Begining Paragraphs

Ecuador a little small country in the Pacific Coast of South America. Approximately 3,000 miles away from the United States. It officially gained their independence on May, 13, 1830 from the Grand Colombia. Ecuador is mainly know by their natural resources and major exportation. Some of their recognized natural resources are oil, coal, and gold. Their major exportation's are shrimp, fish, banana, plantains, coffee, and cocoa beans. Even if they are known for their natural resources and exportation, it is also known by their touristic places like the Galapagos Islands, "Mitad del Mundo" (Middle of the World), the Amazon jungles, the Andean Volcanoes, tropical forests, and beaches. Ecuador could be a little small country in South America, but is diverse in almost every way, and that's what makes Ecuadorean unique and what has always fascinated large countries, visitors, and students.


Some of the origins of this particular relationship between U.S and Ecuador could come from the early twentieth century. Ecuador came to depend on U.S. imports, and the Unites States also became the leading purchaser of the various Ecuadorian exports. It historically has served the United States as a supplier of raw material. But besides exporting materials, it has also been a site for important military bases, and as a voting supporter for U.S. positions in world and regional organizations.

Research Thesis Paragraph

Many countries has been influenced by the United States and in the end this kind of influence had become an imperial power. In Ecuador the United States has used their power to change Ecuador currency which means their economic plan, they has intervene in their military power and also has been involve back in the 1940's in Ecuador's labor movement. The United States motivation in this country has been the easy access of Ecuador's air base that is located on the peak of the Pacifc Coast. Another reason for their motivation is the resources that Ecuador brings to the world and that is one way where the U.S. could take advantage from their former money currency. In Ecuador, president Rafael Correa has responded to their economic plan and has tried to change it, the people in the city of Manta has been affected by the U.S military base, and many Mayors has change policies to control the situation. The debates that have taken place about this relationship with Ecuador has been the challenges that Rafael Correa has taken to get rid of the World Bank and the IMF, and also the lease of the U.S military base. As you could see this kind of intervention in Ecuador economy and military power could show how the United States is an imperial country that has control Ecuador and many other countries.

Research Brainstorm

Country:Ecuador

Why are you interested in this country and its relationship to the U.S.?
- I am interested in this country because I was born here and I don't know much of the relationship between this countries. The little information that I know comes from the news, but the news usually doesn't cover the whole conflict. So I want to learn from this research project and be able to identify their relationship.

What has struck you about its history and relationship to the United States from our readings, and from other knowledge and experience you may have?
-What has struck me the most is definitely the military base that was on my city Manta. I didn't know that it was there and specially that it was a some sort of control from the U.S. Also was has struck me that the president Rafael Correa is opposed to the ideas of neoliberalism.
I thought he was not against the type of system that the U.S has.

Based on your reading and knowledge so far, do you think the U.S.'s relationship with this country supports the thesis "The United States is an imperial power"?
-Yes, based on my readings and the information that I have gotten so far, the U.S. does have an imperial power over Ecuador and it has been a recent conflict between this two countries.

What dont you know that you want to find out?
-The things that I don't know and that I want to find out is how the military base was introduce and when did this plan and sort of system began? How the people in my city has been affected and what they have done? Also does this comes in to conflict with the country military base and airland?

Our Brand is Crisis

In the film "Our Brand is Crisis" and in the chapter "Latin America in Revolt" the accusations given to these leaders in my opinion means that a leader like Morales is a person that listens to his people, he came from a civil movement group and he knows what his people wants and needs. If the people wants justice, he is there to support them. The specific policies that these charges are based on is that he didn't want to privatize oil, he wanted to nationalized it. But U.S. politicians think that what he is doing is wrong and this could hurt the people, specially the poor. But Morales knows what he is doing and of course these fears are justified, specially by the U.S. because they believe in privatization and globalization.

Revision Brainstorm

What is my thesis?
-McDonald's has started to be a representing icon for the U.S. nation. It could be considered an appropriate symbol of the United States

If I hadn't written this, would I have convinced myself of this thesis? What would I be skeptical about?
- If I hadn't written this I would say that it doesn't make sense. Yes, you could tell it would be about McDonald's and being a U.S. symbol but not exactly what I intended to write

Does my evidence support my thesis?
- Yes, I do think my evidence support my thesis. But I have to work on my quotations, making sense and on language clarity.

Where am I being vague?
-Whenever I write a citation, is hard for me to introduce it. I know how to explain it but I think am not doing it the right way, so in the end it doesn't make sense.

Where is my reader confused?
- I know I have some fragments sentences and probably my readers will be confused by this

What have I left out?
- I don't think I have anything left out, I think I have enough evidence and enough supports from some of the course texts. But, I really need to work on explaining my texts so the reader could definetely understand it.

How can I make what I'm saying more interesting?
- It needs to be more clear

What parts of the text(s) are important that I haven't dealt with?
- I know that I have written a lot from Fast Food Nation. I think I need to deal more with the Life and Debt film.

Revised Paragraph

Not many changes but it is more clarify...

Original Paragraph
When a consumer eats McDonald’s in a foreign country, especially children who has
the most potential to be attracted by their character and think that what they eat is right.
Then these children think that what they eat would make them more Americanized. Like
in Beijing, Germany when they consume this food, they think that eating in McDonald’s
would “elevate a person’s social status”. But not only have they thought that it would
make them superior they also think that by eating McDonald’s they would be more like
the people in the United States. Just like Den Fujita mentions in the “Fast Food Nation”
article, “If we eat McDonald’s hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years, we will
become taller, our skin will become white, and our hair will be blonde”. Even if most
people around the world was to become just like a white American, also here in the
United States there has been a conflict on how some black Americans has gone through
treatment just to be white. Like in the “Dreams from my Father”, Obama sees a picture in
Life magazines and thinks how children would also peel their skin just to be like what a
American person really looks like and symbolizes.


Revised Paragraph
When a consumer eats McDonald’s in a foreign country, especially children who has
the most potential to be attracted by their Ronald McDonald character and think that what they eat is right. Then these children think that what they eat would make them more Americanized. Like in Beijing, China when they consume this food, they think that eating in McDonald’s
would “elevate a person’s social status”#231. But not only have they thought that it would
make them superior they also think that by eating McDonald’s, they would be more like
the people in the United States. Just like Den Fujita, a billionaire who brought McDonald's to Japan mentions in the “Fast Food Nation”
article, “If we eat McDonald’s hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years, we will
become taller, our skin will become white, and our hair will be blonde”. It states how
people around the world like the Japanese who wants to become just like a white American, would do this to make them happy and to be someone. Also here in the
United States there has been a conflict on how some black Americans has gone through
treatment just to be white. Like in the “Dreams from my Father”, Obama sees a picture in
Life magazine and analyzes how children would also peel their skin just to be like what a
American person really looks like and symbolizes. We could see how this can come to affect because in America white has usually governed and represented this country.

Naomi Klein on the Colbert Report

-I think what Naomi Klein is trying to say in the video, is that the goverment always usually take control of us whenever we feel that there is no hope because a natural disaster like the Hurricane Katrina couldnt be stopped, and the only thing that could have done was to save and help all those people in New Orleans to find home and shelter. So the community and the people trusted the Goverment. But instead the Goverment cheated and took advantage.
-We could relate this argument that Klein states, to the cluster by seeing how in most all of our texts and videos that we have learned, shows a U.S imperialism that controls many of the countries that needs economic help, and when they do this, the U.S goverment exploits the poor nation and take advantages in many ways.

Personal Responses

When I came into the cluster I thought that this was going to be about how America has the most influence in other countries. Well I could see I was right because we are studying on how the United States is controlling some of the countries and how many of our resources that are here are imported to the poorest countries. But I didnt expected we were gonna learn some of the history from the past. I just thought that it was mostly going to be more about the present and the future. Like what other things the United States might come up with. With the texts that we have read and argue about, I feel like it is a good way to learn and make opinions. I am still on King side, even as we have read different texts and see a lot of documentary films.

Life and Debt

Yes, I do think that the film shows colonialism because many of the resources that Jamaica received are from oustside the country. Everything is mostly imported and the resources that they produce themselves for the local people are really expensive. So the poor people can't afford it. International Monetary Fund is usually the one who is giving the money to this country and that is how the country could mantain itself. We could compare this form of colonialism by showing how in the story from Jamaica Kincaid called "A Small Place" illustrates how Antigua was governed by the British, and how this place was before it gained their independence.

I think that International Monetary Fund is the one who has the control of this country. It has control because they are the one who says what kind of production could be made and what they could not produce. One example of this was the bananas, in other countries the banana they produce was cheaper and the bananas that Jamaica produce was more expensive because the resources like the seeds and the soil is imported. The IMF maintains this power by if they dont give the money to this country to maintain itself, then Jamaica will have unemployed people, and there will be more poor people that is already is. One thing that Jamaicans could do or the goverment could do is to set more Free Zones, so that these people will not have to work with taxes and they could earn an amount of money to support their family.

The connection that I see between this film with other texts is how some of the countries are still somehow governed by other countries and how they are usually in control. It could be economically or just beacuse of resources, like the oil. Like in the first text that we read by Obama we could see how Indonesia was still influence by the United States. We could see how they have overthrown the governor of that country and how later Obama saw that they wanted to decide in Indonesia.

Farmingville

I was really shocked at the begining of the film, specially when the boy came out, and he showed his scars and where he was stabbed. Is incredible to see that this still exists now in the modern time. It will have not be a shocked event if you hear these kinds of news 60 years ago. But hearing this now it totally draws a national media attention. But it gets me upset that after this crime event, instead of the community coming together, there were more racism against the undocumented mexicans. But even with all the community resistence am glad too that they created Human Solidity Association group. Also that they continue with their jobs and still continue to achieve the "American Dream" and send the money to their loves ones, even if no resolution was made. This film really shows about who really controls the American dream, and who could share it also.