A topic that I found very interesting this last week was the discussion of capitalism and illness. This was interesting to me because i found many connections between the 2 topics. First, one must address the large degree of consumerism in the United States. This consumerism does not only correlate with materialism, but can contribute to illness if you look at food portion sizing in the U.S. Portion sizes are far larger than other countries, which would explain high rates of obesity and diseases such as diabetes and  heart disease. Another way you can look at illness and capitalism is from a psychological standpoint. The U.S. and the capitalist system place a heavy emphasis on capital (thus, CAPITALism) and success, and when people are not able to achieve certain levels of each, it can be very disheartening and stressful, and can lead to depression and other psychological ailments. The capitalist system is great for generating money, but one could wonder if the capitalist system has put hard working Americans at a unique disadvantage.

Something that I found interesting in class this week was the discussion of human rights, specifically the argument about universal rights and cultural rights. This argument is very difficult to work through. Although universal rights should be granted to every human on this planet, some cultural rights or practices can often put these rights to the test. We watched a video in class about the evolution of human rights, and this video was very enlightening. Although universal rights have been established worldwide via the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, many injustices (slavery, inequality, child labor, etc...) continue to occur. In some situations, this may be attributed to the culture in which you reside, where certain acts may not be as frowned upon as they would be in other cultures, or perhaps may be attributed to the fact that human rights are not as concrete, or backed up, as other laws/amendments. For example, although the universal right to life should be granted to all under the Declaration of Human Rights, one would have a difficult time discussing this in the context of China's previous one-child policy. This policy is an exact contradiction of the right to live, for there have been instances where families would kill infants if they were not men, which were deemed more valuable in the long run. If a Universal declaration is signed giving all people on Earth these rights, then how was such a contradictory policy allowed to be in place for so long? Because these rights are not backed up or enforced, they are simply expected. If all humans were forced to abide by these rights strictly, than many injustices would be minimized. The one problem is that they are not as widely enforced as laws or other policies in place. The Declaration calls for equality, yet inequality is rampant. It calls for the freedom of speech, but as we saw in the video, people around the globe are incarcerated for voicing their opinions. If lasting change is the goal, than those infringing on others universal rights should be held accountable. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Be true to what you said on paper".