This essay is a little piece I had to write for a Government class. Nothing special, just a particular enjoyment in breaking both party's legs.
Equality - the misguided idea that those of lesser ability and prestige deserve what those of greater worth have - takes on an entertaining, unique perspective in politics. In the blue corner, you have the bleeding hearts, those who would seek to drain their own blood to see the poor man live another day. Honorable and righteous they call themselves, but to coronate the proletariate is hardly an act worthy of such title. In the red corner you have a mafia of white, old men. Demons and scoundrels who would sooner burn holy books than allow any trace of government-sanctioned redistribution of wealth set foot in their domain. The words "greedy vampire" come to mind.
To the champions of the blue team, equality invokes an image where, with the bastion of government vanguarding the crusade, the bring the country's poor and needy back to their feet at a job. Unrealistic Romantics. Such a world ignores a human's basic instinct - self-interest.
To the aristocrats of the red, though, equality see government crushed to a pulp. They see the world through the ruby shades of Herbert Spencer - a savage Darwinian struggle where the strong will rise to power and wealth, their victims are, and deserve, to be left bloodied corpses, and the smart will feast on their remains like vultures. To them, equality is the right to the equality of opportunity. A right which they have not granted, though they would argue otherwise.
But to see either of the extremes as a real solution or option is somewhat ridiculous. To redistribute wealth blindly removes the drive to perform at maximum; it removes the drive for individual achievement. On the other hand, if you choose to allow the maiming of your countrymen by economic titans, and never work to ensure that the disabled and the sick don't fall in to depravity, when you refuse to provide health benefits for your citizens because it wouldn't increase taxes one cent, seems to label you either selfish or intellectually unfortunate. Some people might call you "a dim bulb", "not the sharpest tool in the shed", "sandwich short of a picnic", "slow", etc. To truly achieve a fair degree of equality, our systems need to reformed. We are torn between two opposing forces, and they are tearing our efforts to pieces. We must come to terms with the realities of these social reforms. Welfare serves a purpose, but it is misused and abused and must be made stricter, or we're throwing money away. Universal Health Care must be implemented if we want to revive the economy, because less money out of our pockets is more money to induce business, to say nothing of the relief it takes off of school districts and their stressed budgets. Its just such a shame that sadists and masochists can't meet in the middle for a greater good. It must be the fetishes.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
A World to Parallel Our Own
This essay, spurned by a discussion I had with a friend, was written purely for enjoyment. I feel this may have affected the quality slightly, but writing for one's self has to begin somewhere.
For better or for worse, change is upon us. Our world is changing faster than ever before, and it is changing in ways that we never even imagined it would have before. In the midst, a microcosmic world – the World of Warcraft – was created, which parallels the global changes, in many ways, of our own world.
In certain aspects, the Earth has remained resilient to change. Tradition and traditional values still hold many in its vice-like grip. Those of the older generation, those often seen in power in the United States, are of that group. In ways, previously discussed, they hold steadfast against the waves of change and reform, believing in the archaic principles of an age past. From their seeds sowed, a new generation was born that is now coming of age, joining society and standing along side them, but perhaps not as equals in capacity. This new generation, especially in the United States, has taken, and continues to take, their lives for granted. They find a false contentment in their false belief of entitlement. They, who have become immeasurably apathetic to their educational and vocational future, believe that they deserve, simply for it, a college education and a well paying job. In this, they have been raised, except for a small fraction, in to ungrateful, immature deadbeats with no appreciation for what they have. The two generations both have their short comings, their rainbow after the storm, and their own personal parallels.
Vanilla WoW was a harsh, elitist world, reminiscent of a Pre-Sherman Anti-Trust Act United States. A select few parties controlled the production of high-level goods, and barriers to entry in to this powerful ring were many and daunting. Even so, this was the Golden Age. During this Darwinian era of struggle and difficulty, the masses of max level characters were given idols. These model players showcased the spoils earned by the combined effort of their guilds, and one could and would look up to these demi-gods in all their rarefied power and glory. During that epoch of greatness, there was not a soul who did not appreciate the time, the effort, the skill and the sheer fantasticality of what these aristocrats of the artificial world had accomplished; and this made them grateful. Those below the titans were able to appreciate what they had, because they knew that it represented a path toward a future along side the champions they bore witness to every day, and it drove them to excel. These idols, and the greatness they represented, drove them become better, both in gear and in skill – a drive and appreciation exclusive to our fathers’ generation.
Then Wrath of the Lich King came; then our generation came. The once pure world of Azeroth was, all at once, inundated by a misguided, unprincipled and ungrateful human river. Completely forsaking the traditional methodologies of their forefather’s, they revolted, reforming the mechanics of the game in to an over-simplified parody of its former glory, and this reformation only furthered their grotesque attitudes. Self-absorbed, and basking in their own false prowess, they demanded, like the immature children they were, power and equipment simply because they believed it entitled to them. Falsely equipped with the power of gods, they were presented with challenges far inferior, in both grandeur and difficulty, to those presented by Vanilla; and, naturally, this inflated their ego only further. Knowing nothing of the heroes and heroines of the past, they proclaimed themselves masters of their domain. Knowing nothing of skill, of grandeur, of the past, they selfishly demanded more and more, and they received. It was in this receiving that they lost appreciation and drive. Everything was handed to them; everything is handed to us. Being the popular image, they all believed they were entitled to the best gear and standing. Being the popular image, we all believe we are entitled to stand at the podium at college and to receive a fat salary. This isn’t so. We have lost our appreciation for the things we have, and we have lost the drive to improve both our education and ourselves.
Our own artificial microcosms speak well beyond their years – they provide a fleshed out future for the masses that have jumped on the apathy bandwagon. With no respect for their elders and superiors, surmounted by the uncurbed attitudes of entitlement, the populace weakens; pride in one’s organization evaporates and mutual bonds diminish. In Warcraft, this is displayed through the steep decline in pride for one’s guild. Guilds have become merely a tool through which to leverage higher standing. They are no longer families who work cooperatively to succeed, and people are no longer proud of them. To see a character with a guild tabard is rarer than the Dodo bird. On Earth, without respect for those of intelligence and for those who are seeking to guide us in to our future – if we choose to value what’s “cool” over what’s actually important for our betterment – we will crash, and we will burn.
Though the generation of old may be at fault to cling to certain traditional principles, it demands respect for what it values. What do we value? Trends? Sex? Drugs? Our microcosms reveal nothing more to add to this list other than power and wealth. What future could these vices possibly bestow upon us? Even if these are shown to be pure speculation, what then? If we really do value our future, are we and will we be willing and able to work for it? From evidence presented by this artificial world, and from accounts of our real world, signs would point to no. Meanwhile, over seas, millions of students and workers are being raised at a level far exceeding us, poised to take our dwindling supply of jobs and futures. It bears asking: have we lost already?
For better or for worse, change is upon us. Our world is changing faster than ever before, and it is changing in ways that we never even imagined it would have before. In the midst, a microcosmic world – the World of Warcraft – was created, which parallels the global changes, in many ways, of our own world.
In certain aspects, the Earth has remained resilient to change. Tradition and traditional values still hold many in its vice-like grip. Those of the older generation, those often seen in power in the United States, are of that group. In ways, previously discussed, they hold steadfast against the waves of change and reform, believing in the archaic principles of an age past. From their seeds sowed, a new generation was born that is now coming of age, joining society and standing along side them, but perhaps not as equals in capacity. This new generation, especially in the United States, has taken, and continues to take, their lives for granted. They find a false contentment in their false belief of entitlement. They, who have become immeasurably apathetic to their educational and vocational future, believe that they deserve, simply for it, a college education and a well paying job. In this, they have been raised, except for a small fraction, in to ungrateful, immature deadbeats with no appreciation for what they have. The two generations both have their short comings, their rainbow after the storm, and their own personal parallels.
Vanilla WoW was a harsh, elitist world, reminiscent of a Pre-Sherman Anti-Trust Act United States. A select few parties controlled the production of high-level goods, and barriers to entry in to this powerful ring were many and daunting. Even so, this was the Golden Age. During this Darwinian era of struggle and difficulty, the masses of max level characters were given idols. These model players showcased the spoils earned by the combined effort of their guilds, and one could and would look up to these demi-gods in all their rarefied power and glory. During that epoch of greatness, there was not a soul who did not appreciate the time, the effort, the skill and the sheer fantasticality of what these aristocrats of the artificial world had accomplished; and this made them grateful. Those below the titans were able to appreciate what they had, because they knew that it represented a path toward a future along side the champions they bore witness to every day, and it drove them to excel. These idols, and the greatness they represented, drove them become better, both in gear and in skill – a drive and appreciation exclusive to our fathers’ generation.
Then Wrath of the Lich King came; then our generation came. The once pure world of Azeroth was, all at once, inundated by a misguided, unprincipled and ungrateful human river. Completely forsaking the traditional methodologies of their forefather’s, they revolted, reforming the mechanics of the game in to an over-simplified parody of its former glory, and this reformation only furthered their grotesque attitudes. Self-absorbed, and basking in their own false prowess, they demanded, like the immature children they were, power and equipment simply because they believed it entitled to them. Falsely equipped with the power of gods, they were presented with challenges far inferior, in both grandeur and difficulty, to those presented by Vanilla; and, naturally, this inflated their ego only further. Knowing nothing of the heroes and heroines of the past, they proclaimed themselves masters of their domain. Knowing nothing of skill, of grandeur, of the past, they selfishly demanded more and more, and they received. It was in this receiving that they lost appreciation and drive. Everything was handed to them; everything is handed to us. Being the popular image, they all believed they were entitled to the best gear and standing. Being the popular image, we all believe we are entitled to stand at the podium at college and to receive a fat salary. This isn’t so. We have lost our appreciation for the things we have, and we have lost the drive to improve both our education and ourselves.
Our own artificial microcosms speak well beyond their years – they provide a fleshed out future for the masses that have jumped on the apathy bandwagon. With no respect for their elders and superiors, surmounted by the uncurbed attitudes of entitlement, the populace weakens; pride in one’s organization evaporates and mutual bonds diminish. In Warcraft, this is displayed through the steep decline in pride for one’s guild. Guilds have become merely a tool through which to leverage higher standing. They are no longer families who work cooperatively to succeed, and people are no longer proud of them. To see a character with a guild tabard is rarer than the Dodo bird. On Earth, without respect for those of intelligence and for those who are seeking to guide us in to our future – if we choose to value what’s “cool” over what’s actually important for our betterment – we will crash, and we will burn.
Though the generation of old may be at fault to cling to certain traditional principles, it demands respect for what it values. What do we value? Trends? Sex? Drugs? Our microcosms reveal nothing more to add to this list other than power and wealth. What future could these vices possibly bestow upon us? Even if these are shown to be pure speculation, what then? If we really do value our future, are we and will we be willing and able to work for it? From evidence presented by this artificial world, and from accounts of our real world, signs would point to no. Meanwhile, over seas, millions of students and workers are being raised at a level far exceeding us, poised to take our dwindling supply of jobs and futures. It bears asking: have we lost already?
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Outsourcing and Globalization
This is an essay I wrote for my Social Issues class. It is meant as a response to Thomas Friedman's documentary "The Other Side of Outsourcing", but I got a little carried away.
On Our Knees
For years the U.S. has lavished in the luxury of a reign on high among the globalized world. We’ve been the vanguard of innovation; we’ve lead the way in to the information age; we’ve given the gift of prosperity through commerce to countless people; and the world has benefited tremendously from it, but now we are made to face the consequences of our actions. Now we are made to, in the eyes of our politicians, Suffer. Through brainwashing of the plebian masses, those too foolish to question their propaganda otherwise, our nation’s misguided sovereign have successfully turned us against the world. In their corrupting addresses to the proletariat, they are quick to denounce the prosperity for all parties brought on by the outsourcing of jobs, ensuring the tenebriation of any information countering their claims after they’ve walked behind the curtain. But they do naught but destroy their own. This nation has fallen; it has buckled under the crushing pressure of a changing world, and now, still under the rule of blind, old fools, it can do nothing but wither and die on its knees. It is until this nation is made to see, is pushed to the brink of utter economic and political failure, it can never prosper the way it once did. The way it still dreams it can.
Ruled by the aged, the nation walks by aged beliefs. It is guided by archaic principles in a world that does not condone such. Constantly, our figureheads champion a false crusade of protectionism – a campaign to save domestic jobs from fleeing overseas. Fools, all of them. It can be heard, the world around, that keeping jobs within our borders, by keeping our citizens employed in jobs that are kept by force and subsidies, that our economy will rise again. Wrong. By human nature, we desire the most for the least; we operate on self-interest. To ensnare vocations being sent overseas, to tie them down here with government charity and regulations, we exacerbate a skewing of basic economic principles, an act that leads only to the drastic weakening of an economy. To compete in the global market, a company must seek out the best work for the most efficient cost, or your population will pay the price. By trapping them within our borders, this process is tampered with, causing prices to, ultimately, rise and consumers to suffer.
Even those free from the misguided ideologies of the generations past have set themselves on a course of degradation and self-destruction; and they did it all by themselves. The youthful populace of today’s America may not suffer the idiosyncrasies of their leaders, but they have done a superb job of stupefying and damning themselves. They, lost in their own laughably simplistic worlds, have rejected education and, though they may not see it through the fog they have lost themselves in, the future that it can bestow upon them. And to speak of those who still exert effort in their continued learning, there are many who lack any semblance of appreciation for what they are being so graciously gifted. In both guilty parties there exists a feeling, a certain belief that these privileges are entitled to them, that college degrees and graduate programs are entitled to them, that a job is entitled to them. They have become so enthralled with themselves that they refuse to learn the languages of those whom, in the future age of commerce, they will be required to interact with; nay, they scorn those who would even suggest learning a language that is not their own. Blinded by pride, they, too, will fall. On the other side of the world, there are children in India and Africa, who have never held a textbook, who are receiving laptops and using them to gain education. Those are the children who will succeed, and they will do so because they truly appreciate and are fully absorbing everything that is being given to them. Those are the children who will, in a globally competitive market, earn the jobs that Americans are complaining, like the asinine fools that they are, about losing. We are so incredibly foolish. We are so misguided. We are sniveling and crying for low prices and the next hot technology, not realizing that overseas workers are the sole reason that prices are low, and that we are no longer the ones producing the technology, and then we have the idiotic, hypocritical gall to bitch and moan about losing our jobs, and we aren’t even putting in the effort to earn them back.
The world is no longer hundreds of countries. It is no longer millions and billions of people of different races. We are one world. We are one race. We have become one market, and we have to open our eyes and see this. Americans are no longer competing against themselves. The world is the battlefield now, and it’s every man for himself, and for our citizens who are too feint hearted to understand this, they will perish. Survival of the Fittest will ensure that. Jobs will move to the place where it will be most profitable for the business, and people must be prepared to follow them. They must be prepared to learn more. They must be prepared to give more. Everything has a cost, and jobs are no exception. Those with experience will often say that the world is harsh, unforgiving, vicious, the world isn’t fair. Progress has given us a mandate: this we must learn again. If we are to survive in our age of exponential expansion, we must be prepared to sacrifice.
With the boundaries of nations broken, with the chains of race shattered, with the chasm of language traversed, our world is evolving. Every day, the global market is getting larger, and every day, the world itself, getting smaller. The rest of the globalized world has realized this. America has not. We have not. Until we shed our erroneous ideologies of protectionism, entitlement and archaism we will never – we can never – advance. We are on our knees on our own faults. Still, we aren’t beyond saving. But if we want to save ourselves, we cannot afford to be proud of the shortcomings we perceive as progress. To rise, we must step in to the future. To rise, we must share ourselves with the world and allow them to share in return. To rise, we must change our rules. To succeed, we must change ourselves.
On Our Knees
For years the U.S. has lavished in the luxury of a reign on high among the globalized world. We’ve been the vanguard of innovation; we’ve lead the way in to the information age; we’ve given the gift of prosperity through commerce to countless people; and the world has benefited tremendously from it, but now we are made to face the consequences of our actions. Now we are made to, in the eyes of our politicians, Suffer. Through brainwashing of the plebian masses, those too foolish to question their propaganda otherwise, our nation’s misguided sovereign have successfully turned us against the world. In their corrupting addresses to the proletariat, they are quick to denounce the prosperity for all parties brought on by the outsourcing of jobs, ensuring the tenebriation of any information countering their claims after they’ve walked behind the curtain. But they do naught but destroy their own. This nation has fallen; it has buckled under the crushing pressure of a changing world, and now, still under the rule of blind, old fools, it can do nothing but wither and die on its knees. It is until this nation is made to see, is pushed to the brink of utter economic and political failure, it can never prosper the way it once did. The way it still dreams it can.
Ruled by the aged, the nation walks by aged beliefs. It is guided by archaic principles in a world that does not condone such. Constantly, our figureheads champion a false crusade of protectionism – a campaign to save domestic jobs from fleeing overseas. Fools, all of them. It can be heard, the world around, that keeping jobs within our borders, by keeping our citizens employed in jobs that are kept by force and subsidies, that our economy will rise again. Wrong. By human nature, we desire the most for the least; we operate on self-interest. To ensnare vocations being sent overseas, to tie them down here with government charity and regulations, we exacerbate a skewing of basic economic principles, an act that leads only to the drastic weakening of an economy. To compete in the global market, a company must seek out the best work for the most efficient cost, or your population will pay the price. By trapping them within our borders, this process is tampered with, causing prices to, ultimately, rise and consumers to suffer.
Even those free from the misguided ideologies of the generations past have set themselves on a course of degradation and self-destruction; and they did it all by themselves. The youthful populace of today’s America may not suffer the idiosyncrasies of their leaders, but they have done a superb job of stupefying and damning themselves. They, lost in their own laughably simplistic worlds, have rejected education and, though they may not see it through the fog they have lost themselves in, the future that it can bestow upon them. And to speak of those who still exert effort in their continued learning, there are many who lack any semblance of appreciation for what they are being so graciously gifted. In both guilty parties there exists a feeling, a certain belief that these privileges are entitled to them, that college degrees and graduate programs are entitled to them, that a job is entitled to them. They have become so enthralled with themselves that they refuse to learn the languages of those whom, in the future age of commerce, they will be required to interact with; nay, they scorn those who would even suggest learning a language that is not their own. Blinded by pride, they, too, will fall. On the other side of the world, there are children in India and Africa, who have never held a textbook, who are receiving laptops and using them to gain education. Those are the children who will succeed, and they will do so because they truly appreciate and are fully absorbing everything that is being given to them. Those are the children who will, in a globally competitive market, earn the jobs that Americans are complaining, like the asinine fools that they are, about losing. We are so incredibly foolish. We are so misguided. We are sniveling and crying for low prices and the next hot technology, not realizing that overseas workers are the sole reason that prices are low, and that we are no longer the ones producing the technology, and then we have the idiotic, hypocritical gall to bitch and moan about losing our jobs, and we aren’t even putting in the effort to earn them back.
The world is no longer hundreds of countries. It is no longer millions and billions of people of different races. We are one world. We are one race. We have become one market, and we have to open our eyes and see this. Americans are no longer competing against themselves. The world is the battlefield now, and it’s every man for himself, and for our citizens who are too feint hearted to understand this, they will perish. Survival of the Fittest will ensure that. Jobs will move to the place where it will be most profitable for the business, and people must be prepared to follow them. They must be prepared to learn more. They must be prepared to give more. Everything has a cost, and jobs are no exception. Those with experience will often say that the world is harsh, unforgiving, vicious, the world isn’t fair. Progress has given us a mandate: this we must learn again. If we are to survive in our age of exponential expansion, we must be prepared to sacrifice.
With the boundaries of nations broken, with the chains of race shattered, with the chasm of language traversed, our world is evolving. Every day, the global market is getting larger, and every day, the world itself, getting smaller. The rest of the globalized world has realized this. America has not. We have not. Until we shed our erroneous ideologies of protectionism, entitlement and archaism we will never – we can never – advance. We are on our knees on our own faults. Still, we aren’t beyond saving. But if we want to save ourselves, we cannot afford to be proud of the shortcomings we perceive as progress. To rise, we must step in to the future. To rise, we must share ourselves with the world and allow them to share in return. To rise, we must change our rules. To succeed, we must change ourselves.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Are the Teens of Today "Doomed"?
This response was written for an assignment in a Social Issues class that I am currently enrolled in.
“Are the teens of today doomed?” A question with a grey area if one has ever existed. The answer isn’t clear-cut; it isn’t even poorly cut, for that matter. There are cases where the only answer to this question is screaming “Duh” directly in one’s face, and there are cases where one could look at the positeur of this enigma and scoff at their audacity for even asking the question in the first place. Then like any other good grey-area-question there are cases where the answer is the universal hand sign for “ehh…kinda”. Of course, exploring just one of these avenues would be incredibly boring.
Destiny. Insert scoff here. Even the notion that it exists is enough to incite a mocking chuckle. Destiny is merely an excuse for those who couldn’t make it work. Yes, there’s a degree of luck, but “destiny”? Psh. To say that teens these days are “doomed” is to say that it is their destiny, which, as I believe, is crap. Teens, and everyone for that matter, at some point in their life, have been presented with the chance and/or chances to make their life good. Maybe those chances were in school. You could’ve done well, gotten good grades, gotten a scholarship and gone to a college. Maybe not a haughty one, but a college, none-the-less. Maybe your chance was doing work; maybe you had a chance to begin a corporate ascent, and break free of your stereotypes. The real point is that everyone either will, has, or has had their chance to make it work, but many lack the foresight and wisdom to seize that chance when its there. This, of course, is no one’s fault but their own, fair or unfair. (Another scoff at fairness)
As numerous as the people are who live unfulfilled lives, there are those who succeed. Talking about them isn’t as interesting, though, due to a lack of chances to scoff at prospects like “destiny” and “fairness”. These people did what we call “work”. They are the ones who, either by force or by choice, they did the necessary “work” to achieve in realms of life. Anyone can be one of these people ("anyone" denoting anyone who doesn’t have a crippling mental disability). All one needs is what is known as “work ethic”. Unfortunately, a very good portion of the teens of today don’t even know what this concept is, let alone possess it. If you see one of them, scoff at them in the name of society; society will appreciate your altruistic deed. One could argue that teens are “doomed” (scoff) because teens don’t have work ethic. Here’s the counter argument: it is almost entirely their fault, not the fault of "destiny". Another argument could attack the opinions stated herein by saying that “ethnicity, lack of school funds and family problems can stop students from achieving success”. This works both ways. Of course this COULD stop a student from succeeding, and even if he DIDN’T have these problems he STILL wouldn’t succeed if he didn’t have work ethic (or care). If a student is really plagued by these problems, it is a responsibility that must be taken up by the student (whoa, that sounds like work) to address the teacher and find out ways that he or she could work around the problems (staying after school, getting extra help, etc [oh man, more WORK {its so hard!}]).
Work; responsibility; work ethic; CARING(!?); all of these thing are parts of a formula. Any student, no matter where they are, no matter what their personal and familial situation, no matter what their ethnicity, CAN succeed and almost certainly WILL succeed if they embody these characteristics and employ these methods. Thousands did it before them. They have NO excuse, especially not DESTINY (SCOFF!!!!), for them not to succeed. They have no one to blame for their choices but themselves.
“Are the teens of today doomed?” A question with a grey area if one has ever existed. The answer isn’t clear-cut; it isn’t even poorly cut, for that matter. There are cases where the only answer to this question is screaming “Duh” directly in one’s face, and there are cases where one could look at the positeur of this enigma and scoff at their audacity for even asking the question in the first place. Then like any other good grey-area-question there are cases where the answer is the universal hand sign for “ehh…kinda”. Of course, exploring just one of these avenues would be incredibly boring.
Destiny. Insert scoff here. Even the notion that it exists is enough to incite a mocking chuckle. Destiny is merely an excuse for those who couldn’t make it work. Yes, there’s a degree of luck, but “destiny”? Psh. To say that teens these days are “doomed” is to say that it is their destiny, which, as I believe, is crap. Teens, and everyone for that matter, at some point in their life, have been presented with the chance and/or chances to make their life good. Maybe those chances were in school. You could’ve done well, gotten good grades, gotten a scholarship and gone to a college. Maybe not a haughty one, but a college, none-the-less. Maybe your chance was doing work; maybe you had a chance to begin a corporate ascent, and break free of your stereotypes. The real point is that everyone either will, has, or has had their chance to make it work, but many lack the foresight and wisdom to seize that chance when its there. This, of course, is no one’s fault but their own, fair or unfair. (Another scoff at fairness)
As numerous as the people are who live unfulfilled lives, there are those who succeed. Talking about them isn’t as interesting, though, due to a lack of chances to scoff at prospects like “destiny” and “fairness”. These people did what we call “work”. They are the ones who, either by force or by choice, they did the necessary “work” to achieve in realms of life. Anyone can be one of these people ("anyone" denoting anyone who doesn’t have a crippling mental disability). All one needs is what is known as “work ethic”. Unfortunately, a very good portion of the teens of today don’t even know what this concept is, let alone possess it. If you see one of them, scoff at them in the name of society; society will appreciate your altruistic deed. One could argue that teens are “doomed” (scoff) because teens don’t have work ethic. Here’s the counter argument: it is almost entirely their fault, not the fault of "destiny". Another argument could attack the opinions stated herein by saying that “ethnicity, lack of school funds and family problems can stop students from achieving success”. This works both ways. Of course this COULD stop a student from succeeding, and even if he DIDN’T have these problems he STILL wouldn’t succeed if he didn’t have work ethic (or care). If a student is really plagued by these problems, it is a responsibility that must be taken up by the student (whoa, that sounds like work) to address the teacher and find out ways that he or she could work around the problems (staying after school, getting extra help, etc [oh man, more WORK {its so hard!}]).
Work; responsibility; work ethic; CARING(!?); all of these thing are parts of a formula. Any student, no matter where they are, no matter what their personal and familial situation, no matter what their ethnicity, CAN succeed and almost certainly WILL succeed if they embody these characteristics and employ these methods. Thousands did it before them. They have NO excuse, especially not DESTINY (SCOFF!!!!), for them not to succeed. They have no one to blame for their choices but themselves.
In the Name of Truth...
It is herein where I will begin to pour my essays, short fiction and the physicalities of my streams of consciousness. Most essays will be opinionated, not necessarily to a side of the political spectrum. Most short fiction will revolve around a theme which I have observed during my various breaks from introspection. I do not know the fate of my work, but here I will place it forth to be scrutinized, argued with and cross-examined by any and all who are willing and able to do so. I am still a student. I do not claim to be right. I am learning. I hope any who read these musings can, as well.
-Lord Erikshielder
-Lord Erikshielder
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