Working

I don’t understand why people have to work so hard to make such a small amount of money. I am honestly sick of working. I know the world can’t be full of rainbows and soft pillows, but I know that I would make more money AND love going to work if I actually enjoyed what I do. I wish everyone could enjoy making a living. Maybe, when I finish college, I’ll finally enjoy what I do. I’ll be teaching international students English, first in America, then maybe in Bahrain. I’m just dying of boredom until then. I LOTHE working. Oh well. What do you do? Do you actually enjoy your job? Or, how do you make your job enjoyable?? Please let me know!!

 

Thoughts on Immigration:

     I had a class prompt where we had to state why we think their has been a soaring of nativist politics against immigration in recent times. She gave us four options to choose from: 1. Racism, 2. Cultural Discrepancies, 3. Economics, or 4. The media and politicians use moral panic as a device to socially control groups of society that are potentially rebellious. Example: Making citizens think a problem is elsewhere (immigrants) instead of where it actually lies. (Obviously, I chose this one.) I honestly never really thought about this topic in depth until I came across this module that we are working on this week. There were tons of research that really got me thinking about the sentiment “Americans” (I quote Americans because we are all immigrants from somewhere.) feel towards immigrants. This is what I ended up writing. It was supposed to be less that 400 words, but I got kinda into the subject. 

Why is there so much debate about humans across the world moving to our home country? An argument that my dad made most of the time was that yes, the United States is a country made up of immigrants because in actuality, we all came from somewhere else. He stated that there was a time where the United States could take all the people that wanted to come here, and there would be no negative effects. However, he believes that, now, the country is past its bursting point. As much as he would like for everyone to come here to escape problems in their home countries, we just can’t fit more people without negative consequences to the people already here. But, is that correct? Are immigrants really harming us economically, socially, or in any other way, or is that exactly what the media and politicians want us to think? If we think the problem is in one place, we will divert all of our attention to it instead of seeing where the problem actually lie.

The media and politicians use moral panic as a device to socially control groups of society that are potentially rebellious. The largest segment in the United States is the working class. In our democratic society, they are actually the ones who have the largest impact on voting, whether it be elections, policies, or anything else. If they knew where the problem actually was with unemployment, or other issues, someone may lose their seat in the House of Representatives, Senate, or a seat within the state government. However, if you have something as large as the media, run by mostly democrats, then you can convince the public to look in all directions but you, for example, immigrants. The comment, “Immigrants are taking all of our jobs, and they are lowering the minimum wage” has been heard everywhere. However, this simply isn’t true. So, why do so many people believe this and vote on stricter laws involving immigrants? Well, it’s what they’ve been told most of their lives, so it must be true.

The social panic mustered by immigrants has grown phenomenally.  Every issue from economic, political, and social can be seen accompanied by debates on immigration. As New York Times Magazine writer Adam Davidson recognizes, immigrants are not taking away American jobs, but actually creating a heap more. The policies that we make on issues like unemployment are definitely affected by what Americans think of immigrants, not what they know about them. Humans will gladly take someone’s word on something, especially if they are highly regarded, rather than doing the research themselves. This is why the media and politicians use moral panic to socially control the citizens.

Davidson, Adam. “Debunking the Myth of the Job-Stealing Immigrant.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

What do you think about immigration? Do you feel that, legal or not, we are at the bursting point (in America or in your own country)? Do you think immigration helps the major factors that make up a country, or hurts them? I would really enjoy learning the global sentiment on immigrants. 

I Feel for You, international student in America.

Ahalan,

     As I mentioned earlier, my “almost fiance” is from Saudi Arabia. There is SO much paperwork to be done, and heaven forbid if someone makes a mistake. For example: Last December, the school he went to really messed him up with his scholarship, and we are STILL trying to fix this problem. His government and the American government both realize that it’s the school’s fault, but it doesn’t change the fact that we still have to do the paperwork. 

     People, if you don’t know, there are NUMEROUS forms that international students have to fill out, and NUMEROUS processes that they have to go through. I have learned so much just by being with him and helping him. I’m an American that has never traveled abroad, so I’ve never has to worry about a passport, or any of the documents that go with it. Some things I’ve learned about are: a passport, a visa (which I originally thought was the same thing), I-20, I-539, and processes for each of them. When I write it, it looks so concise, but actually doing it is another thing entirely. 

     Therefore, I feel for you, international student in America. The trouble you go through to actually get here, and the hard work you put in to actually keep everything up to date so that you can continue to study here. IT’S A LOT. It gets especially hard when you transfer schools. Kudos to you! You know things about America that the average American doesn’t know. I feel proud to have gotten all of this experience under my belt. Thank You.

Has anyone else had experiences like these? If so, let me know in the comments! Also, if anyone needs any help with these things, I will try my best to do so, because I know how tiring all of it gets. Any questions?