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| Omg you guessed it. That's me. |
Introduction
My name is Jennifer Spranger.
Originally I'm from southern Michigan, but when I turned twenty, I
decided that it was time for a new place to live that was not my
parent's house. I'm currently a freshman at EKU majoring in
Agriculture. Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of English courses.
Mostly because I have CDO (which is like OCD except the letters are
in order like they should be), and I tend to nitpick every little
thing that I write which results in papers taking a very long time to
complete. Fortunately, Prof. Benningfield is awesome (this alone
gives me an A, right?) and gave me a little leeway with some of my
assignments, so I wasn't as stressed as I could have been. Through
this course I have learned of many historical figures in which I
didn't know much about otherwise which has ultimately altered my
viewpoints on many topics.
Government
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Wealth and Poverty
Contrary to numerous other blogs that
I've read, I'm not very keen on handing out charity money the poor.
At least not in the U.S. where they are given every opportunity to
better themselves throughout their lives. There are many families
out there that are desperate for assistance, and I do believe in
helping them via government assistance, but there are many more who
are more than content to take advantage of that system. Having
necessities is basic to the functional member of society, but
planning is just as vital. It goes without saying that having a
better education system is necessary, as Andrew Carnegie and John
Galbraith believed. Charity money should not go out to buying a man
a fish, but to teaching him how to fish. Another way to help America
get back on its economic feet is for wealthy business owners to take
a hit to their paychecks and discontinue outsourcing jobs to other
countries. Especially since the uprisings in China are causing
outsourced jobs to be more costly. The more Americans who have jobs,
the more money that is dumped back into our economy. “After all,
who would buy all the goods flowing out of American factories if not
American workers?” states Robert Reich.(pg 435)
Justice
Justice is all a matter of perspective.
We have many cultural differences throughout the world, and even
here in our own country. What one perceives as justified may be a
horrible crime in another's eyes. Is it justifiable to murder a man who beat and raped a child with the intent to kill her? Oh snap! Controversy! (also a movie reference)
In certain areas of the Middle East, adultery is highly unorthodox
and results in death (The Stoning of Soraya), but here in the states,
we would merely call the person a foul name and shrug our shoulders.
While I believe that justice has the same basic principles no matter
where you are in the world, I also believe that each culture has it's
own opinions on what is right in wrong. Should we impose our beliefs
on other cultures? It's a tough question for me to answer. If we
Americans started telling the rest of the world what is right and
wrong, could the rest of the world tell us the same? This could
possibly mean that we would have to give up the right to eat beef
because the Hindus believe cattle to be sacred animals. However, if
another nation should ask for our help to justify a wrong, then we
do have an obligation to help them.
Ethics/Morality
Though I could scarcely read through
Iris Murdoch, I got the gist of what she was saying and wholeheartedly agree. Adults are reflections of their childhood selves.
While the adult image has filled out, what had been ingrained into
the child is still visible. Murdoch believed that in order for an
adult to be a true Christian, they must be taught to be so at a young
age. The same could be said for just about anything that you can
teach a child. A column in the Lexington Herald Leader over the
summer stated that many young adults of today's world have no
direction because their parents didn't provide a career path for them
to follow. As the saying goes, 'you can't teach an old dog new
tricks'.
Iris Murdoch also writes that religion
is stronger than morality alone. A moral person does not have fear
of eternal damnation or any great desire to rest in a promised land.
Therefor, if a person for whatever reason decided to become unmoral,
they would not have much reason to turn back. A child raised
religiously, even if the religion is false, will most likely rebel in
some way during their passage to adulthood. However, since they were
taught to be religious at a young age, it is likely that they will
turn back to their religion in their time of need.
Individual
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Being a complete individual is
something we are all guilty of doing. Even someone as unique as Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. followed another's example in order to become
the revolutionary leader that he was. Ralph Waldo Emerson believed
in being true to one's self. In the third paragraph of his passage
(pg 261) he states that people shouldn't be cowards and should
advance forward despite the scorn of the majority. This reminds me
of Henry Thoreau who thought that the majority of the masses were
stronger than the minority due to the overwhelming number of them.
Many people fear the majority because they are able to physically and
mentally control them with fear of isolation. In today's world, most
non-conformists are superficial. They label themselves because of
the makeup, hair, and clothes that they wear. Being a non-conformist
doesn't mean you have to stand out so drastically in the crowd. A
frat boy who refuses to drink or a girl who keeps a vow of celibacy
until marriage are both non-conformists that can blend seamlessly in
with the crowd. If Emerson came back from the grave today, I think
he'd be very disappointed in what people consider 'non-conformity'.
Conclusion
English 101 has taught me about the views of many authors both recent and long gone. Many of it is political, so the views are somewhat new to me (as I don't discuss politics very much). Professor Benningfield was a great help in understanding some of the authors too, because let's face it, some didn't know how to shut up. I'm looking at you, Carnegie. I could do with less reading and writing throughout the week, but I suppose it can't be helped if the department requires it. I'd like to say that I learned some grammar in there too, but most of what was taught I already knew. I dislike english overall, but this class was bearable.
Citations
Tzu, Lao. “Thoughts from the Tao-te
Ching.” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas. New York: Bedford St.
Martins, 2010. 21-35. Print.
Fromm, Erich, “The Individual in the
Chains of Illusion” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas. New York:
Bedford St. Martins, 2010. 325-338. Print.
King, Martin Luther Jr. “Letters from
Birmingham Jail.” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas. New York:
Bedford St. Martins, 2010. 211-231. Print.
Carnegie, Andrew. “Gospel of Wealth.”
Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas. New York: Bedford St. Martins, 2010.
387-403. Print.
Reich, Robert B., “Why the Rich Are
Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer.” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of
Ideas. New York: Bedford St. Martins, 2010. 419-437. Print.
Galbraith, John Kenneth. “The
Position of Poverty” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas. New York:
Bedford St. Martins, 2010. 405-417. Print.
Mudroch, Iris. “Morality and
Religion.” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas. New York: Bedford St.
Martins, 2010. 728-743. Print.
Lexington Herald Leader Newspaper,
unable to locate source to cite from.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, “Self-Reliance.”
Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas. New York: Bedford St. Martins, 2010.
255-269. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David, “Civil
Disobedience” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas. New York: Bedford
St. Martins, 2010. 173-199. Print.
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