A5 Blog 2

I did my Assignment 5 paper on the issue of immigration. What I discussed in my paper was a use of LACK of critical reasoning and lack of research on the topic of immigration. Americans often jump to conclusions and accuse illegal immigrants of taking millions of jobs away from American citizens. The lack of critical thinking on this issue is illustrated by this summer’s “Take Our Jobs” program, sponsored by the United Farm Workers union. In Union President Arturo Rodriguez’s announcement of the campaign, he claimed that farm workers do the work that most Americans are not willing to do. One may argue that that thought is a stereotype, and the millions of desperate Americans would jump at the opportunity to have a job, but interestingly enough this was certainly not the case. At least 500,000 applicants would be necessary to replace the current immigrant workforce in America, so the organization posted an application online for citizens who wanted to work on the farms. Through the website (www.takeourjobs.org), they promised to connect applicants with farm jobs near their area. Between June 24 and July 10, 2010, only 4,000 people responded, and the majority was “hate mail.” According to Rodriguez, only a few dozen have really followed through with the process. This was at a time when the unemployment rate in the United States was high (9.5%). It is quite disturbing that only a few dozen people truly were interested in following through with these job opportunities when there were over 500,000 jobs available. This organization really proved that in certain cases, undocumented immigrants are necessary for our economy to survive. It “is” true that the citizens of our country certainly are not willing to do these jobs, so we need to look elsewhere.

Immigration

For my final topic, I have decided to embark on the issue of immigration. This issue has plagued America for many years, and there still doesn't seem to be a good solution. I want to explore certain aspects that people don't always think about-- for example I want to visit the topic of Enrique's Journey, and elaborate on how often times as Americans, we see these illegal immigrants as faceless people who are invading our country and offsetting the economic balance, but we have to also remember that these people are human beings. I also want to revisit an old program (The Bracero Program) which ended in 1964, which enabled Mexican workers to LEGALLY work farms in America seasonally, and would return to their families when the harvesting season was over.

Logical Fallacy: Slippery Slope

This 2010 ad talks about Mick Mulvaney, a candidate (for State Senator in South Carolina) who thinks Social Security payments to the elderly are unconstitutional. The ad suggests that if Mick Mulvaney had his way, elderly people will be thrown in jail. The reasoning is that they will go broke without Social Security, so they will not be able to pay their bills, so they will get thrown in jail. (Perhaps because they will have no money and will start stealing?) This definitely seems like a slippery slope. Even if people stopped getting Social Security, they wouldn't necessarily all wind up in jail.

Assignment #4 (blog entry 1)

The USC masterplan is a great idea that I believe overall is a very beneficial adjustment that would improve the school. Currently, USC is a very prestigious school located in an area that is not as "nice" as the school itself. USC is located in an inner city where there are a lot of homeless people and poverty. Many excellent students choose other schools over USC because they do not like the area that USC is located in. I know for a fact that many of my friends chose other schools merely because the location of USC was not what they were looking for in a college. This master plan is a great idea because it strives to develop the area around USC to make it a nicer place. The council plans to make the surrounding area more aesthetically pleasing and also bringing in more store, restaurants, etc. that will be more appealing to those attending USC. Another positive element of this master plan is that it will open up many new job opportunities for the locals who are struggling financially. We are in an economic crisis, and with more job opportunities, more people will be able to make money.

The one thing that may be more of an ideal goal is the Jefferson Avenue plan. It appears they want to create a "Third Street Promenade" feel to it, but they must take into account the only people who will be utilizing this area would be USC students and faculty-- the stores they plan on putting in are probably fairly pricey and would not appeal at all to the locals who live around USC. The council may be putting in too much money to redo Jefferson Blvd because that area will not be used by all of the people around it, only USC students in which case it may actually LOSE some money.

Logical Fallacy: Generalization

This particular video is a political advertisement for Carly Fiorina.  The commercial first shows a clip of Barbara Boxer telling a general in court to call her “Senator instead of ma’am” because she “worked so hard for that title.”  Fiorina then comes on screen and explains how this was an arrogant comment made by Boxer.  Fiorina then takes this to the next level and says that Boxer worked for 28 years in Washington for a title, but Fionrina will “really go to work to end the arrogance in Washington.”  This is an extreme generalization.  She is using this example to imply that because Boxer made an arrogant comment, that Washington is an arrogant place.  There is no proof that because one Senator made one arrogant comment, that Washington is full of arrogance.  

President Obama!!

Here is a picture I got from the President of the United States on our very own McCarthy quad at USC!!

 

Sonia Nazario

This speaker that we had was quite a treat.  To be honest, when I thought of immigrants coming to America, all I thought about was them crossing the Mexico-America border.  I had no idea about the grand journey of trying to make it through Mexico and all of the other Central American countries.  It was incredible to hear about the dangerous journeys on top of trains.  What was the most heart-wrenching was listening to her talk about how desperate the little kids were to find their mothers who had left them.  It was tragic that a mother had to chose between leaving her kids behind to make money to support them, or to stay with them and have her family suffer from starvation.  It was so moving when Nazario explained how she went on the journey herself.  It showed true dedication toward her passion.  I couldn't even imagine putting myself in her shoes, riding on top of trains with her life constantly in danger.  It gave me a totally new appreciation and understanding for immigration.  It is a fight and a struggle for freedom, and also reuniting with loved ones.  I think it would be an awesome project to do some sort of a documentary on this-- being able to visually see the struggles and talk to the immigrants would be awesome.