Mainstream Swagg B-)

Hey Step Uppers in Mrs. Basi's 4th block, I decided to actually do my blog on time. Our job this week is to discuss the forces and institutions that help shape popular culture. Well you can infer from my title, that i will be talking about mainstream culture (later on in the blog). Mainstream is usually the dominant trend in opinion, fashion, or the arts. Institutions that influence what "mainstream" is, are networks like MTV, BET etc. Those networks show films, music videos, and celebrities. The way that influences popular culture could be, if  kids want to buy the clothes a certain celebrity was wearing while appearing on those networks (everyone started wearing skinnys after the New Boyz came out), or start saying the slang they heard in a movie. However Tv networks aren't the only forces that influence pop culture. Any business man that is in the fashion industry (Macys, JC Penny, Ralph Lauren, Arizona), can pay celebrities or athletes to wear their clothes, or just shoot commercials about how cool and "trendy" their brands are. That's another thing that influences pop culture, name brands. 5 years ago, pollos sold for as little as $7, now, pollo is considered a name brand, and some of their underwear cost $20, it's ridiculous. 

Hi Bloggers, today i'm blogging about a topic, that not many people are fond of, Symbolic Interactionism. It is a theory developed by G.H. Mead, it emphasizes motives and meanings for individuals. It focuses on the importance of symbols for people, particularly language, as the core elements of all human interaction. Basically, symbolic interactionism is concerned with the principles of face to face interaction. Mead, was more intersted in psychology over sociology, and this theory kind of reflects this, because symbolic interactionism deals a lot with socialisation. That being human is not just about being born, but becoming a social being (interactions the child has, with people around him/her, and the child's environment).



This theory, however, does correlate back to sociology. Mead says that self-conscious beings learn to understand that id they want to take parts in social interactions, they have to recognise that they have a role to play, and how they play this role will effect others. Which is sociology, the sudy of relationships, whether nice or bad.

Fight Night round 12 FunctionalismVsMarxism

To disprove Mrs. Basi's theory, our blog topic for this week is Which sociological theory has
withstood and will continue to withstand our rapidly changing society:
Functionalism or Marxism? In my opinion, functionalism wins this fight. It is defined as a sociological perspective which emphasizes the functional importance of institutions in society, and their role in maintaining a value consensus which leads to continuity in that society. We in the U.S basically live in a functionalist society, where different institutions play different fundamentally important roles, to help our society strive.



Marxism on the other hand is defined as a sociological perspective, written by Karl Marx, focusing on his division of society into an economic base and superstructure,and the analysis of class conflict as the main source of social change. While this theory may possibly still exist in certain countries, in the majority of the world, it's dead, has been dead for a while now. The closest example that smells remotely like class conflict pushing for social change recently in the U.S is the Wall Street debacle, and that can't really be classified as Marxism. So now you tell me, who the clear winner of this fight is.

Pros&Cons of classes of the future :-)

To clarify classes of the future are the online classes. There are many benefits to an online class. The student does not have to do his/her work within a specific time everyday, does not have to be in the same room at the same time everyday. If he/she does not understand the material he/she can always ask the online teacher for help, or just browse the Internet. There is no late work(unless the student chooses not to work on the online classes), and students can work on their own pace. It is my opinion however that the cons of an online class outweigh the pros. While it is true that there is no set time for the student to do his/her work, for certain students that isn't always a good thing, some of them may never log in to do their work. They may forget, or just not get the same motivation they would in school. While it is true that the student can "email" the student for help, face to face interaction is the best way to learn, and nothing says that the student will be looking up anything to do with his/her online class while they're browsing the net, they can be looking at anything (Facebook). While it is true that students can work at their own pace, without the proper motivation their pace can be to slow.

Republicans (smh :p)

This week we have to blog about the 2012 Republican Primaries. The 2012 republican primaries, are selection processes in which voters for the Republican voters, get to choose the Republican nominee for  President of the United States. This primary, was the first primary influenced by the Tea Party Movement, or TPM. TPM endorses reduced government spending opposes tax in varying degrees, and reduction of the national debt, and federal deficit. The name adheres to the Boston Tea party in 1773. Anyways two candidates who ran in 2008, ran again this year; Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney. This year's primary was also filled with scandal, with Hermain Cain, and Rick Perry. In order of popularity the Candidates are/were Mitt Romney, Newt Ginrich, Ron Paul, and Nick Santorum. While i'm not a Republican, i really liked Ron Paul, and thought hat he was the best candidate, but apparently the Republican voters don't agree with me. I will agree that Republicans are the ones who gained this country its freedom, and that this nation was founded on Republican ideals, however in our current era, in my opinion, the Democrats have carried this country, and stopped it from destroying itself. (just look at Obama's stats). Sorry just had to add my opinion.

TECHNOLOGYYY (activia commercial voice)

Technology? Can't live with it. Haha no I'm only kidding, I tried to do a mr. Curran. But seriously, technology es muy beneficial to our schools. They allow kids to keep up with the workload, and help simplify problems. Let's say a kid didn't do his homework, he can always go to the media center, use the computers and type up his work. A student can use his phone, iPad, iPhone etc. To help him/her study for a test. It also increases the chances of cheating, but we are all good kids at Fort Lauderdale High, we don't cheat. Technology also makes the teacher's job easier. Teachers now have promethean boards, which are more efficient than the old style white boards. Increases learning (y) (that's a thumbs up by the way)

Let's clean up...2gether :-) {haha get it, i used 2 instead of to :p}

     We should all jump at the chance to "give back" to our community. Not because doing so will get us recognition, or even so that we may have a sense of self fulfiment (well maybe a little..haha), but we should "give back" to our community, because it is the right thing to do, because it keeps our planet clean (allows us to live just a little longer). Of course giving to your community doesn't necessarily have to be "going green", it could be anything. it could be posting up signs and going door to door to help raise awareness about not letting little kids out on their own past a certain hour, for their own safety.

     I've given back to my community by cleaning up the kids park. It might not sound like alot, but trust me it was pretty bad. There were beer cans everywhere, pee stains on the slides, and im pretty sure there were a couple potty stains (now i'm just being hyperbolic but you get the picture), the point is it was bad. and the kids that used to play in the park didn't care how it looked, didn't care that it was unsanitary, and what was worst, is that it was apparent their parents didn't give a damn either. Alot can come from cleaning a community park. For example while cleaning the park a couple of my friends decided to help raise awareness for child hygene. Cleaning that park was fun, and beneficial (service hourss!). What are you doing to help Your community?