Progression?

Is America progressing? I think America is. Our technology is

always improving and we are always expanding, but are we

always following the same trends and making the same mistakes? America first started when the English people were unhappy and set off to find a new world. They took risks, no one else would take. After that Americans started expanding through the West, bringing their technology with them. After they expanded as much as they could on land, they thought about the air, that's when they built airplanes and traveled to distant countries. Today the new idea is space. We have had space ships and rockets for a while now, sometimes they are successful with getting people up into space! But will America ever expand as much as to make a planet theirs? After space, what is next?

Old Glory in My House

In my home, we don't own a flag. When September 11, occur
red, we were living with my grandparents. My grandparents have a huge flag and they had it up after the tragedy and they kept it up for a while as well. It's not that my immediate family isn't patriotic, we just don't like flags, we have no where to even put one. I think that older people are more patriotic because they have seen our government do more for them. They have lived through wars that everyone supported and saw what could happen if the government wasn't there.
It's not that our generation doesn't care, I think that they are just ignorant.

The Great Depression!

Why has America's depression rate increased so much over the past few years? There is no better time to live than right now. Our generation has all the advantages that earlier generations didn’t such as television, cell phones, better medical care, education, and the ability to make our own choices. Earlier generations had to cope with The Great Depression, World War I, and World War II. Life is good, so why has depression increased so much? Causes for depression include: the amount of freedom we are given, the divorce rates increasing, and our reliance and dependence on technology. These times are changing and depression is the final product. Never in any other generation did we use the Internet to find our friends. And with divorce increasing as well, many children find themselves dealing with anxiety and depression, including those children who have never known their fathers. This generation has also been the most free generation. In this day of age, we can do anything we want to, gender and race doesn't matter. However, this puts a lot of stress on people to try to do everything, and committing to one thing for the rest of your life doesn't help the situation. What can we do to overcome this depression? Do you think that future generations will become more depressed?

Huckleberry Finn- BANNED!

New Trier banned the great American novel, "The Great Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" back in the 70s. Parents wrote a letter to the board making claims stating that the book is racially offensive and destructive to the self-image and self-esteem of black students who are required to participate in the classroom discussions. My American studies teacher asked us if we thought that it made more of a difference if the parents who wrote that letter were black. I think that it makes the argument much stronger. If the people that are being affected by that novel wrote it than its proof that people are actually being affected. If it were white families that wrote it, I don't think it would have been banned. This book uses the 'N' word a lot, which I find to be racially offensive, but that is how history is told. They made claims to many things in the letter that I didn't find to be that true. I wonder if the 'N' word wasn't used as much, if they would have still wanted to ban the book. They say that they portray "Jim" the black runaway slave as foolish and childlike. I believe that the book makes him look foolish, but also he is fatherly to Huck, they make him improve. I believe that is because the author doesn't look at race the same way that American did back when this book was written.

What Defines Race?

Racial differences you could argue are that people of African descend and Caucasians are fundamentally different and separated by their cultures. However, biologically there are no real differences between the two races; the most different thing about both is where they are brought up. Race isn't something used for biological purposes, it's almost always used for social purposes. Race is a man made thing, it exists in the mind. It is not biological, because the genes that give you certain traits are independent, if they controlled skin color, then it would be race as biological. We haven't had enough time to evolve and customize through evolution. Clearly that's all that race and skin color is though. Race is an evolution. People in Asia have slanted eyes because they live in the snowy regions or the bright sun, it helps them to see, this is a biological adaptation. Europeans could be shorter depending on where they come from because they lived in the mountains. People from Africa have darker skin, that's to protect themselves from the sun. Race shouldn't be judged as a bad thing, it should exists as it is a achievement that man changed itself to be able to live in all climates all over the world.

Take A Walk In Your Own Shoes!

When people see something unusual or different, they think it is weird and odd. I want to know if you think that it is okay for people to judge other people's culture. If an underdeveloped country does things out of the norm, are we really supposed to allow ourselves to think less of them? Even if what they do causes pain to their own people for amusement - they have probably been doing it for thousands of years and if we weren't so selfish, and we didn't push everyone to get what we wanted, we might have still been the tribe that acts what we call 'savage-like'. Relativism is the belief that all beliefs are relative and therefore equally valid. Can you really judge someone else without being in their shoes? Even if you spend time with someone else for a while, you are never going to feel how they feel because you were born and raised with a completely different perception of life and the world, you were born with different ethics.

Try Again.

In my AIS class, we have been taking pictures from the Internet and we have been taking them apart to try and see what the artist's view on it was. This picture I thought was interesting because the older man of African descendant is dressed very well. His hands and face are proportionate. I don't know what to think about the young boy that is talking to the older man, the older man is paying no attention to the young white boy. The old man seems to be looking dead on straight and it almost looks like the young white boy is lecturing him due to the way that his finger is pointed at him. The young black boy isn't as well dressed and has a funny hat on. Both the white girl and the white boy are pointing their finger at him, as if he had done something wrong as well. The little black boy's face looks a little exaggerated and animal like. The women in the picture has an apron on and is caring for the children. She is starring at the white children that are pointing at the other child. I don't know if this symbolizes that they are no good, unless they are doing what is told, or if they did something wrong.

The Joy Of Giving

Now that Adopt-A-Family is over I was just thinking about how great it is that our school can do so much for people on Christmas. But then I was wondering how my advisory and so many others in my school got all of that money to pay for those numerous families to have a good Christmas. I remember how our school sold puppy chow like crazy and had bake sales everyday outside of the cafeteria. The thing that I mostly had a problem with was, why people devoted so much time and money to this cause. Is it because they felt good after they were done? Because they got something out of it? or is it our school trying to cover up because we don't want to look like rich and wealthy people that don't help anyone else? I do believe all of these reasons to exist. I think that it's such a huge thing at our school because we don't want to look selfish and because our school is so big, we can get a lot done, and help a lot of people. People wouldn't just give you money if you said you needed it for Adopt-A-Family, that's why you need to sell them something, and then you have more of a chance, and they can walk away happy and proud that they contributed. Meanwhile you can be proud because you made some one's holiday that more enjoyable. 

Is Monopolization Good Or Bad?

Everyone likes to have the best and no one likes to have to pick from too many things, so why wouldn't monopolization be a good thing? Having one company buy out a competing company is a bad idea, because the company that bought it wouldn't have anything to compete against anymore. The bought out company could have made a fortune, but that doesn't mean that this is a good thing for the people. If the companies aren't competing then technology might not improve. If eventually only one company rules all then they have the right to adjust the prices to whatever they see fit. So Monopolization really isn't the way to go. 

Wow! That's Something You Don't See Everyday!

When tragedies and epidemics start, television shows are created to give their audience a time in the day to get the stressful times out of their minds. Sounds about right, don't you think? While everyone was running around not knowing what to do during the AIDS epidemic that's when vampire movies started to spring up. Since many people today are worrying about the war on terror, They have many television shows about the government and trying to bring them down, as in 24. So if people are trying to get their minds off of what's happening in the world around them, why are directors making so many of the same shows?

What Seems To Be The Truth

Remember in fourth grade, we learned about Rosa Parks? Well, it turns out that the story you were taught happened to be a bit over exaggerated. I remember being taught that she was a poor old African American woman who just got off a hard days work and was fed up with sitting on the back of the bus. Then out of nowhere, a scary white man told her she had to move. When she wouldn't that's when things got wild and people basically started the civil rights movement. The truth of the story is that she really wasn't an old women, she was in her forties and she didn't really pick a seat in the front, it was just that she was a minority and majority race got priority seating. This was also planned, it wasn't her just "having enough." It certainly wasn't the first time that someone refused to be treated second class, referring to the bus boycott in Louisiana. Event though the story was exaggerated quite a bit, I think that it's better that way, because it gave people the perspective that anyone could do it. If they knew that Rosa Parks was a secretary of the NAACP and had planned everything for so long, then maybe not as many people would have acted out.

Mister King Today

If Martin Luther King Jr. read his speech in today's time, what would be the outcome? What would people think about it? I believe that if he was to read the exact words today, "I Have A Dream" people would look at him as if he was high. People today believe that we are all created equal and some even convince themselves that we don't notice race and all live peacefully. When Martin Luther King Jr. read his speech. African Americans were forced to sit on the back of the bus, made famous by Rosa Parks. They weren't treated equally and they had no rights. Martin Luther King Jr's speech gracefully shed light on what needed to be improved and for the most part it has. We all share water fountains and sit where ever we wish on the bus, but is that enough? When it comes to getting a job, a lot of people still might not hire someone for their race. I think that with Barack Obama being president, people will think a lot less about race and there will be more equal opportunities.

Forrest Gump, meet Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is about a boy that is born old and eventually dies young. He meets this girl that he falls in love with when he is 10, but he looks like he is 60. This movie is great, it feels like a life long movie however.
A movie that I would compare it to would be Forrest Gump. Forrest never actually matures in his brain to that of an adult man. He is however present in many historical moments, including the war in Vietman. I compare this movie to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, because Benjamin was born on the day World War I ended, and then served in World War II, on a tug boat where him and his shipmates drown a Japanese submarine. Forrest Gump falls in love with this hippie that wants to be a musician but ruins her life with drugs. Benjamin Button falls in love with a dancer that almost makes it big, but ends up getting hit by a car and ruining her dreams. These movies are alike in so many ways, the movies are mostly about the main characters entire life and is told by a story.

Should Obama Close Guatanamo Bay?

I don't think that he should completely close it down. I think that he should watch over it and make sure that people are safe there and aren't being treated unconstitutionally. If you capture someone in battle and they haven't done anything bad yet, but they are trying to every chance they get, then you have to put them somewhere to protect the citizens of The United States.

Paris Vs. London

We all know that Paris Hilton is an heiress who gets what ever she wants, who's family owns the Hilton Hotels. But is there a Paris mini me on the Disney Channel? There is! London Tipton from "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody". London's name is famous city in Europe just like Paris, and the last names are eerie Hilton Vs. Tipton? They are oddly alike, i wonder if maybe the director did this on purpose. London is a rich heiress who lives in the hotel that her dad owns called the Tipton. She gets everything she wants and she isn't the smartest person ever. She's never had a job, and she never had to work for anything she's ever wanted.

Can Ethics Ever Change?

Ethics day at New Trier is the same every year. You get a long advisory where you eat bagels from Panera and talk about things you should and shouldn't do to make New Trier a better place. My question is whether or not you can change what someone thinks is the right thing to do. Ethics are usually first taught by your parents and family and that is when they become brainwashed. If you were taught as a child that the color red was a devil color, than you heard otherwise in your twenties, you will probably not change your mind. I don't think that the school can change what you think in one hour once a year.

TV Tokenism.. Is It Real?

Like it or not, it is a real thing. TV Tokenism is when a director is forced to hire an African American for a television show so that the television isn't 100% Caucasian. You will never in today's TV, find a drama starring an African American, but because they are needed on TV to prevent the network from being sued by NAACP, they will give them small parts and never as much screen time as they deserve. Whether or not this is a problem is up to you. Some thing to think about is the fact that an average American spends 14 years of their life watching television! That can change any one's perspective of a race or social group, and as a matter of fact, it does! When you are watching a show with the "black guy" always killing people and robbing the banks and the "white guy" there to save the day, or get him out of the slums of the ghetto, your feeling about people change no doubt. This is almost having the networks work against what NAACP stands for. Unfortunately the people in America with the most money are Caucasian and are between 25-50 years old, so they have to produce TV shows that catch their attention, many of them don't yet feel comfortable with an African American starring in a television show, saving the day. This brainwashing starts when kids are little even, starting from when they flip on the Disney Channel. There is a show that most kids are familiar called "The Proud Family" and what I have noticed is that the father eats chicken for dinner everyday, they have the friend that has 12 brothers and sisters under the age of 14, and their mother has never been married. Also the only sport that is ever played is basketball. This is just a great big exaggeration of what people have stereotyped them for a comedy effect. Another show on Disney would include "Suite Life of Zack & Cody" where these two little boys fool the hotel manager, who happens to be African American, so that they can get away with everything and anything. Is him being African American just a coincidence or could it be tokenism and the fact that they needed to pop an African American in there somewhere, so why not be the gullible one?