Dont Be Dumb

After reading this article, I was shocked but not as surprised as I thought I would be at the stats that were given. The fact that more people thought that Germany, Japan, and Italy were America’s allies during WWII than they thought the U.S.S.R was appalling, but I was not surprised. This ties in very well with the movie we watched earlier this year, 2 million minutes. As of late, the public school system of the United States has been falling apart. Perhaps not so much here in Carmel, but in inner city schools and in other parts of the country the education system does little more than waste 8 hours of the kid’s day. I think that the ignorance of my generation is due to the mismanagement of the generation of before, not our faults. If the generation before us had recognized the warning signs, and had acted, we would not be discussing this problem today. The author gives more credit to our generation than we disserve, in my opinion. At the same time though, I agree with her that I do not think it is new technologies that is the fault of this drop in education standards.

Two questions

2. A society that is focused on equality weakens the individual because of how many people there are. If all people are included into the “competition” the privileged have a less likely chance of succeeding than they did while the poor have a better chance at succeeding than the originally did. This causes all of the people who were not privileged to strive for greater equality. On page 167, Tocqueville states, “when inequality is the general rule of society the greatest inequality goes unnoticed. When everything is more or less level, the slightest variation is noticed. Hence the more equal men are, the more insatiable there longing for equality will be”. This illustrates his opinion that people in a society based on equality will never be happy with the circumstances and always strive for greater equality. The people work for greater equality to try to improve their individual chances at success. In the end, however, a society based on equality will weaken the individual because as more people are included the less likely you or I will be successful.

5. Tocqueville thinks that Americans are restless because what they want to achieve is unattainable. One of the things that they want to achieve is equality. However, Tocqueville observes, “ That is a quality that which ever retreats before them without getting quite out of sight, and as it retreats it beckons them on to pursue, every instant they think they will catch it, and each time it slips through their fingers”. This conveys his view that Americans go after that which is unattainable, and are there fore restless in their attempt to get it. This is also what makes Americans sad even if they have everything that is attainable. “The hopes and desires of Americans are much more often disappointed” Tocqueville states. This is another example from the text in which people go for something unattainable and are disappointed in the end.

Why is it difficult for us to not care what others think

It is difficult to not care about what others think of us because humans are social by nature. We want other people to think well of us, because we become less social with others if they do not like us. Many people take great strides to try to impress others. These people will ignore any personal feelings they have about anything and emulate the view of others so as to increase there social standing. This is sometimes frowned upon, but it is human nature. People want to be liked, which is why it is vary difficult to not care what others think. When I first tried going on a roller coaster. I was very nervous. The only reason I had originally went on was so that my friends would not make fun of me. A positive came out of that, and that is I like roller coasters now. The point though is that many people will do tings they may not want to just to make other people like them. This is also the reason why many organizations exist today. People will join a religion or a group to get more people to like them. I think if nobody cared about what people thought of them, many religions we have today would wipe out.

War

War has been with the human race ever since we learned to throw rocks. They range in size from small skirmishes to world wars. The reasons are just as varied, from holy war to oil. Therefore, some would say that war is as human as going to the bathroom. But war really is not good for anyone. Soldiers come back from war saying, “neither side won, we are all losers”. Both sides suffer losses, and yet people still attack others for whatever reason they can think of. I think the only reason a nation should have a fighting force would be for self defense. Yet time and again the power of this force is abused over such stupid things. Would I ever go to war? It would depend on the reason for which the two nations were at war. I would like to try to help Afgani’s, but I would not like to be sent to Iraq. If in the situation (unlikely) I would defend this country. Also, if the government became corrupt and out of the control of the people, I would join a revolution (once again, highly unlikely). If drafted, I would also fight, I would not try to dodge the draft.
I will say this much, if there were no war, the majority of what we tae for granted today would not exist. We would be living in a vary different society. The rights we have today were fought for in war, and people of all ages have died in ages past so we can enjoy those rights.

Where i belong

This is a strange topic for me. Yes i have grown up in America, and yes i call it home, but for some reason i am very interested in the country of Germany. All of my dads side of my family dates there ancestors back to Germany, and i have always wanted to go there. I don't know if i could call it a place where i belong, however. Germany has always been a place of mystery for me, because the only chance i had to go my parents left me because "i wouldn't appreciate Europe". I feel like i belong in America, but at the same time, i feel as though i could belong in Germany.

Euthanasia

Is the practice of assisted suicide. I agree with it it, in some cases. For instance, if someone wanted to stop being treated for a certain illness, then that is there choice. also, if a animal is suffering and can't really get better, i think it would be ok to put it out of its pain. However, if there is no consent of the patient or the family, i do not think it is ok. A doctor can not make the decisions of weather a patient should be allowed to stay alive or not. Also, if someone wants to kill themselves, they should not get others involved. what i mena to say is if someone is emotionaly depressed and wants to end there life, they should ask someone else to do it. Also, i think a family should respect the wishes of a pacient. I forget who it was but a while ago there was someone all over the news who was on life support. the husband wanted to pull the plug because he thought that it is what she would want, but the family of the women wanted to keep her alive because they couldn't let go. In these cases, i think that the person should be let go because it is selfish too keep someone like that alive just for your sake.

Why Dreams Fail

In my opinion, dreams fail because they are just dreams: dreams. They are a visual manifestation of hope inside everybody. They are based of an unrealistic idea that in the end everything will be great. Unfortunately, most of the time this does not turn out to be true. In this book, George and Lennie have the dream of owning a farm. In the end, it will not happen because it is one of those things that is just too good to be true. Another book I cite is Things Fall Apart. The people hoped that the new colonialist governments would go away, but they didn't. And in the end, they all lost. Even in life these moments happen. When family members are dieing and will not recover, we still hope they will. This is not a bad thing, as it does keep most of us from falling apart.