Journal 2-4: Internet's Rights

I. In last week's journal I asked the question of what inspired great leaders such as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Upon researching this, I found that Gandhi's inspirations came from how he grew up. Mostly coming from the religions of Jainism and Vaishnavism that Gandhi grew up around. He realized that non-violence movements were always the best choice. He also mentioned that his preceded leaders taught him everything he needed to know. In a famous quote from him, he says, "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could." In this quote he is proving that he did not come up with all of his thoughts on his own, it was others who inspired him.



Also looking into Nelson Mandela's inspirations, I found that many people look to Nelson Mandela as the inspirational figure. He spent 26 years in jail fighting for racial equality, and then he became the first Black African president of South Africa. One of his most remembered and inspiring quotes is "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." He spoke these words in his Long Walk to Freedom speech. This quote shows the mentality of the human race can be changed.







II. In our Ethics class these past two weeks, we've been discussing a lot about the political candidates for the Republican party. We also briefly touched on the SOPA and PIPA situation going on through Congress, and how its been affecting various internet sites. Going off of the Republican party nominees, it seems that its really down to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, although Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are still in the running. We discussed how it seemed like Romney and Gingrich were having a hissy fit during their debates, and how Santorum and Paul weren't even really involved. Then we learned about what SOPA and PIPA were involved in. SOPA stands for "Stop Online Piracy Act," which means that the government wants to pass a law that makes it illegal to post or use certain copywrited things. And, through this the governement can shut down the website that the use was done on.



I believe that this is ridiculous that the governement wants to pass this law to stop freedom of speech on the internet. I know that the big corporate companies are losing money over it, but in my opinion if they put it out there on the web for people to see and use, then people are going to do whatever they want with it. Also, all these big company names have a ton of money, so I don't think they're losing much sleep over a little copywrite issue. Another thing is that when someone posts a certain song or item as their status on Facebook, then atleast 100 other people are going to see this, and therefore it spreads, which actually brings more money in for the company because people want to buy their product.



A connection I made when hearing about SOPA was maybe the man who started it all, Lamar Smith, a representative from Texas, maybe is just scared about his children hearing or seeing something he doesn't aprove of. It makes me think of the levels of security parents are actually having on their children and the internet. To what extent are they really going too far? I can remember in middle school, some parents would not allow their children to watch a certain movie in school even if they were of age. Also, some parents would put extreme blocks on the internet to keep their child from listening to certain music. In my opinion, this is all going too far because eventually your children are going to be exposed to certain things, and you can't protect them forever. Or else you're kids are going to feel like this:

III. After thinking more about a parent's role in a childs life, I want to research and see if they're are actual parent groups against a teenager's culture today. Are there certain parent groups that rally against teens just being teens?

Sources:


(January 29, 2012). Ask Gandhi. http://kamat.com/mmgandhi/inspiration.htm


(January 29, 2012). The Inspiration of Nelson Mandela. http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/07/Nelson-Mandela.aspx


(January 30, 2012). Stop Online Piracy Act. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

32_footsteps. (January 30, 2012). Overbearing parent cat is overbearing. http://cheezburger.com/32_footsteps/lolz/View/4134429440

Journal 2-3: A Donkey's Race

I. In the last journal I wrote, there was a large imphasis on technology, and how the generations that we've lived with have changed over time. I asked the question of where it all really started? I found with my research that the first "computer" was invented by Charles Babbage. His findings of technology having to do with computers were over a long period of time. In 1822, he developed the Difference Engine which was able to compute sets of numbers and make hard copies. Later in 1837, he developed an Analytical Engine which had a memory base.

Another, thing I was wondering about was how Apple came about, or what inspired Steve Jobs to pursue this company? I found out that in 1976, Steve Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak came out with the Apple I which had a single circuit board hooked up to a computer. Then the Apple Lisa came about in the 1970's which was based on the technology Jobs had experienced with Xerox. The Apple Macitosh came out in 1984 with all new software that became highly popular.


II. A. I can't say I really favor any of the candidates based on their views. If I really had to choose a Republican candidate though, it would be Ron Paul. I like his views on abortion because he believes its wrong, but he doesn't believe it is up to the federal government to decide on the individual's choice. Also I respect his decision to leave gay marriage up to the state, instead of trying to get the federal government involved. One thing I really liked about Ron Paul was his view on America aiding other countries. I agree that America shouldn't be involved with other countries' problems unless they are directly involving the United States itself. And the fact that he wants to eliminate taxes on gas is a huge plus because I pay for all my own gas.

B. The candidate that is least like me on the issues is without a doubt Rick Santorum. The sole fact that he doesn't believe that even same-sex adoption should take place is enough to want to give the guy a piece of my mind. Also, I can't stand the fact that he wants to make this "Santorum Amendment" for our public schools. If the citizens of the United States wanted to learn about God making the earth, they can go to church, but he needs to leave the scientific theory to the classrooms. His views on immigration are also ridiculous. He doesn't want to give in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants even though it wasn't their choice for their parents to come over illegally, and in reality they were probably coming over to give their children a better life! Also his enviormental views are absurd. The fact that he can't even respect the idea of global warming but would rather consider it "junk science" is for one being in denial, and also its a slap in the face to all the scientists who have put so much time into trying to fight it. Going along with his enviormental views, he wants to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? That makes no sense what so ever since we're trying to reserve the life of endangered species.


C. I don't believe there is a difference in my answers above. They all run along the same strain of thought. I can't decide if I would vote for someone that has different views from me and would make a good leader. I think it defeats the purpose of having your choice to vote if you don't vote for someone thats going to help get your beliefs out in the open, but I still believe that we need a good leader in America. I would have to say that I wouldn't vote for a candidate that is a good leader but doesn't share the same views because if they're a good leader than they'll be good at pushing views that could completely contradict everything I believe in.


D. Looking at which candidate I think would make a good President based on their leadership skills, I would have to say Buddy Roemer. I learned that he was in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988. Also he was a governor for the state of Louisiana in 1988. Just by looking at his history in the government alone, i think he would make the best choice based on leadership qualities.


E. Even though i liked Ron Paul's views on the issues best, I'd have to say based on his past careers, he is not the best choice for president. If his past career was an OBGYN, I don't see that as qualifying to be the president of the United States. It's good that he has some past military background because he was a flight surgeon in the airforce but still that doesn't mean much. It's good that he spent twelve terms in Congress for texas, though, otherwise I couldn't see how he could fit in anywhere.


III. From looking at the candidates that are in the run for the Republican nomination, I honestly don't know what to think. My views stand here:

I'm a leftist libertarian, which actually came as a surprise to me. So for my question this week, I would like to find out more about past libertarians, like Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. What was their inspirations for greatness?





Sources:

(January 2012). When was the first computer invented? http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000984.htm


Bellis, Mary. (January 2012). The History of Apple Computers. http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Apple_Computers.htm

News, Pace. (2002). The Political Compass Test. http://www.politicalcompass.org/test