Sicko

Today and tomorrow, we will be watching the film, "Sicko."  Once the movie is done, we will be completing the handout I gave you guys today.

Day 15

Today, we will be doing two things:
1. Go over the 'Themes of Ideologies' from your handout.
2. Beginning the film 'Sicko' and completing the handout that accompanies it.

Day 13

Schedule for today:

Back to the textbook.  I would like you to complete the following questions.  These will be for marks.  The questions are:

Page 98:
1,2,3, and the first part of 5.(do not do the 'complementary Venn Diagram.)

After twenty minutes, we'll look at this.

Surprised?  Check this out:

Also, tomorrow, we will be discussing 'Classical Liberalism.'  Please read 100-124.  Keep an eye out for the 'key terms' from page 102 as you read.

Day 12

Schedule for Today


Before we start, I will hand out the 'Right-Left' Diagrams.  I even hole-punched them this time.


Today we will carry on with our discussion of the principles of 'individualism' and 'collectivism.'

*In second block, we will have a chance to work on our position papers(about twenty minutes).

So, to begin with, we will examine the principles of Individualism.

They are:

Rule of Law

Individual Rights and Freedoms

Private Property

Economic Freedom

Self Interest

Competition

What are these, anyways?  More specifically, how do they relate to 'individualism?'

Wait!  I'm not going to give the answers to you right away.  Nope.  I want you to think about these terms for a moment(1 Minute or so).  What do they mean?

What side is this guy on?  How can you tell?  What principles is he highlighting?

Look at your charts.  Which side of our chart does 'individualism' seem to fall on.

Great.  Now let's look at 'collectivism.'

The principles are:

Economic Equality

Co-operation

Public Property

Collective Interest

Collective Responsibility

Adherence to Collective Norms

What are these, anyways?  More specifically, how do they relate to 'collectivism?'

Again, I'm not going to give the answers to you right away.   Think about these terms for a moment(1 Minute or so).  What do they mean?

What side is this guy on?  How can you tell?  What principles is he highlighting?

Look at your charts.  Which side of our chart does 'collectivism' seem to fall on.

Okay.  Why is this important, you may ask?  It is my belief that everything that happens in the world can be traced to economics.  The primary struggle within economics is that of individualism vs. collectivism, and the steady tug of war between the two.  Most, if not all major events-and I would argue all conflicts-can be distilled down to this.

Let's look at the news, and we'll see how(or if) this is true.

Now, to give your brains a bit of a break.  Check this out!

Allright, let's take a break.  Please work on your position papers for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Now, let's go to the Economist Article on Ecuador.  What principles of either collectivism or indivualism can we see reflected in the article?

Day 11

A combination of things today:
1. A further discussion of 'collectivism' and 'individualism.'  We will be discussing them in class.  To review these, however, please see your text pages 62-99.

2. We will also be carrying on with our position papers.  See day 9-10.

30-1 Diploma Outline

Try this:

http://ecommunity.pwsd76.ab.ca/mod/resource/view.php?id=30356

Writing Samples

For samples of student writing that fit into the different categories, please go here.

We will going over these in class.

Day 9-10

FIRST!
Let's look at this!  Why?
Two reasons:
1.  I love infographics.
2.  It breaks down(or blows up) the Left Wing/Right Wing divide that we will be coming back to again and again and again and again.                

Today and tomorrow we will be reviewing the written response formats we will be using this semester, as well as practicing them.

30-2 Students:

We have three types of written assignments to go over.  For a description of each, and an example of each, please go here.

30-1 Students.

We have two types of written assignments to go over.  For a description of each, please go here.

Now, please understand that this is just an introduction to these assignments.  What we will be doing for the next two days is not for marks.    Now is the time, though, to put in your best effort to see where we need to improve.

Middle Eastern Protests

CBC has done a nice job of summarizing this.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/26/f-unrest-north-africa-middle-east.html

Day 8

1. Review questions from Friday.  I will be coming around to have a look at them.
2.  Today, we will be looking at the often conflicting views of "Individualism" and "Collectivism"

For starters, how would each of you define these terms?

Second, where would each fit on our 'ideological continuum'?(Right wing or left wing).

Now, please watch the following two videos.  As you watch, please keep the following questions in mind:
A) Is the speaker more in favor of collectivism or individualism?
B) What evidence can you find from the video to support your opinion?

Video #1 - Glenn Beck

Video #2 - Keith Olbermann

*Now, you will note that these videos are from different channels in the United States.  As we go through this course, we will see that the source of the news, often betrays the bias of the particular source.  Even our CBC has a fairly evident bias.  They are far more in support of collectivism, than in individualism.  Why do you think this is?

Class Discussion:
Lastly, it was an exciting weekend in Egypt.  However, to use a World War II reference, they've landed men on the beach, but they've not yet taken the cliffs.  Speaking of Operation Overlord, here is one of my favorite pictures of all time:

Pretty crazy, hey?  I had to look at it several times to make sure it wasn't fake.

Anyways, here is where we are at:
Mubarak has officially stepped down. Revolution step one, complete.

Now, think back to the French Revolution.  What initially followed the fall of the royalty was a dictatorial regime that killed thousands of people.  The same sort of thing followed the Overthrow of the Shah in Iran and even the toppling of the Tsars in Russia in 1917.

The question that I pose to you is the following:

What can be done to ensure that Egypt metamorphoses into a democracy without the intermediate stage of a 'reign of terror' sort of situation?

Please have an answer ready, or an explanation as to why there is no answer, for tomorrow.

Day 7

Schedule

Review from yesterday.

1.  To begin, we will carry on listening to Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech.
What is his ideology?  Remember, try to break it down into the following questions:

A. What are his guiding principles?
B. What does he believe about human nature?  Or society?

2. Some textbook work:
-Read Chapter 1(Page 20-56)
-Answer the 'Pause and Reflect' Questions.  Do not worry about the 'Explore the Issues' parts.

*If you finish, you may discuss your answers with a partner. We will be discussing these upon your return on Monday. 

The last thing I would like you to consider is the following:

So far, we have seen how people express their ideologies with speeches(Martin Luther King, Jr.) and manifestos(Karl Marx).  Please come to class on Monday with some ideas, and possibly examples of other ways people express their ideologies.

Day 6(continued)

Nationalism Vocab

Nationalism- The strong belief that the interests of a particular nation-state are of primary importance.

Internationalism- the doctrine that all members of the global community accept collective responsibility for the challenges that face the world and that the motives of nations and nation-states must be respected in the search for solutions

Ultranationalism- an extreme form of nationalism. Ultranationalists are often loyal to their nation and racist towards other nations

Sovereignty- the political authority to control one’s own affairs. Sovereignty may be distinguished from and can sometimes conflict with self-determination which is a people’s right to control their own affairs

Self-determination-  the power to control one’s own affairs. National self determination is the power of people within a nation-state or nation to make their own decisions about what is in their interest.

State-the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation

Nation- a politically organized body of people under a single government

Nation-state- a country that has physical borders and a single government. Nation-states may be based on ethnic nationalism or civic nationalism or a combination of the two

First estate-the clergy in France

Second estate- the nobility in France

Third estate- the common people

Egalitarianism (equality)- the doctrine of the equality of mankind and the desirability of political and economic and social equality

Cultural Pluralism- a belief or doctrine that holds that collectives should be encouraged to affirm and promote their unique cultural identity in a diverse society

Sovereignists- in Canada people who support the idea of Quebec’s becoming an independent nation-state that can control its own identity

Federalists- people who support a federal system of government

Reconciliation- an act of resolving differences and repairing relationships that enables people to come to terms with past injustices and to coexist in peace

Loyalty- the state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations

Alienation- the experience of feeling left out or being on the outside. People who choose one strong loyalty over another risk of alienation from an important part of their identity and from sharing in the collective consciousness

Segregation-  the forced separation of racial groups. Extreme loyalty to one racial group can lead to separate schools and living areas for racial minorities and eventually to ultranationalism and persecution of those minorities

Land Claims- Land claims are a legal declaration of desired control over areas of property including bodies of water

Propaganda-  information and ideas that are spread to achieve a specific goal. Extreme nationalists may use misleading and dishonest information to create fear and insecurity and to persuade people to behave in certain ways

Domestic Policy- a plan of action that guides a governments decisions about what to do within a country. In Canada domestic policy decisions may include changing federal laws, settling Aboriginal land claims, and spending tax revenues

National interest-  the interests of the people of a nation. National interest may include economic prosperity, security and safety, and beliefs and values.

Foreign policies-  a plan of action that guides a government’s decisions about its official relations with other countries. Also called foreign affairs or external relations

Appeasement- giving in to demands. A foreign policy practised by Britain and the United Sates when they granted Hitler concessions in an effort to avoid World War II

Expansionism-the desire of a nation state to extend its control beyond its own borders

Isolationism- a policy whereby a country completely opts out of participating in international social, economic, political, and military affairs

Internationalism-  the doctrine that all member of the global community accept collective responsibility for the challenges that face the world and that the motives of nations and nation-states must be respected in the search for solutions

Conscription-  compulsory military service. In Canada during World Wars I and II, the policy was controversial, especially among the francophone’s in Quebec

Peacekeeping- armed forces who maintain peace by keeping enemies apart until a crisis can be resolved through diplomacy and negotiation

Peacemaking- allowing armed forces that were originally sent to maintain peace in a region of conflict to use force for reasons other than self-defense

Genocide- the killing of members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction

Crimes against humanity- widespread or systematic attacks against a civilian population, including murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, rape and sexual slavery, enforced disappearance of persons, and the crime of apartheid

Holocaust- the English term used to describe the genocide of about six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II

Anti-Semitism- the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people

Ethnic Cleansing- a term that is used to make more socially acceptable the murder of expulsion of an ethnic nation from a territory

Decolonization- the process that occurs in a former colony when an imperial power withdraws. Decolonized countries can exercise sovereignty under international law and can join the United Nations

Successor state- a country created from previous state. By international law, the people who lived in the predecessor state or to choose their nationality if the predecessor state I divided into more then one state.

 Refugees- an exile who flees for safety

NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization: an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security

Warsaw Pact- an alliance including Russia and Eastern Block nations.  Served as a balance to NATO

Unilateral- the policy of a country responding to events on its own without agreements with or support from other countries

Multilateral- a policy that involves several countries working together to meet challenges and solve problems. The United Nations is multilateral in nature.

Collective security- the condition of protecting all members of a group or collective from danger. The United Nations tries to ensure the collective security of all member states

Absolute Poverty- a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education, and information. Absolute poverty may depend not only on income but also on access to services

Odious Dept- a dept that is incurred by a despotic power, not to meet the needs of the people of the country but to strengthen the despotic regime

Trickle-down effect- the theory that when people in developed countries have more money to spend, they will buy goods and services offered by business in less developed countries and that this spending will eventually help strengthen economies in the developing world

Economic sanctions- the actions of cutting off trade with a country is an effort to force it to follow a particular course of action

Tied Aid- help that is given with strings attached.

Day 6

Schedule for Today


1. Continue 'Contributors to Identity' Discussion
2. Definition of Ideology:

A set of principles or ideas that explains your world and your place within it, which is based on certain assumptions about human nature and society, and provides an interpretation of the past, an explanation of the present, and a vision for the future.


I cannot stress how important this definition is to the course. Look on the title page of your textbook, for goodness' sake.


Okay, now that we have a definition to work with, let's examine a few things about it. We'll break it down into chunks.


First: the 'set of principles or ideas that explains your world and your place within it' part.
Let's look at the list on the board. These are your guiding principles. How does it explain your world and your place within it?


Second: the 'certain assumptions about human nature and society' bit. How do people act? How do societies act? Why do people make the decisions they do? What is human nature? Why do societies act the way they do? Are there exceptions to any of these?


Timeout: Let's try to form an ideology for the class. A 'mission statement' if you will, but one that we feel can be applied to the whole class. Before we do, let's look at some famous ones:


Karl Marx
Machiavelli
Martin Luther King, Jr.
and, because this speech is so great, let's listen!
"I Have a Dream"


Man, I hope we fight. Trust me, it's more fun that way.




Third: Can ideologies in general, and maybe ours specifically, be used to interpret the past, explain the present, and provide a vision for the future?

Day 5

Schedule for Today!

1. Review from Friday's class.  Any questions or comments?  I will give you about five minutes to gather up your gear and clear the cobwebs from the weekend.

2. Go over reading questions.

3. Definitions of "Conservatism" and "Liberalism"

3. Quick introduction to ideological continuum.

4. Research Project!  You will be divided into three groups, each assigned to one of the "Big Three" Philosophers.   Here is your task:

-The philosophers Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau will be very important in this course.  As such, we will be doing a research project on them.  Now, this project has two distinct parts: the medium, and the message.  I will explain.

-Medium: You will have to find information using three means: My computer, the tablet, and an iPhone. In the course of your research, please identify two advantages, and two disadvantages to it.  You will get to use all three devices for ten minutes, then switch.

Message: You will be providing answers to the points on the bottom of page 18, as well as the following question:

"What event or condition in their life contributed the most, in your opinion, to their outlook?"

Lastly, we will present, and try to determine where each sits on our continuum.  In addition, we will discuss the usefulness of each research tool.

P.S.  We discussed the things that impact our identity.  We listed the contributors to our identity.  Tomorrow, we will try to group them.

Day 4

Hey gang,

Schedule for today!

First of all, I would like you to complete the sheets that are on the desk labelled "Social 30."  The first one is a 'Would You Rather' exercise.  Though it may seem simplistic, this will get you back in the habit of Finding Evidence, and Supporting Your Opinion.    Skip past the 'Come up with your own' section and go straight to the back page.  Please complete these in complete sentences.

Now, to get the most out of the assignment, please follow these steps.
1. Do the assignment, on your own, without talking to anyone. (10 Minutes)
2. Discuss your answers, your justifications, and your values, as written on the back. 
3. Hang on to these.  We will be discussing these further as a class on Monday.

Next, please fill out the ideology questionnaire and evaluation, and find your 'ideological total.'   Please read through the following sheets on your own.  Again, please hang on to these, as we will be discussing them further on Monday.

Lastly, we have some text reading and questions.  You may do these in groups.  We will be discussing these on Monday.  The assignment is as follows:

Read Page 4-the middle of page 10.
Answer the first 3 bulleted questions.  We will do the last two on Monday.
Read Page 10 and 11. 
Answer the 2 questions at the bottom of page 11.
Finish reading to page 19.

I expect you should be able to finish this in class.  If not, can someone please email me( matthew.chomistek@wrsd.ca ) and let me know where you got to.  The 'Nationalism' Definitions should be posted and handed out by Tuesday at the latest.  Globalization Defintions will also be handed out shortly.  Have a great weekend!  Keep an eye on the news!

Day 3

Schedule for Today

1. Go over any questions from the terms I posted yesterday. Remember: these terms will help you understand the material as we go through the course. You don't need to have them memorized, but having an idea of what they mean will certainly help. They will stay on the Day 2(continued) site henceforth.

2. Establish days for extra help and review. I am more than happy to offer help with the course, and any other courses, outside of class time. Now, we can do this on an appointment basis, or establish a consistent weekly time. I can do the following:

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - 7:45-8:45am

Monday, Thursday - 3:30-4:30pm

Days 2 and 4 Lunch Time.

As well, I have preps during the following:

Day 2 - Block 4, Block 6

Day 4 - Block 6

We'll sort it out in class.


3. Social 20 Review:

You guys know the drill. Social 20's theme is Nationalism, and, more specifically,

"To what extent should we embrace Nationalism?"

Below are a list of vocabulary words from the course. I have culled them down to what I believe are the most important. In groups of 2-4, please have a run through them, and figure out what you know.

Social 20 Review Terms

Nationalism

Internationalism

Ultranationalism

Sovereignty

Self-determination

State

Nation

Nation-State

First, Second, and Third Estates

Egalitarianism (equality)

Cultural Pluralism

Sovereignists

Federalists

Reconciliation

Loyalty

Alienation

Segregation

LOYALTIES: Class - Religious - Regional - Ideological - Cultural

Land Claims

Propaganda

domestic policy

national interest

Foreign policies:

appeasement, expansionism, isolationism,internationalism

conscription

peacekeeping

peacemaking

genocide

crimes against humanity

war crimes

Holocaust

anti-Semitism

ethnic cleansing

decolonization

successor state

refugees

NATO

Warsaw Pact

Unilateral

Multilateral

collective security

Absolute Poverty

Odious Debt

Trickle-down Effect

Economic sanctions

Tied Aid

Same drill as with the globalization terms. Once we go through them as a class, I will post the definitions up here. Please do your best to try to come up with what you know first, though. The more you jog your memory during these first few days, the easier the rest of the course will be.

*Also! [Light at the end of the tunnel alert!] Once we get these done, we will be done our Social Review, and we'll be on to new stuff.

Day 2(Continued)

Here are the definitions from today.  Feel free to print off to keep as a reference.

Globalization Review

Unit One

Individual Identity- the traits that make up a person’s sense of individuality

Collective Identity- the combination of beliefs, values, view of history, and language of people

Globalization- the process that is making the worlds citizens interdependent and interconnected economically, socially, politically, environmentally, technologically

Acculturation – where a minority culture adopts cultural characteristics of the dominant culture; a voluntary process

Accommodation- an inclusive approach that allows religious or ethnic groups to maintain their distinctive cultures within mainstream society

Cultural Revitalization- a process through which unique cultures regain a sense of identity, through heritage, languages, customs, and traditions

Integration- the incorporation of diverse minority groups into mainstream society

Assimilation- the absorption of a minority group by a dominant group

Marginalization- the pushing of a group to ‘margins’ of society, where they hold little social, political, or economic power

Homogenization- a trend toward uniformity, as with world popular culture as a result of globalization.

Unit Two

Eurocentrism- a belief that the European world view is superior to all others

Cultural Contact- the interaction of diverse cultures and perspectives

Depopulation- the reduction of a population because of conflict, disease, loss of resources, cultural change or assimilation

The Silk Road- an ancient trade network between China and the Mediterranean sea and linking China with the Roman Empire

Imperialism- an association between peoples that intentionally benefits one people over another

Displacement- the involuntary dispersal of a people, especially from their homeland

International Trade- the interchange of raw materials and manufactured goods among distance groups of people

Mercantilism- a system of government sponsored international business ventures designed to make European monarchs rich

Free Market System- a market in which the government would regulate nothing all businesses would be privately owned

Entrepreneurs- people who take risks by launching business ventures in the hope of making a profit

Worker Exploitation- subjecting employees to low wages, long hours, or poor working conditions

Communism- a planned economic system in which the government owns all means of production and all people work for government owned enterprises

Colony- a territory that belonged to a European country, was ruled by European government, and was completely subject to that European country

Protectorate- an area that maintained its own sovereignty but was guided by a European country

Sphere of Influence- A territorial area over which political or economic influence is wielded by one nation

Motives for Imperialism- money and prestige

Residential Schools- a boarding school for Indian and Inuit children from sparsely populated settlements

Unit Three

International Monetary System- a global network of institutions established by the Bretton Woods Agreement to promote international trade and the regulation of currency among western countries

Gold Standard- a provision of the Bretton Woods Agreement that all printed money, such as the paper dollar, would be convertible to gold and could be cashed in at any time for that gold

Fixed Exchange Rates- the value of a country’s currency as set by its government

Floating Exchange Rates- currency rates that are not fixed by government but instead find their own value on the foreign exchange market

International Monetary Fund- international agency that works with the world bank to bring stability to international monetary affairs and to help expand world trade

Free Market Economies- a system in which a government does not intervene in the production and control of goods and services

Centrally Planned Economies- a system under which government planners decide what goods to produce and how many

GATT- (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) an international agreement between 1947 and 1995 that aimed to reduce trade barriers among member countries

Tariffs- a tax imposed on imports to increase their price and thus reduce competition with domestic products

NAFTA- (North American Free Trade Agreement) 1994 treaty among Canada and the US and Mexico to improve trade by removing tariffs and other economic barriers

EU- (European Union) the world’s largest and most powerful common market

Free Trade Agreements- economic treaty between Canada and the US that sought to promote trade by reducing tariffs and other barriers between the two countries

Trade Liberalization- the process of reducing barriers to trade

GDP- a measure of a country’s gross domestic product per capita, one of the criteria for the UN human development index

WTO- (World Trade Organization) international organization founded in 1995 that works to improve trade relations among the world’s countries

G8- (group of eight) an informal group of the eight major industrial democracies that meets at annual summits to discuss economic and foreign policies

Outsourcing- the hiring of one company by another to fulfill certain tasks in production

Deregulation- opening an industry to more competition by removing government regulations

Privatization

Unit Four

Quality of Life- the conditions in people’s lives

Disparity- economic and social gaps among individuals, communities or countries

Standard of Living- a common measure of the quantity and quality of goods and services to which people have access

Human Development Index- the United Nations measure of a countries level of development based on GDP per capita life expectancy at birth, adult literacy, and school enrollment

Universal Declaration of Human Rights- UN policy that defines the human rights to which every person on the globe is equally entitled

Political, Civil, Equality, Economic, Social, Cultural Rights- political: the right to vote and to participate in government

Civil: the right to freedom of opinion and expression

Equality: the right to be free from discrimination

Economic: the right to fair wages and safe working conditions

Social: the right to education and to have health care

Cultural: the right to participate in the cultural life of a community, and the righ to speak your own language

Employment Equity- the principle of equal pay for equal work or for work of equal value

Genetic Modification- technology that allows genes from one species to be introduced into another to produce a hardier or higher yielding strain

Kyoto Protocol- international agreement that intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a means to combat climate change

Referendum- a binding vote in which the entire electorate votes to accept or reject a proposal

Corporate Responsibility- the degree to which companies act in a manner that supports environmental sustainability and prevents worker exploitation.

Consumer Activism- is activism undertaken on behalf of consumers, to assert consumer rights

Day 2

Schedule for Day 2

Go over any questions from yesterday.

Introduce RSS Reader Instructions. RSS Readers  are programs that send you updates every time a Blog is updated.  This would be handy for this course. If possible, set up a gmail account beforehand.  In order to use the 'Google Reader,' you will have to have a gmail account.  To join gmail, go to:

www.gmail.com

Continue on definitions from Social 10.  For those who missed yesterday, see Day 1 to see what we did.  When we are finished, I will post them on this site.

*Remember!  You do not need to write the definitions as we go.  Pay attention, of course, but do not be concerned with keeping up with the writing.  These will all be posted on the site for Day 3.

For tomorrow!  Start thinking about Nationalism.  What does it mean to you?  What do you remember from last year?  What terms do you remember?  What countries did you look at?

Just for Fun: Remember when we talked about Egypt's rebellion today?  Check these pictures out.