Thursday, February 14, 2013

A632.5.5.RB_Protected Values in Decision-Making



I have to state that these two assignments were difficult for me because although I have strong convictions for things I don’t necessarily find myself having many protected values. I have the feeling that we are in a society that is constantly changing and evolving and it is important to be flexible. No one is perfect and there is no way one person could have a multitude of strong personal values and make it through life happy. Having to think about your every decisions and if what you are doing will infringe on a personal value would make a sane person insane. At every corner that is going to be something you have to face and sometimes the decisions that have to be made affect you in many ways but if you are so closed off by your protected values you might miss out on some of the most amazing things in your life.

In my mind map I talked about the protected value of being able to marry who I want to marry. I have talked about in previous classes that I am an open lesbian and I have been out and proud for 11 years. Regardless of my sexually orientation I am still a good person and I shouldn’t be told that I cannot marry who I want to marry because of another person’s strong conservative beliefs. If true Right-Wing Conservatives thought back to their Christian roots they would know that God would want them to love everyone and that God doesn’t make mistakes when He makes a person and since I didn’t choose to be this way, God created me, I should be accepted just like everyone else. Because my protected value affects not only me but my other GLBTQ brothers and sisters I will not support organizations that do not support me nor will I vote for an elected officer who believes that it same-sex marriages should be banned. I don’t try to infringe on “traditional” marriage, why should someone infringe on me. It makes me sick to think about how people feel my lifestyle is so horrible. I am working woman, I pay my taxes, respect the laws and I bleed red blood. I am no different than a straight woman other than I like other pretty girls. I am not crazy when it comes to protecting these values as I have stated before I am very laid back and understand some people are just ignorant but I am cautious in my decisions regarding who I vote for and where I shop especially if I know they are using any of my funding to support anti-same-sex organizations.

Being healthy shouldn’t be an “if you can afford it” option it should be human right. People are always complaining about others spreading their illnesses but many people cannot afford or have healthcare and therefore cannot get treatment when it is necessary. I find that extremely upsetting and I don’t support it. I suppose I am rather torn when it comes to this value because although I want healthcare for all I don’t want the government to force private healthcare to become so expensive I cannot afford the plans I already have. To me there has to be healthy medium space so that all people can have the ability to be healthy and see a doctor/dentist when they need to. I get so upset when people talk about how terrible government healthcare will be when they don’t realize how many people have no healthcare options. It is so frustrating to me when people are uneducated about this topic and most of the time I find myself walking away because I feel so strongly about it. No one in American should go hungry or be turned down for medical treatment. I commend doctors and dentists who donate their time and servicers for free to help communities they are in tough economic times and people do not have access to healthcare. I know that I will continue to be an advocate for government healthcare as an option for those who want it. If people don’t want to use that service they don’t have to but we as a society need to stop being so selfish and work together. We tend to be “out for ourselves” only and I think that is a major contributor to the demise of our society and the lack of respect we have for one another.

I have worked in education going on 6 years now and I have noticed a trend not only at the college level but K-12 as well. Teachers are no longer being able teach the content of the course but are being forced to teach for specific tests in order to meet state and sometimes national standards. When did we forget about the importance of content and start building courses for tests or forcing teachers to forget what they know and follow an outline designed for the betterment of the school and not the student? This to me is ridiculous and I hate it. Instructors should feel confident to teach the material and know that their performance of the content will enable the students to meet the standards of those tests. I value education for the content/material and not how I perform on a test that is standardized to meet unobtainable standards.This topic will be one I fight for the rest of life as education is my career and my passion.

I think I vented a good bit throughout this blog and I guess my protected values are more important to me that I had previously realized when creating the concept map. 

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