people are not, but those being exploited thoroughly comprehend why would even consider assisting them in achieving sovereignty.

After a conference on last Tuesday President Bush stated that he in no way planned to pull troops out from
Iraq with out completing the mission they began.

There’s one thing I’m not going to do, I’m not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete,

As the Bush administration struggles to find a clear face saving exit formula in
Iraq, there is a great fear that there will be a civil war if we pull out. Bush understands that they need to find different tactics in solving this explosive problem, but if they remove troops it will change the entire environment they are working with. Now that America is involved it is a big factor in the outcome of
Iraq’s future.

We’ll continue to be flexible and we’ll make the changes necessary to succeed

Most of the savagery seen in Iraq, Bush blames on Al Qaeda because they are constantly trying to create even more tension between the Shiites and the Sunnis. These attacks constantly anger both sides because of the sheer human loss they experience which incapacitates them from making clear headed decisions.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/28/bush.ap/index.html

The black hole that exists within America’s class and race system has in a sense taken a life of it’s own. This system our citizens mathematically fall into applies constraints that allow for the balance of this intriquet design. One must understand that all of these different classes only exist because the other one does too. Each one feeds off eachother to remain existant. Therefore those who benefit from this system will continue to maintain their position wether they do it intentionally or not. Their ambition will keep those at the bottom of the latter in a continous state of poverty.

This system does not outlaw anykind of class transition, most of the time it is encouraged because it will create a divide already greater than before. The racism within the system only is inflicted when an individual is well situated in a class level then the prejudices will take affect. For example, a black man who is in the upper middle class will not be discouraged to be ambitious yet when he acomplishes his goal, the troubles a regular anglo saxon would experience would be much more intense and difficult. Finding a house or claiming assests is a very difficult task for most Black and Latin Americans. Have a look at the statistics that define our class system’s income for each of its components.

<blockquote> At $25,351 in 1998, the black median household income is still only 60% of the median white income of $42,439. Hispanic median household income rose 4.8% between 1997 and 1998, but only to $28,330, just 67% of the white median.</blocklquote>

Now that the gap is made clear between the incomes of each individual class, one must consider the difference between assests.

<blockquote>The percentage of black or Hispanic households with zero or negative net worth (greater debt than assets) is twice as high as for white households.</blockquote>

 Its obvious that this system is controlling the lives of  most american citizens because of the decline of wealth within the poor and the increase within the wealth. Most of the black and hispanic community are forced to seek other means of wealth because of the lack of education there is. They do not have the luxury that most middle class people have. I’m not trying to blame whites for this destructive cycle that is our class system, instead I blame everyone for allowing this to happen.

http://www.faireconomy.org/press/archive/1999/racial_wealth_gap.html

War is a global economic phenomenon that many people take advantage of. There are those who wage war and those who fight in the war. Both types of men benefit to a certain extent. It is clear to see that the men who wage war will most likely be the ones who benefit the most while those who fight in the war will gain some kind of honor or pride in the fact that they helped protect their people’s rights. Yet this pride is not enough for those who fight in the war just as those who wage war constantly reap the benefits.  Those who join the military must have an incentive to fight or else there is no way that a person would die for something that they are so unsure of. If these men starting wars had no way of building an army than just by speaking their point of views there would be no progress whatsoever. A war usually requires some kind of formulaic build up or initiative yet now that wars are waged so irresponsibly and randomly that formula has been reanalyzed and toyed with. Men who understand that war will bring some kind of economic benefit to their doorstep look for shortcuts to war or in other words reasons to start them.

The truth is that military benefits were not only devised to help the soldier after completing his service time, but as well as attracting them to the army. During WWII many whites were enlisted in the army and took advantage of the benefits the GI bill had to offer. Now their offspring enjoys the benefits that those men worked hard to earn. On the other hand we have black Americans who also fought in the war yet the amount of blacks who were given the chance to use those army benefits was nothing compared to the whites, this was due to prejudice within the system. This is why we see so many blacks in the same economic state they were in fifty years ago.

Luckily the military benefits are not specific to one gender or race group anymore and instead they offer better educative advantages as well as much more reasonable financial support. In the article “Enlisting for jobs after military service” on Cnn.com they display an interview between Careerbuilder.com and Bob Qualls, a retired U.S. Army colonel and program manager for Partnership for Youth Success. Bob talks about the new advantages in being part of the army. He states that there are two options for retiring soldiers,

<blockquote>There are two programs the U.S. Army offers its soldiers to aid career placement once they have honorably completed their time in service. One is called ACAP, Army Career and Alumni Program, which is available to all soldiers as part of transition assistance. The other is PaYS, Partnership for Youth Success, which is offered to soldiers who choose this option as part of their enlistment package.</blockquote>

In this day and age we see that the army is composed of mostly black and Latinos. This is due to the lack of economic benefits available to them before. Most lower class whites did have these advantages when they were in the military during WWII.  Now the lower class blacks and Latinos are looking to do the same. http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/Careers/03/10/post.military/index.html

The entertainment industry present in the United States has been continuously changing, developing and reacting to human life ever since it was considered business. Like the human mind there are many metamorphoses that occur within the entertainment industry very similar to changes seen in the psyche of a human being. For example, in the 1950’s T.V. was not an accurate representation of life as seen by most Americans. It only focused on a section of the sociological spectrum. That being the lifestyle of the white well to do citizen, when in reality most American families were poor and experienced various set backs due to race, class and gender.

<blockquote>The 1950s represented a transitory period for most Americans. Among other changes, a world war had recently ended, suburban life was evolving, and the Hollywood studio system was collapsing.</blockquote>

After the First World War the American public had experienced many casualties and made them very war weary. This exhaustion enabled the entertainment industry to develop programs that would instill happiness within the American public and take their mind off the many tragic events that occur in life. Yet the Second World War made it clear to Americans that these tragic events they once were so terrified of had been nothing compared to the newly designed atrocities (weapons) administered by both sides in the war. The public understood that it was better to embrace life as it came and the way it was. They were tired of seeing only one side of the balance in the entertainment industry. This was due to the fact that many had had first hand experience with death and other murderous crimes that took place over seas. The people wanted something that would represent American life as it was in the present because the majority of the people could not relate to Ozzie and Harriet anymore. Also one has to understand that the majority of the people did not own televisions so those creating these programs aimed to entertain only a small percentage of the television owning citizens present in America. Now that the economy underwent change and more technological advancements were established, more people owned televisions and radios.

<blockquote>Americans had been changed by the war. It had inured them to hardship and hardened them against the attractions of movie sentimentality.” Former contract players had to find new work. Fortunately for them, a new medium was slowly rising to power.</blockquote>

This clearly demonstrates how much of an affect human social change has upon the entertainment industries. Therefore the idea that art imitates life is very true because as we change so do our means of entertainment. 

http://www.americanpopularculture.com/film.htm   

Lara writes

There are definite similarities between the internment of Japanese in America, and the detention of terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.

Yes she is right to say that there are obvious similarities between Guantanamo and Japanese Internment. Yet it seems that the japanese internment was worse because of how many people were deprived of their human rights. Although Guantanmo Bay holds these prisoners for reasons disclosed to the captives, while in the internment it was obvious to the japanese that the government was nervous and had to degrade themselves to human concentration camps to ensure the safety of other Americans. Guantanamo is what you could call the government’s most useful stalling methods in the conviction of terrorists. This is due to the fact that they hold their prisoners until they have a hard case against the defendant.