Initial forum postings should be a minimum of 250 words. Please choose ONE of the following questions: 1. Describe your vision of a model economic system - is it capitalist, socialist, or somewhere in between? In your answer be sure to compare and contrast the two major economic systems (capitalism and socialism). 2. Since the 1970s, the traditional family has been changing as we have experienced steady trends with growing numbers of divorces and more children born out of wedlock. Should the legal system make it more difficult for married couples to obtain a divorce, and harder for people to cohabit outside of marriage, especially when children are involved? What can the United States government do to strengthen families and marriages in American society? How can the people change the culture to strengthen families and marriages? Refer to examples from the text to support your answer. Now, critique your answer from the point of view of a functionalist or a conflict theorist. 3. What is dehumanization? How would functionalists and conflict theorist critique dehumanization? Do some research on the internet to find depictions of dehumanization in previous wars that the United States has fought. Choose two of the following for your research: a) depictions from World War II that dehumanize Germans; b) another depictions from the Vietnam War that dehumanize North Vietnamese and/or communists; and finally, c) depictions from the Persian Gulf War that dehumanize Iraqis. First, what similarities and/or differences exist in the ways that the Germans, North Vietnamese, and/or Iraqis were depicted during World War II, the Vietnam War, and/or the Persian Gulf War, respectively? Second, while the nationalities of combatants may change from one war to another, how much does the `language of dehumanization` change, if at all, from one war to another?

Initial forum postings should be a minimum of 250 words. Please choose ONE of the following questions: 1. Describe your vision of a model economic system - is it capitalist, socialist, or somewhere in between? In your answer be sure to compare and contrast the two major economic systems (capitalism and socialism). 2. Since the 1970s, the traditional family has been changing as we have experienced steady trends with growing numbers of divorces and more children born out of wedlock. Should the legal system make it more difficult for married couples to obtain a divorce, and harder for people to cohabit outside of marriage, especially when children are involved? What can the United States government do to strengthen families and marriages in American society? How can the people change the culture to strengthen families and marriages? Refer to examples from the text to support your answer. Now, critique your answer from the point of view of a functionalist or a conflict theorist. 3. What is dehumanization? How would functionalists and conflict theorist critique dehumanization? Do some research on the internet to find depictions of dehumanization in previous wars that the United States has fought. Choose two of the following for your research: a) depictions from World War II that dehumanize Germans; b) another depictions from the Vietnam War that dehumanize North Vietnamese and/or communists; and finally, c) depictions from the Persian Gulf War that dehumanize Iraqis. First, what similarities and/or differences exist in the ways that the Germans, North Vietnamese, and/or Iraqis were depicted during World War II, the Vietnam War, and/or the Persian Gulf War, respectively? Second, while the nationalities of combatants may change from one war to another, how much does the `language of dehumanization` change, if at all, from one war to another?