The Idea of 'Love'

Love is such a universal idea that seems to manifest itself again and again in sociology. It seems as though the very basics of human nature can be traced back to love. Love for your fellow man, your brothers and sisters, love for other cultures, love for a significant other, and love for the earth, among many others, are all different ways of describing love.  In the English language, we are so limited in the use of the term 'love'. Other cultures have dozens upon dozens of words for all of the different uses of the word 'love'. In America, it is all lumped together into one word, and that cheats us out of some amazing ways we could view the world. It seems as though America is quite a superficial and materialistic society where people don't even see a need for multiple words to mean love. They view it as only a romantic thing where there is just so much more to the word, than only that. We should however, have many words, because there are so many different kinds of love and so many way it can be used, maybe it would change our culture as a whole if we had these words. It has been proven that our language dictates the way we view life and society, and maybe western society could stray away from its' such materialistic views, and develop a more spiritual connection with existence and life as a whole, if only we had the words to describe it.

Why does it matter?

If one is LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender)???? This week I saw a panel of LGBT students tell us their personal story. It was amazing to see how emotional their stories were and how difficult it is to be LGBT in our culture. I heard what each of them had to go through, and it really touched me. They have been through  a lifetimes worth of troubles already, and are truly amazing and inspiring people. What saddens me is how 3 out of 5 of them had attempted suicide. It makes me question what messages we as a culture are sending out about the LGBT community? Apparently being LGBT in America, in many people's eyes, means you should be discriminated against for solely being different. It is sad to imagine all of the amazing people that could have been, the doctors, the writers, the poets, the artists, the lawyers, the athlete, that never got to achieve their goals and make a difference, because they were different. It doesn't add up. We need to make a change. I want to live in a culture where being LGBT isn't viewed upon with contempt, but celebrated and honored. It takes lots of courage to be LGBT in today's America, courage I'm not sure I would have. To the members of the LGBT community: I hold so much respect for all of you, I don't know of anybody that faces the kinds of challenges that you need to deal with every day. And its truly amazing. I wish you all the best for your future, a future filled with love, acceptance, and prosperity.

Media Culture

Nowadays, children seem to be marketed to from all angles. Commercials, Internet, Plug-Ins and so much more are all things used to sell kids products. It is strange to think that these advertisements are the reason I look up to some characters, or prefer one brand over another. It is difficult to think of how my values could have been affected due to many things seen on TV. The debate really becomes controversial when you ask whether these children are old enough to understand it. I don't think that they have the ability to acknowledge they are being advertised to and therefore is forced to be manipulated by characters that they look up to. It is a sad truth that kids are being subjected to constant bombardment from birth to death, by media culture in all shapes and forms. I wonder what the world may be like if there weren't such constant barrage? How our minds could potentially develop differently  based on time to develop its' own opinion about the world, instead of being swayed a certain way from birth.