Once again history and questions

So here is something knew that I learned reading this great book by Zinn.
1. The rich industrial elites created the pyramid of wealth by creating oppression in many levels
2. They were also able to pay away their duty to serve the military ( and I thought they only did that to get into rich schools)
3. Bankers and the government including the Supreme Court helped them using the 14th amendment by 288 cases atone point in time when only 19 cases were dealt with African Americans.

Those are only a few of the many realities this book is bringing to me every page I read!

In class Monday we talked about how we should always be questioning everything.  I like that idea because there are many times when I feel that something is not right and when no one else says anything we are left with conformity and with possible injustice building up in front of our eyes.

Another thought in my mind is the millions of people dealing with obesity.  In our human behavior class we talked about the fact that it is hard to eat healthy if you live in an area where the cheaper food is unhealthy but easy to drive up and buy.  As a college student I am always shopping for the cheapest things I can get.  I am not afraid to say this but I buy the cheapest laundry detergent in HEB because that is all I can afford.  Just imagine me buying in whole foods- ha no way!  I questioned myself during the whole video we watched about the kids in programs being taught to eat healthy and to lose weight, Why are there so little programs like that?  Why is society so embedded with unhealthy food all around this world (because this problem is world-wide now)? But then I think its like if a kid goes to school and misbehaves, yeah he/she will be put in time-out in class but he/she is not going to learn anything if they ultimately go home to parents that let him/her do what ever they want! I mean this might be a ridiculous comparison but I feel like I am in that situation, I cannot eat better or healthier if I go back home everyday to eat cheap fast food just because that is all I can afford money-wise and time-wise.  I totally sound like a cheap person but what can I do?

So here again we are dealing with class structure at its best.  I'm sure more rich people can afford to go shop at whole foods and be aware what unhealthy fast food does to you in the long-run.  But the rest of us are in this trap.  I truly understand people dealing with obesity because first of all it is not easy to lose weight when you have been eating unhealthy for years and second its even worse when the food you see being advertised on TV is either too expensive to even crave or so unhealthy and cheap that you end up eating that instead.

I leave you with this quote, I know I probably threw way too much in this blog, but here is a great person in "Books Of Our Time" that motivates me to keep going:

"Optimistic is a word that I don't really believe, I see the terrible things that make someone feel pessimistic, the starvation the wars going on, I am optimistic in the long-run not in the short run..."