Introduction:
Hello everyone! My name is Katie Isaacs. I am a college freshmen and I have been in Professor Benningfield's ENG 101 class for the fall semester of 2011. Now I am not a writer. I am not one of those people that can put my thoughts into words then put them on paper. I am also one of those people that do not like to ask for help when I need it. However, when Professor Benningfield would give us back out papers her comments on them did help. Though the class does have a lot of reading and writing in it, and they things that we did read weren't very interesting most of the time (when is any reading in school interesting?) they didn't take up much of your time and neither did the writing .
Government : This is something that we can't be without. Different places have a different type of government to best suit their needs ; and no one will thing that one type of government will work for everyone. My ideal government would be a mash-up of Gandhi, Lau-Tzu, and Jefferson. Gandhi believes that the people or small groups should govern themselves (self govern). Now not every person or small family needs to be a leader in his or her one-person government, this type of government functions on an individual's strengths. However Lau-Tzu who believes in minimizing the government, and a leader who is not full of esteem. My ideal leader needs to be for the people and is not afraid to work with them. With that the people need to also be willing to work with the government and some of that can be done but helping pick put a leader. Which is way the people need to vote. "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, Driving their just powers from the consent of the governed" (Jefferson 80) If you want your rights you then need to vote for the leader that you believe will give them to you, and a leader that you think will best represent your country.
Wealth and poverty:
Poverty is something that effects all people. At some point in your life you will get a call from a person asking for money to help the Salvation Army or another organization like it. You'll probably also in the near future see someone on the street holding a sign like like the man in the picture is, or one asking for money, a job or food to help feed their family.
The programs the government has to help the people who live in poverty are both good and bad. Their good if used in the right way. Food Stamps for example help the people who can't afford to buy food and other necessities for their family and are used to help get people on their feet until they don't need them any longer. However their are people out there who lie about how much money they make and continue to get food stamps when they don't need them.
My opinion on the wealthy is similar to the one on poverty. It has it's good points and bad ones. And as cliche as this sounds, if a person who is wealthy donates their time, food and money to help those in need I think the would would be a better place, and that we would have less poverty. But at times the wealthy will only be concerned about them selves and try to make themselves richer and buy nice things for themselves.
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| I used this picture because the super heros in the picture are trying to rid their world of the unjust and bring justice and peace to everyone. |
Justice:
To many justice is what makes things right, fair and deserved. Justice is served when crime has been committed and the person has been punished. Different countries have a different since of justice. In the movie and book The Stoning of Soraya M, Soraya was stoned for adultery. Which was a crime that she did not commit. In the movie they only needed two witnesses against Soraya in order to convict her. The two witnesses against Soraya swore that they were telling the truth, however they lied. Her Husband wanted a new wife and didn't have the money to pay to divorce Soraya.
Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting the against the segregation against African Americans. He once said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.(214)” He wanted the people that were being unjust to see that African Americans were people too, not worthless people that were here for no reason.
Ethics and Morality:
Ethics and Morality is doing right or wrong thing. You do the right thing because it's the right thing to do.
When we are young we are taught by our parents what's right and wrong. "Don't steal" "Don't hurt anyone" etc. And as we grow older we add our own to what we already know. An example would be the "unwritten girl code". Thought its silly sounding it's like a list of do's and don'ts "It's wrong to try and date a boy that your best friend just broke up with" and others. I think that our happiness is connected to out ethics and morality. If we just went out and didn't do anything all day and not go to school, what would we have to look forward to? We wouldn't be able to get a good job to support ourselves or our family's. I'm not sure about you, but if that was my life I would be miserable. You need to do what ever makes you happy. “I believe that every human being has an innate desire for happiness and does not want to suffer (Dalai Lama 5).”
Individual:
I think that it's important to be an individual. If you're not being you then who will? Being different isn't wrong it's just you being you.
In my high school there were a group of people who would hand out fliers about once a month announcing that on a certain day they would be breaking the social norms. They would wear crazy make-up and funky clothes. They were encouraging people to stop acting like everyone else in the world and just be themselves. With out people who are brave enough to be different and make new things we would be falling back and not moving forward as a society. Emerson once said "To be great is to be misunderstood. (265)". To be great you need to be you, and often times people will not understand you. All of the great people of our past were once misunderstood, Jesus being one of the many.
Conclusion:
As the semester comes to a close I have learned more about the government then I probably ever would have if I wasn't in this class. I've learned how to make my writing better and how to treat people better in life. Though the reading didn't interest me very much I did take information that will help me in my life. I also wish that we were able to have more of a class discussion about they topic we were on and not all just taking notes. But other then that I enjoyed my time in the class and I can't wait for next semester.
Work Cited
Jefferson, Thomas. “Declaration of Independence.” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas.
New York: Bedford St. Martin’s Press, 2000. 77-83. Print.
King Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Ed. Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas
New York: Bedford St. Martins, 2000. 211-231. Print
Lama, Dalai. Ed. Nicholas Vreeland. An Open Heart. 5-25. Print.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Self-Reliance”. Ed Lee Jacobus. World of Ideas
New York: Bedford St. Martins, 2000. 255-269. Print.
Images:
Image for government
Image for wealth and poverty
Image for Justice
Image for Ethics and Morality
i loved the way you visualized your paper with your pictures. it is very creative and it made your views on government super interesting. Your leadership and government views were very bold looveee it!
ReplyDeleteMerry christmas and happy new years! God bless!
-Caity Jackson ENG 101-A