As I look back on my OTM assignments, I am definitely able to recognize some flaws in my thinking regarding the various topics I wrote about. The most evident default response I identified was my tendency to place blame on the system, or as I like to call it, 'the machine'. In high school, I had a teacher who required our class to read the short story The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. For anyone who hasn't read this story- the basic plot is the story of a society in the future that totally crashes and burns. The same teacher encouraged me to read 1984 by George Orwell, another story concerning the concept of 'big brother' and the control of the government. Both of these writings influenced my views and opinions on ethical issues, the government, privacy, society, etc. My background in education has taught me to question everything. I have been encouraged to question the status quo and to ask the simple question WHY. Although this can come off as cynical, my intention is to be a critical thinker. As a result of all of this, my initial instinct when analyzing the OTM broadcasts was to question societal standards and government policy. Although there is always room for improvement in any organization, it's not necessarily the 'set up' that will always be the issue.
In addition, I realize that my negative feelings toward Trump are extremely transparent in my writing. I really should do more research on the topic and provide specific evidence for the reasons why he is to blame rather than jumping on a bandwagon at the first murmur of an error by the Trump administration. I've always had an interest in politics, but it is so overwhelming for me that sometimes I give up on keeping track of it all. This attitude hasn't helped me so far in any way. This class has helped me to understand that the only way to find the most truthful content is to go through multiple sources of it in order to catch the biases. I have a renewed motivation to be aware and involved.
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