Hi all,
Hope this soggy Sunday finds you all well, despite the weather. Follow the link, and watch the episode tonight, if at all possible. If you haven't seen any of Ken Burns' films before, you're in for a treat! Channel listings are contained within the link: http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/
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Have you ever thought of an America without justice, without freedoms? Take a moment and picture America “the beautiful” run by a cruel dictator, one comparable to Hitler or Stalin. Imagine being a prisoner in your own home, school, or work place. Where slandering your government could leave your face on a milk carton with the words “Missing Persons” printed over your head.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend whose relative emigrated from Russia to find a better life. He told me a story once that had been told to him from his grandmother who lived in Russia during the time of Stalin, and she said one of her neighbors had been complaining frequently about the government and its ruler; after word had gotten out about her “disrespecting” this powerful ruler she disappeared, she was never seen or heard from again.
American’s these days that the everyday freedoms that we have for granted. Things like the freedom of speech, in this country you can voice your opinion and live to tell about it. I could go outside right now and scream at the top of my lungs how much I have our government and nothing will happen to me, I don’t think some people understand that people would go missing after doing that in other countries. Our ideals of freedom set our country above the rest, we have the freedom to do pretty much whatever we want, as long as you’re obeying the laws of course. In America we can go to whatever church we want, whatever store you want, live in any town, go to any school, play any sport, anything you can think of you can more than likely do it. There are endless possibilities to life in America do to the many freedoms our government provides for us and people should stop taking them for granted.
“Do you want to know the truth? Well you cant handle the truth!” a line from the movie A Few Good Men, depicting a court scene in which Tom Cruise is Questioning Jack Nicholson on the stand. The truth is though that the justice system here in the US is aimed at protecting the people of our country. A color blind legal system hungry for a big serving of justice is what you could describe it as. Our Legal System treats everyone the same and gives everyone a fair trial whether they deserve one or not. The people of America should try to support our Justice System because if they are ever wronged or do something wrong it will be there to protect and prosecute them.
I no longer ignore the wonderful life I have been aloud to live in the US. Where “the sky is the limit”, and I’m free to voice my opinions and be protected by the Justice System if my rights ever come into question. As Americans I advise you all to do the same and just appreciate and defend your freedoms.
My draft essay is in my English notebook in my locker. I'm not sure when we're supposed to post them here, but if it's due tonight i can show in class that it's done already. I'll have it posted tomorrow evening.
ReplyDelete-Erik
This I Believe About Being American
ReplyDeleteAmerica is a place where all kinds of people can live out their dreams. In our society it has been established that schooling is the foundation for our dreams, or at least the education of someone else. Common dreams are usually recognition for admirable work and a base to perform important and useful tasks, like educating young people. Some people dream of making their way illegally, but none the less it can be done in America. If anyone were to state a dream of theirs, I guarentee that as long as it is physically possible, it can come to life in America one way or another.
My favorite example of someone making something out of nothing in America is my good friend Ryan (who's last name i don't have permission to place on the internet). He didn't have much of a plan for after highschool, and wasn't the most driven worker in the world, despite his potential, yet America gave him a chance. When it was his turn to be forced into completing the SAT's, he scored okay, better than most people he knew, and quite well as far as first tries go. He decided not to take an extra three hour re-do just to bring his score up a hundred or so points. When Saint John's University recieved his application, he was awarded a full, academic scholarship in an advertising major just because of the potential they saw he might have in this field. They saw this potential based off his one try at the SAT's. This would never have happened without all the things America has come to uphold. People with potential to do good are sought after and given opportunities to live dreams.
A person doesn't always need college and scholarships to follow certain dreams. America means alot more than that. In our country we have evolved a sophisticated network of banks where people can present ideas in hopes of getting a loan. Everyone knows you can't get much done without some finacial platform. When a bank agrees with a particular idea and the person presenting it can prove they have a way to pay it back, they get a loan. Ideas need funding and America has made these funds accessable to the best ideas working with positive strategies.
In a world where nothing happens unless it can be paid for, America has the resources to help ideas become realities. These resources were established by people who dreamed of making all this possible. America was therefore built off dreams being put to use constuctively. I believe putting dreams to use in ways that promote others to dream as well as better the environment for everyone is what it means to be American.
--Erik
Do you value the right things in life? What is the most important thing of your life? If you did not say people or your family you should rethink your way that you evaluate the process in which things are important to you. Don’t fret there are many people just like you who people are not that important in their lives.
ReplyDeleteEvery one has heard of people getting killed over the non-essentials for example televisions, and things of that nature. People who do things like that do not have their priorities in the right place. Those people should know that taking a life is the worst thing that someone could in their whole life. These people who kill over things like TV’s, and things like that obviously don’t value the right things. A question for you what would you do if someone stole your TV. I know I would call the police, and let them handle the situation because that is their job.
You can tell people don’t value the right thing just by watching television. The government now has TV ads asking families to eat dinner together. Which I think is very important because it builds trust in a family. I don’t know about other families, my family and I always eat together. Which is very important because it brings a family together even when people are at there busiest. This is something every family should value.
This brings me to another point, people who do drugs. The people who do drugs don’t value themselves which they should because that should be the most important thing in your life. If these people really cared, and valued their bodies they not be doing these things to themselves, by putting their bodies in harms way. These people should also know that doing drugs also hurts the people around them. This is why those people don’t value the right things because if they did they would not hurt the people around them, and would try to better themselves.
In my life I value many things, but my family is the thing I value the most. Family is something everyone should value because you will not have those people in your lives forever. These people in your life you build relationships that last forever.
-alex b.
Walking through the halls of Lincoln High School I feel as though eyes are all around me, judging my every move. Whether it be followed by a smile or a dirty look, judgments are still being passed and opinions about me are being made. I feel as is I have to “dress to impress” every day at school in order to be liked and sit with the “cool kids” during lunch. This doesn’t just involve me, every day teenagers are being judged by each other on hair, clothes, looks, and money; and pressure to look good is all around school. Teenagers in the 21st century value all of the wrong things in life and need to learn what is really important in life.
ReplyDeleteI was looking through my high school year book the other day and the senior superlatives caught my eye. Skimming through the pages I saw “Best smile”, “Most likely to become famous”, and others that seemed pretty normal. But as flipped through the book I stopped at the page that said “Most high maintenance.” Two kids were chosen as the snobby rich kids who were the most high maintenance in the school, but everyone seemed to think that it was cool to win. The two teenagers that were chosen for this certain superlative dressed well and were pretty popular in our school last year. This just goes to show that in the opinion of kids these days, money comes along with popularity I think it is just wrong. What ever happened to “Most likely to succeed in life” superlatives and things that actually mattered in life? Teenagers need a reality check and fast.
“Never judge a book by its cover.” One of the many quotes of my mother and a lot of other moms that I know. In most cases in high schools the “popular group” doesn’t usually turn out to be the nicest people in the world. Just because people wear designer clothing and have the new high tech cell phones doesn’t mean that their personalities match up with their nice things. Kids need to realize that what really matters in life is what is on the inside, not how someone looks or how expensive their clothes are. Teenagers in America need to learn that in life you have to work hard to earn nice things and you have to respect others around you. High school and reality are very different, and when you are older it is not going to matter what you look like or how well you dress. What matters is how hard you work, how you help others, and how you raise a family. Personality overpowers looks and it seems like that lesson is not taught in high school.
Teenagers value all of the wrong things in life, but as they grow older they will learn what is really important. I choose to look through the outside shell of a person and really get to know who they are on the inside and I think that everyone else should too. Kids will learn to respect others and never judge a book by its cover, it just takes time. Values and morals will soon come into play and walking through the halls of life won’t be as scary or judgmental.
-allie f
what erik said is very true, America is a place to live out your dreams. i can definately see where his passion is coming from and i truly believe in what he is saying through his essay.
ReplyDeleteAlex brings up good points in his essay when he says that people who are materialistics dont have their proiorities strait. its true we do live in a materialistic society that is really sick and twisted.
ReplyDeleteAllie's essay about teens in society judging people and not giving them a chance do to their material possesions is a really deep subject. it connects to alexs essy about materialiistic society. and allie is right people need to grow up and learn how to respect each other.
ReplyDeleteHi this is Chelsea sorry this is late I had some computer problems with getting to this site and also with my printer. I'm able to get at the blog easier now that I have a laptop that will actually let me get to the site instead of my computer in my family room.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their own opinion about other people. I for one know that I would like to believe this statement but the truth is everyone is different. Some might say that we are but it is just a lie. Everyone has the right and or freedom to be equal but yet the nation is still undecided.
ReplyDeleteBeing sent to a private school was not that bad. Kids would think gross uniforms they all look the same. Yes we had uniforms but i think having them is a great way of showing that everyone is equal. While not having to worry about what other people will say to you by the way you dress. Other children would have to wake up early thinking what outfit is cute and witch one is scrubby we would just have to put a white shirt on then a jumper or a skirt. A jumper would be a dress that would go to your knees while have too straps over your shoulders.
No offense but most girls here at Lincoln High School wear the latest designs such as Hollister, Aberacrombie & Fitch or Aeropostale. They wear this because they want to have the latest thing, to fit in. Some people live in Welfare families who are not able to afford those types of clothing. In reality if you take a less fortunate child whose family is just getting by with payments and is poor and put him or her next to a child who is rich and has all those types of clothing, the child who is poor will be made fun of because he or she does not have nice clothes.
My family sent my sibling's and I to a private school to get a great education. They wanted the best for us as most parents do and they wanted us to be equal. Wearing the uniforms you would not be able to tell witch child is rich and witch child is poor because you would look exactly like everyone else. They knew the less time we would worry about what everyone would think of us would be a waste of time and in that time we could be getting a better education by studying more.
I know that america is a place where you could voice your own opinions without being thrown in prison and whatnot, but at the same time that doesn't mean that everybody will like what you have to say. And people do come here to live their dreams, but they really don't get to fully do what they want. you don't relly see many people from different countries becoming doctors or anything that makes big money. So yeah they can now voice their opinions, but they still don't have their dream jobs, and still work just as hard to support a family.
ReplyDelete- Tiffany
i couldn't get on the blog at home so because i was having some computer issues, so sorry it was late I'll hand in my paper in class.-Tiff
ReplyDeleteI agree that by having uniforms makes it easier for the kids going to school. yes people may complain, but that way it is fair for everyybody. Because it's true, some people are less fortunate.-Tiff
ReplyDeleteI agree with the person who said that in lincoln momey has a lot to do with popularity. It's true a lotof people think that in order to be cook you have to have money so you can buy the latest things, and if you don't have them then you aren't cool, you just don't fit in.-Tiff
ReplyDelete