Carlos Gomez Quintero - Reflection 2

My group, which is group 2, was about gender equality and how that related to the elections that at the time were coming. First, we talked about the history of gender equality and how in the year 1919 it was proposed in Congress and ratified in 1920 which gave women the right to vote this came to fruition because of people like Susan B. Anthony who fought for women's suffrage for 40 years. Another key moment in history is the Civil Rights of 1964 which is popular for prohibiting discrimination based on race. However, most people do not know it prohibits discrimination based on religion, national origin, and sex from things like employment. The second point we covered was the disparity between income for men versus women, in jobs like engineering and architecture there was a gap between 1,000-2,500-dollar gap between men and women. Also, in 2023 earned 83.6% of what men earned that year and the pay gap is even greater for black and Hispanic women in the United States. Our third point was the different views of abortion the first view we covered was the pro-life supporters who are people who believe abortion should be banned in America people in the southern part and the mid-west have this ideology for example the governor of Florida Ron Desantis has a more of a pro-life view when it comes to his abortion laws. The other view is that pro-life are people who believe it should be up to the person if they want an abortion and that it should be an option that everybody should have access to. The ultimate point is how women are treated in sports because of their gender and how different women in sports are paid compared to men but recently that has changed and now they are getting the treatment that they deserve. If you care about gender equality or abortion no matter what side, you should go vote. Remember you cannot complain if you do not participate. 

 Group 1 talked about immigration policies and how they affect the election. Immigration in the U.S. has been a very heated debated topic from the beginning of our country to now because of all the different views and because immigration is a ridiculously hard and complicated topic. Now why is immigration being a thing it is a thing because of multiple reasons for some people they move for economic reasons like from a poorer country to a richer one for better economic opportunities like work or a better education or safety. A lot of countries have high crime rates, or an oppressive government Cuba has a communist system which makes millions of Cubans every day come to the United States. Some people believe we should have open borders or lighter restrictions because immigration can help countries economically by tax revenue, contributing to Medicare, and filling out jobs like construction or other labor-intensive jobs. Others believe we should have a harder policy on immigration for reasons like how much immigration costs accepting them bringing them to America setting them up usually people immigrating are poorer which can increase the divide between the rich, middle, and lower class. Another point is bringing too many people can overpopulate which makes the demand for housing skyrocket and increases housing prices or increases the cost of Medicare and Social Security benefits which can hurt citizens by not having enough money for future generations while those benefits come from the taxes on residents who most feel like they pay enough. No matter what side you are on, immigration voting can make the side you believe in the one in power no matter how people make you feel your vote always will matter and that is why it is so important to vote.    

    Group 3 topics were about Education policies and how voting can affect education in the United States. Education is a state-by-state policy, not a federal policy now of course the Federal government has some guides but most of how it is taught the qualifications to graduate and the qualifications to teach depends on the governing body of the state. For example, in Florida, you need a bachelor's degree or higher to teach high school or below but in some states in the north like New York, you need at least a master's degree to teach high school or lower and they have a vastly different curriculum compared to other states. Education is an extremely important part of every person's life. Education builds intelligence, social skills, and morality in children so much so that some people come to the United States because they want a better education that gives better opportunities for you and your family in the future. This matters because many different people have specific views about education and when you vote you put your view out there which means you are being represented.  

Group 4 talked about how voting works, specifically the Electoral College. How the Electoral College works is that it's a body and its sole task is to elect a candidate for the presidency they do each state is given a certain number of points by its population the reason it is like that is so smaller states have as much power as larger states. For example, Wyoming has fewer points than a smaller state like New York because of its population. Now a candidate needs 270 votes to win the presidency and depending on what party they side with depends on what state they get because states like California and New York always are Democratic but Texas is always Republican so many candidates focus on swing states because at the end of the day those states decide who is president. Now when hearing this you may believe oh what is the point of me voting if my state is always republican you should still vote because you don't know maybe one vote is the difference between your state being democratic or a republican state so you should vote!