Sports

Sports-- I think it's safe to say that sports are unarguably one of the biggest aspects of American culture. That being said, I think people need to analyze whether it has a positive or negative impact on our society. Not only is it a large part of our culture, but we have become obsessed with sports since the time of Babe Ruth and when leisure time came into the common person's life.
Sports and fitness have some very obvious benefits to both our physical health and our mental health. Being physically active is something that everybody should do and when it's in a fun and interactive manner such as with sports, I think it makes it much more appealing. Healthy competition also makes for an easy stress reliever and an ability to have some fun and release endorphins. Sports can also help build relationships and teach teamwork and life lessons, especially good for children and youth teams. While promoting physical health, sports also work in a lesson obvious way to help socially and mentally.
While all of the aspects above are clearly positive, there are some people who will say that sports are ultimately detrimental to society and specifically our youth. As our obsession with sports continues to intensify, so do the things that we will do to win. Pressure from parents in school or college teams can sometimes prove too much for athletes and the results can be terrible. Cheating and steroid use are a common outcome of our wanting to win and pressure from the environments around us.
There is much more that goes into American sports, but these are just a few of the things that have got people talking in recent times wondering just how justified we are about the extremes we go to with sports. In most cases, it's entirely up to the individual just how involved they want to get, but none-the-less everybody should examine the bigger picture.

Environmentally Disconnected

Environmentally Disconnected

In our world, the age of technology has caused revolution on  the scientific front and devastation on the environmental front, and yet we continue to foster the gap between ourselves and nature even wider. This detachment from nature has been going on for thousands of years and it seems only natural to most people to assume that this is the way it's always been... although that is the irony... it is the most unnatural. (1)

It is the instinct of all species to do whatever necessary to survive...although humans have found what it takes, the initiative, to take survival one step farther. So from the first arrowhead fashioned to the first fields planted, it has been mankind's goal not only to stay alive but to be dominant. From this dominance stemmed our control of the land and thus, detachment from what we see as inferior. As we have progressed from early humans to the modern culture we have you can only imagine what has happened to how we view the world around us. Industrialization, globalization, urbanization and our advancement in technology, agriculture, and most of what we see in our everyday lives are all in the name of progress and controlling the environment around us to best accommodate our needs. (2)

Everything living thing is dependent on a healthy and working ecosystem in order to survive, despite this we view the natural world as 'resources' to be used at our disposal instead of the intricate self-regulating web that it is. Unlike other species, we take more than we need and don't give back in the ways that we could.

Our fatal flaw is our success. Humankind is capable of unimaginable and wonderful things, but when left unchecked we are also the most destructive... wreaking havoc on the world we have forgot we're a part of. "Nature is everywhere. You are nature. You belong to this Earth, you just need to find your place in it." -Margaret Emerson (3)

As you read through this you probably noticed the underlined numbers... these represent the species going extinct while writing this... Approximately one every 5-10 minutes.

"Scientists estimate that between 150 and 200 species of life become extinct every 24 hours."

Lauren Holtz

A Loss of Meaning

                As I've been in cars with some of my friends lately, I've taken note on the type of music that they play and in most cases I find a common element, deterioration.... By this I mean the deterioration in the quality and meaning of music. While this is merely an opinion, there may be some valuable insights behind it. While this is not something that would commonly be considered a social issue, I believe it undoubtedly is, and I also believe it is predominant in modernized societies.   Social issues are prevalent in every society across the globe, and I believe that the first step fixing them is to analyze and vocalize them. While this topic does not cause us harm to our health, or have a detrimental effect on the earth, it is still a social issue to some magnitude. I mentioned before that the loss of meaning in music is not harmful to our health, I was speaking of physical health. I believe that our psyche and mind is affected greatly by this loss and the resulting repercussions are rampant in our daily lives and our social culture.
                Music has the ability to be a spiritual experience and to comfort us when seemingly nothing else can. Best said by Ludwig van Beethoven, " Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life." Music has/had a way of bringing us to peace and uniting people in hard times. It spoke of cultural issues, global tragedies, or injustices when they needed to be brought into the light of society. This was a type of pop music for the 50's, 60's, and 70's, the generations that brought about a spiritual, sexual, and social revolution.
              How can we find peace and unity in today's music when that is what it speaks against?  Some of the music on the top hits chart promote drugs, rape, murder, gang violence and much more. Not to say all of today's music has become  corrupt, but a good majority of the popular music has taken a turn for the worst. Much of today's generation couldn't tell you anything about the music of the 60's or 70's and I would bet that less than half of them have heard of Donovan. More importantly, they couldn't tell you about the meanings behind the songs or the attached message. Music is undoubtedly inspirational and influential, with new music being no exception. This becomes negative when the  impressionable fresh minds of our generation are influenced into what is promoted in the music, such as the aforementioned drugs and violence.
               I don't believe that I have to tell you of the repercussions in our society, when you could just turn on the news and see for yourself. Music should be more than just a means for publicity and monetary gain.      “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." - Plato

Lauren H