Supdude’s Weblog

A few qualities that I would like to see in a president, the first would have to be someone that is powerful and willing to stand up for what he/she is believes in. Another quality would have to be intelligence. They would have to be intelligent, because no one wants a dumb president. Then I think also you would have to be able to interact with the people. You don’t want to be a dick and no one likes you , but also you don’t want to be to nice then have people walk all over you.

            Now for some issues I would like to see the president talk or do something about. The first would have to be the marijuana law, not that I’m all for it, but I think that drinking alcohol is the same thing as smoking some pot. If you are drinking and driving you get arrested I just think they should have the same laws for both. Another big issue would be the war in Iraq. I think that we should be out of there already, we just keep losing innocent soldiers. When they can be home with there families. Then another would be the gas price. I just think that there is no reason for the price per barrel should be over $100. 10-20 years ago it wasn’t even close to that. Heck 5 years ago it wasn’t.

Out of the two articles that I read the first one by Jennifer Clark “Technology, busy lifestyles to passive students; some think apathy is dangerous to society.” Also the second on by Derek Buck, “ Where’s Our Outrage.” I article by Clark has a lot of information and talks about how the youth is apathetic to politics and problems happening around the world. She uses the word apathy a lot through out the article. Clark basically explains the meaning of the word apathy. Her article wasn’t very interesting and didn’t catch my attention, but she makes a lot of good points. Unlike Buck that uses examples that we students can comprehend with. He goes about going to the students to get his information, instead of just putting a bunch of information together. That’s a reason why I think the youth is not interested in what’s going on in the world. We don’t want to hear a bunch of information that we don’t care about. When Buck goes out and takes the time to ask the students to get his information that catches our attention and then we get into it more. Then just reading an article on something that we don’t care about. This is basically what he is talking about being apathetic, not caring because we have no interest in it.

The No-Logo video that we just watched I think had a lot of good points. I don’t think that it has changed my opinion about Nike factories. All you hear about is Nike. Well what about Reeboks, Adidas, Puma, Jordan’s, etc? You don’t hear much about them mostly just Nike. I sure these shoe and clothing companies are doing the same thing. I think that these Nike Factories do affect the U.S. The way I feel that they affect the U.S., is that we lose a lot of jobs to these factories. If you could get the same product, but pay a smaller price wouldn’t you do it? I don’t think that it’s anything to worry about now, maybe in the future. There are millions and millions of jobs out there. Also I think that we are helping these poor countries out by giving them the opportunity to have a better way of living. The idea of a Mcjob is basically just a job that you don’t plan on really keeping, just something that’s going to bring in some money for now. I have never had a Mcjob, but this summer I will have one.

Health and safety in the Nike factories. I feel that most Nike factories are a fairly safe and healthy place for these workers. Most factories are well ventilated and have air conditioning. They could be outside working on a farm making as much or even less money. They safety of this factories help keep predators away. Like if you are out working in the field and a lion or something of that natures crosses your path you are going to have a problem. When your in the factory you have a less of a chance of running into a lion, tiger, etc. Health issues are problem the same working in or outside. Working outside in the sun all day is not good for you. And you have bugs and viruses going around that you are more open to. In the factory you may breathe in some harmful chemicals, but that’s the risk your willing to take. Also I think that there is some ventilation in this factories.

Some of this factories are starting to help with education. You wouldn’t get an education outside in the burning sun picking tobacco plants or whatever it is your are doing. I believe they help children with education and older people with training. This makes them better workers for the future. Nike factories are not dumb or they wouldn’t be making millions or billions of dollars a year.

I think Nike goes and puts factories in these poor countries to try and help tem as much as they can. They aren’t going to go and pay them a hundred thousand a year to make shoes. They put them there to help countries get money Helps them bring new machinery to these countries, so they can broaden they resources. Also this brings new technology to these poor countries that cant afford it. Then I believe that the factories help bring management skills and more verity of ideas to these poor countries.

In conclusion these are some points that why I believe that Nike factories are helping these poor countries. With the low wages that’s a problem, nut can be fixed. They help these countries more then money. They give them an education, give them a better work environment. No one wants to work in the burning sun in rice fields for 10 to 14 hours a day when you can be in a nice air conditioned building. Which also provides free medical services.

Anthony Giddens is from England and has a very well educated background. Has a Ph.D form Cambridge. Also he is a professor at many universities around the world. Giddens has written many books on modern social theory. He believes that globalization is a complex set of processes. He uses a lot of information from all over the world. Also I think that he goes into a lot of detail in the things he talks about. He goes on talk ing about a group of thinkers that he calls “sceptics”. Sceptics think that globalisation is talk and only talk. Then there’s the others that he calls “radicals”. These radicals think that globalisation is real and so are there consequences are real also. Gidden states towards about the middle of the reading that how technology has come along throughout the years. First talking about satellites, then going on about Morse code. Also then he says it took 40 years to get an audience of 50 million on the radio. And it only took 15 years for the PC. He states that you can transfer larger amount of money form one side of the world to the other with just a click of a mouse. Globalisation is becoming more de-centered, it effect are felt just about all over. These changes are creating something called a global cosmopolitan society. We are the first generation to live in this society, and its shaking up our way of life where we are.