The American Way of Life Is Non Negotiable?

All year we've discussed one major topic, the American Way of Life. Before this class I used to think that the way I lived was unique to me and had no influences other then friends and family, nothing else. What I soon learned was that my whole life has basically been planned by America itself. Our own former President Bush has said that The American Way of Life is Non Negotiable, that is not as encouraging as one might think due to the fact that America is not as great as one might think. The American Way of Life may not be negotiable to people who are ignorant to what is going on, but as Schoolhouse Rock once said, "Knowledge is Power".
If we are going to make the American Way of Life negotiable, you must understand that Capitalism plays a HUGE part in the AWOL. The definition of capitalism is "an economic and social system in which individuals can maximize profits because they own the means of production." In lesser terms capitalism is a market that doesn't have government influence. The basics of capitalism is that there is a "Invisible Hand" that really controls everything that happens in capitalism. The invisible hand is the theory that conservatives use to just let things happen in the world of capitalism, no one tells anyone how to run there business or what price to sell things, the invisible hand kind of "controls" all of that and it makes things happen. When I say make things happen I really mean that it forces competition between other business. That's a good thing for the consumer because it makes it so that the companies are making better products that are cheaper to buy in order to compete with the competition. Another good aspect of capitalism is that the government has no involvement so no one tells us how much to sell or how much to buy for. The whole idea of the “Invisible Hand” came from the article titled “I, Pencil”. The main idea of the story “I, Pencil” is that the author Leonard E. Read wanted to show us that it takes so much to build one little item. Not one person can make one object, it takes people and machines all around the world helping out when making products such as a pencil. The pencil is created by the natural forces (the Invisible hand) that controls people and things and makes people trade for goods/services. The deeper idea of the article, the main idea behind the main idea I believe is Capitalism. When the pencil speaks of the people that make it and the different materials needed to make it are all simple to the main factors of capitalism. The Labor in this story are all of the people (workers) mentioned in the story such as, the miners. The land in the story would be the tree, the seeds that plant the tree etc. The capital would be the saws, and the trucks. All of this is then provided by the household which then helps the factor market. The business makes more money because of the fact that the household is providing (through taxes) the cost of making all of these products (the pencil). While they're making more money they can make more of the product and then sell it to the household. In the story the person or thing that controlled all of this was the Invisible Hand. The hand can be construed as the Profit Motive, which is the chance for businesses to make more money. People buy into capitalism because of all the goods that come out of it.
At this point I saw that the American Way of Life was based entirely on Capitalism and thought that only had to do with stuff that involved buying and selling. Then we spoke about Birth in America and I found out Capitalism played a big role in that as well. My thoughts on the whole birth process took a dramatic turn after we as a class watched the Business of Being Born. After watching that I wanted my future wife and I to have a home birth and I thought I could do a good job convincing her.
The same way I thought about Birth was the same thing I thought about health care. I used to think that everywhere it cost money for health care and that it was just something we had to deal with. After watching most of Sicko, I realized that once again Capitalism is a part of everything and that its really hurting America. People not knowing about what it is like overseas and what it really is like in other places other than America , is what is making the American Way of Life no negotiable and that is what I am trying to get away from.
Capitalism is also effecting something so simple as food. The mainstream corporate way of eating food and just the way food is done is that it’s basically fast food, convenient, easy to cook food rather then food that takes time to prepare. On TV and in movies the kind of food that is always shown are burgers, cakes, candy, fast food chains, pizza and other "junk food". It seems as if the food that is the fastest and more convenient to make is the cheapest while the healthier foods are more expensive; and that is kind of messed up because it is basically saying that it is going to cost you to be healthy in America, while they end up making money of the fast food still because when you are unhealthy you have to go to the doctor which is going to cost money and if your insurance does not cover what ever your sickness is then its going to cost even more money. It is all just a big cycle of paying sustain good health.
When I came into this class I was as ignorant as the average American. I thought the way I lived now was different from everyone while in fact it wasn’t so different at all. After taking this class I am now able to be that different American I thought I was, I am able to really know what I am eating and make the decision of what to eat and what not to eat. I can make the decision to have a home birth or a home birth or have one in a birthing center because I know have that knowledge. I can also make the decision to really move out of America based on health care reasons because of what I know now. Making sense of the American Way of Life can really be as simple as knowing about Capitalism but can be so complicated that it may never be figured out.

Final Food Assignments

Food, one of the few things that are actually necessary to survive. Sure people also "need" all of these other things to "survive" such as a computer or a cell phone but those are just material needs. I once thought of food as something so simple that did not need anything extra for it to be satisfying and enjoyable. I thought food came from happy little farms that treated there animals well until it was time to in fact get them ready to be eaten by us. When I thought that I was ignorant. I was in fact blind to what really went on when it came to food, and when I was enriched with the knowledge I have now I can see that America makes food as complicated as possible in order to maximize profits. That makes me wonder why and how they could make something so simple so complicated and I also wonder do they realize that it’s not good for the earth and us humans? Just a couple thoughts.

Some of the stuff we watched in class such as "VROOM - farming for kids" reminded me a lot of a television show that comes on cartoon network, it was also a movie; its called Barnyard. Barnyard is a cartoon that shows all kinds of animals living on a nice little farm run by this old married couple and while the old people are not tending to them they have all kinds of fun. On the farm they only have one machine and that is a tractor, the old farmer does all the work himself and takes good care of the animals. What this has in common with "VROOM..." is that they are both giving the illusion to children that farms are actually like this, not like the big corporations based on efficiency rather then a job well done. I realize that Barnyard is in fact a kid’s show and VROOM is also for kids but when if I were to watch these now I would not be able to stop thinking about the other videos I've seen such as "Our Daily Bread" and the Meatrix series. What those videos showed were the truth, they showed how the farming corporations are treating these animals terribly, not treating the workers well, and just looking very evil in general.

My family and I go grocery shopping about once every two weeks. When we go shopping we usually buy the same stuff, which is usually a variety of things. As for fruits and vegetables we buy a lot of strawberries, bananas, grapes and oranges. We buy plums and other things not as often; my father loves peanuts so we always buy at least a jar of peanuts. My family does not eat red meat so when we go shopping we buy a lot of fish, turkey and chicken. When I go to grocery stores I notice that the first thing I see are cans of sodas and bags of chips, always. Then what I see next are the fruits and vegetable section and that confuses me because its like do they want us to eat a lot of junk food or be healthy?

They way food is done in my family is it is very organized most of the time. When we have dinner we usually all eat together and make sure the table is set and the food is on the table and no one can start eating until everyone is at the table. When everyone is at the table we then say our prayers and then start eating. We also don't watch TV during dinner because it is a time where we need to speak to each other and share how are days went. I enjoy this very much because it allows me to feel connected to family, that we have at least a time of the day where we all connect. In the mornings breakfast is not like that, usually everyone is getting ready for school/work and people leave at different times so its hard to really be coordinated like dinner. For breakfast its more individual while dinner is more family orientated. On the weekends however breakfast is like the dinners, and people make different things and we all just enjoy being in each other’s company sharing a meal. When it comes to lunch that is when my food habits are more present, and from that I believe I am a mixture of the mainstream corporate way of eating and my family’s way. During lunch I prefer the fast and convenient food rather then the food that actually needs preparation, but like my family I like to be set up before actually eating the food.

I mentioned before about the mainstream corporate way of eating food and just the way food is done and that is basically fast food, convenient, easy to cook food rather then food that takes time to prepare. On TV and in movies the kind of food that is always shown are burgers, cakes, candy, fast food chains, pizza and other "junk food". It seems as if the food that is the fastest and more convenient to make is the cheapest while the healthier foods are more expensive; and that is kind of messed up because it is basically saying that it is going to cost you to be healthy in America, while they end up making money of the fast food still because when you are unhealthy you have to go to the doctor which is going to cost money and if your insurance does not cover what ever your sickness is then its going to cost even more money. It is all just a big cycle of paying sustaining good health.

Overall in the end I am just saying, its better to treat food as the simple thing it really is, don't buy into the corporate hype and eat food to really savor the flavor and not just eat mindlessly. Please know whats going into your body.

Wildman Steve Trip (Draft)

On this past Sunday I went to the extra credit trip with "WildMan" Steve Brill. He was very interesting and it made me wonder how many times I have passed by these plants and not known a thing about them. The trip allowed me to really get more interested in my surroundings when it comes to nature and such and that is a good feeling. Wildman Steve came off a bit weird and the first couple of minutes I was questioning why I was here in the first place. As the trip progressed I started to get more and more interested and wanted to collect as much as the plants as possible especially since I couldn't stay the whole trip. All in all it was a good experience and I may do it again.