Saturday, September 19, 2009

Blog #19 - Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

We saw the clip from the documentary, New York, that gave us a glimpse into the terrifying fire that consumed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in March 1911. Many things went wrong, from the locked doors, to the collapsing fire escape, and insufficient fire fighting equipment (failing water pressure and ladders that only reached the 6th floor).



There was a strike two years earlier at that factory where 400 workers spontaneously walked off the job led by a young lady named Clara Lemlich b/c of awful working conditions. The next year, 16 year old Pauline Newman led thousands of seamstresses on strike, and an unprecendented agreement was made w/ the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union which set up a system of grievances. Unfortunately, greedy garment owners didn't honor the agreement (as evidenced by the deadly fire in 1911).


After the fire, the New York legislature formed a factory commission to investigate the awful working conditions throughout factories in the state. By the end of the commission's search, they recommended and the legislature passed many factory reforms which became blueprints for many others states to copy. So, out of tragedy comes something good.

My questions for you are: 1. Why does it appear that we make significant changes (changes that many people acknowledge need to be made) only after a major tragedy has occurred?
For instance, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, our airline security was finally improved.
2. What keeps us from making the changes / reforms before a big catastrophe occurs?



Due Tuesday, Sept. 22, Minimum 150 words.



Girls who died in the fire aged 16 and under:
1. Anna Altman, 16
2. Vincenza Beletta, 16
3. Ida Brodsky, 16
4. Jennie Franco, 16
5. Kate Leone, 14
6. Rosalie Maltese, 14
7. Gaetana Midolo, 16
8. Antonietta Pasqualicca, 16
9. Sarah Sabasowitz, 14
10. Jennie Stellino, 16
11. Bessie Vivlania, 15



Sweatshops - Yesterday and Today - An online exhibit http://www.unitehere.org/sweatshops/photos/photos.html

Profile on Pauline Newman from the Jewish Women's Archive - http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/newman-pauline

70 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jennifer Levin

1. Some people do not know about certain changes that need to be made, and sometimes they do not learn about the potential danger of some situations until it is too late. Others may not care about the problem because it does not concern or involve them directly. People can take certain things for granted, such as safety and security, until they actually go through an experience that forces them to realize what they weren’t taking into consideration. Only after a major tragedy occurs do more people recognize that changes or reforms needed to be made.
2. People may not want to make changes because it can affect their profits and hinder financial successes. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to make company owners and executives realize that they won’t be able to carry on and be successful if they continue to force their workers to work in unsafe conditions. People may believe that because a tragedy has never occurred that one never will. Another reason why companies refuse to make changes could be that they are complacent; it may seem like too much trouble to make changes, and they may think everything is fine the way it is.

Anonymous said...

Blog #19 - Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Jared Monchnik
1. People only make major changes after a major catastrophe, because people bathe in their own arrogance not allowing change for fear of their demise. People as a whole chose not to change anything dramatic or major unless they gain money and power. For example in the factory, the owners locked the doors for fear of their possessions being stolen, but if they had changed that policy hundreds of females would have lived another day.
2. People fear that if they change a rule or a policy, someone somewhere wont like that change, and people hate not being accepted. Like on nine eleven if airports had locked down on terrorist looking people, some Muslims might get offended.

ian frederik said...

The reason we only make significant changes after a major tragedy has occurred is because of money. Money makes technology accessible to the people and no one wants to part with it unless something shocking and fear inspiring happens. The war on terror was started because of 9/11. the reason America jumped in to fight in world war 2 was pearl harbor was bombed. One of the biggest manhunts was started after Abraham Lincoln was shot. The us government wont spend billions to do something that they don't see as a threat or a concern. A phrase I think that would be appropriate here would be "scared into action." The same can be said for the second question. Money keeps us from making the changes / reforms. Money is the root of all evil but money also makes changes and fixes evil. So unless people start to think less about their wallets and more about the greater good, there'll have to be another tragedy for reform.

Anonymous said...

Natalie Hords
1st hour

1. We make significant changes after major tragedies happen because now we realize what dangers could occur and what would be needed to be safe. also the working people would most likely go on strike if they felt that there lives were being threatened just by going to work everyday. before a tragedy happens, people tend to not believe such dangers exist. but afterwards it opens peoples eyes and in their minds they think "oh... we really do need to work on this! or oh.. we should get that incase something like that happens again."

2. the things that keep us from making changes before a tragedy happens is most people are blind to the consequences and in businesses its all about getting money, not spending it on safety equipment that may never be used. for some reason businesses don't get that if they just spent some money on safety, in the long run if something were to happen, their business could be saved and no one would blame them for the accident.

Anonymous said...

After major catastrophes happen it usually opens people’s eyes. It open their eyes to why these things happen, the effect it has, and what needs to be done to ensure that is does not happen again. When people realize that major catastrophes (that often result in tragedy) could have been prevented if certain precautions were taking, they then make an effort to enforce those precautions. So, for this reason, we tend to make significant change after these tragedies occur. There may be several reasons why we don’t make these changes or reforms before catastrophe occurs. One reason is the fact that people procrastinate. An idea is presented for change, it is said that these changes will be taken care of, but control is never taken and the changes are not made until it is too late. Another reason, particularly in the case of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, is simply that people do not care. The people in charge of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and its workers did not care for the workers or have any sympathy. This was most likely because the poor or dangerous worker conditions did not affect them.
It takes these tragedies or catastrophes to open peoples eyes to change that needs to be made, and to give them a push toward making these changes.
Brad Benghiat 1st Hour

Anonymous said...

1. I think that our world today makes significant changes after a tragedy has occurred and not before it has occurred because we think that these catastrophes will never happen and will never cause outbreaks. I think that many officials, governors, and many other people in the world have thought of changes and rules that should be put into place but they don’t have the confidence that their changes will not be accepted or that nothing will happen that would be needed for this change. For instance in football this year there has been a new rule put into place which they should have made a long time ago. The rule is that no player is allowed to tackle leading with their helmet or tackle with helmet to helmet contact. They made this because in the past people have been paralyzed for the rest of their life and have even died because they tackled leading with their helmets and broke their neck. I said to myself, if this had been happening in the past then why didn’t the NFL put this rule into play earlier. Another example is 911, after the planes struck the towers and thousands of people died all the airline companies decided to crack down on security but it had been too late probably because they thought that that big of a catastrophe would never happen.

2. I think what keeps us of making the changes and reforms that need to be made ahead of time is our own fear of what will happen. I think that people are afraid that others, such as the government will not like their changes and Ideas that they think should be made. I also think that we are afraid that outbreaks will happen if these new changes are put into place and we don’t want the world to panic because of these new changes. I think these are the reasons that keep us from making new changes in the world today.

Alex Allen 5th hour

Anonymous said...

Kevin Ross-5th hour

1. I feel that we don’t make significant changes till after a tragedy because the people in charge of doing that don’t care. They don’t want to do anything until they have to. Like with the terrorist takes on 9/11, we could have made changes in the airport security system, so nothing like that could ever happen but the people don’t because they need a reason to. They need proof that something bad will happen before they spend money on making changes.

2. I think that money is a reason why we don’t make changes in safety and security systems. Big corporations don’t want to spend a lot of money making huge changes in the workplace if they don’t have to. They don’t want to spend millions of dollars making changes if it’s not going to go to use. I also think that the big corporations don’t care that much, if they did they would spend the money.

Anonymous said...

1. It appears that we make significant changes only after a major tragedy or other event because, in my opinion, not enough people bother to think about the way that things are run and try to find ways to improve upon those things. If this is not true then the idea that not enough people of importance believe that things such as security and the well being of the people are of much concern.

2. The thing that keeps us from making the changes and/or reforms before a tragedy occurs is the common thought that the people have no power over the government. This is in spite of the fact that our own guidelines state that the government was, and is, made by the people, for the people. This country is based on a capitalist-socialist economy, and a government run by popular sovereignty, meaning that the voters (a.k.a. the people) have all of the true power.

Dan Edwards
3rd hour

Anonymous said...

Austin Rovinski 5th hour-Wickersham 9/20/09

It appears that we make major changes only after a major tragedy has occurred because people often deny that change is needed because things are working the way they are; however, when a major tragedy occurs it’s like an “eye-opening experience” and flashes a red flag that change is needed. For example, if a person does his homework every day during lunch the day that it is due, the student may think that it works and no change is needed. When a large and heavily weighted assignment us assigned and the student doesn’t have time to finish it, then the student will most likely reconsider their choices. Likewise, when September 11th occurred, the government may have been reluctant to change because there was no dire need for it.

The things that can keep us from making changes can vary widely. It can be because changing requires unnecessary work; it could be because people in positions of power do not see a reason to change and therefore do not do anything about it, or it could even be because people are benefiting from not changing.

Anonymous said...

Melissa Pace 1st hour

1: We only get things improved after a tragedy because we take things for granted. We think “ it will never happen to us”, so we don’t worry about it. If everyone thinks their never going to get sick, their never going to get hurt then no one is going to make a plan if something does happen to them. It’s easier to take precautions once something bad happened so you know the worse. We think we will be safe with what security or emergency exits we have, and nothing else.

2: We think nothing is going to happen to us, so we don’t make a plan. We think were safe with what we have. In 9/11 nothing bad had ever happened with the security for a long time, so everyone figured nothing bad would happen and when it did they changed it. You need something bad to happen for everyone to realize that things need to be changed. Also it can be to much of a hassle for people who own a business to go through all the safety rules for everyone. It could cost them extra money or have less employees, so they dont acknowledge it.

Anonymous said...

Malarie French- 3rd hour
1.) People don’t make changes until they occur because they think the precautions are untrue, and that they won’t happen ever. Workers would act upon the concern by strikes and the people wouldn’t care. Other people would think of the strikes as nonsense until it was too late to save those in need. People don’t think anything will happen until a major event happens, then they think people should’ve done something about it.

2.) A few things prevent people from making the changes before a catastrophe. Many people are concerned about how others think of them. People don’t want to be an outcast from the rest of the world, so they don’t care about the precautions. Other people are worried about financial issues. People don’t want to spend a bunch of money that comes out of their own pay check, especially when the safety measure doesn’t involve them. Another issue with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was that it was only women working in it. Many men didn’t think women should even work, so why bother paying extra on them.

Anonymous said...

It appears that we make significant changes only after a major tragedy because we ignore the fact that these changes need to be made up until we are almost obligated to make these changes. Also it appears this way because more people know about the subject after a major tragedy. Since the disaster is brought to people’s attentions, they pay attention to the actions that are being taken to prevent another disaster like that. That is the only time people hear about the precautions that are being taken to prevent another catastrophe so they don’t know about what goes on before the tragedy happens.

Before a disaster, we don’t think that changes need to be made because no major disasters had happened to make us want to make key changes. People don’t think it’s a big deal and they think that they have more important problems to deal with. The last thing that keeps us from making changes before a catastrophe is that we don’t want to spend the money to make the proper reforms.

Alex Valente
5th Hour

damien dorre said...

1. I believe we make significant changes only after a major tragedy have occurred because we did not think any thing like this would or could happen especially to us and now that it has happened we do as much as we can to try to prevent it from happening again.

2. I believe what keeps us from making the changes before a major tragedy occurs is that there is not enough people who are being told about the things leading up to the major tragedy and not enough people are driven to try and fix the problem when it is small. Not enough people care about what is happening to the who are being abused in these tragedy’s until it is to late and the people are either beyond helping or dead. Maybe there is not enough money to help them or maybe there is another major tragedy that is happening at the same time.

Damien Dorre, 9-20-09,5th hour

Anonymous said...

1. People learn from trial and error. Though others acknowledge that an improvement needs to be made, people have opinions and usually those in a higher power will make choices based on their opinion and by what they think is best. It then takes a significant consequence to show the fault of the choice. The error is made and learned from so the change happens. In the case of airline security, the higher power or powers, they probably thought that the airlines were secure enough and that there was no need to pull out of the resources to make it more secure for no apparent reason.
2. I think that a false sense of safety and constancy keeps us from making reforms before a catastrophe happens. We become confident that a “dormant” situation will continue to stay that way. As time goes on, change is inevitable. New technology and discoveries occur and soon the “dormant” situation is no longer predictable. Also, not having the right amount of funds to make the reform can also prevent it from happening. It can soon get put off once another maybe more important situation aspires.
-Amanda Carrick 5th hour

Anonymous said...

Crystal Oropeza- 3rd hour

1. We make the changes only after something has occurred because many of us do not realize what may happen in the future. We only think about the present, and not the possibilities of what could potentially happen. Then when it does happen it becomes a major deal and procedures are taken to prevent the situation to happen again. Also, we aren't educated about what could happen, until its too late and has already occurred. People don't think of the evil that could happen in the future, they only think of the good.

2. What keeps us from making changes is we think the bad will never happen, or at least we want to think everything will be okay. Also, we may just not do anything for our benefit, for example financial wise. We wouldn't want to spend money on things that we think wont help because we believe nothing will ever happen that we need protection, until it does happen.

Anonymous said...

1. We make significant changes only after a catastrophe has occurred because people realize the dangers that could really happen that no one thought could. A catastrophe is a real eye opener. After a terrible incident occurs, no one would want to come back to work because of the poor safety and this can result in strikes and major losses of money. It is very possible that the devastation could happen again so the necessary safety issues need to be acted on or more lives could be lost.
2. There are many things that keep us from making changes before a big catastrophe occurs. One is that we don’t realize before what terrorists are capable of like on September 11th. No one could of imagined planes crashing into buildings causing thousands of deaths. Another reason is money. Making drastic changes to protect a company can really impact their financial success because a big sum of money can be lost in the process of becoming safer.

Jake Balicki

Anonymous said...

Alice Turner 1st hour

1. We make changes only after a major tragedy because in a sense, it gives us a way with dealing with the tragedy. It makes us feel as though we are getting meaning out of the deaths of many and we are doing what we can to honor those who died. It’s doing something good with all of the bad that came out of what happened.
2. It’s only on the brink of tragedy that people can find the will to make important decisions that will change things. People don’t like looking at the bad possible outcomes or admitting to ourselves that were not doing everything we could be to make things the way they should because it’s not a comforting thing to think about and ignoring it makes it easier on them. When something horrible actually happens, it’s only then that people realize things need to change in order for everything else to continue and go on as usual.

Anonymous said...

1.We always make significant changes after a major tragedy has occurred because before the tragedy, there was no reason to change it. Although there were complaints, they weren’t really taken into consideration because nothing had occurred to back up those complaints. Also, change is only made after a major tragedy, because the companies like the way they do things and how much money is spent and made, so they don’t want to change that. Then when something tragic occurs, they must change their ways for safety and to have a better reputation.
2.We don’t make the changes before the catastrophe occurs because sometimes change makes things worse or costs more money, and we don’t like to take the chance. Even if there are people complaining, we think that if nothing bad is happening, then everything is fine the way it is.

Sydnee Cohen 5th hour

Anonymous said...

Kaleigh Passarelli
U.S. History 1st hour

1.It appears that we have made a significant changes that many people acknowledge need to be made only after a major tragedy has occurred is because people don’t like to say that something of theirs is wrong. Only when something big happens like the fire of 1911 do significant changes occur because they don’t want to have their view the public sees of them destroyed, or if it happened to them, destroyed even more, making it look like they’re deeply sorry about what happened and they want to make it so it won’t happen again. When the New York legislature formed a factory commission to investigate the awful working conditions throughout factories in the state causing factories to make it safer for people to work at the factories or they could be given a huge fine and they don’t want to pay big fines. They want to save as much as they can. They hate to spend more money than they have to.

2.What keeps us from making the changes/reforms before a big catastrophe occurs is that people don’t want to waste money and they want the business to make a big profit. They want to do whatever they can to save money. Safety changes cost money, and take away from the profit margin. Some ways they do that is they don’t pay the workers much, and they don’t bother with safety conditions should something like a fire occur. Some people think that they like the way things are, that everything is perfect. The problem is that the people who don’t want things to change, several of them are the ones that decide what things need to be changed. They won’t change anything until something major happens, otherwise nothing will change. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the Fire of 1911 caused change to occur, but only after that happened did anything change. The truth is some people think, ‘Oh, everything is fine. …Oh, look, _____________ (put tragedy that happened here) we had better change something so the public won’t hate us. Now, this will change, and we’ll tell them that due to what happened, we are going to change this and this and this.’ Also, the taxpayers and the business owners are more likely to approve spending when they see the need, but unfortunately this need is shown after a tragedy.

Anonymous said...

Blog 19- Scott Crosthwaite

1. We make significant changes after a major tragedy has happened because we will now know what has happened and we will improve on the incident so it will not happen again. Like you said after 911 we made significant changes to our airline security, and why did we do that? Because then people would feel more secure and not feel like they could die the next day. Before 911 happened people did not know that was ever going to happen, and they would have never made those significant changes to keep us safer.

2. The thing that keeps us from making those changes before a catastrophe happens is money. People do not want to spend a million dollars on safety for an incident that may never even happen. If a boss doesn’t want to pay money to keep everything safe then the boss could loss his job and so may all the workers and even the company would maybe shut down, just because the boss does not want to pay money.

Keith Wright said...

Keith Wright
3rd

1. Our increase in precautions after a tragic event is only to make sure that an event like it does not ever happen again. For instance after the fire a law was passed to make all working places safer by adding a sprinkler system to prevent fires.

2. Our false impression that bad things like 911 and the fire can never happen to us prevents us from understanding how likely these events can effect our lives.

Anonymous said...

alex wong
3rd hour
One: we only change our views on controversial topics when the securities of the nation or lives are at risk, because as Americans we have a large ego and we are as a country very vain. Mainly our ego is so inflated because we are the greatest nation in the world or at some point were. The point is that we believe we are the greatest and invincible and when something that big blocks the thought of heightening security you need something larger to make us realize it.
Two: again it is our vanity that causes us to be unaware to the situations that need to be changed in order to keep the nation safe. However there can be more than one answer to the problem it could also be that we know there is a problem but there are not enough people to staff the job or there it not enough money to complete the job and it would be better not to start it.

Lizzy Stevens said...

1.It appears that we only make significant changes only after a major tragedy has occurred because, before a tragedy occurs, people may believe that it is impossible for a one to occur. People are not that motivated to take extra safety precautions; unless something, like a major tragedy, show them that the safety precautions are not adequate. The big tragedies show us that the way we were doing things are not good enough and that bad things, like fires and terrorist crashing planes, can and will happen. For example, 9/11 and the terrorist attack on the air planes showed that our airport/plane security is poor and needs to be changed and tightened.

2.There are a couple different things that keep us from making the changes/ reforms before major tragedies happen. People do not want to take the extra time to make these changes/ reforms. They do not believe that these changes are top priority because they think it is virtually impossible for negative things to happen. Therefore, not many people are willing to take the time to make such changes. The cost of making changes/ reforms prevents people from doing so. If the changes could be made without them costing more money, then there is a bigger chance that people would make the changes.

-Lizzy Stevens, 1st Hour

Anonymous said...

Rebecca Cook- 5th Hour

1. We usually make significant changes after major tragedies because it is then that we realize that we lack in areas. It is hard to believe that some thing can happen like they do, and it is not until they happen that you believe it.

2. Before catastrophes occur, you cant always know what exactly you need to improve on. But once something does happen, we realize what we can do to improve things. Denial could also keep us from making these changes, thinking they could never happen.

Anonymous said...

Ryan Williams
1. I think we make significant changes only after a major tragedy has occurred because the majority of people are optimistic and naïve and don’t think, and don’t want major tragedies to occur. Like with September 11th people didn’t think someone would actually try to fly and hit the Twin Towers, and they didn’t know it would happen either. And the same goes for the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Tragedy, the owners didn’t know the factory would become ablazed, and they didn’t think it would either. So people make these changes after these things happen because, when it happens they realize it can and so they take the precautions to stop it from repeating.

2. I think what stops us from making these changes before they occur, is that it is just easier to think these things won’t happen until they do. I think by not addressing these horrors before they happen gives us a false since of security, it’s like you think these things won’t happen is makes us more secure than constantly thinking these things will happen. It’s like in an airport when you go through the metal detectors before you enter your terminal you, well atleast I am reminded that something security wise could go wrong. But before 9/11 when there was no metal detectors, It never came across to me that a plane could be hijacked or that taking a certain flight could end my life.

Anonymous said...

Ari Franklin
5th hour

1.I think it seems like we only make changes after tragedies because that’s exactly what happens. Throughout history this has proven to be true. One example is after 9/11 we made airport security tighter. Another example maybe when some ones house gets robbed because they thought they were in a safe area and decided not to get an alarm system. This shows that people are very naive and have the false sense of security because they think “oh that will never happen to me” but the truth is it can and it does.

2.I think that there are many reasons why we only make changes after a tragedy has happened. I believe one reason is that most people know that there is a problem and can acknowledge it but do not take the initiative to do anything about it. This is a problem that is seen every day like when you see someone being bullied and just watch. Another reason is that many people can see that there is a problem but not enough can or not the right people can. This means that maybe a lot of people see a problem but there is more people that don’t realize it or that just regular people notice it but don’t have enough power to change it.

Anonymous said...

Rebecca Cook
5th hour

1. We make change after tradefies because we dont realize how bad thing can get. We couldnt know what we lack in until something happens to show that. When 9/11 happened, it was evident that we had to get way more security. Our country hasnt had to many horrible things happen where we can think of everything we need to protect it. And with all the new technology coming out it is hard to get everything perfect so that nothing can come through it.
2. We make changes after catastrophes happen because its easier to face a problem once it has occurred. Beforehand, it would take a lot more brainstorming to think of everything that needs to be done so that tragedies do not happen. Also, we underestimate what people and what problems can occur. And it is not until it occurs that we find out what the worst is that can happen. It takes a lot to make sure everything is safe and protected.

Anonymous said...

Kendal Gumbleton
1st hour


1. The reason why it appears that significant changes are made after a large devastating event, like 9-11, is because we don’t really see the threat at the time so we don’t bother to implement the needed safety measures to prevent suck a tragic event until after it happens. Not only in disasters does this happen but also in our economy. The U.S. government didn’t implement enough precautions to save our economy until it was too late.
2. What keeps us from making changes before big catastrophes occur is that we don’t see the need or threat, therefore we don’t see the need to spend the time or the money if there is no current actual threat. What needs to be done is that we go through and find any possible threats and make the changes needed before another large disaster occurs that leave the nation devastated once again.

Anonymous said...

1. I think that the reason we only make significant changes only after a major tragedy has occurred is because everyone finally realizes what danger can come. Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, our airport security wasn’t a problem that everyone was concerned with. There were a group of select people who viewed it as an issue, but not enough to make a change. After the attacks, the whole nation, if not the whole world, wanted the security to be improved.
2. I think a lack of knowledge keeps us from making these changes before a tragedy occurs. Before the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurred, people weren’t informed to the working conditions that were going on. They didn’t know that the all the doors were blocked but one to avoid union meetings. They also didn’t know that they weren’t allowed breaks or that they couldn’t always open windows. Or that the fire escapes were out dated and couldn’t be used. If these kind of issues were brought to the public, changes could have been made before hand to avoid these conflicts.
Kristina Ndrejaj 5th

Anonymous said...

3rd hour jake ryan

1. Why does it appear that we make significant changes (changes that many people acknowledge need to be made) only after a major tragedy has occurred?
Some of the many reasons that we don’t change till a tragedy has occurred is because some people don’t think how we do things can ever go wrong and that life is fine how it is and when they see a big thing like 9/11 happen it changes their views on stuff like, how the airlines should be run and how good security should be. before the triangle shirtwaist factory fire many people had no clue that the factory was not safe and so trashy and they found out how bad the working conditions were only when they saw that the girls were forced to jump off the 8th floor because there was no other way off and then they passed many laws that make it so that the work internment is safer.
2. What keeps us from making the changes / reforms before a big catastrophe occurs?
Because we don’t see anything wrong till it happens so we are blind to possibility of a tragedy till one happens

Anonymous said...

David Hoffman 3rd hour
1. Before a tragedy, we don't always know what we can improve on. We may learn from the tragedy what the possibilities are. WE may not have the right equipment or knowledge to handle that situation. There is also that part of humanity that doesn't believe those horrible things will happen until they do. Especially if there is money or great effort needed for the change to happen. We will never be completely prepared for every disaster.

2. We tend to ignore the possibilities until something happens. We don't want to change unless we have to. Human beings resist change until we absolutely have to. Many times change takes inconvenience, high costs and loss of life as we know it.

Anonymous said...

Blaine Bishop
1st hour

1. I believe that before tragedies happen many people have these false ideas all really revolving around " Oh that could never happen to me". Once these tragedies occur it opens these naive peoples eyes to fact that it can and will happen to them. I.e. the terrorist attacks on 9/11, I believe that our government assumed that since we are such a great nation with the want to only help others (even though we can't help ourselves) we would never have to deal with such an extreme and awful event.

2. Overall I think what really keeps us from making the necessary changes to ensure our safety comes down to laziness, and cheapness. Going over and making all the changes to ensure ones safety is neither time nor budget friendly. We may make a few that are convenient to us but nothing more because of course, "It could never happen to me" in the first place.

Anonymous said...

Rudy Schreier 1st hour
1.It seems like we make changes only after a tragedy has occurred because we really don’t care about it until something horrible happens. For example, before 9-11, we didn’t realize our security wasn’t as tight as it should be because nothing ever went wrong with it. Then, after 9-11, we finally realize people can sneak weapons on the plane, so we should really kick up security. It always seems like we are positive about the situations, which is good don’t get me wrong, but we always have to think things over on what could happen and start to think about what we can do to make things safer.
2.We tend not to make changes before a catastrophe because we never think about the negatives on a situation. Yes, it does sound like a weird thing to do but you’ve got to be safe on any situation. Also, I feel like some people wouldn’t want to make changes because some things have been carried out the same way for such a long time so they think it will continue to be fine.

Anonymous said...

1) I think that people don’t change what needs to be changed until after it is too late for two main reasons. These reasons are things like laziness and greed, or being unaware. It seems like the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire disaster could have been mitigated at the least, if not prevented entirely if the people who run the factory had been less greedy. Strikes and protests were held well before the fire and workers asked for better safety precautions in the factory, but management did not grant the workers wishes. This is most likely from the fact that the owners wanted to maximize profits, and not “waste” money on their workers safety. 9/11, on the other hand, I don’t think we could have entirely changed what happened until after it did because we were unaware. People at the airport, people on the plane, the government, and especially people in the twin towers couldn’t have known what was about to happen.
2) I think greed and unawareness also prevent something from happening before it does, and for the same reasons as number 1, although some cases the situation cannot be avoided no matter what. Sometimes there is no way to know if something is going to happen, or maybe even if you do, there is no possible way to fix at all. Things like inherited diseases or bad weather we might know is coming, but there is no solution.

Elyse Dumas
5th hour

Anonymous said...

1. We make significant changes after tradgies becuase people never think a tradgy could happen do them and after the trady they to change so it wont happen again. I think more people should be aware of thier surrondings cause a tradgy can hit at any moment and most think it doesnt happen to them.

2.the things that keep us from making changes before a catastrophe happens because most people dont think about it until the trady actually happen. Some people are comfortable at what their doing and scare to make change cause thier use to doing the same routine everyday. Also people dont want to chage inless they have to which is laziness to me. If you change people might not like it and then wont feel accepted.


Quinton Furman
3rd hour

Alvin said...

We only make significant changes after a tragedy because we don’t realize that something, such as the triangle shirt waist fire, or even 9/11, could ever happen to us. We don’t pay attention to anything until a tragedy occurs. Another reason is that even when we advance in technology to become safer, we don’t want to spend the money to upgrade until there are laws that force industries to take more safety precautions. People in this country, the people and the government think that nothing could ever happen to us. Most people think that our county is safe from terrorist attacks and tragedies. That’s why when 9/11 occurred people COULDN’T BELIEVE that this was happening to our country. If people had ANY idea that Al Qaeda, and other Saudi royals, and Israel hated our country so much and that they were making threats people wouldn’t have been so surprised that 9/11 occurred. The government knew that an attack was coming, even the day before 9/11, 10 government officials cancelled their flights because of “security reasons”.
What stops us from making reforms and changes before a tragedy occurs is that nobody wants to spend the money since it is not required. Also that they think everything is fine because nothing has went wrong YET. But, if we do make a change before a tragedy occurs people get suspicious and paranoid about the changes being made. We need to start making changes before more tragedies occur.

Anonymous said...

1. The reason it takes a major catastrophe to make a change is because of two reasons. One is because some people honestly do not see the harm in doing things the way before the change, and so they do not see it as a problem until something bad happens. The seconded reason is greed. Big business owners see many things that are hazards and could easily make them safe, but do not because it would take money. When something bad happens, they change it because if they did not too many people would protest against them and would not buy their goods, so they would lose more money by not making the change.
2. Once again, there are two reasons why people do not make changes in till a big catastrophe hits. First, people are scared by change. Something new and unordinary is something evil and is usually believed to cause more problems then benefits. Seconded, change takes money. To make something safer, you need to spend lots of money to find out how to make it safer and to apply the safety measures you thought of, making it sometimes seem not worth it until a catastrophe hits.

Jacob Hasenau, 5th hour

Harshita Pinnamaneni said...

1.) We generally make critical changes only after a major tragedy has occurred for a few reasons. One reason may be that sometimes, we only focus on the present, just paying attention to situations on a day to day basis and avoiding possible consequences of the future. This kind of behavior is what caused the economic downfall, banks handing out too many loans, the car companies spending unnecessary money, while hardly focusing on the future. This is also the kind of attitude that also brought on so many deaths and injuries caused by the fire in the triangle shirtwaist factory. On the other hand, the future is sometimes impossible, or hard to predict. Unexpected, incidents occur, like 9/11, that cause us permanent, and severe damage and therefore force us to change the way things are. But incidents like this, whether expected or not, allow us to pay closer attention to our surroundings and even be aware of even the slightest change. This is probably why our security system is so cautious now.
2.) The reasons why we don’t make changes before hand can also vary, but the root cause of these reasons is sacrifice. It can be financially, whether it’s the Government not financing beneficial programs, or companies unwilling to increase wages before they realize that strikes have emerged among them. Other reasons include the sacrifice of time, or even pleasure, as I said earlier in the previous question that many of us tend to take advantage of our current benefits, that we don’t want to consider the future.

Harshita Pinnamaneni
1st Hour

Alex said...

Most people do not like change. It creates uncertainty among all of us. People may instinctively feel that what is familiar is safe, and that change is risky—even when it has been proven the opposite is true. Change can also make people strong people insecure—they know that change is not easy to sustain. But we have all seen that changes are unpredictable.

When a tragedy occurs, that takes us to a different level---what needs to be fixed? How fast does it need to be changed? As stated above, change is hard to do –to commit to—once something happens like the 9 /11 attacks, that brings everything that is wrong to the forefront! Difficult decisions seem to be made faster after a tragedy. Plans seem to come together because people know that the process or procedure needs to be fixed—or improved. Difficult decisions it seems, are made without a lot of extra deliberation during the process. The concerns are discovered or identified, the solutions are worked on, and the plan is put into place.

As stated above in the first paragraph, the uncertainty of change is what makes it difficult to start the process of change. After a tragedy occurs, it takes out all the uncertainty for all involved, it makes the end result easy to obtain.

Alex Victor
5th hour

Anonymous said...

Jimmy McCafferty
5th hour


1. We only make significant changes after a tragedy has occurred because some changes may not seem worth making until we know they are needed. This could be because of the expenses of making changes such as increased airline security after 9/11. New equipment and more staff for heightened security costs more money to support and until a tragedy occurred may not have seemed worth the expenses. Another reason using airline security as an example is that major changes may be at a disadvantage to consumers. Getting on your flight is a much longer process now because of increased security and because of this many consumers may be deterred from traveling by air as often as they may have used to.

2. Many things keep us from making those changes. As mentioned before it could be for profit since it would cost more to maintain and create changes. Something else that could prevent us from making changes could also be disbelief that changes are needed.

Anonymous said...

Blog #19
Stephen Jones
5th Hour


Sometimes we (the U.S.) have a false sense of security, and there was a feeling of invincibility before 9/11 and afterwards our sense of security shattered and changed to panic extreme panic, the things that keep us from making the changes that need to be made, our strong value of human rights (one which we should not set aside, by any means) ex. The “random” checks airports have which are considered to be racist and only put to use when concerning someone of middle-eastern decent is riding an airplane, or the radical patriots who mistreat middle easterners because of the attacks of 9/11, a solution is for us as a nation to re-educate ourselves, but protect ourselves at all costs but find a way to do so but still being considerate and respecting human rights and the dignity of others, I believe it is possible we just haven’t found a fool-proof way of doing that, and even if the system of protecting ourselves is capable of doing that, the people in charge may feel otherwise, in a fantasy world everyone would be considerate of others views, ideas, and feelings. Unfortunately, that will never happen, consequently, we will never be safe.

Anonymous said...

Matthew Brodley
5th Hour

1.) I believe that we only make changes after tragedies because that’s exactly what happens pretty much after the majority of every tragedy that has ever occurred. We make these changes to keep everyone safer, and make the U.S or world a much better place form it. Like you mentioned in the blog question, after 911 we made loads of changes to our airline security to make sure nothing ever happened like this ever again. Before 911, people had no idea that anything under these circumstances would ever occur.

2.) The one thing I believe that keeps us from making those changes before a catastrophe happens is money. People don’t want to be spending millions of dollars on safety if nothings ever happened, and if they don’t believe anything’s going to ever happen. So they wont sped the money until pretty much something happens which causes them to spend money. Talk about average American life today.

Anonymous said...

Ezra Woodard
Hour 3
1. People make changes after a major tragedy because before the tragedy we believe that everything is ok. Some companies don’t want to make changes because it might take a lot of money and there is a slim chance that catastrophe will strike. We make changes after a catastrophe because we understand what goes wrong and, therefore, fix the problems. The citizens will also feel safer if we update and make changes, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in March 1911. Two years earlier the workers held a strike for better working conditions and safety precautions, they won the strike and the citizens felt better. The greedy owners didn’t honor their side of the bargain and didn’t make any changes, thus a fire occurred in two years time. When a tragedy occurs we find out that we need to make changes because they have become outdated and insufficient for the American necessities.
2. Greed prevents people from spending money on precautions and reforms. This restricts them to a short range plan were they have no idea what will happen and future consequences will fall on their heads for making that decision. It is their choice whether their company goes down with the tragedy.

Unknown said...

Nick Pursel 3rd hour U.S. history
1. I think that we only change significantly after a major disaster because we don’t think that the United States of America can be breached. One major example is the attacks or 9/11 we didn’t have strict security because we didn’t think we had any major enemies that would even think of attacking us. We thought we were 100 percent safe from any danger and when we were wrong we changed. Another example is the fire at the triangle shirtwaist factory. The owners didn’t want anything stolen so they locked the doors and didn’t think about any consequences of this. They were arrogant just as the airlines were because they didn’t think anything could go majorly wrong.
2. I think that we don’t make changes before major catastrophes because we don’t think something bad will happen. We are arrogant. We think that we don’t need to fix them because there's nothing wrong even though there is something wrong.

Anonymous said...

Willie Beattie





1. Many times we don’t make significant changes until tragedy strikes. One reason is because sometimes we don’t realize that something needs to be improved until it fails. An example of this is 9-11. If we had realized that something like that could have occurred then why would have made changes to our airport security. Another example could be the Shirt Waist factory fire. If the owners realized that this kind of tragedy could occur then they would have made changes to their fire procedures.


2. A lot of things keep us from making big reforms before catastrophic events. One is that sometimes people won’t change safety regulations because they don’t think anything that serious will happen. None of us could have guessed that 9-11 or the Shirt Waist factory fire would happen. Another reason is that people don’t have enough money, are to lazy, or to pre-occupied to reform any safety regulations until they know for sure that it will be needed.

Anonymous said...

1. The reason that we don't make changes before something bad happens is because we think were untouchable. Before 9-11 the airport security was not as alert as after the tarriest attack on the towers and the pentagon because we never know what tragedy will strike. no one ever thought that a plain from the U.S will crash into the twin towers that shows how big the change was before and after with the security at the air ports.
2. The thing that keeps us from making changes before a big catastrophe occurs is that we never know what tragedy will occur next. Another reason is all the money it would take to improve non safe things in the world that can cause big catastrophes. If we could tell the feature to see what big problem would occur next we would fix it before it happened. but we cant and thats what big companies don't understand is that they need to upgrade flaws in security.
blake groskind hour 1

Anonymous said...

Griffin Harms
1st Hour
1.) I believe that we only make significant changes if a major tragedy occurs because we sometimes get too comfortable when a tragedy such as the triangle shirtwaist company fire happens so rarely. When they happen, people look to blame the people responsible even though they never had any intent of hurting anyone. In a way, these tragedies are helpful to prevent danger and future tragedies.
2.) What keeps us from making these changes is the incentive of what we're losing by making them. For example, by locking the doors in the Triangle shirtwaist factory, this kept the employees from leaving during the work hours thus increasing production and minimizing distractions. Another example is that increasing airport security after 911 was another expense for airports everywhere. But it was only after 911 that everyone agreed that it was absolutely necessary.

Anonymous said...

1. We make changes after a significant tragedy occurs because it really brings people’s attention to the flaw in the system. After tragedy we realize what went wrong and what precautions need to be taken to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, such as heightening airline security or making a work environment safer. Before tragedy occurs some people just live in ignorance or don’t pay attention to dangers that are there but brought to attention until something terrible happens like 9/11 or the triangle shirtwaist factory fire of 1911.
2. Before a tragedy occurs many people do not see the danger. People will just ignore it believing that what is currently in place is “good enough” or that nothing will happen. In the triangle shirtwaist factory the safety equipment was inadequate, the fire ladders didn’t go high enough, the fire escape collapsed and eventually the iron frame of the building collapsed. After this happened many if not all of these things were changed to prevent something like that from happening again.
Jon Holland

Brian Taylor said...

The reason why we make significant changes only after a major tragedy has occurred is because people think there is nothing to improve because nothing has happened in a long time so they focus on other things but when 3 airplanes are hijacked and are crashed into the world trade center and lives are lost they suddenly want to improve airport security for all the airports and they could have done that a long time before and prevented it.
What keeps us from making the changes and reforms before a big catastrophe occurs is if we go a long time without anything bad happening they think that they don’t have to waste their time or waste their money on making major improvements but when a huge tragedy happens then obviously they have to fix something but there are so many things that can all ways be improved it is hard to check everything.

Anonymous said...

Dustin Oakwood
1) We make significant changes after tragedies occur because of our incompetence and immaturity. We knew that airline security wasn’t enough in the first place; we only needed 9/11 to kick us in the butt to get us alarmed enough to make a difference. I find it completely stupid and irrational that human lives have to be sacrificed in order for the people of America to realize that change has to be made. As for the girls in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, they had to die in order for us to have the technology we take for granted today. Sprinklers and unlocked-doors would’ve saved those girls lives.
2) What keeps us from changing before a catastrophe? Our own ignorance and greed. The employers of the factory only cared about the money they were making and keeping in their fat wallets; they didn’t care about the girl’s well-being as long as they got paid. Like the movie said, they went right back to work in the same fashion after they couldn’t be tried in court.

Anonymous said...

Matt Baker
3rd Hour

1.) It appears that America is reluctant to make significant changes to something because the widespread population of America does not seem to see that something is potentially dangerous until it harms someone in a way that may or may not affect them. The reason major companies cut corners to lower their budget is because so long as the American government refuses to set laws for certain safety precautions major companies will do any thing within their power to lower budget in order to increase profit. People start to enforce certain changes to things after tragedies because once a tragedy happens all the things that seemed to go wrong with the thing that helped cause that tragedy seem to stick out more than the things that went right.

2.)Often what kept us from making these changes before is budget because the American government sees that keep the economy afloat is more important than having certain safety features that don't seem very important at the time.

Anonymous said...

Andrew Williams-3rd Hour

The reason changes to increase the well being and safety of people after a tragedy occur is pressure. Our government is always preoccupied with less important things and only really focuses on what matters after people have died. We have been doing this since the beginning of America and it probably won’t stop any time soon. Ignorance is a large factor in the ruling of this country. The only time we will change is when we are receiving internal or world-wide pressure to do so.

What keeps us from reforming and making changes towards safer conditions and policies is apathy and ignorance. The government beforehand thinks “Oh doing something like that is too expensive and it doesn’t matter.” But afterwards, they say “Oh this is a very serious matter and will be dealt with so another tragedy does not happen again.” This statement in itself clearly shows that all our leaders care about is saving their own butts so people won’t hate them as much as they already do. Things like 9/11 should have never happened or should never happen again because we need to start using common sense and use prevention, not reaction.

Anonymous said...

1) I believe that we only make changes after a tragedy happens because the people have to experience the reality of the danger it puts people through and the impact that it could put on some people. We say that the changes need to be made because we know that they will happen, but wait until the occurrence actually happens. When this type of thing happens it puts them in fear that it could happen again. When the women went back to the factory for work they would be worried that that type of thing could happen again. They would want the fire exits open and want a safer way to get out in case of something terrible happening.
2) I think that it is the extra work and money. People would have to put in extra money and hard work to ensure the safety for people. After a tragedy happens they would have a better idea of how to ensure more of a safety.

Anonymous said...

Liam Rush
Blog #19- Triangular Shirtwaist Factory Fire
We make significant changes only after a tragedy occurs because the company or business, in this case the triangular shirtwaist factory did not want to look bad to the consumers that are using the companies’ services because they are scared of losing business. The people of New York were shocked to hear of how the young girls who worked in the factories were locked in and had no fire escapes that were actually safe. To make sure that they didn’t have a lawsuit on their hands, and to keep the people happy and keep business going they fixed and made significant changes.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks our airline security was finally improved because the airline was scared that if they did not improve their security now after these attacks, all people in the united states would be scared to fly and the airline would do really bad. They also want to stop terrorist attacks from ever happening again in the United States, or anywhere in the world.
I think people don’t make changes or reform until a catastrophe occurs because people are afraid of change and think nothing bad could ever happen until the day that it does and people look back and think that they should have changed thinks ahead of time to prevent the worst from happening.

Anonymous said...

Isaac A.

1st Hour



1. There are many reasons why we only make significant changes after a major tragedy occurs. First of all, at least in the case of the Shirtwaist Factory fire, the people who own the company would rather make money than make their employees safer. This means that until the unsafe working environment is revealed to the public, either through a tragedy or investigative journalism, the owners will continue to harm their workers and their will be no changes. Only when the poor working conditions are public knowledge will the owners be pressured to make significant changes. Another reason would be that people don't think anything bad will happen, so they don't make changes that will protect them from rare tragedies.


2. What keeps us from making changes before a big catastrophe is the lack of public knowledge and better government regulations. In the case of 9/11, if the government had made better airport securtiry, something that was obviously needed, the whole tragedy could have been avoided. In the case of the Shirtwaist Factory Fire, if the public knew about the terrible working environment of the young ladies, then they could have prevented the abuse by the owners and the iminent fire.

Anonymous said...

1. We make changes only after a major tragedy has occurred because then we realize how bad the equipment or safety is. They also don’t think a tragedy will ever happen just because it hasn’t happened yet.
2. What keeps us from making the changes or reforms is the people in charge don’t want to spend money on the changes. They would rather hope that a tragedy doesn’t happen instead of making changes to prevent them from happening.
Luke

Anonymous said...

We play a guessing game, hoping that things will be ok, or that things will get better. The actions we delay, and don’t make affect the future, for instance the 9/11 attack. We improved our airline security a little too late. Assuming can’t accomplish our goal and help others, taking action can. Out of a tragedy something good does come, but do we need a tragedy to happen to make the necessary changes?
In my eyes I think otherwise, but as we know a big tragedy must happen in order for the US to take action. Like the low economic situation the US face today, many seen it coming years before but we take action in the midst of the situation now. It seems like it is a process of trial and error now. For example we build a building close to the chores of an ocean. We don’t spend money to buy better equipped building to prevent it from being damaged by a monsoon or hurricane. But weeks later we act surprise if the building is damaged, and then we try and enhance and upgrade the building. If we keep assuming we’re going to keep failing at a lot of things, instead of insuring.

Jalen S.
3rd

Anonymous said...

We only make changes after a major tragedy because our government doesn’t want the United States population to go into a mass panic. If they would told us that terrorists were trying to kill us and crash airplanes into the Twin Towers then we would get all paranoid and get scared. People would be afraid to come out of their homes and continue to work. For example, when they tried to blow up the Twin Towers in 1993 the FBI said that they have not killed enough people and they are coming to finish the job one day. That is a red flag right there but the government did not do anything to stop it from happening. Also, when Sudan Husain sent a video saying that he was going to kill our people because we have been killing their people, the government did not respond to that. What keeps us from making changes is the government’s ignorance to tell the American people the truth about things that are happening to our country. It seems they felt we were indestructible from anything major happening until now.

From:
Ashton

Anonymous said...

We tend to make significant changes only after a major tragedy has occurred. The reason for this is because when everything goes well, there is no urge for a change. While people acknowledge the need for change before a disaster happens, they tend to not make change a priority until after a catastrophe takes place. This is wrong and can be very dangerous for the sake of our lives.
A calamity is never expected. Thus, not until one occurs do people find it necessary to make a change. The government finds it unnecessary to make changes when most of the laws in place have been successful throughout history. When a tragedy does occur, humans incline to learn from their mistakes.
Norell K. -5th

Anonymous said...

1.) We only make significant changes only after major tragedies have occurred because sometimes we don't realize how bad a tragedy is until after it happens and when we're not expecting it. Like 9/11, the U.S. wasn't expecting our planes to be hijacked and crashed. We only fix and improve things after it happens because we're never expecting them in the first place, although we know there's a possibility it could happen one day. We don't always listen to what the citizens have to say.


2.) Money is keeping companies from making changes before a big catastrophe happens. The economy is in a hole and we're concentrating on improving it. We don't spend the money on preventing catastrophes when we should. Companies think sometimes that they have better things to put money towards. They should listen to the people complaining but they don't. Some companies are just money hungry and doesn't worry about what "could" happen until it does happen.

Brittney Jernigan 5th hour

Anonymous said...

Tim wimbush
5h hour

1.The reason for us to not make significant changes when needed are because we don’t think we would benefit from it for an example. For an example when 911 occurred the government started to set out more security in the airports and started to put pilot policemen undercover on each flight to protect the citizens. Or others may not change because they feel like the problem would affect them directly. Also now a days people are all relaxed because they feel if they have one bit of that ambitious drive fulfilled then that’s exactly where they’ll stop because, it would never happen like that if more people thought about the future more than the present. But it is too bad that a horrible incident must occur for there to be drastic positive change.

2. Why I believe people are scared to make reforms is because this world does not take to kindly to much change. And that they’ll be the ones to blame if the plan or idea does not succeed, but also not everybody have the ability to make change like if there are intelligent people out there who are more so then the ones in power then those are people we need to hear from, but the fear of rejection and criticism restricts them and everyone from doing so.

Anonymous said...

Adam Egrin 5th period

1. Why does it appear that we make significant changes (changes that many people acknowledge need to be made) only after a major tragedy has occurred?
For instance, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, our airline security was finally improved.

I think one of the reasons that keeps people from addressing a problem only after a catastrophe is because most people in a place of power remain in a state of denial. There can be many reasons for their denial. One example of these reasons may be money. They avoid spending the money on preventions that they feel may be a waste of resources.

2. What keeps us from making the changes / reforms before a big catastrophe occurs?
Nothing truly prevents us from acting before a catastrophe except ourselves. Greed, true naiveté, and ignorance are the three main obstacles to these changes.
We may be inconvenienced or charged more money if forced to change for safety’s sake. What is meant by naiveté is we don’t always use the “what ifs”. We choose to believe that bad things won’t happen to us. This leads us to the ignorance factor. Sometimes it’s easier to be blind to the dangers that are possible.
Possible solutions to these problems are to go through the what ifs and then we can be prepared and don’t have to lose lives in order to change.

Anonymous said...

Erin - 1st

1. It appears we make certain changes after tragedy has stricken because nobody thinks that anything bad will happen to them. But, the owners and management of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory learned the hard way. Because of this tragedy, it made other workers in other factories aware that their conditions were not much different than those at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. This made them want to change and demand safer working conditions so that history doesn’t repeat itself. But despite all this, some people still don’t learn, and don’t really care. But, sometimes, people are so concentrated on making money that they are completely oblivious to the fact that they have unsafe working conditions or they just don’t really care what happens to their workers. Even though this was a huge tragedy, it also opened people’s eyes about better working conditions and being safer.

2. People may not want to make the necessary changes because they don’t want to take the money that they are making and spend it on their employees. Business is all about the money, and not many people care about their employees enough to keep them safe. It’s basically all about the money but (again) some people don’t think that anything bad will ever happen to them so they won’t take the precautions to just make sure people don’t get hurt.

Anonymous said...

1. Most people don’t think that anything bad will ever happen to them. When a major tragedy strikes, their eyes are opened to all the problems surrounding them. Some people don’t acknowledge that there is an issue to resolve because they don’t think it concerns them, and therefore they don’t care about it. Most of the precautions that are taken for possible emergencies will never be put to use. Like we rarely have fires in our school, but every year we always have a fire drill to ensure our safety and make certain we know what to do to prevent such a catastrophe. It takes lots of time and money to prepare a safe solution and many people don’t feel like taking the effort to guarantee our safety, but after an incident like 911 happens, it becomes necessary to keep everyone safe and make significant changes.

2. Money is a big issue keeping us from making the necessary reforms. The expenses for such a task can cost quite a bundle. Along with money, time and effort is a concern. People don’t want to give up their precious time to make precautions for something that will probably never happen. People don’t want to prevent something that they don’t believe will become a possible tragedy. Its always best to consider the worst possible senario, in case such an event should occur.

Margeaux -1st

Anonymous said...

It appears that we only make significant changes after a tragedy because as the logical reaction of a human being is to be reactive vs. proactive. Many people can’t find a great solution to a problem if you don’t even know what the problem is. It’s easier to react to a situation than to predict things need to change when they are going right. An example of changes occurring after a tragedy is hurricane Katrina. Until New Orleans was flooded with water Americans would have never thought to help people in great need of housing and necessities. Good did come out of the natural disaster and therefore we will be more prepared for the next big disaster.
What keeps us from making the reforms before a big catastrophe occurs is that most people cannot predict when a tragedy is going to occur. When you cannot predict when something is going to occur it is very hard to try and prepare to stop a tragedy.

Keon -3rd

Anonymous said...

Corey -5th

Blog 19

1. There are a few reasons why people only acknowledge things when something disastrous happens is because we don’t find it significant or at the top of our priority. But when something happens it seems that the world is at an end because we end up thinking that nothing can happen to us and that we are perfectly safe. So when things go wrong we try to fix up every little crack in the problem that we can to make it all better.
2. Some of the things that keep us from making changes before these catastrophe’s occur is that we are afraid that if we do people will start to panic and think that no one is safe and that we should be worried all the time. We can still improve things that need to be without causing alarm or chaos by doing small thing at a time so that it won’t be so blatant and obvious and will keep everyone calm.

Anonymous said...

Randi G
1st hour

1. Drastic changes are a lot of the time made after a major tragedy because it takes a scare before we take necessary precautions. Although we should not be living in fear, we are somewhat naïve and we wouldn’t assume someone could be so cruel. We need to be more aware of how much power a single person has, and some unfornateitly choose to exploit it and use it harmfully. Part of life is taking chances, and it is not healthy to assume the worst. It is important that we are observant of peoples behaviors, to be safe but to a certain extent. It is essential to be conscious of the potential hazards and to take action before we risk people’s lives.

2. One reason that we don’t take action before the big catastrophe occurs is because assuming the worst could be unbeneficial, and we are unconscious of the possible consequences. We learn from our mistakes, so we are oblivious of what dangers we might encounter in the future. It is hard to distinguish what measures to take with no reasoning. Until a big tragedy strike us, we are in denial about the negative possibilities. With so many dangers to be concerned about it, it is inconvenient and costly to take the stand that something bad could happen.

Anonymous said...

We make significant changes after major tragedy's occured because after the tragedy we realize that we need to change so it wont happend again. Also I think we change because for example after 9/11 millions were sad and probaly angry that the securities system wasnt good enough to prevent the tradegy so i think they they change for the mikllions of people that loss their families and friend lives.
What keeps us from making changes before a big catastrophe occurs is because we think that are securitie is good and will last but really untill something really happends to prove that are securitie is bad we will only find out till the tradegty happends. Also maybe we dont have enough money and wouldnt think anything would happend but for now on they should upgrade everything just to be sure that nothing happends and more lives are lost and peoples hearts broken.

Adam Pauley
1st hour

Anonymous said...

I think the reason that we make significant changes only after a major tragedy is because a lot of the time we like to ignore things like they’re not an issue. I think we feel like “oh yes its happening around the world but it wouldn’t happen here not in America.” Many feel like we’re better and don’t have to worry about the problems faced by most of the world because we’re in America. It’s not until the problem actually hits us in home that we feel the need to act, even if we have been advised to change things for much longer. A lot of times we act like its no big deal until it happens, that’s when it hits home like we are in danger we do have problems. The same way that Katrina wasn’t acted on until after it happened, even then not til later, even after being advised. I guess its arguable to say that we are kind of lazy the way we wait till problems occur to act. What really keeps us from the making the changes is our false sense of security as if not problem can touch us at home.

Blake - 5th

Anonymous said...

1) I believe that we only make changes after a tragedy happens because the people have to experience the reality of the danger it puts people through and the impact that it could put on some people. We say that the changes need to be made because we know that they will happen, but wait until the occurrence actually happens. When this type of thing happens it puts them in fear that it could happen again. When the women went back to the factory for work they would be worried that that type of thing could happen again. They would want the fire exits open and want a safer way to get out in case of something terrible happening.
2) I think that it is the extra work and money. People would have to put in extra money and hard work to ensure the safety for people. After a tragedy happens they would have a better idea of how to ensure more of a safety.
sarah k.