American Views on People of the World

This week in class, we discussed views that America had on people before and after the events of 9/11. In this blog, I plan to discuss specifically who the people were and why the were stereotyped as such. In this day and age, there are many stereotypes about many people. Things like Indians only study all day, to all Mexicans are illegal immigrants. Obviously that cannot be true, because it would cause every person of the same race to be exactly the same. So why is it that there was a stereotype formed after 9/11 that highlighted Muslims as terrorists? That cannot be true at all... The Islamic way of life does not condone violence against other people. I think that it is ignorance. There is a famous phrase that says, "ignorance is bliss", but it really isn't. Not when s causes an entire religion to be ostrasized based on the act of a single outlier, an outlier that is not common. One of the root of the word Islam is Salam, which means peace or well being. Is it really possible for people of a religion that means peace, to be made of terrorists? After 9/11 fears of terrorism rocketed, and fear became irrational. The irrational fears of Americans right after 9/11 caused diputes, riots, and etc. So there is a large problem in America, one that this generation can fix. I believe that we can stop ignorant stereotypes. What do you think?

The Candy Bombers

Over this past week, we have started to watch our Cold War videos. Mine was on the Berlin Airlift and it's part in the beginning of the war. In this entry, I'm specifically going to talk about the Candy Bombers and their part of the Berling Airlift. The most interesting thing (in my opinion) is that the Candy Bombers actually dropped candy along with the supplies needed during the Berlin Blockade. It started with 1st Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen who saw children outside of the airport gates watching the Airlift planes take off. He gave them two pieces of gum and told them if they didn't fight over it, then he would bring candy for the next lift, and drop it to them from the plane. True to his word, he brought bags of candy anf using a handkerchief, he parachuted it down from his plane to their waithing hands. Near the end of the Berlin Airlift, multiple pilots had joined in to this. The last Airlift had 3 tons of candy dropped into both Western and USSR Berlin. Most of these children grew up to be pilots themselves later in their lives. From this story, we can glean that one small act of kindness can start a fire of many acts, and can change/influence the lives of the people around us. My question is, why do you think that the Candy Bombers are remembered today? 1st Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen went on to win the 1948 Cheney award due to his act of kindness, and is the most recognised pilot of the Berlin Airlift. So why do you think that acts of kindness are remembered so well in history... even the smallest ones?

The Marshall Plan (Quarter 4, blog # 1)

This week we started to talk about the cold war. During this war specifically, anticommunism was a big topic. The U.S even created a containent policy to help combat it. A plan they created was called the Marshall plan. It was made to help aid European countries tht had not fallen under communism. The Marshall Plan provided a promise of economic and finacial stability and the U,S spent aproximately 13 billion dollars financing this plan. Do you think there could have been a more effective plan? and if so... what would it entail?  By providing the monetary provisions for Europe, the U.S was also brinign money back to itself. When money went to Europe, then they bought American goods and used American workers which help build up the U.S. economy as well. The Marshall plan also allocated the idea that the U.S would protect these countries with the army and would not hesitate to use force on any communist like actions. The main points of the Marshall plan were created to help support the containment policy and help combat communism. What do you believe was the main point of the Marshall Plan? Why did America create so many different plans to bolster the Containment policy?

Prohibition of alcohol

Prohibition is the act of imposing ones ideals on another person. In the 1920's alcohol was one of the items that was prohibited. It started with ex-alcoholics creating a pact to not drink anymore and ended with the government completely banning it. However, like all laws and rules, people can't help but try to break them. Just like the moonshiners, people started to create secret bars that hid the alcohol whenver law enforcement came to check on places. Shelves, and tables would turn over dropping the bottles into secret cellers under the shops in the sewers. Why do you think people went through such lengths to be able to drink? From this ordeal, women sufferage movements increased and equality between genders became more apparent. Another major thing that came from the prohibition of alcohol was the realization of domestic violence. The group of people who made a pact against alcohol realized this and this was a start of new ideals. The prohibition of alcohol obviously didn't work considering the fact that today, people drink alcohol freely. Even though there is moderate prohibition, meaning minors and drivers can't drink, the use of alcohol still exsists today.