commonplace community issues

Community: America

Issue: Rising debt

One of the major issues affecting our nation is the amount of rising debt that our nation is accruing.  The popular opinion on this is that the government needs to reduce spending by many different means and figure out a way to get our country back on track and out of debt.  The position taken by people in authority is one in agreement with the problem but people in authority cannot come to an agreement on the solution.  My position is more of a libertarian viewpoint and is one that entails reducing government spending by pulling out of the different wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as not starting a new war with Syria, mainly because war is expensive. Next I would then reduce our imports and increase our exports.  Doing this by increasing the amount of jobs in factories thus making our economies net worth grow.  Also by creating more jobs that creates a bigger opportunity for people to spend the money they’re making.  Yes there are definitely practices I reject as well as ones I advocate for.  For example, I advocate the libertarian view of “keeping things in house”, I do not support importing a ton of goods that can very well be made in America.  I reject that practice, the practice of importing goods that are made over seas because in doing that you are taking away from the American economy.  I agree with most republicans and all libertarians.  I disagree with almost all democrats, at least on this issue of the economy.  The people who disagree with me mainly just want to increase taxes to pay off the debt that America has accrued over the years. 

Issue 2: Distance between family members

There is a rising issue in my family that is almost all of my family has been split up.  As in, we all live in different places.  For example, my brother lives in Baltimore, my sister lives in Denton, I also live in Denton, my mother lives in Boise, and my father lives in Houston.  This is becoming an issue because it is causing my siblings and I to choose where we want to spend holidays.  Which is offending the parent who misses out on seeing the kids for that holiday.  I understand why it offends my parents but it is just impossible to make everyone happy in this situation.  I do not like hurting my parent’s feelings but it has to be done 9 times out of 10.  This issue is hard on the kids as well, it causes them to make a decision in which they wish everyone could be happy but that is not a possible outcome.  Of course both parents say “I’ll be okay if you don’t come” but that is a complete lie.  They would be devastated if they didn’t get to see their kids for holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas.  This is especially hard on me because I also have to consider my wife’s family as well.  They all live in the Los Angeles area and in the Kansas City area as well.  It is becoming a huge ordeal as to where I will end up when it comes time for the holidays to begin.  The hardest part about all this is to decide which stance I want to take, as in, do I want to fly to Boise, or to L.A., or do I want to drive to Kansas City, or drive to Houston.  There are so many options to choose from and it is hard to finally decide which would be the best decision for everyone.  Compromise is hard especially when you are working to compromise with family. That mostly being because family is most of the time unwavering. But, I normally side with my father on this issue because he thinks about it pretty much the same why I do.  That way being, visit whoever is going to be the most cost effective.  That being said, this year me and my wife are flying to Boise for a few days mostly because I have not seen my Mother since June and would enjoy seeing her in her new house. As well as while I’m up there I will be able to visit my grandmother and her husband.  So to me I am getting “more bang for my buck” if I go up there.       

Journey Commonplace #3

The journey I found myself on was when I was thrust into Afghani culture.  It was a very rude awakening and was not at all what I had expected.  When i arrived I was instantly confused by the language and gestures they were using to communicate.  The local language is Pashto but that is also regional, so if I were to travel north 100 miles they would speak a completely different language.  This made communicating very very difficult.   On top of that I was working with the Jordanian Armed Forces and they also spoke a different language than the locals, Arabic.  I had an interpreter but that was little help seeing as my interpreters first language was not English, so his accent was hard to understand.  Also being in that country their values and ways of doing things are very different from ours here in the United States, they value relationships more than anything, which cause them to move slowly when doing work or anything of that nature because they are spending most of their time socializing instead of working.  Also they do not have a very high value on physical appearance and cleanliness outside of their religious practices.  They will leave their house and go to the local bazaar without bathing for days, sometimes weeks.  That is in part because they are a very poor country and also water is scarce.  This changed me very much, especially when it comes to me valuing the little things I have and enjoy.  While I was in Afghanistan I was not able to have or use my cell phone, as well as I didn't have a television to watch.  Also showering was a precious commodity that I will never take lightly again.  Also their philosophy of treasuring and growing relationships I adopted and use in my everyday life, but only to a certain extent.  "A little goes a long way" I believe in this aspect.  Also their religious beliefs are very different from mine as well as different from most of the United States' beliefs.  They are all Muslims which if you do not know is very strict when it comes to what you can and can't eat, as well as non-Muslims touching religious things.  This was very hard for me to understand because being raised in a christian household I was taught to allow anyone to talk to me about religion as well as let any one touch and read my bible.  Also the food and drinks there are immensely different from our own.  There the drink of choice is tea, whether that be tea with sage or green tea, unlike here were is you go into someones house and they offer you a drink it is most of the time coffee.  Also they eat an immense of lamb.  They do not eat pork because of it being against their religion, much like the Jews.  All in all there are massive differences between the two cultures and at first I was very hesitant and sometimes afraid of submersing myself into it; but as I became more comfortable it became easier to thrive there in that place.  I learned a lot from them and hopefully they learned something from me.

Issues 1-3 first commonplace entry # 1

Issue 1: One issue that has been facing me in my apartment community is the defacing of my personal property.  I had a "Duck Dynasty" welcome mat that I had placed out in front of my door.  After a weekend in Fort Worth I returned home to discover someone had written" Fags" on it in permanent marker.  This is becoming more and more of a problem as other people have complained about similar things.  After discovering the welcome mat, I immediately went to the leasing office and expressed my unhappiness with the current situation.  My solution to this problem is to do a more thorough check of potential patrons.  This is an unacceptable thing that should not continue to happen.

Issue 2: I have noticed that my generation has a huge problem with a sense of entitlement.  I was raised in a household that preached "earn what you work for." The current generation has no idea of what that means, they continually take the stance of everyone owes them something.  This is made blatantly apparent when looking at some of my sisters friends who have yet to get a job and they are all around 19 years old.  I personally got a job at 16 and helped my mother pay the bills the household concurred. My solution to this problem is require work studies and things of that nature in high school so teenagers are required to get a job earlier in their lives which will promote a healthier understanding of how the real world works.

Issue 3: Another problem my generation has is complete disrespect for their elders.  I have personally seen kids around me and my sister's age tell their parents to "shut up" or "screw off".  If that was me my mother and father would have punished me accordingly.  I dumbfounds me that children and teenagers are talking to their parents that way.  Children need to realize what their parents have done for them and treat them with appropriate respect.  It is completely unacceptable for people to treat anyone that way.  My solution is for parents to be more strict on their children and teach them proper ways of acting instead of letting the television teach them how to act.    

Common place #2 (cultural change)

50 year: it has become taboo to smoke in public now a days. In the 60s everyone smoked and it was almost expected of everyone to partake in a cigarette, including pregnant women. Now people who smoke in public places are perceived as inconsiderate and even "disgusting". 

10 year: Muslims are now conceived as bad by most of the American populous. Ever since the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept 11th 2001 they are generally associated with "the enemy". Women wearing burkas and/or men wearing turbans are searched more thoroughly at airports and security checkpoints. 

5 year: my personal views on gay rights have changed drastically. I was raised in a traditional Irish Catholic family where it was almost taught that gays do not possess the same rights as a non-gay person. They are talked about as bad and taboo. My views have changed because of myself making friends with some homosexuals and realizing they are no different from myself.