Democratic Cartoon:

http://www.toondoo.com/cartoon/7935498

Poverty

A social justice issue today that I believe needs to be addressed is poverty. In 2005, 12.5% of the population was living in poverty, while 58% of those people were working full-time. Poverty is a serious national issue where there is no answer that is going to solve all of the problems. People should not be living in poverty if they are working full-time but they should not expect to have money growing on trees, because there is always going to be a lower class in an economy for it to work. Taxes are a good way to help those out who are in need of it and who are proving they are working full-time in order to receive that help. I do not have a solution for this issue but I do feel hesitant having the taxes from my paycheck being used to fund people who do not work and have no desire to work due to them receiving a check every month to live off of.  There needs to be  incentive for these individuals to find a job, even if it is minimum wage because i personally have no problem helping someone out if they are working hard and making an effort. Obviously, there are people in this country who do not have equal opportunity to work, or earn a living, and thats where the government comes in because I do not have the answer either.

Title: "Mounting Poverty"
Link: http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/marapr2007p24.shtml
Date Accessed: September 26 2014

Racism and Social Media

An issue that has been predominant for hundreds of years and still exists in todays society is racism. Racism, as we all know, was a way of life when slaves were used. Looking back on it from present time, racism has came a long way and is a huge improvement. Racism will always be around, in my opinion, just because of the way people were raised and how they pass it down to their children. Racism is a terrible thing and as our society continues to grow, racism does as well. With social media emerging in the last 5 years, it has made it easier to be racist. Twitter, for example, allows people to say anything they want behind a computer screen, which makes it easier for an individual to  express themselves to anyone they want all across the world. When you hear the word racism, most people will think of white on black racism. As our society continues to grow, so does the idea of reverse-racism, which is black on white racism. Although this word does not necessarily make sense, it is used to differ between black on white racism and white on black racism. I believe both should be labeled under the same word, racism. Some individuals will say reverse-racism does not exist because they believe whites will always have societies upper-hand, but  I disagree due to witnessing it myself. An example of "reverse-racism" in the world today is in South Africa. White citizens have claimed to be scrutinized by the "black" African government. Social media, as I said before, allows for racism to be more common, especially when people can make accounts where their name is not not shown and say whatever they please.

Title: Why there is no such as "Reverse Racism"

Link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/07/15/884649/-Why-there-s-no-such-thing-as-Reverse-Racism#

Date accessed: 19 September 2014

Discussion Questions

Isn't a  group chat on an iPhone with friends the same as the Circle 6 app?

Is sexual assault really becoming this big of an issue within colleges? 

How many people would realistically download this? 

Electronic Waste:

The first social justice issue that I am going to touch base on is the dumping of electronics, which our class went over earlier in the week. The reason I am coming back to this topic is because after doing research and reading about it, I found the topic interesting. The dumping of electronic waste in countries such as India and China is obviously harmful, but when was the last time you heard about this topic on any social media websites or saw a commercial about it on TV?

In article by CNN titled China: The electric wastebucket of the world,  they say most electronic products were initially manufactured in China, then they return to China after they're done being used. 70% of electronic waste ended up in China, and most of these products have harmful materials in them that cause toxic waste, in which the people breathe them in.  When computers and electronics are recycled the right way they can be good for the environment, but if they they aren't, it can be devastating to the environment. Recycling electronic waste is not impossible, it is just that companies would have to spend more money to properly recycle the waste or make their products without harmful toxins. The more profitable way for them to get rid of electronic waste is to send them to China. There are companies that exist where the owner can actually pay money to them for their unused electronics to get recycled properly.

I had no idea this issue existed until it was talked about in class, but I do believe that this is a huge problem due to the magnitude of how damaging it is.  In order for this issue to become known world-wide, I believe that we have to use the power of social media and television to spread it. With everyone around the world being so big into technology, the possibility to spread this problem via social networking and through television seems doable.


This is the video that goes along with the article I referred to:

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2013/05/30/pkg-aoc-watson-china-e-waste.cnn.html

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/30/world/asia/china-electronic-waste-e-waste/
Title: China: The electric wastebucket of the world
Date accessed: 11 September 2014

Personal Information:

My name is Jakob Wendell, but I go by Jake, and I am from Lakewood, Ohio. I am interested mostly in adding to my knowledge while attending John Carroll, such as in business. I also enjoy watching sports and keeping up to date with what is going on, most importantly hockey. I have played hockey my whole life and I am continuing that by playing here at John Carroll. Recently, I have found myself  reading articles on news websites to keep my mind fresh with what is going on in the world around me due to my interest in the current events. I would also like to strengthen my stance in politics and have strong opinions in various topics.

Learning Style:

I am most comfortable in a class where there are a lot of discussions and where everyone can share their ideas to the class. I am willing to take risks in a class as long as the professor can see where I am coming from and interpret different ideas.

Technology and Social Justice:

As most people have said already in their blogs, I believe that the most important technological invention would have to be the internet. The internet has taken "staying connected" to a whole new level. Before the internet families and friends would have to mail each other to stay in contact, but now a days we can reach out to anyone we want by just a simple text or e-mail. We can FaceTime our families and text them while we are all away at college, but 25 years ago we could not. The internet not only allows us to stay connected but we can also find information by a couple taps on our phone wherever we are.

To me, social justice means equal opportunity for success and wealth among everyone in the world. Some issues in the world today that involve social justice would have to be ethnicity, race, and religion.  I have not done anything major in pursuing social justice, but I do believe that while I am at John Carroll i will have plenty of opportunity to make a difference.

About Dr. Shutkin:

What have you done for social justice?
What do you believe is the biggest social justice issue we have to address?