illegal immigrants

The conservative viewpoint is that immigrants are taking our jobs and not paying equal taxes like us Americans do. They also think that despite working situations, illegal immigrants should be kept in their own country. The liberal point of this is that illegal immigrants should have an easier time getting a visa in order to stay and work for American work places. Immigrants make up this country so they should be able to stay because our country is diverse and they make up that diversity.

I personally believe that illegal immigrants should not be allowed in the United States. I think this because I feel that they are taking our jobs. America already has enough people unemployed that they shouldn't place those spots with illegal immigrants. I also, don't think that it is far that they don't pay taxes like everyone else, if they are going to have the same oppourtunity as us then they should be paying the taxes for living here. Even though I think all of this I also think that illegal immigrants should be given the oppourtunity to get visas and be able to have the same oppourtunitys as us Americans, not job wise I think the only reason would be for education purposes since the U.S. has good school systems.

School Prayer

The conservatives think that school prayer should be allowed but thinks that it should limit only to christian values. Mostly they think this because our country was founded on and by Christians. Conservatives want religion to be a big part in school because some feel that it would make people better and its a good discussion topic. Now there are days set aside for students to have the choose to pray at the flag pole and surprisingly a lot of people turn out for it. Liberals on the other hand want people to be able to speak freely of their religion even if it isn't Christian. Also, they think that it shouldn't be allowed since there are so many religions out there besides Christians.

My personal belief is that people should freely be able to pray even if their God isn't the same as mine. When walking into school we don't lose our freedoms so we can bring a Bible or even pray to whatever God we choose. The thing is that I don't think that it should be a distraction to the class or even to other people. I just think that despite our religion we should be able to do pray without a doubt. I come from a very conservative school so we would pray all the time during school and it was a public school. I guess we all knew each other so we knew what religion everyone was which is Christian. I think that if New Trier prayed as a Christian school that would bring up some issues because here everyone isn't Christian. I guess that people should freely pray to whatever God they choose in school without getting in trouble by a person in charge at the school.

Gay Rights

The conservative view on gay rights is that it is not acceptable. That this issue goes against all religious beliefs and that marriage should be between a male and a female. Conservatives think that our country was based on Christian values and that we should stick to them and obey them with certain issues like gay rights. Liberals on the other hand think that if two people love each other enough they should be together despite what everyone else says. They also think that if a person is homosexual they should not be judged as a person because of this.

My personal belief is that I am conservative it on this issue only because of the environment and the way my parents/grandparents brought me up. They taught me though that even if homosexual is not the right thing that they are still people and should still be accepted as people. I try not to judge people by their sexual orientation only because I believe that even if I am against it I still think they should be treated with respect and treated like humans instead of being extreme and humilating them. I thought that the discussion today went really well because we had enough time to talk and discuss the issues that needed to be discussed.

Abortion-Conservative Vs. Liberal

From the conservative viewpoint they believe that babies are alive and that women are killing them by getting an abortion. All pro-life people go by what the Bible says which is basically "thou shall not kill." Conservatives think that instead of just aborting the baby that we should keep it and give it up for adoption after the parent gives birth. The adoption part of it benefits the parent and the people adopting because they may not be able to have children which will bless them, but will also keep the parent from having any emotional distress after aborting children because that can create an emptiness for the parent. In a liberal perspective they believe that women should have choice to do what they wish to their unborn child. They also consider the baby "not alive" when first concieved. They think that if abortion were legal it would be safer for the mother because she would have proper care for her instead of having to do it in a sketchy area.

My personal belief is that I am pro-life. I do believe that right at conception the baby is alive and should be carried all the way till birth. I think women now are taking advantage of abortion because now if they do get pregnant they can go straight to the clinc and now have to deal with the consequences of having sex. They are basically using abortion as a birth control. I think that women or even teenage girls should take responsibilty for their actions and for the choices that they are making. I strongly believe that if a teenager or a women can not take care of the baby then they should give it up for adoption instead of aborting it. Adoption is something that can make a family happy because a couple may not be able to have children so in order to have the family that they want they can adopt. I just don't think that abortion is the way to go in order to fix a problem because it is an easy way out.

Conservative vs. Liberal

There are many differences between conservatives and liberals. Starting with liberals they are free spirited and love change. Many liberals disagree with certain things that the government says is right for example the war. As each day passes though conservatives become more and more against the war. Certain issues that liberals focus on are abortion, homosexual rights, and against the war. Liberals seem very accepting for new things such as abortion. Personally I think that liberals and conservatives decide based not only on what they believe, but the environment that people grew up in. Certain issues that pertain to conservatives are pro-life, illegal immigration, and the war on terrorism. As characteristics of a person who is conservative they have that more traditional personality, and do not like change whatsoever. Conservatives are all about supporting our country, even though liberals can be too, it seems more intense by conservatives. Conservatives do not like changing what we are so accustomed too, and accept the changes but do not necessarily agree with them. I am a conservative and slowly with the changes in the world become not exactly okay with the way things are going, but accept it because sometimes change can be good. The major issues that pertain to me are pro-life and the war, I think that in certain circumstances abortion is okay, but using it as birth control is not. Those are the differences between conservatives and liberals.

Our Authentic Culture

What is authentic about YOUR teen subcluture? Does your generation have anything that it can call it's own? If there is nothing authentic about your culture, discuss how you feel about that. Does this even matter to you?

I believe that the authentic thing about our subculture today is the internet and the technologies that we now have. Our generation will be known as the generation of the ipods or of the internet. I have not always owned the internet, and I really didn’t get into the whole internet thing until high school. Now the internet has become a big part of my life especially since facebook was created. IPods on the other hand have a bigger influence over our culture it’s a place where many teens can go to, to be alone. I do agree with the statement that Hjelmgren said about how our generation has lost a lot of creativity because when I was younger I was entertained easily just by playing with crayons or chalk, but now I waste my time on things that do not matter like facebook. I just think that our generation has become lazy, and entertained by things that in the end do not really matter. This subject does matter to me because I am affected by it everyday, and we live by it.

Marketing Industry

"It's a shame that the people who are listening to you the most are only interested in you because they want you and your peers to buy their product."

With this statement I think that it is true. It is because the marketing industry is so smart to study our every move, and our interests which makes us more interested in their product. At the same time it puts things in perspective because I did not think that that was the way they try to sell things to us. The industry is smart because they do listen to what we want in order to make money off of us, and really that is the only way to really do it. At the same time it is disloyal to all of us because we trust the marketers and the people who sell us things, and yet they are tricking us to buy their product by advertising it with things that are "cool" to us. I just don't think that it is right for the marketing to take what we want and say and use it in a way against us just to spend our money on their product. Overall, this statement is very true in the sense that marketers are making money off of us, and are succeeding.