Blog 1 Assignment Response

As said in class we often want what we want when we want it as quick and in the easiest way possible. The sex, drugs, money, and alcohol come quick and easy in our generation but providing a service for the community often has to be forced upon us and usually have an incentive involved. For the most part we know just like the Hindus that sex, money, and drugs are not all that make up life, living what I call the fab life will eventually grow old. Hedonists realize that there are limits to the pleasure they seek and that they will eventually want more from life. In the Hindu religion service is a value it shows that you care for something other than yourself. Duties for community service are given through a list based on age, cast, and temperament. In our culture you are not forced to do things but you are often willing to do something good if it benefits you and you are being rewarded for what you do, however in the Hindu religion service serves as a form of respect and gratitude. My personal beliefs about community service is similar to that of the Hindu religion, I believe you should help those who are less fortunate than you or just  being there for someone who has no one else to depend on and from that I found my five community service aim songs. I was very surprised to find that there are a lot of songs about community service, I was so focused on what the majority of the world view community service as and from that I found myself only looking for songs that would pertain to the idea that community service was about picking up trash, cleaning the community, and based on a notion of a person being punished. Most people define community service in this way so I automatically assumed that this is what our assignment entailed. However I went with my personal belief and used songs like Kirk Franklin’s “Lean on Me” about helping those who are down and out and India Arie’s “There’s Hope” which is about inspiring those who are down to get back and make life better for themselves.

It seems to me that the Pleasure aim is much more prevalent, sex and money are everywhere it has become the way our society operates and what our younger generation look forward to. More younger people inspire to be rappers, singers, and actors rather than doctors, educators, and community activist. It was not a surprise to me to find how explicit the lyrics to these songs really are. It has become very more distinct to realize that a song is talking about a sexual gesture when before things would be hinted at whereas now it is very blunt. From this it was very easy to find pleasure songs. I found some that hinted to sex and some that bluntly stated what actions were being taken. Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat” and Chris Brown’s “Sex” is both perfect examples.

For this assignment I found that sex, drugs, and money are easy ways to get pleasure or satisfy ones need to feel accomplished but in my eyes providing a service to the community can also fulfill that accomplishment if it from the heart and the person is sincere about what he or she is doing.