Global opinion towards the US

From the article I read, most countries had favorable things to say opposed to negative. Many people have strong views of the United States and it is not surprising that people who come from places such as the Middle East and South Asia have a negative perspective. Unlike the Middle East and South Asia, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, northeast Asian countries- South Korea and Japan the U.S. is pretty popular. I found this statement interesting since we just talked about civil rights: “remarkably pro-Americanism of sub-Saharan Africa is its own interesting phenomenon- many Africans are keenly aware of how well African Americans have been doing since the civil rights movement, and see it as a point of African pride that the leader of the world's most powerful country has roots in their continent.” China saw the U.S. and in both a negative and positive light. They saw the U.S. as a symbol of prosperity and possibility, but unfavorable due to Western imperialism and disrespect. Since we live in the United States we don’t really realize how closely we are watched around the world. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/11/who-loves-and-hates-america-a-revealing-map-of-global-opinion-toward-the-u-s/

Strategy/ Plan of Action

Strategy/ Plan of Action 

Research:

• • Filipinos now represent the fourth largest immigrant group in the US
• • Immigrants from the Philippines are better educated 
• • California had the largest number of Filipino immigrants in 2011
• • Majority of children in Filipino immigrant families were born in the US 
• • Earliest identifiable Filipino immigrants arrived in America during 1830s
• • Philippine Islands were a Spanish colony
• • Philippines at one point came under the US

http://migrationpolicy.org/article/filipino-immigrants-united-states#4

http://immigrationinamerica.org/497-filipino-immigrants.html

Questions I plan to ask: 

• • What was going on in your country during the time you lived there?- political, social, some background on personal life
• • How did you get the idea of immigrating to the US?
• • Was there other options for immigration?- country wise
• • When did you decide to move to the US? 
• • Why “”
• • How “”
• • Did you have a “game plan” for when you immigrate to the US?
• • Was the process difficult?
• • Did you know anyone or had family in the US prior to your immigration?
• • What did you expect of the US when you moved?
• • How did your expectations differ from your actual experience?
• • Explain a bit of your first couple of years of immigration?
• • Would you have done something differently? And why?

Themes:

• • Migrating for better opportunities

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi

Prior to going to the event, I did not know what to expect… but I was glad I went. While the president of our school was introducing Dr. Yacoobi, I found it interesting to learn that NDNU was the first college to offer baccalaureate to women. From Dr. Yacoobi’s sharing, I commend her for going back to Afghan despite people criticizing her. I respect that she went out of her comfort zone because she did not want her family back home to be suffering while she lived a more pleasant life (in Michigan). She advocates that women should read and write because that is their right, but women need more than that. She also mentions how women need to work side by side with men. I agree with this because the problem is not only women, men as well. The men are mostly the ones who beat and/or violate woman. When we work with the men and change the current corrupt mentality of the people than progress can be made. I found it astonishing how 55,000 young men and women are drug addicts or alcoholics due to no jobs. What I liked about her talk was that she went beyond just the topic of women and education, but touched-based on how people were living and their thinking. She pointed out the problem isn’t only in Afghan, it is everywhere. She wants to bring democracy by teaching judgment, equality, and honesty. We (the United States and the more privilege places) have to share the principles of democracy. I found inspiring that she believes that believing in a higher being (did not necessarily have to be God) to take care of your life; she said that when people asked if she was scared she would respond that God and her belief would protect her. What drew me to Dr. Yacoobi was that she taught more than just education, she “taught” life by the way she lived her own life. She taught women and people to read and write, but most importantly to be a good human being and citizen. My favorite words she said and that spoke to me was something like “don’t let a tough life, poverty, or disability make you weaker; through faith, persistence, friendship, and wisdom you can overcome anything.”

The James Madison's Federalist Paper #10 was definitely not an easy read. As I read the first page, I was going fairly quick, but I'd have to go back and reread it to fully grasp what the words were trying to say. So with that method not working, I started to read slowly and then comprehend what I read after a couple sentences. By doing this, I got a better understanding of what Madison was trying to say. While I was reading, I got an idea of how I wanted to start off my paper, I would refer to faction as a disease, such as Madison did and then go over the "cures" and the best one that would cure this disease of the government at hand. I also wrote notes during my reading.

Chapter 11

- technology was God’s chosen instrument of progress… Yet the progress had a darker side

- technological improvements that transformed life… these advances did not benefit everyone

These phrases stood out due to the fact that they not only reflect the pros and cons of technology then, they also reflect how technology affects us today. I think it is crazy how the issue of technology started then, yet we continue to have the same problem many years later. I could only imagine how “weird” it was for them to have such new technology and how to incorporate it in their lives (kind of out of nowhere) because nowadays, we have always had technology around us but we are constantly improving these gadgets, machines, etc. 

Another concept in which I found interesting was hydropathy- the “water cure.” Despite the book explaining what it was, I still did not understand what it meant so I looked it up. From what I researched, it was an alternative form of medical care. Hydropathy would cure by placing cold water on various places of the body. 

Sources: http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9781439904275

Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution

From the Declaration of Independence, the words that stuck to me were, “Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” I think one of the reasons it stood out to me was because of the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness. While I continued to read the Declaration of Independence, all I could think about is what exactly do those words mean. Also I thought about how the pursuit of happiness compares to then and now. 

I noticed that the Constitution differs from the Declaration of Independence through their focuses. I feel like the Constitution went into more detail of the government setup whereas more vague.

I thought it was interesting to look into both of these sources/ documents because we have somewhat skimmed it in past history class, but not really look at. It was also interesting because they are somewhat the basis of what our country/government practice. 

Primary Sources

I did not know what to think of the primary sources. When I first opened up the link of Thomas Payne I did not expect the text to be in that format. When I was reading the quotes they sort of made sense, yet I feel like there were meaning behind the words of the quotes. There were three quotes that caught my attention the most. One was, “Small islands, not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.” When I read this quote, for some reason I thought of Hawaii and how it has been conquered by multiple places. Another quote was "give me liberty, or give me death.” This stood out to me because it has been thrown around throughout different history classes of mine. Last was, “Society in every state is a blessing, but a government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.” And this stood out to me because it was repeated twice on the link and I did not fully understand war the message was saying.