Freakonomics Chapter 3

This was another interesting chapter and I just find it interesting
how the authors can take such simple questions and turn them into
mind-blowing research articles that give us a different perspective
on how we view everyday life. In this chapter, it discusses the life
of Sudhir Ventakesh, a college student who goes into the poorest
communities of Chicago to ask a simple questioner but ends up living
with a drug dealing gang so he can understand how the gang is run from
the bottom to the top.

What I found most shocking from Sudhirs research is how a gang is run
just like any other typical business. I already knew that a gang is
made up of a leader and their workers but I didn’t expect gangs to have
such an advance way of keeping financial records. Then when he breaks down
the data it reveals why drug dealers still live with their moms. They live
with their moms because they don’t have a choice. I know that I and many
others were shocked when we found out that drug dealers only make $3.30
an hour which is also lower than minimum wage. It is also a very minimal
gain when you take into account that drug dealers have the most dangerous
job in America, one in every four drug dealers is killed.

Another thing I found interesting was how crack cocaine had such a
negative impact of the black community. Between World War II and the
Crack boom blacks were making so much progress, then the crack boom
happened and basically reversed and sent back all the progress made
by African-Americans.

After learning all the facts, it makes me feels sorry for what drug
dealers in poor communities must go through to just survive as well as
make me grateful for what I have. Most kids that become drug dealers in
these poor communities are surrounded by the negative influence of drugs
their entire life. So instead of wanting to college, they believe their
true goal in life is to become the leader of gang which is only done by
selling drugs and earning your way up the ladder to the top.

Freakanomics Chapter 2

The reading was interesting but at the same time somewhat
difficult to read since we’re talking about a group in the Ku
Klux Klan that was responsible for the many murders and terrorism
of blacks and basically anybody, no matter their race, that stood
in their way. The beginning of the chapter explains how the Klan
was created and what their motives and purpose was. I just find it
interesting that six grown men, four of which were lawyers, would
act immature and reckless by pulling pranks at nights and basically
leading to the uprising of the KKK. Also when many people think of
the Klan they believe that blacks were the only targets. In fact the
Klan targeted whites that went against their beliefs, communists,
immigrants and everyone else in the Klan’s way. I also found it shocking
that the government would not take action even though they knew about
the events taking place around the country.

The author then goes into explaining her main point of how the
KKK and real estate agents are alike. Just as the KKK created fear
for many people, real estate agents are just as capable of instilling
the same fear into us. People find it scary when they have to sell
their house since it is likely their biggest financial investment, not
to forget the emotional attachment people create with their houses. So
when it comes to selling our homes, we would hope real-estate agents
would try to get us the best deal possible. However from the examples in
the book we can tell two things; that the homeowners are losing a great
deal of money whereas the loss to the agent is minimum and real-estate
agents are actually trying to sell your house for less so they don’t have
to work as hard while their pay is basically the same. It’s just unfortunate
for the seller because that is a lot of extra money that go towards their
new house or bills. It’s clear from the first two chapters of the book we
can’t even trust the two people we should with our dearest possessions.
We can’t trust cheating teachers to educate our kids and we can’t trust
real-estate agents with our biggest financial investment in our houses.

Freakanomics chapter 1

This chapter was definitely the most interesting reading of the
entire semester. It was interesting how the author compared teachers
to sumo wrestlers in the terms of lying and cheating. The first real
topic the author dives into is incentives and how there are both good
and bad incentives everyone must choose.

When we apply incentives to teachers, students are now at a loss because
the teachers are not teaching them everything they need to know; instead
they are teaching students to the incentive they need to reach. This is
exactly what state tests that decide whether or not a high school student
can graduate accomplishes. Most teachers are only teaching what students
need to know for the test and nothing more, which is why many teachers
and students oppose standardized state tests. However I don’t believe
state tests are necessarily bad if it did not have such a major impact
on the outcome of a student. If state tests did not decide whether or
not a student can graduate and only served as a measuring stick to where
the student has come in their education, teachers can then freely pursue
their style of teaching, which would enhance their student’s education at
the same time. Also if a student was to score bad in a particular section,
for example math, the school then provides this student with extra help.

Another point that was interesting is how sumo-wrestlers take care of each
other and would even go as far as to murder two people that were going to
bust their underground business just to protect the secrecy of the
business. Basically what I took from this chapter was economics can
effect ones morals beliefs. Also the final point that was made which
was 87% of people are honest is outright ridiculous, if teachers which
are the people parents as well as society trust for educating the future
of our country and sumo-wrestlers who are not viewed as harmful people
are some of the most dishonest people we know, then why would other
ordinary people be more honest.

Gender

This chapter on gender wants to teach the reader how to read
gender but without the expectations and preconceptions we have
made in the past. In the beginning the author explains the
difference between “sex” and “gender”. “Sex” is biological
differences between male and female whereas “gender” is
constructed or invented through society and our behaviors. What
the author means by gender is constructed is there are certain
external and internal traits that our culture assigns to both males
and females and to prove that they posses these traits each gender
sends out signals. For example, strength, rationality and stability
are all characteristics of manliness, so to prove he is a man he would
work out, play sports and drive fancy cars.

The author then brings up the term “doing Gender” which refers to
participating in any behavior associated with a certain gender such
as wearing earrings or growing a beard. The author translates this
into men being dominant and women being submissive. For instance
most people associate nurturing, refined, and dainty with women
whereas rough, aggression and brutish are linked with men.

Another point the author makes is gender is created by factors
which include stereotypes, tradition, culture and family. I believe
back in the day family was probably the single largest effect on the
roles of male and female. The men worked all day and brought home food
while most women were housewives, taking care of the house and children
and preparing dinner. However in today’s society with both men and women
working full time jobs and with so many single parents the family effect
on how we see gender is decreasing.

Finally the last point the author makes is the double standard in America
regarding males and females. Women are expected to be thin, refined and
sexually inactive whereas men are encouraged to be comfortable and
sexually adventurous. If a woman dates a few guys then she is
considered a “slut” or “whore” but if a man gets with a few
women then he is considered “the man” and gets praised for doing so.

Movies

To be honest, rarely do I ever analyze a movie unless it's for a
class or a project. In my opinion movies are meant to be viewed
for fun with friends and family, as a way to get your imagination
to wander or to just relax. However the author of this piece believes
movies have a deeper meaning, which I would agree with. All movies are
packed with sexism, racism, cultural and social content but I believe
that it goes side by side with the society we live in. Before the civil
rights and woman's right movement movies always portrayed blacks as
inferior and women as housewives since that was the culture in those
days. Now in movies today women and blacks play larger, more significant
roles such as doctors, lawyers and business people because the culture
has changed. This is makes movies not only fun to watch but a great source
to discover how culture is expressed.

The first reading on I robot starts by explaining what goes into
making a movie. The business rules, filming, the plot and special
effects are all factors that should be taken into consideration when
making or even viewing a movie. He then talks about how I robot was
based on two books which Hollywood directors combined together to
create a single movie. The only problem that he believes viewers will
have with the movie is the essence of the movie is gone, which I don’t
believe is a big deal. Most movies today are made from books or are
re-makes of older movies that have been tweaked in some way to make
it more modern and appealing to the audience. Even the Twilight movies
which I have never seen because they look stupid are based on books and
I am certain that the books have lost some of its essence since they
have to make the movie appealing for children and young adults.

The second reading was on Star Wars. It basically explained how Star Wars
even though it took place in space, with robots and laser it is nothing
but a simple western flick. Just as western movies have good versus bad
and cowboys versus Indians, Stars Wars has the same good versus bad
conflict and just replaces the cowboys and Indians with Jedi’s and evil
empires.

Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together?, Sports Taboo, Censoring Myself

Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together?

This reading is one that almost everyone that ever went to school can easily relate to. The author was basically saying that when you look at a cafeteria it's noticeable that black kids are sitting separate from white kids. Anytime I entered the cafeteria in my high school it was obvious that there were tables where only blacks, whites, Indians, or Asians were sitting. However at the same time there were tables that were diverse and had people of all races sitting together. Now in my mind I don't believe it has any connection to students being racist against one another, I believe that it is easier to connect to someone if they have the same traits as you and this is why the same race is always sitting together. In high school I was part of the Diversity Club and for one of our missions was to get the cafeteria to be more diverse. So what we did was we offered free ice cream to anyone that would move to another table so they can interact with other people. The upside was that it worked, mainly because of the free ice cream but the next day the cafeteria was back to the same arrangements.

Sports Taboo

This section talks about how certain races are better in certain sports. It associates certain races with sports such as whites are the better quarterbacks where as blacks are better runners. It also goes to talk about how African-Americans are better suited for sports because of the higher testosterone, muscle mass and wider shoulders and longer legs. No matter how we want to look at it there are differences between all races, some races will have an advantage over others. Or as the author referred to maybe some races just care more about certain things. If you dissect it, more African-Americans play basketball than baseball because they are just not that interested in baseball however more Dominicans play baseball than basketball and many people will say the reason why Asians don’t play many sports is because they care more about their studies.

Censoring Myself

Betty Shamieh is an Arab-American Christian that is scared to single herself out because of the stage we are in, in American History. She starts off by saying that a significant amount of Arabs are Christians which comes to a surprise to many because Arabs are usually associated to Islam in the minds of most people. She then goes to talk about how even in the wake of 9/11 and with her background as a Palestinian she still believes that she doesn’t have to censor herself because it wouldn’t help improve the way Arabs are viewed. She also believes that her Palestinian experiences deserve to be heard and if she can’t write about her experiences then she can’t write at all.

Race and Ethnicity

This chapter on race and ethnicity was interesting and definitely the best reading to date. It basically talked of stereotypes, assumptions and discrimination that people make based on skin color and ethnics instead of the individual as a whole. When a common trait of a certain group is perceived then all individuals are put into a certain group where offensive, impolite, unfair generalizations can be made. Living in America the most diverse country in the world where people also have the right to freedom of speech it is understandable that some people would be racist or make stereotypical comments even in public. However as a world we have made great steps through the women rights movement, the civil rights movement and the ongoing gay rights movement to get where we are today. For the first time we have a black president as well as if I remember correctly more women than men are now graduating college, so this all proves the improvement we are making as a country.

In high school I took a course called Race, Class and Gender that basically dealt with stereotypes in our society today. The objective of the course was not to lean us one or another on certain topics but to teach us to be better understanding of people that had different beliefs than us. If it was about gay rights, abortion or skin color we did not have to agree with the decisions that person had made but we were taught to respectful or their decisions and not make any unfair judgments because of that. It was a course that I took a lot from because even though I am not a person who uses stereotypes or judge people on where there from or their skin color it really showed me how to become better individual.