Week 15: Urbanization

I was born and raised in a rural area. When I was 13 years old, my family moved to the city. We didn't live there long and moved back. We go visit that city every year for the Holidays. Every year that I go, I always notice something different. There are more stores around the area. There's always some kind of new construction going on. The cost of living there has drastically gone up. Since this has happened, there are more and more people moving there. All kinds of people are moving there, so the violence has increased. There are more robberies and car jackings now than there were 12 years ago when I lived there.

Where I currently live, the same thing is sort of happening. New stores and restaurants have opened up around here too. Walmart was recently built about 5 minutes from my house. With Walmart now in town, several local stores have closed because people prefer to go to Walmart. The violence around has also increased. You would never hear about a murder around here. Now there are roughly around 5-6 murders annually. It may not seem like much but it's unbelievably high for this area.

Week 13: Is Walmart Good for America?

I used to always think that Walmart was good America. Who doesn't love the low prices and deals that Walmart has to offer? After watching the video, my view was changed. I'm not sure as to whether it's good or not. I wasn't aware of some the facts stated by some of the people they were interviewing. One man said that lower prices mean lower wages. I never would have thought of that.

When we think of Walmart, we think of a benefit to every consumer's pocket. Honestly, Walmart is the best place to go shopping for a low price. They are even willing to offer you a lower price on their items in order to beat the competitors. Walmart is always the store that the best Black Friday specials. That store always has the best deals.

I was impressed by that strong statement made about lower prices means lower wages. As I sat here thinking about that, it's true. In order for a store to sell their merchandise at such a low price, they must reduce the output of money in their company. In reality, the consumer may be getting a benefit but the employees of the company aren't.

Week 12: Second Shift

After completing the chart, I was surprised by the results. There are six people who live in my household. It's my father, my mother, my two sisters, my little brother, and I. When I got through completing the chart, I realized that my mother & I are the ones who do the most work. I always felt that I did more work than my sisters but I confirmed it after filling out the chart.

 I also didn't consider taking the dogs to the vet a chore. There were several things on the chart that I don't think of as a chore. I just think of it as something that I have to do, such as buying birthday presents. I always buy presents for people but I never thought it was a chore. It's something completely normal that everyone does.

After completing this chart, things are going to start to change in my household. We all need to split these things up evenly.

Week 11: Religion

After reading about religion, I'm shocked by how religion has changed over the past years. I remember that in the past, it was very important to go to church. Nowadays, it doesn't matter. I can even use myself as an example. The last time I went to church for mass was when I was 8 years old. I'm 25 years old now. That means it was 17 years ago. I'm not an atheist but I don't feel it necessary to go to church.

Our world is constantly changing and it's affecting everything. I do believe the world is becoming more secular. There are less and less people who believe in religion everyday. It's suprising. I hear so many people using God's name in vain because they have have no care for religion. A lot more people are also becoming part of cults or sects because they believe this can help them get what they want.