A True War Film

While on the internet, I came across a CNN article entitled, “Prisoner of War” that greatly reminded me of the movie, “Born on the Fourth of July”. In this article the United States solider being interviewed states, “I am not the same person [after going to war]. I don’t know how to come home” (Ware). This quote immediately reminded me of Ron Kovic, in that the war experience had completely changed him.

Michael Ware, this solider fighting in the Iraq War, recently made a three-minute movie of an actual experience he had at war. He held his video camera one night at war. The camera supposedly only filmed darkness and the sound of footsteps. However, suddenly, a bright flash appears on the screen, this is the light of an explosion. Ware claims that unlike many Hollywood war films that are exaggerated or overly patriotic, his brief film captures the actual painful experience of war. Ware is planning on showing his movie in a theatre with surround sound so that the viewers can get the true feeling of war for a brief three minutes. Michael Ware also encourages citizens to see his film because he feels that the majority of Americans are unaware of the emotional effects of war that soldiers experience. He claims that if people support the war or know soldiers partaking in the war, the film must be seen so that they can experience this true war scene.

I think that Michael Ware’s film idea is very interesting and could potentially change a lot of American’s views on war. Ron Kevin’s view on war was completely transformed after his experience, so I believe that some war supporter’s views on war may completely transform after seeing a film that is apparently emotionally straining. I also think that Ware’s film is a good idea because for the first time, Americans who choose to, will be able to know what war is actually like without actually going to war.

Poor War Hospital Conditions

After watching the majority of Oliver Stone’s movie “Born on the Fourth of July” during class, I grew curious as to the exact period of time when the real Ron Kovic transformed from an almost war-obsessed man, to a person that protests the wars. I completed some research online and found an interview with the real Ron Kovic that lead me to some answers.

Based on his interview, it seems that Ron Kovic was fine with the idea of war until he was injured. Kovic even illustrated his original love for war when he returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1968. However, in his interview he seems disgusted with the way various hospitals treat their war patients. As seen in the movie, Kovic wanted to see a doctor while strapped to his bed, but the doctors took hours to respond to his request, and Kovic was left alone begging to be attended to. Based on Kovic’s interview, it is suggested that very similar situations to this occurred in his real war experience.

Kovic then states that he was recently in a hospital, and saw two wounded Iraq War soldiers in a room close to his. He discusses the fact that these men were treated in similar poor conditions as he was during the Vietnam War. After seeing these two soldiers, Kovic declares that if people volunteer to sacrifice their lives for their country, they should at least be treated and cared for with respect when they return home. He then mentions that with the enormous sums of money the country spends on wars, the soldiers should be well cared for when they are wounded.

Also seen in the movie, there was a hospitalized solider complaining about a rat in the hospital. While I watched this scene, I originally thought the rat beside the soldier’s bed may have been an exaggeration of the poor conditions in the hospital, however, after doing further research, it seems that problems such as these exist even in modern times. An online article mentions Jeremy Duncan an Iraq Army Specialist who broke his neck. After staying in the hospital, he states, "The conditions in the room ... were ... unforgivable... It wasn't fit for anybody to live in a room like that” (Duncan).

Based on all of this information, it seems that war can only be justified if soldiers are treated with respect when they return home injured. According to Duncan, the United States is currently in a war in which this is not happening. I believe the country should use more of the war budget for the wounded soldiers instead of more weapons or war equipment.

Current Tea Parties Vs. The Boston Tea Party

As we briefly discussed in class, the original Boston Tea Party took place in 1773 just after the French and Indian war. During this particular time, Parliament wanted to collect money from its people in order to obtain enough money to cover the war expenses. However, the people being taxed felt no obligation to pay taxes to a government that did not represent them. The people did not select the government, and they were unaware of the places that their tax dollars would go. Therefore, multiple taxpayers started the Boston Tea Party, something that essentially encouraged the protest of taxes.

Today, there exist several more tea parties across the nation, but this time for different reasons. People are now mainly protesting on tax day because they feel that they should not have to pay larger tax dollars to cover other Americans’ debt. An article online includes various letters to the editor of Palm Beach Post. These letters are detailing the differences between the modern day tea parties to the Boston Tea Party. The letters state that, “the original ‘Tea Party’ was against taxation without representation. Today, voters ignore true representation. Protesters should fight for real honesty and openness when protesting high taxes. The voters, not the legislators, should determine which services should be reduced or eliminated in order to reduce taxes” (Katz). This letter is clearly from a position that believes that instead of protesting taxes, the modern day tea parties should focus on protesting the authority of the government just as people in 1773 did. However, other letter-writers disapprove of the current tea parties, stating that, “perhaps socialism is what is needed in this country. We have seen the major corporations, especially the financials, bleed the middle class almost dry...we are Americans, and we could probably do socialism far better than any country ever has” (Foster). It appears as if each letter promotes a different idea toward the modern-day tea parties. Some people, like Foster, completely disagree with the tea parties stating that the country may need a sense of added socialism. Other people, such as George McLellan, believe that tea parties should be held because Congress should be stopped from freely spending citizens’ money. Despite the different points of view, it still seems as if the modern day tea parties are similar to the Boston Tea Party in that people are rallying together to protest against taxes. The Boston Tea Party resulted in large amounts of tea thrown into the Boston Harbor by protesting colonists. These protesting colonists had some of their taxes repealed by the English government. They were then only required to pay a tea tax to essentially inform the colonists that they were still subject to British rule. The similarities between the tea parties now and then make me wonder whether the modern-day tea parties will ever have the same effect as the Boston Tea Party.

Michael Moore's Visual Argument

As I read chapter 14 of “Everything is an Argument”, I immediately thought of the Michael Moore film, “Roger and Me”, that we watched and discussed in class. While Moore did not use a picture to illustrate his thesis, he did use visual arguments discussed in chapter 14 by embedding various video clips into his film in order to clearly depict his argument. While trying to convey the struggles that the General Motors employees of Flint faced in the 1980’s when the factory closed down, Moore strategically placed several visual artifacts into his film. He captured the emotion of a family that was evicted on Christmas Eve as tears flowed from the childrens' faces, and the parents cursed and screamed at the situation. Moore then placed further emphasis on this tragic situation by juxtaposing it with the General Motors CEO, Roger Smith, declaring the greatness of the Christmas season. Moore also grasps the viewer’s attention and made me personally sympathize for a few laid-off employees that are now attempting to survive by selling rabbits or teaching lessons on style strategies. Also, by playing the overwhelmingly happy song “Wouldn't it be Nice” by The Beach Boys along side several video clips illustrating the impoverished, deserted town, Moore makes it clear that he is opposed to the situation in Flint. He further tries to portray the Roger Smith as an evil man by showing himself on several occasions not being able to achieve an interview with Smith.

There are several more instances in which Moore uses visual artifacts to convey his argument. By using the visual strategies mentioned above, Moore’s thesis can easily be identified. He is greatly opposed to the factory closing down in Flint as seen in the pathos he uses in hopes that the viewer will feel sorry for the town and its laid-off employees. I believe that through his use of visual artifacts, Moore is able to show the severity of the situation in flint more than if he had simply written a picture-less article.

Holidays Link the Recession to the Depression

In the poem “Being Poor”, the author mentions that, “Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa”. This idea of not receiving gifts for any particular holiday due to financial problems immediately reminded me of the Easter holiday that is approaching, and how the recession could potentially affect the sales of Easter candy and gifts.

According to an article detailing the events of the Great Depression, not many people received Christmas presents during that particular time period. Millie Ruchel, an 82-year-old that lived during the time of the Great Depression, speaks of her father’s unemployment, and that, "Because of [her] father's continued unemployment, [her family] received no gifts [for] Christmas." She then discusses how one Christmas, her father wanted to give his children a gift, so he hand-crafted a teeter-totter out of wood. Ruchel appears to have fond memories of that teeter-totter, and it seems that not receiving any store-bought toys was a common during the years of the Great Depression.

A similar scenario is now emerging in the current recession that the economy is facing. The article, “Will the recession slow down the Easter Bunny?”, discusses the predicted outcome of Easter sales this year. The article states that, “the National Retail Federation says a survey shows people plan to spend about 15% less on their Easter celebrations this year” (Famuliner). It continues to state that this 15% decrease in shopping will most likely come from people purchasing fewer gifts such as clothing or flowers for others, but the amount of candy sales is projected to stay the same.

The projected fall in spending this year for Easter is very similar to the Great Depression Christmas sales fall, and may be an indication that the world is heading toward a similar situation to the Great Depression. I hope that lack of holiday sales is not a foreshadowing of a depression to come.

A Modern Day Depression

A News and Observer article entitled, “Recession Calls Up Sacrifices”, reminded me of the Great Depression Dust Bowl photographs that we discussed in class. The Dust Bowl pictures illustrated the great deal of sacrifice that the majority of people living in the Great Depression had to make in order to continue making money. Some people in the photographs were seen walking large distances, instead of taking the train, to get a job in order to save a few valuable dollars. Others were seen dancing for nearly 50 days, sacrificing their happiness, to gain at least some money. Further sacrifices are seen in the photograph of a family living out of their car instead of a house because it presumably saves large amounts of money. Currently, while the scenarios may not be as severe, people and businesses are making several sacrifices in order to keep their lifestyles and companies alive.

The article states that businesses are attempting to avoid firing employees by making sacrifices such as, “reducing hours, freezing wages and suspending matching 401(k) programs” (Murawski). Other sacrifices that several businesses are making include employees bringing their own lunches instead of having catered food, and not having offices cleaned nearly as much as they were in the past. I remember a few years ago hearing of several companies entertaining their clients over a round of golf, or a meal at an expensive restaurant. However, according to this article, those days are now sacrificed and overshadowed by inexpensive company sponsored meals. Initially, I had thought that employees and management would be disappointed by these sacrifices, however, the article states that the workers have accepted the changes and are just happy to have their jobs. This especially reminded me of the Dust Bowl photographs as the majority of the pictures illustrated people that appeared to come from high-paying jobs, due to their attire, and seemed to settle for essentially any occupation that they could find. While the workers discussed in the modern-day article are not making the same immense sacrifices that the people in the Great Depression photographs made, the two situations are similar in that in each scenario people are sacrificing the things they previously took for granted in order to continue making money. I simply hope that people in present day scenarios do not continue having to make sacrifices until they are living out of their cars, or participating in 50-day dance competitions.

Past and Present Company Strategies

After discussing the nature of business this week in American Studies, as well as magazine and commercial ads, I have noticed myself become much more aware of various companies’ marketing strategies. For example, this week while I watched CSI with Taylor Swift as the guest star, I noticed several commercials regarding her future performances at concert arenas and award shows. Also, when I watched a televised college basketball game, I observed several alcoholic beverages being advertised. In both scenarios, the companies seem to attempt to appeal to an audience that they believe is watching. This is something that I was never aware of before. Playing certain commercials on particular stations seems to be a key strategy to cause privileged Americans to believe that they need more than they already have. However, one company that I kept seeing reoccurring ads for, regardless of the station, was Geico, the car insurance company that has forever embedded the line, “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance”, into my mind.

I completed some research to discover the reasons that this company to receives so much airtime and discovered that it is because car-insurance appeals to a mass amount of people…almost everyone who drives a car. An article entitled, “The Best Ad on Television”, states that Geico appeals to, “Pretty much everyone—man or woman, gay or straight, black or white, hip or hick. If you drive a car, they want your business” (Stevenson). However, I also noticed that these ads are very diversified. They range from understandable tame ads for serious drivers, to comedic ads that younger people may like.
Various ads, such as Geico, have made me more aware of the strategic plans of the advertisers. These companies realize that people may, for instance, already have car insurance, so they place multiple commercials on a variety of stations to convince people that their insurance is somehow better. This is similar to several magazine ads we discussed at in class such as the Verizon Wireless ads that appeal to both teens who desire to become popular, and older customers, who may desire a simpler styled phone.
All of these ads ultimately reminded me of the story of the car company General Motors. A company that caused people to yearn for their product by changing the style and color of cars, and convincing people that what they have is not quite good enough, and that they need to have something better. Whether it is a humorous car-insurance advertisement, or a different paint color on a car, it seems that the base of advertising has not changed a lot since the 1920’s. Companies still use similar strategies in order to persuade customers to buy their product.

Modern Day Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

As we discussed in class, The Triangle Shirtwaist factory was clearly unequipped for hazards such as fires. The fire escape in the building was indeed approved by the fire department, however, the doors on certain floors were locked to ensure that none of the workers unionized or escaped during the course any given day. After a fire hit and hundreds of workers died, mainly because of the poor fire equipment, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory was remade. One may think that the management would have learned their lesson after the fire struck the eighth floor, but in their new building, they still proceeded to cover the fire escape with a sewing machine. This finally caused the fire department to disapprove of the factory’s fire equipment.

After learning of this terrible situation that occurred in 1911, I completed some research to investigate if similar events are still happening in modern day situations. I was shocked to find a related situation that had occurred last April in India.

In Mangalore, India, very minimally paid laborers are, “hired to dig trenches in Atturkodi area in Kutherthoor village by the Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL)” (Mondal). These laborers were hired last spring to search for an oil-leak. The trenches that were being dug had been polluted by hydrocarbons. Supposedly these hydrocarbons have caused the trench diggers to begin to develop severe skin conditions. These laborers have repeatedly told their management of these skin problems, and even, “requested the officials of the refinery for protective gear but nothing had been done in this regard” (Mondal). One worker developed a dangerous burning sensation on his legs and hands. However, the officials threatened him after he told a television station about the skin conditions that the laborers are developing.

This modern day situation greatly reminded me of the Shirtwaist Factory in that the management did not care about its workers, but only the job they completed. This situation Mangalore greatly saddened me to know that people have still not learned from the mistakes of the Shirtwaist Factory. In 1911, a sacrifice was made, and I wish the world could learn from those mistakes. However, because similar situations are still occurring today, it causes me to believe that maybe this attitude will always remain in human nature. However, people should learn from events such as these and begin to care more about people than the work that they complete.

Can the Stimulus Package Help Susie American?

Last week in class, we discussed an average scenario that the majority of Americans are living today. This is the scenario of Susie American. In case you don’t remember, Susie was a single mother of two who bought a house for $100,000 and then later used the home “flipping” strategy to sell the house for $150,000. After selling that home, Susie hoped to do the same with another. But the bank told her that with a loan, she could buy a $200,000 home. With Susie’s reasoning, she had thought that she could make more money buying the $200,000 home because the interest would grow faster with a more expensive home. Unfortunately for Susie, and many other Americans, the price of the home did not rise as expected, but it greatly fell because too many people, like Susie, took out loans from the bank that they could not afford. Then, because the entire country was in financial turmoil because of situations similar to this, Susie lost her job and was left with a home she could not pay for, a large loan that she could not afford, and two children to provide for. The question is, what are the government and president going to do to make Susie, and millions of Americans like her, become financially stable again?

Obama’s new housing plan unfortunately does not focus on the many Americans like Susie, instead, according to cnnmoney.com, the plan focuses more on helping around 9 million people that owe more than the home’s value, but can still afford the payments. Unfortunately, “The program does virtually nothing for the unemployed, who often don't have enough income to make any reasonable monthly payment affordable” (Luhby). This is very unpleasant news for Susie and a large mass of Americans who recently became unemployed due to the financial recession that the country is currently in. However, the article did later mention that those who were currently unemployed could potentially benefit from Obama’s bill in the future because Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package “is expected to create or save up to 3.5 million jobs” (Luhby). After reading about the stimulus bill, this appeared to be the only benefit to the large amount of people living with similar situations to Susie.

This seems to be a very terrible thing for the majority of Americans, and I hope in the future, there will be a bill that focuses on helping the mass of Americans instead of the small amount the this bill supposedly helped. Unfortunately, this bill realistically may not appear for months, or maybe years. Therefore, I suppose that one important thing Americans can do is look at what exactly caused the housing market to crash and the economy to fail, and learn from our mistakes, ensuring that it never happens again. Until the next bill, focusing on a greater mass of Americans, arrives, it seems that all Americans can do is become self-reliant and attempt to solve their own financial problems. As mentioned before, this is an unfortunate situation, but one that can be solved with several bills and efforts that will hopefully arrive in the future.

Reverse Discrimination

As I watch this country’s progression from before the Civil War until now, it is apparent that the United States is moving closer and closer to ending racism by the decade. With this progression, I realized that some people might feel discriminated against because some companies and universities are now required to have a certain percent of diverse people in order to prove that racism is no longer prevalent in America. With this requirement, some people, particularly Caucasian males, are beginning to feel discriminated against because they feel that some diverse people are less qualified for an occupation, but are receiving the job instead of the Caucasian males due to the diversity requirement that is now in place in certain parts of America. For example, in New Haven, fire fighters were required to pass a test in order to receive promotions. Only 17 Caucasians and one Hispanic passed the test, so the test was “scraped” because it was a requirement to have a higher percentage of diverse people to be promoted. The fire department then promoted some of the diverse people instead of the Caucasians because of this requirement. Some of the Caucasian males called this “reverse discrimination” because they felt that they were being discriminated against because they could not receive the job that they were qualified for due to their race. The fire fighters who passed the test then sued the city because they felt that they were being discriminated against because of their race. This case is currently being taken to the Supreme Court because, “the city violated [the fire fighter’s] constitutional right to equal treatment” (Richey).

Another Caucasian middle class male writes about this issue of “reverse discrimination” in terms of college scholarships. He states that in his search of finding a college scholarship, one website stated, “Guess what? Nearly everyone's a minority. It's likely that you fit into at least one of the growing minority scholarship categories—nearly everyone does, by some scholarship definition. We'll prove it: African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Female, Multi-racial or Multicultural, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) Have we left anyone out?” (collegescholarships.org). His response to that question was that Caucasian males were left out, and he did not understand the reasoning for this. He was astounded that women fell into the category of a minority when they account for 49.2% of the population, and he felt as if the college scholarship program was specifically targeting the Caucasian male group to be the only one that is not eligible for a scholarship. He then argued that people should receive scholarships based on merit. If one person is hard-working and their results illustrate their efforts, they should be given a scholarship regardless of their race.

I completely agree with his idea. I think that race should not even be a factor when it comes to an occupation or a college. In the future, when people apply for an occupation or a college, I think that they should not even be required to provide their gender or race because these things should not determine a person’s success. Unfortunately, this idealistic proposal will probably never happen. So maybe the law that requires a certain percent of diverse people should exist in order to ensure that racism does not occur. Maybe it exists to continue to illustrate the progression that the country has made since the Civil War, to show that the descendants of slaves can now have the same or better jobs than the descendants of masters.

A Life Changing Phone!

It has been called many things such as, life changing, a device of the future, and “The Jesus Phone” (Net Profits Inc). But is the iPhone truly what it is hyped up to be? This past weekend I went to the AT&T store to purchase a new phone. The salesman, who told me about each cell phone, advised me to buy the iPhone. He said, “The iPhone is truly amazing, its technology and the way it operates are redefining the electronic world”. While I initially found the phone to be intriguing, I soon realized that I already have an iPod and camera, so all I really need a phone for is to make calls and send text messages. So, instead of buying the iPhone, I bought a far cheaper device that fulfilled my practical needs. However, when I arrived home, I saw an iPhone commercial, advertising the speed and applications on the phone, so I began to think that the phone may be overly romanticized, due to the fact that it seems to be overly praised and discussed. I looked at various reviews online, and most described the phone as, “…so sleek and thin, [making] Treos and Blackberrys look obese”, and “fast, beautiful, menu-free, and dead simple to operate." One blogger even describes it as, “…pretty phenomenal. Life changing. This is one of the most polished products [he has] ever used”. With all of these positive reviews, I had to ask my brother if I could use his iPhone for about an hour, so I could see what everyone was talking about.
When I used his iPhone, I played some of the games he had downloaded from the application store, and I personally found them to be fairly boring and trivial. It may be possible that some of the more expensive ten-dollar games are more enthralling, but I could never see myself playing some of those games in my spare time. I then tried to use the Internet, and I found that it worked far slower than advertised. In fact, an iPhone commercial in the United Kingdom was even banned due to the false advertisement of the speed of the iPhone. Later, I tried to type on the small touch screen keys, and with about ten typos, I realized that the iPhone keyboard would be difficult to get used to and very inconvenient for my needs. Then I asked my brother how he liked it, and he stated that he really enjoys the phone, but it is not what it is romanticized to be. He says that the touch screen often has trouble working in the cold, and sometimes he misses phone calls because the switch on the side occasionally silences the phone when he places it in his pocket. While some believe this phone redefines the entire technology world, I consider the phone as an interesting device, but far less “life changing” than people build it up to be.

Discrimination in 2009

When America welcomed President Barack Obama into office on January 20, 2009, the country seemed to act as if his inauguration marked the end of racism and discrimination in the United States. Patricia J. Williams states, “[Obama] truly does seem to transcend race because his mother, after all, let’s not forget, was white” (Williams). While at first I tried to agree with the idealistic theory that one person could suddenly transform the beliefs of all Americans, and transcend race, I then realized that this might be impossible. It may be too optimistic to believe that one person will change the views of millions. I realized that America has moved forward in multiple aspects of discrimination and racism. There are no longer slaves like Frederick Douglas who never knew their birthdays or mothers. There are no longer masters who, “...at times seem[ed] to take great pleasure in whipping a slave” (Douglas). However, although discrimination in the United States seems to have ended, maybe it has simply disguised itself in other forms. While American’s are clearly not as racist as they were many years ago, daily discrimination still takes place in America.

Recently, the election took place. Not only was the president elected, but other important decisions were also made. For example, Proposition 8 allowed Californians to decide whether or not same sex marriages should be allowed in California. While it was an apparently very close vote, “...Millions of voters went to the polls... and said YES to bigotry, YES to discrimination, YES to second-class status for same-sex couples” (No on Prop 8 Campaign). While there seems to be an end in sight for racism, gays in America still appear to feel very discriminated against. They seem to feel as if others are controlling their decisions, just as slaves felt controlled by their masters before the twentieth century. The article, “Final Statement from No on Prop 8 Campaign”, states, “Victory was not ours today. But the struggle for equality is not over” (No on Prop 8 Campaign), indicating that same-sex couples still feel discriminated against, and not equal in 2009. While Americans may believe that there is no more discrimination in the United States, people, such as same-sex couples, still feel discriminated against and unequal. The election of an African American president is just one step among many that must occur in order to have a more equal America.

Online News Progress???

Recently, I was shocked to discover that one of Chicago’s arguably most popular newspaper companies, The Chicago Tribune, has just filed for bankruptcy on December 8th. While many people may believe this bankruptcy was caused by the current economic crisis that the world is currently facing, an article detailing the bankruptcy states, “[The Tribune] is the first major newspaper publisher to file for bankruptcy protection since the Internet plunged the industry into a struggle for survival” (Chase). This suggests that the Internet and the many articles to be read online have rapidly been taking over the news industry, and are beginning to make newspapers become obsolete. Multiple people may argue that the Internet and the availability of news articles online is illustrating progress through being environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and easy. However, Nicholas Carr author of article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid” argues that online articles are causing him to lose his capability of reading texts offline by stating, “…What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski” (Carr). While in this context Carr may not be directly stating that online newspaper articles are making him less intelligent, he is indicating that with the larger presence of online resources, people are becoming more incapable of reading offline texts. With newspapers such as The Chicago Tribune becoming obsolete, the online news industry becomes more successful and popular, which, according to Carr, could potentially make people even less smart by skimming through the topics of various online articles.

Aside from potentially lowering people’s maximum intellectual capacities, the expansion of online news articles also may not be seen as progress because this causes multiple people in the newspaper industry to become jobless. The article regarding the bankruptcy stated, “Tribune already has made hundreds of layoffs” (Chase). But the downfall of one industry is the rise of another. While many people that work in the newspaper industry are becoming jobless, multiple people are most likely being hired for online news articles. In the essay, “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other” (Emerson), the newspaper industry is the side that is currently receding, while online articles are becoming more popular. When looked at together it appears Emerson is correct, no side is causing society to actually progress or advance, instead, society is simply changing its method of news distribution. Personally, I find that I enjoy both of these methods of news circulation for different reasons. I occasionally like to eat breakfast while leisurely reading through the articles on the cover of the newspaper. I find that I enjoy reading the paper when I relax, whereas I like online news articles for their convenience whenever I am curious about something. However, if every “progression” has both positives and negatives, and Emerson’s argument that society does not advance is true, then is there a point in attempting to advance at all?

Toys vs. Coats

This past week, I have completed a lot of work regarding the charity program, Adopt-a-Family, with several other members of my advisory. While shopping for the people in the family that my advisory adopted, I noticed what while we did give each person a few toys and other nonessential items, the majority of the budget for each family member was spent on basic necessities such as clothing and warm winter jackets. During the shopping trip, a few people in my advisory picked out an inexpensive winter jacket for one of the children so that we could have more money for toys, however, my advisor quickly told them to exchange the coat for a higher quality, warmer one, and sacrifice a few toys. She said, “It’s better to be warm. If you are sick and cold, there is no point in toys anyway”. So, at the end our shopping trip, I viewed all of the purchased items together. I saw multiple boxes filled with coats, warm clothing, gloves, hats, socks, and scarves, but only a few boxes filled with toys such as Barbie’s and action figures. At first, I had thought that it may be possible that the children that we are giving these various presents to would be upset for the lack of toys that we are donating. However, shortly after this thought entered my mind, I realized that people probably would rather receive things that they need instead of items that they may want. This impoverished family that we are “adopting” does not have the money to fulfill basic necessities such as clothing, therefore, when each person opens up their gifts, they may in fact be more happy opening up an essential item instead of an unneeded toy that the children may grow out of.

This experience made me think a lot about Henry David Thoreau and his book, Walden. In the chapter, “Economy”, Thoreau states, “The necessaries for man in this climate may, accurately enough, be distributed under several heads of Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel” (Thoreau, 8). While my advisory was unable to provide food, shelter, or fuel for our family, we tried our best to fulfill the basic need of clothing. Thoreau continues to state that excessive amounts of these needs become unnecessary as well, therefore, my advisory attempted to purchase practical forms of clothing. The Adopt-a-Family experience made me realize that Thoreau was correct in thinking that any excessive items after needed items are unnecessary, and it made me think of all the things I own and don’t need. People who have all their needs fulfilled should be more thankful because some, such as this family, do not even have necessary items. Thoreau argues that the only thing people really need are the four necessaries listed above, so I hope the family my advisory “adopted” will be pleased while opening gifts that they need, and not necessarily want.

The Pursuit of Happyness???

After discussing the various “self-made” people in American society, I began to look more closely at Chris Gardner, a man who lived in poverty, struggled through many challenges, but eventually became a wealthy stock broker through self-determination without the help of anyone but himself. While it seems that there is no question Chris Gardner made it on his own, and is therefore a “self-made man”, after hearing of this story, I began to question if the film inspired by Chris Gardner’s story, “The Pursuit of Happyness”, was titled appropriately. Ralph Waldo Emerson author of “Self-Reliance” states, “A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick, or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event, raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself” (Emerson 38). Emerson essentially argues that no amount of money or good event in a person’s life could ever bring them any type of happiness, and that the only way a person could become happy is through themselves. Therefore, because Chris Gardner’s story is about how he became wealthy after living in poverty, and not about his search for happiness through himself, is it possible that a title such as, “Self-made Money”, would be more fitting? While it does not sound quite as appealing as the existing title, it does seem to be a better fit to the storyline according to Emerson’s claim that money can never make a person happy.

However after watching the final scene of the film, it appears as if the emotion actor Will Smith is portraying is truly happiness. Maybe the title, “The Pursuit of Happyness”, is not referring to Chris Gardner’s fortune, but rather the happiness he found when he realized he became successful on his own without the help of anyone else. Although Emerson claims fortune can never bring someone happiness, he also emphasizes that ones self is the only thing that can. Therefore, through the pride Chris Gardner found in himself during his journey, he experienced happiness, but it was not the wealth that brought him to this emotion. If this is the true case, “The Pursuit of Happyness”, is indeed a proper title.

Is there a point in progress??

As a part of winter training for my sport, almost every day after school, I go on a run with a few of my teammates. However, after completing and discussing the transcendentalist survey in school, I decided that instead of taking my normal running route, I would run alone, with no destination in mind. I then found myself subconsciously heading for the beach, and before I knew it, I was running on the non-developed shoreline. I found this run to be far more peaceful than most, possibly because for that brief length of time, I was away from all the commotion of life and away from all the man-made, built-up towns. When I ran off the beach, and up the hill into the village, I noticed a sudden change in landscape. I had made the transition from absolutely all nature, to several blocks filled with houses, buildings, and road construction. It was in that moment when I began wondering about the two question marks that are conveniently placed after the “progress” in this particular American Studies unit. Could advanced technology, man-made roads, and buildings really be considered progress, or is it just an alternate lifestyle?
I began pondering this question, and possible answers. I found that if there were no cars, factories, or any man-made objects, the environment would most likely be in a far better condition than it currently is. If this were the case, people would be more in touch with nature, and most likely more in touch with themselves. Stress levels would probably shift from school or finances, to worrying about eating a next meal. Life would be completely different, and many people may wonder if they could ever live in those conditions. Maybe there are both pro’s and con’s to every type of “progress”, just as the class discussed both pro’s and con’s to technology advancements such as Google. However, if for every pro, there also existed a con, I have to wonder, is there a point in progress??

Vote for the Party, not the Person...

On November 4, 2008, while the rest of the country participated in the national presidential election, New Trier students participated in a mock election run by student alliance. As I stood in line, waiting to vote, two girls stood in front of me. One of the girls stepped up to the computer to cast her ballot, and voted for the president of her choice. When it came time for her to vote for the congressman, she turned to her friend and said, “Dan Seals is the democrat, right?” Her friend then told her that Dan Seals was indeed the democrat candidate, and the girl proceeded to vote for Dan Seals. As I watched this girl vote for Seals simply because he was the democratic candidate, I immediately remembered what Congressman Kirk told to the students of New Trier last week when he came to speak, “Vote for the person, not the party”. These girls who supported Dan Seals in the New Trier mock election, only supported him based on his party, and paid no attention to the fact that Mark Kirk, the republican candidate, actually has several liberal viewpoints. He is pro-choice and supports gay rights, and is endorsed by several democratic newspapers and magazines because of these viewpoints. These girls did the opposite of what Mark Kirk advised, and cast their ballots for the party, paying no attention to what the person had to say. This scenario made me wonder if people across the nation voted for president the same way these girls voted for the Congressman of Illinois.

I completed some research regarding this subject, and found a YouTube video, in which an interviewer interviewed African Americans across the country, while attributing McCain’s views to Obama. The interviewer asked these civilians if they agreed with Obama’s viewpoints, which were in actuality McCain’s. In all three examples that the video provided, the people getting interviewed said that they fully agree with Obama’s viewpoints, which were actually viewpoints that McCain fully supports, and Obama is completely against. While this video may have edited out interviews that did not work to prove the video’s point, I still find it a bit scary that people across the country may have voted for Obama even if they had no idea who or what he supports. People that did not study his viewpoints may have voted for him based on the Democratic Party he represents, because they wanted to make history, or because people want change, even if they are unaware of what change is.

Aside from voting for Obama, I am sure that a large amount of people voted for McCain that were unaware of his views are. People being unaware of what their chosen candidate supports has probably happened in several elections in the past, and will inevitably continue to happen in the future. However, I admittedly idealistically, hope that in future elections people attempt to see all sides of each issue, and vote for the candidate based on the their views, and ideas, instead of their party, race, or gender. However, for the time being, America needs to do exactly what McCain suggested in his speech after the election, serve the country, come together, and serve our newly elected president, Barack Obama.

Presedent Bush is Absent from Election

In the midst of this election, I feel that got so caught up in all the candidates, drama, and parodies; that I forgot about our current president, George W. Bush. I quickly realized that with all the media and publicity that these new candidates are receiving; President Bush has been completely overshadowed, and only briefly mentioned in the media during the campaigns. I then completed some research to see if anyone else had noticed President Bush’s absence from the current election, and this very topic happened to be on the front page of the politics section on CNN.com. In this article, the Bush Administration claims that he has been trying to avoid the election so that he does not get in the way of the two candidates running to be the president of the United States. Reporters analyzing the situation believe that Bush is avoiding the election due to his extremely low approval ratings of 28%. Reporters claim that if his approval ratings were higher, he would be helping republican candidate, John McCain, but now he feels he is only a burden.

President Bush scheduled no public events for the weekend. He has reportedly cancelled several fundraisers, and since he was not helping with the election, he reportedly went to the presidential retreat home, Camp David. Despite the fact that his time as president is coming to an end, it is not yet done. President Bush will still be president until January 20. Therefore, I believe, instead of going to Camp David on vacation, he should be at least attempting to do something to solve the country’s financial crisis. President Bush is clearly not idealistic, in that it appears he has simply given up. He saw his poor approval ratings, and he is hiding, absent from fundraisers, public events, and the election. Without even attempting to get his approval ratings up by doing his presidential duties, he has retreated to his vacation home. What does a country do without a leader, even if it is only for a few months? If something tragic happens to the United States within the next few months, I believe that Bush will attempt to help, but assuming it does not, I am curious to see how this country will continue to function while our leader is absent.

Is it better to be both idealistic and pragmatic?

The Benjamin Franklin “autobiography” journal assignment for this weekend made me wonder whether there are any current events that involve both an idealistic and pragmatic approach, just as Franklin had an idealistic dream, and worked to solve it using a pragmatic method. I then thought about the election and the candidates, John McCain, and, Barack Obama. I did some research and found that McCain is primary looked upon as an idealist, and Obama is referred to as, “Obama the Pragmatist”. McCain is idealistic due to his, “Wars must be won. Country comes first…” (Rogers) attitude. While Obama is defined as a pragmatist as he seems to take a realistic approach to various things such as taxes, and the war. But because Franklin used both an idealistic and pragmatic approach to solve his conflict, I began to wonder whether both these candidates may be swaying to far to one particular side, maybe instead of defining themselves as either pragmatic, or idealistic, the candidates could settle somewhere in the middle. Because McCain is arguably overly idealistic, certain sources suggest that idealism may be hurting his campaign because the country is in a financial crisis now, and people want realistic answers. Similarly to when F.D.R. gave the people realistic answers to help attempt to solve an idealistic problem, instead of Hoover’s idealistic standpoint that suggested The Great Depression would solve itself. Obama’s pragmatic approach may also potentially hurt his campaign, as people occasionally want to hear great idealistic proposals, as opposed to always hearing something realistic. So maybe, like Franklin, who used both a pragmatic and idealistic approach to help solve the moral behavior problem, the presidential candidates could settle somewhere in the middle between the two extremes in order to be more successful. The difference between idealism and pragmatism may not always be black and white, maybe there is a gray area where the candidates can settle in order to become more successful. Benjamin Franklin had an idealistic dream and worked to solve it using pragmatic steps, it seemed to work for him, so maybe it can work for the next president of the United States of America.

There also seems to be a place and time for each view. For example, if the country was not in such a economic crisis right now, maybe McCain's method of idealism would work more effectively. However, because people do want realistic answers to their constant financial problems, Obama's pragmatic approach is becoming more successful. However, I still believe that the candidates would be more successful by taking both a pragmatic and idealistic approach to solve problems.

Airbrushed Politicians

Recently, while watching television, I came across a news segment on Fox that was discussing a magazine issue of Newsweek with Sarah Palin on the cover. One woman argued that, “This [magazine issue] is a clear slap in the face to Sarah Palin,” as Palin’s face in the up close picture showed imperfect flaws such as wrinkles, and a few light mustache hairs. The three women on the news discussed how Newsweek should have air brushed Palin’s face before publishing the photo, as her imperfect face will somehow affect voters around the country. I am not sure how or why this photo could potentially affect the election, but I was very surprised to view news anchors discussing how the vice-presidential candidate’s face should be airbrushed on a magazine. This illustrates how this country has become so entertained with looks and beauty that people cannot even see politicians for who they truly are. Air brushing photos originated as something to touch up celebrities, so the concept of touching up politicians faces seems to be surreal, as well as the idea that people would not vote for McCain because of a non-air brushed, real picture.
It seems as though this is a sign that America takes the idealistic approach in terms of beauty, in that people cannot even view a real picture of Sarah Palin without arguing that Newsweek is a liberal magazine plotting against the republicans. Ever since Sarah Palin was nominated, there has been a lot of people making fun of her by creating Palin spoofs, and more, but if McCain loses even more votes because of this, it shows how beauty obsessed America has become, a country who cannot even view a real picture of a politician. In class, we discussed how some election debate results differ if they are listened to on the radio as opposed to television due to the way a candidate may appear. Therefore, if one person looks nicer, then the country may agree that that particular person won the debate. Debates, and furthermore elections should not be won because of looks, but ideas for the nation. Politicians, or anyone for that matter, should not be airbrushed, and people should be seen for who they truly are.