FINAL PAPER

Some patterns I noticed about the American way of life are, citizens are obliviously dependent authority. Americans depend on the government to be in control of our health care system even though those companies are trying their best to get as much money our of citizens as possible. Americas also depend on the doctors to make us feel better and women especially depend on doctors to deliver their babies even though, like the health care systems, they try to get money out of you by rushing through procedure in an unnatural way so the doctors get a chance to see more patients. Finally, in the American way of food, we highly depend on the factories that produce our food so we have have it as immediately as possible even though the way the animals and plants are treated are filled with chemicals, pesticides, and hormones. The general American way of life is like a factory, there is a certain procedure that needs to be conducted in order to save lots of time and money.

One main aspect of poverty in America we have looked at is the health care system in America and how it contrasts with other countries, more specifically looking at Canada, France, and England. The health care system has its benefits in Canada and France that contrast with the American health care system.

Michael Moore's SiCKO is a movie about those in Ameirca who have health insurance. It basically talks about how the insurance companies try to get as much money out of citizens as they can. And they compare this to other countries. In America, doctors are paid more if they deny care to patients from the insurance company to cover because they are saving the insurance company's money. While in England, the doctors get paid the more they convince their patients to stop smoking, the more they actually help their patients. It is also shows in statistics that people in England will live longer and are healthier than Americans due to the health care difference in both countries. They say the poorest person in England will live longer than the richest person in America because of the "factory"-like lives we live which are unnatural and unsustainable.

SiCKO shows a case where a man needed surgery in order to save his life, all he had to do was get the surgery approved by the hospital. But because the insurance companies need to deny services to save their money, the doctor had to deny this service which caused his death. Another case where an American woman had to pretend she was related to a canadian man so she would be able to get free health care in Canada.

The movie also compares how America is a really stressful country where there's barely a break, school for the first 20 some years of our lives, get a job with might not cover all your needs causing more stress, and because you are stressed you need to buy antidepressants and then you're thousands of dolllars in debt (like a factory). In France, after a man was treated, the doctor asked him if he was ready for another job and he was able to take three months off from work while still getting money (he doesn't even have to pay for his visit to the hospital or the ride he took to get there) and relax before he starts working again.

When sharing our personal experiences with the class, one of the students (Lauren 4/20) explained how one of her family memebers was denied care and was upset about it but did not want to show it as did another student, Binta. We noticed that we did not express our anger freely because we simply concluded that there was nothing we could do about it. This came up in SiCKO where a French man explained the the French government is afriad of the people because they have the power to protest and get free medical care. But in the United States people are afraid of the government because in the case of medical care they control the treatments you get and the care you get, and just your well being overall. Because they have this control we just accept that there's nothing we can do about it. This is also a general pattern I notice about the American way of life, because we depend so much on our authority which has so much power, we fear the power that they have and hold back on what we say despite our "Freedom of Speech" in the U.S.

In America the “normal” way of a woman giving birth is as shown in the media; the woman’s water breaks she rushes to the hospital, goes to the emergency room, gets an epidural so she doesn’t feel the pain, the baby is born and taken away for tests and such and once the baby is back it’s a happy ending. Another version of this story is that she gets an epidural, then some pitosin, the woman cannot give birth at this point, and the doctor saves the day by performing a c-section, and the mother and the baby make it through alive. These stories are flawed because of American's dependancy of the authorities in society.

The film "Business of Being Born," is a very revealing one. It lets viewers in on the differences between home births and hospital births. In modern day America we have techniques and technologies to aid child birth unnecessarily such as machines, vacuums, forceps, epidurals, episiotomies, and of course, c-sections which make the OB's life less complicated whereas most people think the doctor cares about the patient because that's what they are supposed to do but the patients are seen more as victims than as patients. In Shira’s birth experience, she felt that her home birth was simple and she did not need to be taken care of by a doctor or the techniques or technologies they use. Also very much like a factory.

Most would think doctors are people patients can depend on but because they believe they are the authority figure during child birth, the one in control (because the citizens are so dependent of them, they take advantage of the power that they have), they can do whatever they want even if it goes against what you want them to do. Because the doctor is getting paid to do what he/she is doing, they will plan to do it the way they want it. What they are doing is a form of commodity, they have to do what they have to do in a certain amount of time, and the doctors make sure the baby is born at a certain time by using techniques and technologies that are not necessarily good for the patient but efficient and convenient for the doctor. This means that if it is convenient for them to do a c-section, when it is not even completely necessary for them to, rather than risk something going wrong during child labor and being blamed for it, they’ll do it. (Rubin). When Melissa, a teacher who works at School of the Future shared her birth story she explained how she did not want an episiotomy but the doctor gave it to her anyway without consulting her. The “Normal” way of birth is in the hands of the doctor who would take advantage of that power if he wanted to speed up the process. Doctors are not as trustworthy as they seem in the ideal American way of birth because of their abuse of power and greed for money (for most doctors).

Once the child is born, as shown in the Monty Python youtube video, the child is taken away from the mother for "tests," again like a factory treating the baby as a product, not a living being. Because this happens, it takes away that mother vs. child connection that they have at child birth. For example with the dolphin giving birth, naturally, once the calf is born, the two swam together side by side. And the doctors take away that connection. Similar to a woman that I know gave birth twice, once in another country and once in America, in the other country, after giving birth she was able to hold her child and her experience of holding her baby just after her child was born was one she enjoyed. And unlike how the American way of birth is, she was able to take care of her child in the hospital with the child lying next to her. She did not get that experience with her second child, to whom she gave birth in America because the doctors took away the child once they were born. The birth experience in America has become controlled and unnatural

In the case of a natural child birth such as the dolphin's or giraffe's, no meds were necessary. Once the calf was born, they would learn to swim/stand up with their mother by their side. Contrasting with a normal child birth in America where the doctors are in control of the birth and does not allow the woman's body or the woman's baby to act as it naturally should. The doctors give the woman an episiotomy when, according to Gaskin, the cervix does not need to be mangled with because it acts as a sphincter, allowing to open and close as necessary. Gaskin also mentioned that sphincters are "shy" when the woman is disturbed during child birth the sphincter will close up. So when people are walking in and out of the room, and there are bright lights focusing on the woman, it is harder for the woman to feel comfortable pushing the baby out, which is where the meds come in. Controlling the sphincter is a mind-body connection where if the woman is relaxed, her sphincter is more likely to open up more easily whereas, if she's in a hospital where people are yelling at her to push, its less likely that she will feel comfortable and allow her sphincter to open up. The doctors make the experience for the woman artificial and it affects the woman's body. The ideal American way of birth gives the woman’s body stimulants that deprive the woman of empowerment from giving birth naturally.

As we see in the media in America today, most if not all births take place in a hospital where there is a doctor in charge delivering the birth. Based on youtube videos of a giraffe giving birth, a dolphin giving birth, Ina May Gaskin’s interview, video, and article, a Monty Python youtube video, an article about c-sections, and other birth stories, we can conclude that the typical American way of birth is highly flawed because it portrays doctors as trustworthy heroes and midwives as evil women, it takes away the woman’s empowerment, connection with her child, it takes away an experience that should be personal if she wants it to be, and it has bad after affects on the woman once she has given birth. Not only is the child treated like a product but the mother is too.

In the American way of food Industrialization helps speed up the process of producing mass amounts of food. The movie, "Vroom! Farming For Kids" shows how farming has been industrialized. Extreme machines are used to pick crops and tend the farm where there is little work for a lot of food at a fast pace resulting in lots of profit. But replacing people with machinery used by fossil fuels polluting the air as said in the article. The article, "Industrial Food is Cheap," states that the pesticids and hormones used to produce the 'best' kind of food is an input to the cancer epidemic. Whereas, if organic foods were produced, that would elimilate the use of chemicals thus decreasing the disease rate. Industrialized food is NOT cheap because although it is cheap in money, in the long run it affects the planet and all the hormones used affects us Americans who eat the food leading to risk of diseases. Food companies are willing to risk the health of humans and the well being of our planet in order to gain profit. Food in a very literal sense is produced in a factory, like the American way of life.

The video, "Meatrix" is about a pig who does not know the way he is being mistreated and what is going to happen. A cow, Moofius, informs him that the life he thought was decent is actually very cruel and will lead him to his death to be turned into a burger. "Family farm is just a fantasy," animals are not being treated like the ideal farm, raising their animals with care. The animals in industrialized farms never see sunlight or even touch ground, they are kept in small tightly confined cages to then be killed and slaughtered, 5000 cows are slaughtered per day so corporations can gain profits.

In the video where Pollan is a guest on the Colbert show on comedy central, the discussion is basically an argument between Colbert, the typical American, and Pollan who is against food corporations and food processing. As Pollan suggested that a healthy meal would be something home cooked, while Colbert replied, are you trying to "undream the dream"? implying that the general American dream (in the case of food) is to have your food already prepared so life can be more convenient for us so we do not have to spend time making the food. Americans depend on food companies to produce their food cheap and fast to have their food accessible. The media in the United States convinces citizens that the ability to get food fast and easy is good because it is cheap and accessible. The media manipulating citizens helps companies gain profit.

Overall in the American way of birth, food, and poverty, citizens depend on the authority figures to make lives more convenient, fast, and easy. These descriptions are similar to a factory. There is strict procedure to go by in order to increase profits. Similar in the American way of life, the norm is to get an education and get a job to increase profits. But also the every day factors of our lives like food are factory like.

Collapse Assignment #2

As shown in the Easter Island Chapter of Jared Diamond's book, their deforestation eliminated a main resource. As the trees started out as an abundant resource, as time passed, their forrests got smaller, this was a main cause of the society's collapse. Similar to America's use of oil, it used to be that for every gallon used, hundreds would be produced but they declined and now we are losing energy. We depend so much on oil, it will most likely be a factor of the collapse of America.

Based on my own experiences, I notice adults talking about politics and oil is a reoccuring topic I'm wondering how many people are aware of it? I also wonder, of those who are aware of the decline of oil leading to the possible collapse of American society, have any incentive to come up with an alternative before it is too late. It seems to me that most Americans just accept that bad things will happen, or they assume that someone of higher power will take care of it (government)thinking that average American citizen is incapable of making a change.

When looking at other people's blogs about this assignment. I noticed Jacara's and she included a quote that really caught my attention that said "maybe when bombs start going off here, then people will listen" from the movie, Across the Universe. I agree with this quote, Americans tend to procrastonate, they put things off until there has been a drastic change directly affecting the citizens. As far as I know, nothing dramatic is being done about the decline of oil and I think once we start losing our fast food or other conveniences in our lives, that's when people will begin to want to do something. And connecting this point with mine, even when it comes to the point where our lives are in danger, people will still want to depend on the government or "the experts" to take charge which I don't think they will do successfully so late in the game.

Collapse Assignment 1

I thought it was interesting how the society started off without industrialization and without domestication of animals and yet they were still able to build as many statues as they did soely on the people that they had. I think it just goes to show how lazy we are as Americans, I think this point was clearly defined before but in comparison to Easter Island, we replace the majority of our people with machinery and animals for our own convenience.

After reading the chapter I deffinately see the similarities between American civilization and Easter Island's. The collapse of Easter Island was due to environmental impacts, political, social, and religious factors, and competition between clans. Seen in American way of food, we use a lot of resources that we have that are not sustainable. So the resources we use today we might not have years from now because of environmental impacts. Also comparing the way we pollute our air and water with our waste. There is also lots of politicial conflicts with how to deal with our economic situation right now. And lastly, America is competiting with other countries for techonology and resources.

I think the general significance of the chapter was to see how Easter Island went downshill and compare it to the path that America is in.

Final Food Paper:

The American way of food is generally easy access food for cheap. The media manipulates citizens into thinking fast and convenient food is good but really the food we eat comes from the industrialized farms and the mistreated animals. Food corporations will go to extreme lengths to maximize profit.

Industrialization helps speed up the process of producing mass amounts of food. The movie, "Vroom! Farming For Kids" shows how farming has been industrialized. Extreme machines are used to pick crops and tend the farm where there is little work for a lot of food at a fast pace resulting in lots of profit. But replacing people with machinery used by fossiln fuels polluting the air as said in the article. The article, "Industrial Food is Cheap," states that the pesticids and hormones used to produce the 'best' kind of food is an input to the cancer epidemic. Whereas, if organic foods were produced, that would elimilate the use of chemicals thus decreasing the disease rate. Industrialized food is NOT cheap because although it is cheap in money, in the long run it affects the planet and all the hormones used affects us Americans who eat the food leading to risk of diseases. Food companies are willing to risk the health of humans and the well being of our planet in order to gain profit.

In "Unser Taglich Brot" (our daily bread) shows how fruits produced through industrialization. They are grown in a controlled environment so the apples do not get dirty and once they are picked they go straight to the factory to get packaged, then shipped to the grocery stores. As opposed to the natural way apples are grown in a natural environment including all the parts of the ecosystem which are apart of their natural production. Capitalism forces corporations to industrialize America's production of food to increase profits.

The video, "Meatrix" is about a pig who does not know the way he is being mistreated and what is going to happen. A cow, Moofius, informs him that the life he thought was decent is actually very cruel and will lead him to his death to be turned into a burger. "Family farm is just a fantasy," animals are not being treated like the ideal farm, raising their animals with care. The animals in industrialized farms never see sunlight or even touch ground, they are kept in small tightly confined cages to then be killed and slaughtered, 5000 cows are slaughtered per day so corporations can gain profits.

The way this is conveyed in the video "Cows with guns," is that they animals "eat to grow, grow to die." In this video, the cows try to rebel and escape so they can be free and they say, "We will run free with the buffalo or die," because cows probably do not know that there exists a better life than they are living, they do not get to make that decision so they are forced to eat and live in their own manure. Because farms tending animals incompetently, the manure (12 million pounds of it) is not being taken care of and is leaking into rivers causing water pollution. Food corporations will pollute the water and abuse the animals if that is what it takes to maximize profits.

In the Coalition of Immokalee workers, the migrant farm workers are being treated unfairly as well. Because they are immigrants, they do not get paid very much and have little to no power, so they are forced to work tomato picking. Companies take advantage of migrant workers and expoit them to gain profits.

Grocery stores, which are chains from food corporations, tend to push foods that taste or look good to the consumer meaning food with sugars, salts, and fats, these are the general ingredients in products that react with the human body to make you want more salty, fatty, sugary foods. In the snacks aisle, the chocolate chip cookies were at eye level for customers to see while the saltine crackers were at the bottom. And in the fruits and vegetable sections the fruits had to look shiny, colorful, and appealing. The food corporations use advertisement strategies to manipulate food buyers to buy more food to get more money.

In the video where Pollan is a guest on the Colbert show on comedy central, the discussion is basically an argument between Colbert, the typical American, and Pollan who is against food corporations and food processing. As Pollan suggested that a healthy meal would be something home cooked, while Colbert replied, are you trying to "undream the dream"? implying that the generl American dream (in the case of food) is to have your food already prepared so life can be more convenient for us so we do not have to spend time making the food. The media in the United States convinces citizens that the ability to get food fast and easy is good because it is cheap and accessible. The media manipulating citizens helps companies gain profit.

Shown in movies, "Vroom!...," "Unser Taglich Brot," videos, "Meatrix," "Cows With Guns," "Pollan vs Colbert," article "Industrialized Food is Cheap," and what I have learned about grocery stores, fast food places and CIW, food corporations go to great lengths to make profit through industrialization, animal cruelty, and manipulation.

Final Food Paper Rough Draft

Thesis: Food corporations will go to extreme lengths to maximize profits:

Within the past week in class we have been watching "Unser Taglich Brot" (our daily bread) and "Vroom! Farming For Kids," discussing where the food we eat comes from. Also shown in "The Meatrix" 1, 2, and 2.5 and the article "Industrial Food is Cheap," the general American way of food is uhealthy and cruel to Animals and plants.

The media in the United States convinces citizens that the ability to get food fast and easy is good because it is cheap and easy to get access to. We've seen in "Vroom!..." how farming has been industrialized. Extreme machines are used to pick crops and tend the farm where there is little work for a lot of food at a fast pace resulting in lots of profit. But replacing people with machinery used by fossiln fuels polluting the air as said in the article "Industrial Food is Cheap." Also stated in this article, because farms tending animals incompetently, the manure (12 million pounds of it) is not being taken care of and is leaking into rivers causing water pollution. This article's main argument is that Industrialized food is NOT cheap because although it is cheap in money, in the long run it affects the planet and all the hormones used affects us Americans who eat the food leading to risk of diseases. And in "Unser Taglich Brot" what is done to animals for our convenience where pigs, chickens, and cows suffer from this immediately, us humans have to face health problems and pollution problems. Whereas, if we eat organic food, although it is expencive money wise, it eliminates the use of chemicals devreasing the risk of diseases which helps us in the long run. Food corporations are willing to risk the health of citizens, and the well being of our planet, and manipulate American citizens in order to gain money.

Shown in "The Meatrix" series, the "Family farm is just a fantasy," animals are not being treated like the ideal farm, raising their animals with care. The animals in industrialized farms never see sunlight or even touch ground, they are kept in small tightly confined cages to then be killed and slaughtered, 5000 cows are slaughtered per day so corporations can gain profits.

Grocery stores which are chaings from food corporations tend to push foods that taste or look good to the consumer meaning food with sugars, salts, and fats, these are the general ingredients in products that react with the human body to make you want more salty, fatty, sugary foods. Even fruit grocery stores try to make it look most pleasing to the consumer. In the snacks aisle the chocolate chip cookies were at eye level for customers to see while the saltine crackers were at the bottom. And in the fruits and vegetable sections the fruits had to look shiny, colorful, and appealing.

In Pollan's book, he addresses the point that Americans are easily convinced when dieting. Because we are not educated enough about these things that we face in our everyday lives, we turn to the "experts" who

My initial thought about this question would be that healthy food is what we've been told since we were younger, fruits and vegetables. But according to foodasfood.com, each vitamin, vegetable, fruit, etc. has its advantages and disadvantages. One food can be good for one thing but bad for another. The example used was, a little alcohol will prevent heart attacks but maybe cause breast cancer. We can't know for sure because everyone's body has different reaction to something. From this I concluded that the definition for food that is good for you can vary for different people.



All of this is very messy and choppy because I had trouble organizing my thoughs so I came up with an outline trying to include everything I can use here:

Intro
Argument#1: Industrialization
-->Vroom!...
-->Our Daily Bread (factory examples)
-->"Industrial Food Is Cheap"

Argument#2: Animal Cruelty
-->Meatrix
-->Cows With Guns

Argument#3: Media/Manipulation
-->Grocery Stores
-->Fast Food
-->Pollan vs Colbert
Conclusion

Food Assignment #8

Within the past week in class we have been watching "Unser Taglich Brot" (our daily bread) and "Vroom! Farming For Kids," discussing where the food we eat comes from. Also shown in "The Meatrix" 1, 2, and 2.5 and the article "Industrial Food is Cheap," the general American way of food is uhealthy and cruel to Animals and plants.

We've seen in "Vroom!..." how farming has been industrialized. Extreme machines are used to pick crops and tend the farm where there is little work for a lot of food meaning lots of profit. Meaning replacing people with machinery used by fossil fuels polluting the air as said in the article "Industrial Food is Cheap." Also stated in this article, because farms tending animals incompetently, the manure (12 million pounds of it) is not being taken care of and is leaking into rivers causing water pollution. This article's main argument is that Industrialized food is NOT cheap because although it is cheap in money, in the long run it affects the planet and all the hormones used affects us Americans who eat the food leading to risk of diseases. And in "Unser Taglich Brot" what is done to animals for our convenience where pigs, chickens, and cows suffer from this immediately, us humans have to face health problems and pollution problems. Whereas, if we eat organic food, although it is expencive money wise, it eliminates the use of chemicals devreasing the risk of diseases which helps us in the long run.

Shown in "The Meatrix" series, the "Family farm is just a fantasy," animals are not being treated like the ideal farm, raising their animals with care. The animals in industrialized farms never see sunlight or even touch ground, they are kept in small tightly confined cages to then be killed and slaughtered, 5000 cows are slaughtered per day which makes me wonder, how much of it do we actually need? before industrialization took over the food system I would assume that people did not have access as much to eat as we have today so how much is actually necessary? Where do we cross the line of producing too much food or not enough?

Food Assignment 7

one of my favorite dishes is new england clam chowder from a recipe that my mom got from cooks.com:

1 can 51 oz chopped clams
4 slices hickory smoked bacon, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp flour
4 med potatoes, peeled & diced
3 cups milk or half & half
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp dill
2 tsp dried parsley
2 bay leaves
salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

Drain clams and reserve juice. In a stock pot, bring clam juice, potatoes, and bay leaves to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.
In a seperate, heavy bottomed kettle, saute bacon, butter, onion, oregano, and parsley over low heat. Do not allow to brown. Add flour to make a roux and continue to cook for several minutes.

Add the hot clam stock through a strainer, a cup at a time, and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining potatoes, clams, and stock and bring to a simmer.

Add the milk or half & half, black pepper, and dill weed and return to a simmer. Add salt, if needed. Serve at once with oyster crackers.

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

In Pollan's book, he addresses the point that Americans are easily convinced when dieting. I think the reasoning is because the not all American are experts on food, so when someone who claims to be an expert says something, most will believe what they say, similar to the bith unit, those of use who are not doctors will assume that everthing the doctor says is best, is the best for you but is really not. Because we are not educated enough about these things that we face in our everyday lives, we turn to the "experts" who tend to generalize for the entire population. When the food expert says this diet is good, I don't think that necessearily means it is good for everyone because everyone has different reactions to different foods so they are forced to generalize for everyone. Similar to doctors, they may not look into every birth case closely so they rely on c-sections as a general overview of how to deal with pregnancies. Most follow the crowd when it comes to food fads. My family pays attention to nutritionists and chefs.

Grocery Store and Habitual Food:

In my house we have a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains, and nuts that I eat in a typical week.
Fruits: Oranges, mangoes, blueberries, tomato, pepper, peaches, plums, pears, banana
Vegetables: Strawberries, lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, potato, corn, mushrooms
Grains/Roots/Nuts: Beans (black, red, white, lima), white rice, peanuts, macadamia, cashews, almonds, wheat rice, onions

Grocery stores tend to push foods that taste or look good to the consumer meaning food with sugars, salts, and fats, these are the general ingredients in products that people seem to like to eat. Or even fruit that looks most pleasing to the consumer. In the snacks aisle the chocolate chip cookies were at eye level for customers to see while the saltine crackers were at the bottom. And in the fruits and vegetable sections the fruits had to look shiny, colorful, and appealing.

As a child my parents raised me to eat and try a new foods for meals and snacks. Now, since I've had that experience with various foods the way I eat now I am not a very picky eater I have lots of foods that I like or am open to try if I haven't already. Other eating habits I have now that I've noticed is that I don't eat breakfast everyday, I don't think it is because of my habits as a child because when I was younger my parents made sure I would eat breakfast but now that I am responsible for my own breakfast and getting myself to school, I just get lazy and don't make the time to eat breakfast. But I always eat lunch and dinner sometimes with snacks in between because that is how I was raised.

May Day

Because May Day is having to do with, socialism, communism, and anarchy, America avoids it entirely. I think it just goes to show how we're so brainwashed to shiver at the thought of communism, frown upon at the idea of socialism or think badly of anarchy when most Americans probably do not even understand the real ideas of socialism, communism, and anarchy because the propaganda tells Americans that communism is evil, or a country like Cuba is evil because it is socialist. Its hard for Americans to think for themselves when their views and influences are one sided.

I think it is interesting how Americans do not celebrate May Day with the rest of the world, the U.S. had to have their own labor day in September as to not associate themselves with socialist/communist/anarchist countries or their enemies. And it is also interesting how the media is completely dissmissive of May Day and the fact that this day benefitted all working class people. It probably is not very surprising because media being run by upper class, against communism because that means less money for them, the benefits to the lower classes has no affect on them.

Food Journal

Tuesday Night:
Steak with A1 steak sauce (eaten with fork and knife)
the steak came from costco, it was frozen then cooked by my mom
Rice, also cooked by my mom in a rice cooker
grapefruit juice
snack: ices/flavor ice
I was doing my history assignment while enjoying this meal.
I'm not lying.
I promise.
This was a good meal
I enjoyed it and I was satisfied after the meal.

Wednesday Morning:
Honey nut cheerios with organic milk. (eaten with bowl and spoon)
I ate this quickly so I wouldn't be late for school.
I wasn't really hungry when I was eating this but I knew I was going to get hungry later so I ate it anyway.

Wednesday Afternoon:
Turkey sandwich with american cheese and mayonnaise from the deli on the corner outside the school (eaten by hand)
Rits bits cheese from the vending machine
Water
Grapefruit juice
I had this meal with fellow juniors in mr. manley's room for our senior committe meeting.
I was not satisfied after eating this meal. I was still a hungry.

Wednesday Evening:
Home made chicken soup (my mom made it)(spoon and bowl)
bread
cheetos
cheese
blueberry nutrigrain bar
water
I ate this with my brothers in the room that we share.
I was fairly satisifed after eating this meal. the tv was on in the background but I wasn't watching it

Food #3 Home and Corporate

From what i have seen in the media about eating is that it in the United States you can get food fast and easy. Once the food is there and ready to eat i've seen in the media both the idea of togetherness of eating at the table with you family AND where the family is spread throughout the house eating in front of the television. The media also promotes unhealthy food like fast foods but makes it look fresh and healthy and good tasting.

In my family house hold the food is not always cooked quickly. Admittedly we use products that you can make in under 10 mintues like mac and cheese or ramen noodles. But for the most part my parents, who do most of the cooking, take the time to cook what they make.I would say that what is made in my house is mostly of convenience because we don't exactly have all the ingredients growing near by for us to have access to. So we go to the grocery store conveniently close to the house.

We do have a sense of togetherness in the house where we do eat together. We don't eat together all the time and when we don't we do eat in front of the tv with is part of the corporate American way of food. The foods we eat are pretty healthy, my dad likes to eat healthy so he tries not to buy too much junk food so we have I think a pretty good balance between my parent's ways of eating and the American way of eating because the ingredients used are mostly traditional from my family's generations.Overall I think my household has a mix of family traditions of foods from my mom and dad's cultures and the American culture of eating.

What's in my Refigerator...?

-Peanut Butter
-Cookie Dough
-Eggs
-Lettuce
-Smoked Sausage
-Coke
-Rice
-Beer
-Mango Nectar
-Milk
-Cranberry Juice
-Tomato Sauce
-Butter
-Cheese
-Ham

This list shows the culture of food how there's two main reasons, one for health, and two for the taste, and sometimes it's both. We have most of the basic food groups in the list and we also have parts that we don't necessarily need but we eat it because it tastes good. Our culture uses food as a way to socialize, or have gatherings such as thanksgiving, dinner parties, brunch gatherings, barbeques, etc..

Food: What is considered Healthy Food?:

My initial thought about this question would be that healthy food is what we've been told since we were younger, fruits and vegetables. But according to foodasfood.com, each vitamin, vegetable, fruit, etc. has its advantages and disadvantages. One food can be good for one thing but bad for another. The example used was, a little alcohol will prevent heart attacks but maybe cause breast cancer. We can't know for sure because everyone's body has different reaction to something. From this I concluded that the definition for food that is good for you can vary for different people.

Poverty in the US vs Poverty in other countries

One main aspect of poverty in America we have looked at is the health care system in America and how it contrasts with other countries, more specifically looking at Canada, France, and England. The health care system has its benefits in Canada and France that contrast with the American health care system.


Michael Moore's SiCKO is a movie about those in Ameirca who have health insurance. It basically talks about how the insurance companies try to get as much money out of citizens as they can. And they compare this to other countries. In America, doctors are paid more if they deny care to patients from the insurance company to cover because they are saving the insurance company's money. While in England, the doctors get paid the more they convince their patients to stop smoking, the more they actually help their patients. It is also shows in statistics that people in England will live longer and are healthier than Americans due to the health care difference in both countries. They say the poorest person in England will live longer than the richest person in America.

SiCKO shows a case where a man needed surgery in order to save his life, all he had to do was get the surgery approved by the hospital. But because the insurance companies need to deny services to save their money, the doctor had to deny this service which caused his death. Another case where an American woman had to pretend she was related to a canadian man so she would be able to get free health care in Canada.

The movie also compares how America is a really stressful country where there's barely a break, school for the first 20some years of our life, get a job with might not cover all your needs causing more stress, and because you are stressed you need to buy antidepressants and then you're thousands of dolllars in debt. In France, after a man was treated, the doctor asked him if he was ready for another job and he was able to take three months off from work while still getting money (and remember he doesnt have to pay for his visit to the hospital or the ride he took to get there) and relax before he starts working again.

I spoke to my father about his experience with health care in America. His experiences were not as upsetting as the ones shown in the movie but there were cases where he did have to pay heavy medical bills because the insuance company did not cover it. But after he has my brothers and I, we joined child health plus which is a care center managed by Fidelis and since then it has covered the three trips to the emergency room and any other times we needed to go to the hospital for anything. In my family we never had to pay for anything major because the insurance did not cover it. In general my father said he had a pretty good experience with medical care here in America, his only complaint was that they make you wait a long time to get whatever you need, Similar to Canada where people were complaining about the how long they have to wait to get their care. (cbc.ca)

From what I see is that our family, because nothing major has happened to us that we would depend on the insurance company to cover any expences, its okay if we pay for a few things here and there and its really all that we know, it was such a surprise to myself and the rest of the class to see how in other countries they can just walk in and out of the hospital with no worries about the medical bill and how the expenses are being paid for. And it's such a surprise to me how the insurance companites can put a price on your own health and that price and make you or break you in a very litteral sense.

When sharing our personal experiences with the class, one of the students (Lauren 4/20) explained how one of her family memebers was denied care and was upset about it but did not want to show it as did another student, Binta. We noticed that we did not express our anger freely because we simply concluded that there was nothing we could do about it. This came up in SiCKO where a French man explained the the French government is afriad of the people because they have the power to protest and get free medical care. But in the United States people are afraid of the government because in the case of medical care they control the treatments you get and the care you get, and just your well being overall. Because they have this control we just accept that there's nothing we can do about it.

Was Michael Moore Lying about...?

In the movie SiCKO, Michael Moore stated that Cuba's life expectancy rate is higher than America's
according to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy) Cuba is #37 on the list of life expectancy and America is #38

The movie also gave viewers the idea that Canadians are happy with their health care
according to http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2002/07/15/healthcare020715.html 80% of Canadians are happy with their health care but the 20% who are not happy with their health care say they have a long wait causing added stress, anxiety, and pain, similar to the American health care system (from what myself and my family have experienced), there is a long wait to get the care you need. But contrasting with the Canadian health care system, Americans worrying about the medical bill and the insurance companies most likely also add to the stress and anxiety.

Family Experience With Health Care in The U.S.

Michael Moore's SiCKO is a movie about those in Ameirca who have health insurance. It basically talks about how the insurance companies try to get as much money out of citizens as they can. And they compare this to other countries. In America, doctors are paid more if they deny care to patients from the insurance company to cover because they are saving the insurance company's money. While in England, the doctors get paid the more they convince their patients to stop smoking, the more they actually help their patients. It is also shows in statistics that people in England will live longer and are healthier than Americans due to the health care difference in both countries. They say the poorest person in England will live longer than the richest person in America.

SiCKO shows a case where a man needed surgery in order to save his life, all he had to do was get the surgery approved by the hospital. But because the insurance companies need to deny services to save their money, the doctor had to deny this service which caused his death. Another case where an American woman had to pretend she was related to a canadian man so she would be able to get free health care in Canada.

The movie also compares how America is a really stressful country where there's barely a break, school for the first 20some years of our life, get a job with might not cover all your needs causing more stress, and because you are stressed you need to buy antidepressants and then you're thousands of dolllars in debt. In France, after a man was treated, the doctor asked him if he was ready for another job and he was able to take three months off from work while still getting money (and remember he doesnt have to pay for his visit to the hospital or the ride he took to get there) and relax before he starts working again.

I spoke to my father about his experience with health care in America. His experiences were not as upsetting as the ones shown in the movie but there were cases where he did have to pay heavy medical bills because the insuance company did not cover it. But after he has my brothers and I, we joined child health plus which is a care center managed by Fidelis and since then it has covered the three trips to the emergency room and any other times we needed to go to the hospital for anything. In my family we never had to pay for anything major because the insurance did not cover it. In general my father said he had a pretty good experience with medical care here in America, his only complaint was that they make you wait a long time to get whatever you need, I'm not sure how that is compared to other countries, if they have long waits as well.

From what I see is that our family, because nothing major has happened to us that we would depend on the insurance company to cover any expences, its okay if we pay for a few things here and there and its really all that we know, it was such a surprise to myself and the rest of the class to see how in other countries they can just walk in and out of the hospital with no worries about the medical bill and how the expenses are being paid for. And it's such a surprise to me how the insurance companites can put a price on your own health and that price and make you or break you in a very litteral sense.

Research and Notes From The Past Week

What are the main causes for poverty in the world?
"The causes are numerous, including a lack of individual responsibility, bad government policy, exploitation by people and businesses with power and influence, or some combination of these and other factors." http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty

On Tuesday March 31st, we played musical chairs in class. This demonstration expressed the idea of competition for jobs or opportunities. When you play musical chairs there is always less amount of chairs than people, reflecting poverty because there are only so many slots that will get you a good job in America and there are not enough opportunities for everyone forcing people to be poor. Based on musical chairs we concluded that the reason poor people are poor is because there are not enough opportunities for everyone in society.

On Thursday April 2nd, to show how the rich own most of the wealth, there was a demonstration with ten chairs. one person would occupuy about five chairs(17.5%), that would be the rich owning more than their fair share. And gradually going down to where four people need to share half of a chair representing that the poor own very little of the wealth(2.2%).

Finally, on Friday the third we play musical chairs with a variation, where a couple of people would own chairs, representing the rich because they have more opportunities than they need and towards the end of the game there were only a couple chairs without names, so 4 people would have to fight for those couple chairs while there were several other ones that people owned but were untouchable. Overall, covering the three activities, the main reasons why poor people are poor is because there are not enough opportunities in the world and people the rich are occupying the opportunities and the wealth.

Wealth and Poverty in the U.S.-Internet Research

Questions:
Who creates the tax and income regulations?
According to wikipedia, he poverty line is set by the government
How is the poverty line determined?

What would it take for these regulations to change?

Where in America is the highest poverty rate?

What are the main causes for poverty in America?

What are the main causes for poverty in the world?
"The causes are numerous, including a lack of individual responsibility, bad government policy, exploitation by people and businesses with power and influence, or some combination of these and other factors." http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty

How do America's standards regarding welfare, income, taxes, and poverty compare to other countries? (Wikipedia)

Danish Assignment

If you calculate the minimum amount of money necessary for a woman living in a rented apartment in brooklyn named Jill who has a girl who is 3 years old and has another baby on the way to survive you'll roughly find that she needs $29,436 a year. The official income of a family of two that is recognized as poor it $1400, if Jill earns less than this she can get help from the government. So it turns out to be that the actual poverty line is nearly two times less than necessary. At this point, Jill is "unworthy" of welfare. (A person worthy of welface is someone who is making an effort to support themselves but needs a hand up not out as long as they make below the poverty line). But Jill she can use the universal welfare such as public schools but she would not get targeted help from the government. If Jill were poor she could also recieve charity which is out of pitty or she can get help in solidarity, workin gotgether with those who are in the same situation where they share the same benefits.

No matter where Jill is living, needs to pay taxes. There's the flat tax, regressive tax, and progressive tax. The flat tax is where everyone pays the same percent where the poor pays more than the rich. The regressive tax is where the poor has a higher percentage of income tax while the rich has a lower percentage like a sales tax for example, favoring the top of the social ladder. Progressive is the opposite where the rich pay more than the poor. And finally, an effective tax includes all taxes once they are calculated.

contrasting with the danish welfare system, they have higher taxes but they have free health care and free day care. They also have unemployment beneits where if you are without a job, you get money from the government for four years, then a two year break where you are forced to look for a job, there are circumstances for each situation. Because of all these regulations for the majority of the time you are never without a job and it is very difficult to be poor. "Get poor or die trying" as a Danish student described it as.

I think that it might be a good idea for America to adopt the Danish model and become a Social Democracy because I would think that it would decrease the amount of poor people in America but I think it is too early to decide, I think it would be best to decide after seeing all of the pros and cons to a Social Democracy but as of right now, I think it would be a good idea.

The Flawed American Way of Birth

In America the “normal” way of a woman giving birth is as shown in the media; the woman’s water breaks she rushes to the hospital, goes to the emergency room, gets an epidural so she doesn’t feel the pain, the baby is born and taken away for tests and such and once the baby is back it’s a happy ending. Another version of this story is that she gets an epidural, then some pitosin, the woman cannot give birth at this point, and the doctor saves the day by performing a c-section, and the mother and the baby make it through alive. These stories are flawed.
The film "Business of Being Born," is a very revealing one. It lets viewers in on the differences between home births and hospital births. In modern day America we have techniques and technologies to aid child birth unnecessarily such as machines, vacuums, forceps, epidurals, episiotomies, and of course, c-sections which make the OB's life less complicated whereas most people think the doctor cares about the patient because that's what they are supposed to do but the patients are seen more as victims than as patients. In Shira’s birth experience, she felt that her home birth was simple and she did not need to be taken care of by a doctor or the techniques or technologies they use.
Less than 8% of Americans give birth with a midwife while in Japan and Europe, 70% of the births are given with midwives(B of BB). In these countries it is normal for women to have midwives and in America the norm is to give birth at a hospital because it is “safer.” Although people feel this way, the death rate for women and children in Europe is much lower than America's because of the way American doctors operate, doctors are trained to find something wrong and fix it, so if there is something wrong even if it is supposed to go wrong during the process of birth, they consider it a problem and resort to c-section. So people say the doctor saved the day but they would not have to save the day if the modern techniques and technologies had a negative affect on the birth.
Most would think doctors are people patients can depend on but because they believe they are the authority figure during child birth, the one in control, they can do whatever they want even if it goes against what you want them to do. Because the doctor is getting paid to do what he/she is doing, they will plan to do it the way they want it. What they are doing is a form of commodity, they have to do what they have to do in a certain amount of time, and the doctors make sure the baby is born at a certain time by using techniques and technologies that are not necessarily good for the patient but efficient and convenient for the doctor. This means that if it is convenient for them to do a c-section, when it is not even completely necessary for them to, rather than risk something going wrong during child labor and being blamed for it, they’ll do it. (Rubin). When Melissa, a teacher who works at School of the Future shared her birth story she explained how she did not want an episiotomy but the doctor gave it to her anyway without consulting her. The “Normal” way of birth is in the hands of the doctor who would take advantage of that power if he wanted to speed up the process. Doctors are not as trustworthy as they seem in the ideal American way of birth.
In Ms. Plaza's birth experience, she proved that the doctor is not always going to make you feel safe and secure in a hospital because in her story she had to deal with the intern who made her feel like she didn't know what she was doing. And the doctor did not arrive until much later but just in time to deliver the baby, her experience was impersonal and she was irritated for part of the time because of the way she was being treated at the hospital.
Once the child is born, as shown in the Monty Python youtube video, the child is taken away from the mother. Because the child is taken away from the mother right away, it takes away that mother vs. child connection that they have at child birth. For example with the dolphin giving birth, naturally, once the calf is born, the two swam together side by side. And the doctors take away that connection. Similar to a woman that I know gave birth twice, once in another country and once in America, in the other country, after giving birth she was able to hold her child and her experience of holding her baby just after her child was born was one she enjoyed. And unlike how the American way of birth is, she was able to take care of her child in the hospital with the child lying next to her. She did not get that experience with her second child, to whom she gave birth in America, because the doctors took away the child once they were born. Also in Shira's birth experience, she had a happy and natural birth experience, in her second birth, at home, after the birth she was able to connect with both of her kids just after the second child was born marked as one of the happiest moments of her life. The “normal” way of birth does not allow the mother to connect with her child the way they should immediately after the birth.
In the case of a natural child birth such as the dolphin's or giraffe's, no meds were necessary. Once the calf was born, they would learn to swim/stand up with their mother by their side. Contrasting with a normal child birth in America where the doctors are in control of the birth and does not allow the woman's body or the woman's baby to act as it naturally should. The doctors give the woman an episiotomy when, according to Gaskin, the cervix does not need to be mangled with because it acts as a sphincter, allowing to open and close as necessary. Gaskin also mentioned that sphincters are "shy" when the woman is disturbed during child birth the sphincter will close up. So when people are walking in and out of the room, and there are bright lights focusing on the woman, it is harder for the woman to feel comfortable pushing the baby out, which is where the meds come in. Controlling the sphincter is a mind-body connection where if the woman is relaxed, her sphincter is more likely to open up more easily whereas, if she's in a hospital where people are yelling at her to push, its less likely that she will feel comfortable and allow her sphincter to open up. The doctors make the experience for the woman artificial and it affects the woman's body. The ideal American way of birth gives the woman’s body stimulants that deprive the woman of empowerment from giving birth naturally.
As we see in the media in America today, most if not all births take place in a hospital where there is a doctor in charge delivering the birth. Based on youtube videos of a giraffe giving birth, a dolphin giving birth, Ina May Gaskin’s interview, video, and article, a Monty Python youtube video, an article about c-sections, and other birth stories, we can conclude that the typical American way of birth is highly flawed because it portrays doctors as trustworthy heroes and midwives as evil women, it takes away the woman’s empowerment, connection with her child, it takes away an experience that should be personal if she wants it to be, and it has bad after affects on the woman once she has given birth.

Continuing Thoughts:
For me the film was to raise awareness about the problems with hospital births and where it all began. I think this is an important film that Americans should watch so they understand the flaws behind those blue curtains and while halls. We've come to believe that doctors and hospitals are safe places for us citizens but now the way I see it, they are being paid to get me fixed so they will do it in the most convenient way possible for them even if it is inconvenient for the patient. I have been convinced by articles, guest speakers, and the film that midwives care much more for the patient than doctors and I personally would trust them more.

American Way of Birth Essay draft 2

Natural vs. Normal birth, how most expectations of the "normal" way of birth are wrong:


The film "Business of Being Born," is a very revealing one. It lets viewers in on the differences between home births and hospital births. For me the film was to raise awareness about the problems with hospital births and where it all began. Going back to the bible where Eve bit the apple and that's why women suffer during birth. Because people believed this, feminists were against suffering during child birth which lead to upcoming techniques and technologies such as machines, vaccums, foreceps, epidurals, episiotomies, and of course, C-sections which many doctors turn to when faced any problem whether it is a serious one or not making the OB's life less complicated whereas most people think the doctor cares about the patient because that's what they are supposed to do but the patients are seen more as victims than as patients.

Then the uprising of the home births came back in the 70's when rebels and hippies were against everything that was going on in America at the time so they avoided hospital births and started getting midwives to give birth in their own home. A small percentage of people in America give birth at home whereas, in Europe and Japan it is normal for women to have midwives and their death rate for women and children is much lower than America's because of the way American doctors operate, because they are doctors, they are trained to find something wrong and fix it, so if there is something wrong even if it is supposed to go wrong during the process of birth, they consider it a problem and resort to c-section. I think this is an important film that Americans should watch so they understand the flaws behind those blue curtains and while halls. We've come up to believe that doctors and hospitals are safe places for us citizens but now the way I see it, they are being paid to get me fixed so they will do it in the most convenient way possible for them even if it is inconvenient for the patient. I have been convinced by this film that midwives care much more for the patient than doctors and I personally would trust them more.

As we see in the media in America today, most if not all births take place in a hospital where there is a doctor in charge delivering the birth. The question is, whether the doctor being in charge is a problem or not. Based on youtube vidoes of a giraffe giving birth, a dolphin giviing birth, Ina May Gaskin talking about birth, and an interview with Gaskin about being a mid-wife, a Monty Python youtube video, and an article about c-sections, we can conclude that the Doctor's being in charge during child birth is a problem affecting the woman's body and the child's first moments alive. Most would think doctors are people patients can depend on but because they believe they are the authority figure during child birth, the one in control, they can do whatever they want even if it goes against what you want them to do (Melissa's story)



And once the child is born, as shown in the Monty Python youtube video, he/she is taken away from the mother. Because the child is taken away from the mother right away, it takes away that mother vs. child connection that they have at child birth. For example with the dolphin giving birth, naturally, once the calf is born, the two swam together side by side. And the doctors take away that connection. Similar to a woman that I know gave birth twice, once in another country and once in America, in the other country, after giving birth she was able to hold her child and her experience of holding her baby just after her child was born was one she enjoyed. And unlike how the American way of birth is, she was able to take care of her child in the hospital with the child lying next to her. She did not get that experience with her second child, to whom she gave birth in America, because the doctors took away the child once they were born. Not only is the doctors being in charge during child birth a problem because it doesn't allow the woman to listen to her body and naturally give birth but it also takes away the experience for a mother to connect with her child. Technologies and techniques of giving birth in the hospital with an ob/gyn have altered the natural way of birth in a negative way.

Because the doctor is getting paid to do what he/she is doing, they will plan to do it the way they want it. What they are doing is a form of commodity, they have to do what they have to do in a certain amount of time, the doctors make sure the baby is born at a certain time by using techniques and technologies that are not necesarily good for the patient but efficient and convenient for the doctor. Which means that if it is convenient for them to do a c-section, when it is not even completely necessary for them to, rather than risk something going wrong during child labor and being blamed for it, they'll do it.(Rubin). When the doctor's in charge, it is a problem because most of the medical procedures performed are in favor of the doctor's comfort and convenience.

In the case of a natural child birth such as the dolphin's or giraffe's, no meds were necessary. Once the calf was born, they would learn to swim/stand up with their mother by their side. Contrasting with a normal child birth in America where the doctors are in control of the birth and does not allow the woman's body or the woman's baby to act as it naturally should. The doctors give the woman an episiotomy when, according to Gaskin, the cervix does not need to be mangled with because it acts as a spincter, allowing to open and close as necessary. Gaskin also mentioned that sphincters are "shy" when the woman is disturbed during child birth the sphincter will close up. So when people are walking in and out of the room, and there are bright lights focusing on the woman, it is harder for the woman to feel comfortable pushing the baby out, which is where the meds come in. The doctors make the experience for the woman artificial and it affects the woman's body.

With the doctor in charge, it is a problem because the doctor in control is the main difference between a natural and normal birth when contrasting the youtube videos of a giraffe's birth and a dolphin's, the interview and talk with Ina May gaskin with the youtube video of Monty Python's youtube video about birth and Rita Rubin's article about C-sections. Although Americans see birth at the hospital in the media, it is not always the best decision for the woman. The doctor being in charge is a problem when a woman is trying to give birth naturally.

Plaza's birth experience proved that the doctor is not always going to make you feel safe and secure in a hospital because in her case she had to deal with the intern who made her feel like she didn't know what she was doing. And the doctor did not arrive until much later but just in time to deliver the baby, her experience was impersonal and she was irritated for part of the time because of the way she was being treated at the hospital.

Shira's birth experience proves that you don't need a doctor to have a happy and natural birth, in her second birth, at home, she said that it was very simple and she didn't need to be taken care of by a doctor.

In Ina May Gaskin's article, "Sphincter Law," she explains how the sphincter cannot be opened on command, so when the doctor is forcing the woman to push when her body is not ready, they need to come in and do an episiotomy to be time efficient. Gaskin also explains how sphincers may suddenly close when their owner is startled, frightened, subconscious, on uncomforable, so if the doctor is making the woman uncomfortable or another aspect of the "normal" way of birth, the sphincter will want to close. Controlling the sphincter is a mind-body connection where if the woman is relaxed, her sphincter is more likely to open up more easily whereas, if she's in a hospital where people are yelling at her to push, its less likely that she will feel comforable and allow her sphincter to open up.

Thesis: Natural vs. Normal birth, how most expectations of the "normal" way of birth are wrong
Examples: BOBB, youtube videos, "Sphincter Law," "C-section rate rises" article, Shira's birth experience, and Plaza's birth experience.

The film "Business of Being Born," is a very revealing one. It lets viewers in on the differences between home births and hospital births. For me the film was to raise awareness about the problems with hospital births and where it all began. Going back to the bible where Eve bit the apple and that's why women suffer during birth. Because people believed this, feminists were against suffering during child birth which lead to upcoming techniques and technologies such as machines, vaccums, foreceps, epidurals, episiotomies, and of course, C-sections which many doctors turn to when faced any problem whether it is a serious one or not making the OB's life less complicated.

Then the uprising of the home births came back in the 70's when rebels and hippies were against everything that was going on in America at the time so they avoided hospital births and started getting midwives to give birth in their own home. A small percentage of people in America give birth at home whereas, in Europe and Japan it is normal for women to have midwives and their death rate for women and children is much lower than America's because of the way American doctors operate, because they are doctors, they are trained to find something wrong and fix it, so if there is something wrong even if it is supposed to go wrong during the process of birth, they consider it a problem and resort to c-section. I think this is an important film that Americans should watch so they understand the flaws behind those blue curtains and while halls. We've come up to believe that doctors and hospitals are safe places for us citizens but now the way I see it, they are being paid to get me fixed so they will do it in the most convenient way possible for them even if it is inconvenient for the patient. I have been convinced by this film that midwives care much more for the patient than doctors and I personally would trust them more.


As we see in the media in America today, most if not all births take place in a hospital where there is a doctor in charge delivering the birth. The question is, whether the doctor being in charge is a problem or not. Based on youtube vidoes of a giraffe giving birth, a dolphin giviing birth, Ina May Gaskin talking about birth, and an interview with Gaskin about being a mid-wife, a Monty Python youtube video, and an article about c-sections, we can conclude that the Doctor's being in charge during child birth is a problem affecting the woman's body and the child's first moments alive.

In the case of a natural child birth such as the dolphin's or giraffe's, no meds were necessary. Once the calf was born, they would learn to swim/stand up with their mother by their side. Contrasting with a normal child birth in America where the doctors are in control of the birth and does not allow the woman's body or the woman's baby to act as it naturally should. The doctors give the woman an episiotomy when, according to Gaskin, the cervix does not need to be mangled with because it acts as a spincter, allowing to open and close as necessary. Gaskin also mentioned that sphincters are "shy" when the woman is disturbed during child birth the sphincter will close up. So when people are walking in and out of the room, and there are bright lights focusing on the woman, it is harder for the woman to feel comfortable pushing the baby out, which is where the meds come in. The doctors make the experience for the woman artificial and it affects the woman's body.

And once the child is born, as shown in the Monty Python youtube video, he/she is taken away from the mother. Because the child is taken away from the mother right away, it takes away that mother vs. child connection that they have at child birth. For example with the dolphin giving birth, naturally, once the calf is born, the two swam together side by side. And the doctors take away that connection. Similar to a woman that I know gave birth twice, once in another country and once in America, in the other country, after giving birth she was able to hold her child and her experience of holding her baby just after her child was born was one she enjoyed. And unlike how the American way of birth is, she was able to take care of her child in the hospital with the child lying next to her. She did not get that experience with her second child, to whom she gave birth in America, because the doctors took away the child once they were born. Not only is the doctors being in charge during child birth a problem because it doesn't allow the woman to listen to her body and naturally give birth but it also takes away the experience for a mother to connect with her child.

Finally, because the doctor is getting paid to do what he/she is doing, they will plan to do it the way they want it. What they are doing is a form of commodity, they have to do what they have to do in a certain amount of time, the doctors make sure the baby is born at a certain time by using techniques and technologies that are not necesarily good for the patient but efficient and convenient for the doctor. Which means that if it is convenient for them to do a c-section, when it is not even completely necessary for them to, rather than risk something going wrong during child labor and being blamed for it, they'll do it.(Rubin). When the doctor's in charge, it is a problem because most of the medical procedures performed are in favor of the doctor's comfort and convenience.

With the doctor in charge, it is a problem because the doctor in control is the main difference between a natural and normal birth when contrasting the youtube videos of a giraffe's birth and a dolphin's, the interview and talk with Ina May gaskin with the youtube video of Monty Python's youtube video about birth and Rita Rubin's article about C-sections. Although Americans see birth at the hospital in the media, it is not always the best decision for the woman. The doctor being in charge is a problem when a woman is trying to give birth naturally.


Notes From 3/3-3/6/09:
Plaza's birth experience proved that the doctor is not always going to make you feel safe and secure in a hospital because in her case she had to deal with the intern who made her feel like she didn't know what she was doing. And the doctor did not arrive until much later but just in time to deliver the baby, her experience was impersonal and she was irritated for part of the time because of the way she was being treated at the hospital.

Shira's birth experience proves that you don't need a doctor to have a happy and natural birth, in her second birth, at home, she said that it was very simple and she didn't need to be taken care of by a doctor.

In Ina May Gaskin's article, "Sphincter Law," she explains how the sphincter cannot be opened on command, so when the doctor is forcing the woman to push when her body is not ready, they need to come in and do an episiotomy to be time efficient. Gaskin also explains how sphincers may suddenly close when their owner is startled, frightened, subconscious, on uncomforable, so if the doctor is making the woman uncomfortable or another aspect of the "normal" way of birth, the sphincter will want to close. Controlling the sphincter is a mind-body connection where if the woman is relaxed, her sphincter is more likely to open up more easily whereas, if she's in a hospital where people are yelling at her to push, its less likely that she will feel comforable and allow her sphincter to open up.

"Business of Being Born" Film Response

The film "Business of Being Born," is a very revealing one. It lets viewers in on the differences between home births and hospital births. For me the film was to raise awareness about the problems with hospital births and where it all began. Going back to the bible where Eve bit the apple and that's why women suffer during birth. Because people believed this, feminists were against suffering during child birth which lead to upcoming techniques and technologies such as machines, vaccums, foreceps, epidurals, episiotomies, and of course, C-sections which many doctors turn to when faced any problem whether it is a serious one or not making the OB's life less complicated.

Then the uprising of the home births came back in the 70's when rebels and hippies were against everything that was going on in America at the time so they avoided hospital births and started getting midwives to give birth in their own home. A small percentage of people in America give birth at home whereas, in Europe and Japan it is normal for women to have midwives and their death rate for women and children is much lower than America's because of the way American doctors operate, because they are doctors, they are trained to find something wrong and fix it, so if there is something wrong even if it is supposed to go wrong during the process of birth, they consider it a problem and resort to c-section. I think this is an important film that Americans should watch so they understand the flaws behind those blue curtains and while halls. We've come up to believe that doctors and hospitals are safe places for us citizens but now the way I see it, they are being paid to get me fixed so they will do it in the most convenient way possible for them even if it is inconvenient for the patient. I have been convinced by this film that midwives care much more for the patient than doctors and I personally would trust them more.

"Doctor's in Charge- What's The Problem?" Edited

As we see in the media in America today, most if not all births take place in a hospital where there is a doctor in charge delivering the birth. The question is, whether the doctor being in charge is a problem or not. Based on youtube vidoes of a giraffe giving birth, a dolphin giviing birth, Ina May Gaskin talking about birth, and an interview with Gaskin about being a mid-wife, a Monty Python youtube video, and an article about c-sections, we can conclude that the Doctor's being in charge during child birth is a problem affecting the woman's body and the child's first moments alive.

In the case of a natural child birth such as the dolphin's or giraffe's, no meds were necessary. Once the calf was born, they would learn to swim/stand up with their mother by their side. Contrasting with a normal child birth in America where the doctors are in control of the birth and does not allow the woman's body or the woman's baby to act as it naturally should. The doctors give the woman an episiotomy when, according to Gaskin, the cervix does not need to be mangled with because it acts as a spincter, allowing to open and close as necessary. Gaskin also mentioned that sphincters are "shy" when the woman is disturbed during child birth the sphincter will close up. So when people are walking in and out of the room, and there are bright lights focusing on the woman, it is harder for the woman to feel comfortable pushing the baby out, which is where the meds come in. The doctors make the experience for the woman artificial and it affects the woman's body.

And once the child is born, as shown in the Monty Python youtube video, he/she is taken away from the mother. Because the child is taken away from the mother right away, it takes away that mother vs. child connection that they have at child birth. For example with the dolphin giving birth, naturally, once the calf is born, the two swam together side by side. And the doctors take away that connection. Similar to a woman that I know gave birth twice, once in another country and once in America, in the other country, after giving birth she was able to hold her child and her experience of holding her baby just after her child was born was one she enjoyed. And unlike how the American way of birth is, she was able to take care of her child in the hospital with the child lying next to her. She did not get that experience with her second child, to whom she gave birth in America, because the doctors took away the child once they were born. Not only is the doctors being in charge during child birth a problem because it doesn't allow the woman to listen to her body and naturally give birth but it also takes away the experience for a mother to connect with her child.

Finally, because the doctor is getting paid to do what he/she is doing, they will plan to do it the way they want it. What they are doing is a form of commodity, they have to do what they have to do in a certain amount of time, the doctors make sure the baby is born at a certain time by using techniques and technologies that are not necesarily good for the patient but efficient and convenient for the doctor. Which means that if it is convenient for them to do a c-section, when it is not even completely necessary for them to, rather than risk something going wrong during child labor and being blamed for it, they'll do it.(Rubin). When the doctor's in charge, it is a problem because most of the medical procedures performed are in favor of the doctor's comfort and convenience.

With the doctor in charge, it is a problem because the doctor in control is the main difference between a natural and normal birth when contrasting the youtube videos of a giraffe's birth and a dolphin's, the interview and talk with Ina May gaskin with the youtube video of Monty Python's youtube video about birth and Rita Rubin's article about C-sections. Although Americans see birth at the hospital in the media, it is not always the best decision for the woman. The doctor being in charge is a problem when a woman is trying to give birth naturally.

"Doctor's In Charge - What's the problem?"

Based on youtube vidoes of a giraffe giving birth, a dolphin giviing birth, Ina May Gaskin talking about birth, and an interview with Gaskin about being a mid-wife, a Monty Python youtube video, my personal experiences and research, we can conclude that the Doctor's being in charge during child birth is a problem affecting the woman's body and the child's first moments alive.

In the case of a natural child birth such as the dolphin's or giraffe's, no meds were necessary. Once the calf was born, they would learn to swim/stand up with their mother by their side. Contrasting with a normal child birth in America where the doctors are in control of the birth and does not allow the woman's body or the woman's baby to act as it naturally should. The doctors give the woman an episiotomy when, according to Gaskin, the cervix does not need to be mangled with because it acts as a spincter, allowing to open and close as necessary. Gaskin also mentioned that slphincters are "shy" when the woman is disturbed during child birth the sphincter will close up. So when people are walking in and out of the room, and there are bright lights focusing on the woman, it is harder for the woman to feel comfortable pushing the baby out, which is where the meds come in. And once the child is born, as shown in the monty python youtube video, he/she is taken away from the mother.

Because the child is taken away from the mother right away, it takes away that mother vs. child connection that they have at child birth. For example with the dolphin giving birth, naturally, once the calf is born, the two swam together side by side. And the doctors take away that connection. Similar to a woman who gave birth twice, once in another country and once in America, in the other country, after the birth she was able to hold her child and her experience of holding her baby just after she gave birth was one she enjoyed while she was able to take care of her child in the hospital with the child lying next to her. Contrasting with her giving birth in America, she did not get that experience with her second child because the doctors took away the child once they were born. Not only is the doctors being in charge during child birth a problem because it doesn't allow the woman to listen to her body and naturally give but but it also takes away the experience for a mother to connect with her child.

Finally, because the doctor is getting paid to do what he/she is doing, they will plan to do it the way they want it. Because what they are doing is a form of commodity, they have to do what they have to do in a certain amount of time, the doctors make sure the baby is born at a certain time by using techniques and technologies that are not necesarily good for the patient but efficient and convenient for the doctor. Which means that if it is convenient for them to do a c-section, when it is not even completely necessary for them to, rather than risk something going wrong during child labor and being blamed for it, they'll do it.(Rubin). When the doctor's in charge, it is a problem because most of the medical procedures performed are in favor of the doctor's comfort and convenience.

With the doctor in charge, it is a problem because the doctor in control is the main difference between a natural and normal birth when contrasting the youtube videos of a giraffe's birth and a dolphin's, the interview and talk with Ina May gaskin with the youtube video of Monty Python's youtube video about birth and Rita Rubin's article about C-sections.

Critique of AWOB

When comparing the American way of birth to the natural way of birth, there are many differences. In the American way of birth, the woman is lying on her back, hooked up to machines under bright lights with strangers watching and taking picture, is on a schedule, dealing with lots of drugs to speed up the process and other technologies. While the natural way of birth is, the woman is squatting, walking around, sometimes in a tub, in a relaxing place, pain being part of the process so there's no need for drugs and other technologies, the women is able to eat and drink and the entire process is much cheaper than the American way of birth being $10,000. The experience of natural birth has been alienated because women fear the pain. Women come to learn that there is lots of pain involved in child birth and to aviod the pain, Americans turn to drugs and technologies. But not only does this aviod the pain but it aviods the experience of natural child birth. I think that this is one reason that the American way of birth is the way it is. But I also believe that society enforces these things on you, doctor reccommend it in addition to c-sections to speed up the process and the patient does not realize that their experience of natural child birth is alienated because the doctors and nurses have power over the woman because they went to medical school and are expected to be trusted with situations such as these.

Birth Q&A

Teen Pregnancy:
The teen birth rate was 50% higher in 1957 than now. (http://www.community/michiana.org/famconn/teenpreg.html)

Intended Pregnancies:
1/2 of pregnancies are unintended and 1/10 newborns have been "unwanted" (http://www.women.webmd.com/tc/abortion-reasons-women-choose-abortion)

Reasons for Abortion:
Birth control failure, to prevent birth defects, rape, incest, and physical/mental conditions that endanger the woman's health. (http://www.women.webmd.com/tc/abortion-reasons-women-choose-abortion)

Average Age of Childbirth:
Women 25.5 years old give birth in America on average.(http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5419a5.htm)

Maternal Deaths:
Throughout the years the rate of maternal deaths have declined due to the development of asepsis ("Asepsis is the practice to reduce or eliminate contaminants (such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites) from entering the operative field in surgery or medicine to prevent infection"), use of caesarean section, fluid management and blood transfusion. The current rate for maternal deaths in america is 11 in 100,000. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternal_death)

Most Effective Form of Birth Control:
The main effective form of birth control is abstinence. Second to that is hormonal birth control.
(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-most-effective-form-of-birth-control.htm)

The Percentage of Women Who Get C-sections during birth:
30% of births in America are Cesarean deliveries.

(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17796664/)

Reasons for C-sections:
Recently older women have been giving birth through c-section, and the obesity rate has gone up as well in America causing problems with giving birth to babies who are bigger as well. But also relating to what Andy mentioned."To a man holding a hammer, every problem looks like a nail" so in this case, to every doctor who is capable of performing a c-section, every problem during the labor can be resolved with a c-section, resulting in the 30% of births being of c-section.

What Are Other Ways To Give Birth?:
Home birth, natural child birth, medicated birth, C-section, Free birth-unassisted birth (no help from outside the home), Water birth, Hypno-birthing-no pain and no stress using hypnosis, Non recumbent birthing position-not lying on your back, Chiropractics-going to a chiropractor before giving birth eases the pain, reflexology-activating certain pressure points help manage pain, Acunpuncture and Acupressure also helps ease the pain, Herbs-Herbal remedies can help tonify the woman's uterus, prepares her body for childbirth, and even quell or invoke contractions to soothe discomfort, and aromatherapy keeping the women focused.

(http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/labor_birth/photos_ways_to_give_birth/13)

What's More Common, Adoption or Abortion?:
"The younger generation have abortions more often, but there is still a lot of young women who give their child up for adoption."

(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_people_give_their_child_up_for_adoption_or_do_they_get_an_abortion_more)

Questions on: How people get pregnant, birth control, abortion and adoption:

What percentage of women got pregnant on purpose?

What percentage of pregnant women had abortions?

How available is birth control to people of all ages?

Percentages of teen pregnancy? How has it changed?

What are the reasons for abortions?

How do the races compare to pregnancy rates?

What is the average age a woman gives birth?

What are reasons for adoption?

What is more common, abortion or adoption? Why might that be?

What is more traumatizing for the woman, abortion or adoption?

What is the most common form birth control?

What is the safest form of birth control?

What is the percentage of men who use comdoms?

Why would a man decide not to use a comdom?

What percentage of men take responsibility for their child?

[group members: Kevin W., Samantha C., Yazmin P., and Francesca T.]

Birth Stories

My resoures being two women, one who gave birth to three children, and one who gave birth to two gave me information about their birth such as, the best and worst parts of it, and how it compares/contrasts to the american way of birth.

For the first birth of the first woman, the main problem was that the umbilicle cord was around the child's neck, so they had to perform a cesection. This woman giving her second and third birth, also had to have a cesection. So generally, the worst part of all three births were the problems after the birth from the cesection and the best part was the relief afterwards. The second woman had given birth once in another country and once in America. For the first birth it was different from the second birth in America because she was not put to sleep the first time so she felt all the pain during the birth, but afterwards she also had relief and she was doing fine afterwards, after she gave birth she was able to hold her baby and take care of them while they would lay next to her in the same room while, in America she was put to sleep so she had pain from the stitches after the birth. Once the baby was born, they were put in a certain place and would come in and out of the room for the mother to take care of the child. This woman's experience contrasted with the american way of birth in that there was no rushing like we see in the movies.

Thoughts on Birth:

For the past year or two, messages have been thrown at me about pregnancy, im movies such as Juno, and Knocked up, in tv shows such as, the Secret Life of the American Teenager and One Tree Hill, and in books such as, Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Impossible by Nancy Werlin, and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini . Showing the audience the positive and negative aspects of child birth. The positive aspects being that you can raise a child with the one you love, or giving the child so someone who can raise the baby in a loving and caring environment. The negative aspects being, the painful and gruesome aspects during the actual child birth, or the disappointment of the child itself, or the failure to being able to raise the child due to lack of money or time to care for the child. Personally, I don't think it would be the best choice to have a child when the parent(s) do not have what it takes to raise the child, how he/she grows up affects the life he/she lives and the child shoud not have to suffer for their parents mistake if they do not have to. Personally, I would like to have kids when I can support him/her. The connection between mother and child I think is a powerful one that i would like to have one day with my own child. But what I would worry about is the physiacality of the birth itself, from what I hear it isnt exactly pleseant. I also worry about whether I would be a suitable parent for the child.

Exhibition Style Paper Edited Draft

Intro:
James Truslow Adams once said "The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement…regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." Meaning that the American dream is having the opportunity to live a rich and good life based on one’s ability or achievement, not on the social class a person is born into. The typical American way of life and the American dream are generally seen as a positive aspect of America as a country built up of economy and government which are structures of the American way of life. The general ideas of the American way of life are not always correct, in most cases that I have seen so far, they contradict with the reality of the American way of life. Most Americans are delusional and the American dream in unattainable

Other Perspectives:
Everyone has their own view of America and the way Americans live. Their perspectives vary depending on experiences they have had, where they were raised, and the country they originally come from. Different events and aspects that come up in their lives influence what their idea of what the American way of life is. Because everybody’s experiences and lives are different, people are bound to have conflicting points of views, specifically focusing on the American way of life.
When brought up the topic of class, race, and gender relating to the American way of life, my older brother Guido says “generally people in the richer class are white men”, not so much ethnic people or women. This is suggesting that money, wealth, and social class are the main aspects of the American way of life. Similar to a class discussion, Kati and Francesca agreed that social class plays a big role in the American way of life. Richer people get to travel, they do not have to work and they live the “good life,” while the lower classes struggle to get by. The general idea of America is that everyone can have the chance to be living the "good life" which is most certainly not the case because we see from the perspectives of 11th grade students that they have seen and/or experienced the struggle of living in America as a middle or lower class worker.
Gender and race play a role in determining which Life you’re going to live. Focusing on gender, my grandmother Esperanza thinks that the inequality between man and women specifically in the work force has improved, she says “Before I was the only woman worker, everyone else was male, but now it’s getting better.” In the Constitution, the amendment to allow women to vote is imagined to instantly have equality between men and women which as my grandmother has seen is not the case.
While Jakob disagreed in the class discussion he thought it had more to do with commercials marketing. No matter what class you are in, you deal with capitalism; buying and selling to get the things you want. It is true that what you are buying is different but the process is the same. Similar to another student who goes to School of the Future, Marco (my twin brother) agreed that advertisement and commercial things are a big aspect of the American way of life but he also thinks it is focused more by the culture of America whereas social class is focused on more officially and it seems to be more important.
Jakob’s and Marco’s thoughts on advertisement and commercial things suggest that money also plays a big role in the American way of life mostly in the system of economics. My cousin Amanda and Grandma Esperanza agreed that the economy right now is not in the best place and will be a problem for all social classes thus affecting how Americans live. If Americans cannot go on with their lives without a job or money, the main basis of the American way of life then it will be a problem for them.
Shown that class, race, gender, and capitalism are aspects of the American way of life, the other portion that people seem to agree on as the basis of the American way of life includes “School, college, job, family, same shit every day” (Amanda), “Working, having a family, meeting everyday needs” (Caucasian woman), “Wanting a job and a family which is directed by education,” said the principal of School of the Future, John Fanning who believes that his job ensures the American way of life: educating the next generation. All agreeing that a job/career, good education, and family are basic aspects of the lifestyle of the average American, Tim, a college student thinks that the typical American way of life can differ depending on where you come from. Tim came from a privileged environment, giving him a better education leading him into another path that falls under the typical American way of life. This contradicts with the American dream of coming from "rags to riches" because as Tim said, coming from a privileged environment has its advantages and it is very rare to find someone who has gone through the change of starting off poor and becoming very successful. It is possible; we know this because we see Obama, who started off not very wealthy living with only his mother in Hawaii and how we see him as the president of the United States. But we see that in many other representatives in congress, and as president that those men (and few women) started off wealthy to begin with, giving them less of a struggle to get to where they are.
Mr. Fanning would agree with Tim, thinking that the choices you make, and the opportunities you have affect where you go in life, in the American way of life. Mr. Fanning believes that opportunity is an important aspect of the American way of life, being able to make the decisions you want and taking your life where you want it to be whereas in other countries they do not have that option. We have the option to “challenge authority.” Although Fanning thinks this, it is not always the case in America, we see in the government of America where we have the system of checks and balances which is generally seen as a positive aspect of the American government, but it does not give us as much power as we think we have, we cannot expect members of congress or senators who are intended to be closest to the people of America, to take what we say or any other middle or lower class citizen's say into consideration.
Coming from a non-American point of view, my grandmother, Esperanza who emigrated from Cuba especially enjoys the freedom knowing what it is like to live without it. When I asked those who live in America they speak of it without the knowledge of the absence of freedom. From a perspective of a man from Switzerland, agreeing with my grandmother thought freedom of speech was a main positive aspect of the American way of life.
Generally, there are many controversies on this topic of how Americans live. Specifically the main controversies that I noticed based on my findings are, class/race/gender’s role in AWOL, money’s role in AWOL, economics, freedom, marketing, a typical way an American lives, and opportunity.

Economics:
As we have concluded that the dominant frameworks are capitalism and government. The main reasons we as Americans live the way we do is because of the economic system and the political system we follow and use in our every day lives. As we look closely at America's capitalism we can see the connection in our every day lives.
Most people abide by the basics of capitalism and look at it as a positive way to run our economic system, people favor it for the "freedom" it allows us to have. Capitalism provides the free market, opportunity for private property and profit motive. The free market, having the freedom to get into business and sell what you want for the price you want (profit motive) and the freedom to buy from any business you want. Most businesses sell at the price they do to get as much profit as they can, "The stereotypical view of corporations as greedy, selfish enterprises that will step on 'the common man' in their quest for profits at all costs isn't always accurate."(Bland) To sell what you want, you have the opportunity to own factories and property to produce what you want to sell (private property).
The three main components of business are capital, labor, and land. Land being, the natural resources used to help the produce products and sell products. Labor being the people working for the business and the work that is put into the production and selling of products, people having to work to not only sustain themselves but to keep the economy running as well (Boaz), and the capital being the things used during the process that are not sold for example, the machinery used to produce a pencil. A main aspect of the American way of life is working (labor) and making money to rise up the social ladder as much as possible.
Those who own businesses are free to sell their product for the price they want. But their main goal is to gain profit of at least one penny. One penny more than the amount of money spent on the process to make and sell the product. They can sell it for as high as they want but the consumer might not be willing to buy it for that price. The balance between the highest the seller wants to sell the product for and the lowest the consumer is willing to pay is called the market price. The seller wants to make as much money as possible while the consumer wants to spend as little money as possible, leading to supply and demand. As Americans, we see and/or experience shopping during black Friday looking for the best sales for the lowest price we want to purchase an item for, the more money we spend, the higher the increase of our gross domestic product which is everyone's income or the amount of money everyone spends, and if lots of people spend lots of money on black Friday, the GDP will increase. Also relating to one of the main components of capitalism, the free market, the person selling the items can make their prices as low as they want as long as they still make profit, if the prices are low and affordable, more people will buy.
Supply being the total amount of resources for sale that will be bought at all prices and demand is the amount of people willing to buy a product for a certain price. The graph above (argmax.com) shows the curves of both supply and demand in relationship with quantity and price, the point where supply and demand intersect is the market price or the equilibrium price. Variability’s causing either or both of the curves to alter causing a shift in the market price. If the market price is restricted from changing it could cause a shortage which is when consumers have the money for products but there are no products for sale.
Generally, in America businesses keep their prices fairly low and this is because of competition. Two companies who sell the same product (commodity--an interchangeable product that can be bought or sold) compete for the customers and most customers would buy for the cheaper price, making companies sell for the lowest they are willing to sell to attract more customers. This competition occurs because according to Milton Friedman, a famous economist, everyone wants a special advantage or more freedom than others, so business owners compete for the advantage of more customers and more profit.
The main players of capitalism are households, the factor market, businesses, and the product market. Households are people selling their land, labor, and capital to the factor market to make money which then gets back to the household when they purchase stock and gain profit other companies make. The factor market gives its products to businesses which costs money for the businesses who sell the products to the product market. The product market then buys from the households costing them money. This is the main cycle that capitalism goes though. This cycle can go out of whack when the distribution of money is not even, causing a depression or a recession. This can be fixed by the government balancing the cycle. Recently, living in the middle of a recession, we experience how we have to sustain ourselves while our economic system is not working correctly.
Conflicts in the economic system such as a recession or depression require help from the government. Which the citizens of America are waiting to see what actions Obama will at upon to fix our economic struggles. But other conflicts such as, competition in the free market are taken care of by "the invisible hand" which is, essentially, a situation taking care of itself without help from anywhere else, competition in the free market will just happen if two companies are selling the same product. They are naturally going to compete for more money and it is in the company's self interest to do better than the other company to get more profit.
Generally, most Americans agree with the idea of capitalism. A main reason could be the whole idea of being able to go from "rags to riches", having the chance to improve one's social status, or at least having the incentive to want to raise one's social status and having the freedom to move up the social ladder. Whereas in the government, already starting at the top of the social ladder, in cases where society believes they waste money which leads citizens to believe the leaders of the country are incompetent of leading the country and they are allowed to speak out and say their disagreements living in a this society. (Friedman)

The Government; also being a dominant framework of the American way of life, we can see how it is directly and indirectly related to our lives and how we live.

The Preamble is the part of the constitution before it begins to talk about the regulations and laws. It basically summarizes the goals for the constitution and what the constitution will help America achieve. It says that, as a nation, we want a country that is a perfect union: in order to do this, we must be fair, be peaceful and without chaos, defend ourselves, stay healthy, bless ourselves and the coming generations, and create a constitution to make this happen.

Article 1: the Legislative branch which is first because our "founding fathers" wanted to closest to the people and having decisions made closest to the people is most important in our government.
Powers and Responsibilities of Legislative Branch:
-Assemble with the congress annually
-Make a record of progress, what was said and accomplished
-Determine rules and punishments for breaking these rules
-Create bills to then become a law
-Deal with taxes, pay debts, and ensure protection for the country
-Regulate bankruptcies and immigration issues
-Regulate the value of money
-Establish post offices and post roads
-Copyright protection
-Deal with issues relating to war
-Protect the citizens from being punished for something they did not do
-Regulate the amount of money the government spends
-Come to conclusions as a congress
(The Legislative branch is most important because it is closest to the people, a group of 45 year old white men in a basement we call our founding fathers decided that our nation should be citizen based where people of the United States can have a say in society which is why this branch has many responsibilities while the other branches do not have very many)

Article 2: The executive branch, the president.
Powers and Responsibilities of The Executive Branch:
-Make decision (with consent of senators)
-Provide information for congress

Article 3: The supreme court
Powers and Responsibilities of the Judicial Branch:
-The have jurisdiction over cases involving foreign conflicts, conflicts between two states, and conflicts between citizens of different states

The “Full Faith & Credit” provision in Article 4. What does that mean for gay marriage? - This part of article 4 means that congress is responsible for allowing each state to have their own legal actions. Which means that each state can have a set of laws that can be different or similar from the other states, Congress gives the states that freedom. For gay marriage this means that a couple can get married even if they are living in a state that does not allow it but they will have to get married in another state that does allow it. They are able to go to that other state and be legally wed in that state because this article of the constitution allows it to happen.
What is the Supreme Law of the Land? What is the significance, in your opinion, of the “No religious test” clause.-The supreme law of the land is that all decisions are made under the authority of the United States. There is no religious test to qualify for any office or public trust under the U.S. (being apart of the authority of the U.S) this is important because it shows that this country is not religiously based (or appears to be) and does not let religion get in the way of a citizen's success. This article allows the people of the United States to follow any religion they want and does not hold their decision against them when looking for qualification in any office or public trust under the U.S.
The first ten Amendments of the constitution are known as his bill of rights. The first amendment is the freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly. Second; The right to bear arms. Third, if there s a war, the government cannot force soldiers to live with citizens. The fourth is that the government it not allowed to search a person or a person's house without a good reason. A government official needs a warrant to search a person or to arrest someone.
As we notice when we go to the library or the airport, first we must go through the searches where they look inside any bags you carry and sometimes they take items that seem suspicious because they are suspicious about terrorist attacks and do not want to relive 9/11, to make sure this does not happen they feel that they have to search every person that goes on a flight. The amendment does say that the government must have a good reason to search or take items.
The Fifth Amendment is no one can be tried unless they have done something wrong. Sixth is a right to an attorney, Seventh, trial by jury. Eighth does not allow cruel and unusual punishment. Ninth is that the rights of the pople are not limited to the constitution. Tenth is the power not given to the federal government and not denied to states by constitution are given to states and people, any powers left are for the states and people.
The thirteenth amendment forbids slavery. Fourteenth says that states cannot make laws that deprive people of lives, liberty, or property. The 14th amendment stating that no laws can be made to go against people's lives, liberty, and property. This amendment was made to make it for the former slaves; they say all people as in all races aiming for equality between colors. From 1868 forward, all people were to be counted equally. Similar to article 6 of the constitution stating that religion will not be used against citizens for qualifications of any office or public trust. The government was aiming for equality for religions. They avoid any discrimination against religion, race, and now gender.
The 12th amendment stating that the candidates for the president are elected by the Electoral College. Whoever wins the vote 1st place is a presidential candidate and second place is the vice president. 13th forbids slavery, 14th states that laws cannot deprive citizens of their lives, liberty, or property. And the 15th amendment saying that nothing can deny a citizen's right to vote (allowing all races to vote but no women at this point, that's not up until the 19th amendment). These four amendments represent the turning point for America I think because these amendments were created when slavery ended and America's goal for was to achieve equality. This was the beginning of allowing everyone to have the same human rights. First was race and later on they amended the constitution for gender equality.
The government tries really hard to make things fair for the majority. For example, the 6th article states that religion will not be used against citizens of the United States which benefits the citizens who practice or do not practice a religion that would defy them a job. But for those who would like to be tested by their religion might not agree with it. Also in the 9th amendment made after the civil rights movement allowing all races to vote and then later on, the 19th amendment allowing women to vote. These amendments represent the government allowing equality of all races and genders which is very beneficial for them because before this, they would not be able to get a job or have their own type of freedom. But of course, there's always a catch, while the former slaves and the women can have jobs, they are taking the jobs away from the richer white men. If the white man is offered a job but then a woman or former slave is willing to do it for less, they steal the white man's job who would have otherwise gotten the job had these historical events and amendments not happened.
The government and even society today makes it look a lot fairer than it actually is. It covers up the bad parts. For example, in the preamble the first seven words are "We the people of the United States" when in actuality it was 45 white men who came up with the preamble and the first parts of the constitution. At the time period it was created in, there was slavery and women were not treated as they are treated today meaning that neither of those groups were able to have a say in what they wanted the constitution to be. When the constitution was created, the purpose is to divide government powers with the system of checks and balances. This keeps the government from making progress because it does take time to go through the cycle it makes progress slow down. Backup were created to prevent the people from having a say, the senate, the house, the president, and the Supreme Court are the backups. If the people do infact have something they want to change and it is taken into consideration by the senate or House of Representatives, the majority of the entire balance of checks and balances system must agree which is not likely.
The idea of our government is that we have a democracy where people have say in society. Americans have come to believe that America is a democracy, the definition of a democracy is: "government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system." America as it stands now is not as "Ruled by the people" as it’s thought out to be as we discussed in class on November 7th. Andy asked us to write down a law we would add to the constitution if we had a chance to. For most of it was difficult to come up with one. He then asked us to rate from 1-10 how difficult it was, 10 being the most difficult; I gave it an 8, which is a pretty high rating. We came to a conclusion that as Americans we accept all the laws we already have and do not think to come up with any of our own which contradicts the constitution which by the 1st article is supposed to give the people the right to some sort of power to the nation. But in reality the only people who have this power are the legislators and members of congress.
The reality of our government is that we have a republic, the definition being; "a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them." This fits our society more closely, because the citizens are entitled to vote and the representatives have more power than the citizens do.
The idea of how the powers were set up when the constitution was created has been passed down and affects our lives today. We see the police and teachers taking advantage of their powers to prevent the citizens or students from having power. We have the idea that we have a little bit of say because we have freedom of speech but that does not necessarily mean that people will take what we say into consideration and even then, majority must agree.
From what I have collected from family members, students in the class, random people on the street and other Americans, the main aspects of the American way of life are freedom, social class, education, work, and opportunity. These aspects can directly relate to the American constitution and government. The government tries to make things as free as possible for the American citizens and like as mentioned before as "Ruled by the people as possible" which is the reasoning behind the inclusion of the first article being the Legislative branch which is closest to the people. This does not seem close enough because depending on which social class you are in, you will be paid attention to more closely. If you have lots of money the members of congress will most likely take into consideration what you have to say but if you are a middle class citizen, there is less of a chance that the legislators will pay attention to your thoughts and ideas.
Education also plays a big role in the American way of life because without a good education, it is highly unlikely that you will get a well paying job. And in the typical American way of life, money tends to be the main goal. This relates to the constitution, Amendment 10 allows the states to create their own educational alliance and curriculum. The ones controlling this (congress) have made education a huge aspect of the American way of life being what a typical American spends the first 20 or so years of their life doing. Once they are done with their education, they will most likely get a job to sustain them in society, buy whatever necessities they need. But nowadays there's lots of competition for jobs because of the equality in society mentioned before about the 19th amendment and the 9th amendment.
Another large player in the American way of life is the idea of opportunity. Most people come to America looking for opportunity, immigrants looking for a job and a better life than the life they were living in the previous country they were living in. Relating to the government trying to give Americans the opportunity to even change the American society relating back to the first article of the constitution. Overall, the American way of live is very relative to the Constitution and the government which is also related to capitalism in America. Economy and government being the two dominant frameworks of the American way of life, all three of these systems are relative to one another.


Relating to one of Marx’s Theories:
The primitive accumulation of capitalism is the origin of today’s wealth. In America today we see, live, and experience the social classes in society. We also see the gap between the rich and the poor, the rich having lots of money while the working class and below have to work to get as much as they can to survive. As we have noticed in the interviews with other students in America and perhaps on our own, the richer people tend to be Caucasian. Marx's analysis showed that the reason most of the richer people in America are rich not because their ancestors worked hard for the money, or businesses they have but because they made lots of money by stealing natural resources from other countries and making a commodity out of it, turning it into capital by selling it and making money off of their stolen goods. They also got their money because of slavery and conquest, the Europeans conquered land in Africa, stole not only the land, but the resources and the people living there and used them as laborers to produce the business they now own because they stole their goods and services. The labor theory of value is a theory about the importance of laborers in capitalism. Laborers produce a certain amount of goods but they only get a percentage of how much those goods are worth, the capitalists receive the rest of the money to invest in capital, to make more profit which becomes wealth. As Lassal, who was part of the social democratic party of Germany said, "workers are the source of all wealth. Labor is the source of all wealth," meaning that the capitalists depend on the laborers to make as much money for them as they possibly can in order for them to gain even more profit by making machines to produce their goods quicker. Because there has to be laborers in this process of capitalism, it is not possible that everyone can attain a rich and good life just by ability, those who are wealthy today did not earn their wealth, it was their ancestors, the expropriators, who are responsible for their wealth.