Thursday, August 9, 2007
To Those Who Still Care...
Post # 200!!!!!
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/09/domestic_surveillance/
Again, what is our Beloved Motherland becoming?
By the way here is my final essay
Hanh Nguyen
Tim Maxwell
EWRT1
Each generation has great issues they battle with to keep themselves untainted. They fight because this issue, this problem stops them from living a true life without impositions of outside influence. This generation and many others before it dealt with the oppression of media. Governments create laws, impose taxes, and ultimately define lifestyle of their citizens. However, the media that report them influences much of today’s government. The difference between this generation and those generations proceeding are the technology. As described in George Orwell’s 1984, advancement in technologies allow poisons to spread quickly within the homes of citizens through hybrid televisions and surveillance cameras called telescreens. I believe today’s society government and media are controlled by Commercial Interests. These Interests used the Government and Media to rape its audience with propaganda and rhetoric.
Our president post the tragedy of 9.11 past the Patriot Act. This act allowed the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to spy domestically. The act gave these branches of the government the ability to tap phone lines, to read emails and to arrest anyone under suspicion of terrorist acts. Just last week the George Bush Jr. tried to bully the House of Representatives in passing a law allowing the eavesdropping of foreigners using American satellites or websites to communicate. I believe today’s society government and media are controlled by Commercial Interests. What is this nation coming to when one cannot do participate in life without constant surveillance?
Today Media influences everything. In 1957, Edwin Ebel, then vice president of Public Relations at the General Foods Corporation conducted a study on how many advertisements are seen or heard in a 16-hour day. 1,538 on average was the number of advertisements seen by a person everyday. In 1957 there was no cable television, no internet, and most importantly no Myspace. Combined with all these new platforms for ads. People are unconsciously being bombarded with reasons by products, services and ideas from someone else. I believe Media, like Consumerism is trying to keep people shrouded in pettiness. In the words of Betty Liang “People are given the everything they need to be satisfied…”. This statement by Betty, I believe to be true. If people are constantly raising there goals and are constantly being satisfied there would be no reason to examine people’s lives. There would be no void in there lives because it would always be filled with something artificial and processed for there satisfaction.
Such events are not just taking place in the United States but around the world. The origin of the term Banana Republic refers to unstable countries in the Latin or South America or African countries. In Honduras, United and Standard Fruit Company’s purchased and subsidized lands for farming their bananas. With these lands, they offered extremely low paying, long hour jobs to the Hondurans. Unfortunately they were forced to work there because of lack of other jobs in the nation. Eventually the abuses and unfair treatment of the Company’s laborers reached the government. By this time the company had so much power it was able to stage a coup in the government and install leaders friendly to their enterprise. The United Fruit Company and the Standard Fruit Company are now known and Chiquita Brand Fruit Company and Dole Fruit Company. Consumerism had seized control of the Honduras Government in the name of growing cheap products, paying little to almost nothing to its employees, and selling at competitive market prices to make astronomical profits. I am not going completely rule out this could happen or has already happened out my beloved country.
Dear classmates, I say what can we do to stop this totalitarianism? What can the individuals do to battle these great injustices impeding on my freedom? Life doesn’t seem so great when I am told what to do, when to do it and how. The level of corruption I believe is in every level of our federal government. I just don’t know what to do anymore when Representatives are stealing money. I don’t know what to think when Senators are accused of sexual misconduct, and the media crucifies them in their reports instead of reporting on policy. What can one do when the President of the United States is a warmonger who used to work for corporations exploiting the indecent wars started by his administration? My friends, the first step we can take in fighting our illegitimate masters is to know of their corruption. From here on I guess everyone has to make it up as they go.
and here is my 4th essay Tim.
Hanh Nguyen
Tim Maxwell
EWRT 1
Tommy Hilfiger, a popular mainstream clothing line created an advertisement for women’s perfume and men’s cologne. This advertisement showed a smiling African American woman in 50’s era diner, wearing madras and hot pants. That is what I saw; Professor Tim Maxwell however saw rape. Not only did his view of this advertisement stunned me but shocked the class. I believed it a gross interpretation of happy, innocent people. But I also understood. I understood where Tim was coming from and his ideas weren’t completely ridiculous. The advertisement showed the woman smiling and looking towards someone or thing behind us; her hands covered her private region and the symbol of Hilfiger covering that. The bottle of cologne was shaped of a phallus, the African American model covering her genitals in a diner era restaurant where segregation was still rampant. Was I turning crazy to make these connections also?
Our first of many difficult essays to come was about freedom. Not just any freedom, but my definition of freedom and how I relate to it. The reason it was so difficult was because I didn’t understand its concept. Again I made the ridiculous assumption of being a US citizen and being endowed with “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. I wrote about the things I was able to enjoy and the things I was forbidden to do. How is this supposed to be difficult when I can draw my boundaries in the definition? I realized freedom meant nothing. As important as it sounds, many people assume they have the same definition. This abstract thought of freedom was supposed to be defined with concrete evidence. I used slaves as my basis for my thesis. Slaves were bound by masters to do their bidding. So I must be bound by _____ to do its will. It hit me so hard I questioned my sanity. Freedom does not mean do whatever I want; it means not to be a slave of something. My freedom was defined by what I believed I was compelled by. This in itself brought me to the epiphany that I was not a slave of rules. Commercialism, the desire of “stuff”, and emotions are my true masters.
Another defining moment in 1A unmasked by my realization of my slavery is the idea of the media and governments international are powered one of my masters. George Orwell’s, 1984, described an imaginary state where the government controlled all aspects of life. Aside from all the interpretations of the book, I want to talk about its political idea, an all powerful state. In the story, what was consumed and believed by the population was fabricated to keep them in check. Literally, the thoughts and beliefs of the masses were dominated by what was consumed through propaganda. The government would become extremely dangerous and invincible if they could do this. What if this really happened? Tim said it happened in China with its cultural revolution. Tim said for us to think for ourselves on the website (website). Tim gives us assignments to slave over under the guise of being helpful to our writing and futures. Tim said this and Tim said that. Isn’t Tim our government? If Tim controls our class with his iron fist, what has our government done? If in 1984, the government used the media to control the people; can’t the media today control the people? I do not believe the government and media run hand in hand together, but I do believe they are powered by the same vested interests. These interests used to be the “common good”, but now I believe they are motivated by wealth and power.
The last thing mind-blowing away my summer was class itself. I lost weight, learned how to skydive and the horrible 12-step program making me pre-write and post-write actually made me write better. Since we were commanded to think for ourselves, I did just that. Of the many ideas represented by each student in class, I felt like everyone else, compelled to force my opinion on the class. Discussing ideas in class made me feel like I was in a Roman Forum. These battlefields of ideas and rhetoric took form in debates and blog entries. For the first time, I was placed in an environment where everyone was considered a peer; even Tim Himself counted himself as a peer. If I was qualified to share ideas with people ranging from the ages 17 to Tim’s age, would this make me an adult? As I thought about this more and more I realized my opinions mattered. I know its cliché to say so, but it is a cliché for a reason. As a kid, much of my ideas are brushed off as “silly” and childish. To be taken seriously by people has always been a goal and I feel among my peers that I have reached it.
How I have changed is immeasurable. The entire summer has been a blur, but these events I remember distinctly. I took a class taught by a Stanford professor who attended UC Berkeley. Advertisements and the processing of information forced on to me is rape and I should tell somebody. The last thing I remember is I am a man and my opinions matter.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/09/domestic_surveillance/
Again, what is our Beloved Motherland becoming?
By the way here is my final essay
Hanh Nguyen
Tim Maxwell
EWRT1
Slave to Society
Each generation has great issues they battle with to keep themselves untainted. They fight because this issue, this problem stops them from living a true life without impositions of outside influence. This generation and many others before it dealt with the oppression of media. Governments create laws, impose taxes, and ultimately define lifestyle of their citizens. However, the media that report them influences much of today’s government. The difference between this generation and those generations proceeding are the technology. As described in George Orwell’s 1984, advancement in technologies allow poisons to spread quickly within the homes of citizens through hybrid televisions and surveillance cameras called telescreens. I believe today’s society government and media are controlled by Commercial Interests. These Interests used the Government and Media to rape its audience with propaganda and rhetoric.
Our president post the tragedy of 9.11 past the Patriot Act. This act allowed the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to spy domestically. The act gave these branches of the government the ability to tap phone lines, to read emails and to arrest anyone under suspicion of terrorist acts. Just last week the George Bush Jr. tried to bully the House of Representatives in passing a law allowing the eavesdropping of foreigners using American satellites or websites to communicate. I believe today’s society government and media are controlled by Commercial Interests. What is this nation coming to when one cannot do participate in life without constant surveillance?
Today Media influences everything. In 1957, Edwin Ebel, then vice president of Public Relations at the General Foods Corporation conducted a study on how many advertisements are seen or heard in a 16-hour day. 1,538 on average was the number of advertisements seen by a person everyday. In 1957 there was no cable television, no internet, and most importantly no Myspace. Combined with all these new platforms for ads. People are unconsciously being bombarded with reasons by products, services and ideas from someone else. I believe Media, like Consumerism is trying to keep people shrouded in pettiness. In the words of Betty Liang “People are given the everything they need to be satisfied…”. This statement by Betty, I believe to be true. If people are constantly raising there goals and are constantly being satisfied there would be no reason to examine people’s lives. There would be no void in there lives because it would always be filled with something artificial and processed for there satisfaction.
Such events are not just taking place in the United States but around the world. The origin of the term Banana Republic refers to unstable countries in the Latin or South America or African countries. In Honduras, United and Standard Fruit Company’s purchased and subsidized lands for farming their bananas. With these lands, they offered extremely low paying, long hour jobs to the Hondurans. Unfortunately they were forced to work there because of lack of other jobs in the nation. Eventually the abuses and unfair treatment of the Company’s laborers reached the government. By this time the company had so much power it was able to stage a coup in the government and install leaders friendly to their enterprise. The United Fruit Company and the Standard Fruit Company are now known and Chiquita Brand Fruit Company and Dole Fruit Company. Consumerism had seized control of the Honduras Government in the name of growing cheap products, paying little to almost nothing to its employees, and selling at competitive market prices to make astronomical profits. I am not going completely rule out this could happen or has already happened out my beloved country.
Dear classmates, I say what can we do to stop this totalitarianism? What can the individuals do to battle these great injustices impeding on my freedom? Life doesn’t seem so great when I am told what to do, when to do it and how. The level of corruption I believe is in every level of our federal government. I just don’t know what to do anymore when Representatives are stealing money. I don’t know what to think when Senators are accused of sexual misconduct, and the media crucifies them in their reports instead of reporting on policy. What can one do when the President of the United States is a warmonger who used to work for corporations exploiting the indecent wars started by his administration? My friends, the first step we can take in fighting our illegitimate masters is to know of their corruption. From here on I guess everyone has to make it up as they go.
and here is my 4th essay Tim.
Hanh Nguyen
Tim Maxwell
EWRT 1
Now and Laters
My first college English course, 1A, is a prime example of me discovering myself. As ridiculous as it sounds, it’s the truth. From the instant Tim Maxwell explained his views on the Tommy Hilfiger advertisement I knew this class would be an interesting way to spend six long summer weeks. This class is the first to ever question my ideas of personal freedom. It is the first class to put emphasis on the power of language and how I abuse it. The class challenged my assumption that I or anyone else can be independent in thought. It dissected my life; the idea of media control over the population, the idea of my Government having comercial interests, and belief of an unreasonable and demanding society. It is the only class ever to make me rewrite my essay to resubmit it. It’s the first class requiring and encouraging its students to blog after every class or whenever ideas or mood struck. 1A is the first class requiring a personal website be created to exhibit the essays I’ve written. It is the first class requiring a 12-step program on how to write a more perfect essay; some steps of which include admitting that I am a flawed. Writing a reflection essay and how I could improve the essay I just wrote. 1A is not simply an English course; it is a metamorphosis of a high school student in college to a real college student among his peers. This class represented so many firsts in my writing that it could be considered the genesis of my adult mentality, not being a teenager anymore but considering myself a contributor of wisdom and opinion. I am different person.Tommy Hilfiger, a popular mainstream clothing line created an advertisement for women’s perfume and men’s cologne. This advertisement showed a smiling African American woman in 50’s era diner, wearing madras and hot pants. That is what I saw; Professor Tim Maxwell however saw rape. Not only did his view of this advertisement stunned me but shocked the class. I believed it a gross interpretation of happy, innocent people. But I also understood. I understood where Tim was coming from and his ideas weren’t completely ridiculous. The advertisement showed the woman smiling and looking towards someone or thing behind us; her hands covered her private region and the symbol of Hilfiger covering that. The bottle of cologne was shaped of a phallus, the African American model covering her genitals in a diner era restaurant where segregation was still rampant. Was I turning crazy to make these connections also?
Our first of many difficult essays to come was about freedom. Not just any freedom, but my definition of freedom and how I relate to it. The reason it was so difficult was because I didn’t understand its concept. Again I made the ridiculous assumption of being a US citizen and being endowed with “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. I wrote about the things I was able to enjoy and the things I was forbidden to do. How is this supposed to be difficult when I can draw my boundaries in the definition? I realized freedom meant nothing. As important as it sounds, many people assume they have the same definition. This abstract thought of freedom was supposed to be defined with concrete evidence. I used slaves as my basis for my thesis. Slaves were bound by masters to do their bidding. So I must be bound by _____ to do its will. It hit me so hard I questioned my sanity. Freedom does not mean do whatever I want; it means not to be a slave of something. My freedom was defined by what I believed I was compelled by. This in itself brought me to the epiphany that I was not a slave of rules. Commercialism, the desire of “stuff”, and emotions are my true masters.
Another defining moment in 1A unmasked by my realization of my slavery is the idea of the media and governments international are powered one of my masters. George Orwell’s, 1984, described an imaginary state where the government controlled all aspects of life. Aside from all the interpretations of the book, I want to talk about its political idea, an all powerful state. In the story, what was consumed and believed by the population was fabricated to keep them in check. Literally, the thoughts and beliefs of the masses were dominated by what was consumed through propaganda. The government would become extremely dangerous and invincible if they could do this. What if this really happened? Tim said it happened in China with its cultural revolution. Tim said for us to think for ourselves on the website (website). Tim gives us assignments to slave over under the guise of being helpful to our writing and futures. Tim said this and Tim said that. Isn’t Tim our government? If Tim controls our class with his iron fist, what has our government done? If in 1984, the government used the media to control the people; can’t the media today control the people? I do not believe the government and media run hand in hand together, but I do believe they are powered by the same vested interests. These interests used to be the “common good”, but now I believe they are motivated by wealth and power.
The last thing mind-blowing away my summer was class itself. I lost weight, learned how to skydive and the horrible 12-step program making me pre-write and post-write actually made me write better. Since we were commanded to think for ourselves, I did just that. Of the many ideas represented by each student in class, I felt like everyone else, compelled to force my opinion on the class. Discussing ideas in class made me feel like I was in a Roman Forum. These battlefields of ideas and rhetoric took form in debates and blog entries. For the first time, I was placed in an environment where everyone was considered a peer; even Tim Himself counted himself as a peer. If I was qualified to share ideas with people ranging from the ages 17 to Tim’s age, would this make me an adult? As I thought about this more and more I realized my opinions mattered. I know its cliché to say so, but it is a cliché for a reason. As a kid, much of my ideas are brushed off as “silly” and childish. To be taken seriously by people has always been a goal and I feel among my peers that I have reached it.
How I have changed is immeasurable. The entire summer has been a blur, but these events I remember distinctly. I took a class taught by a Stanford professor who attended UC Berkeley. Advertisements and the processing of information forced on to me is rape and I should tell somebody. The last thing I remember is I am a man and my opinions matter.
E-Portfolio
Here is my E-portfolio
http://mkings2505.googlepages.com/e-portfolio
Im sure you will agree with me that it is great.
http://mkings2505.googlepages.com/e-portfolio
Im sure you will agree with me that it is great.
Final Essay: Today's Civil Rights Movement-- fixed
Modern Day Civil Rights Movement
History reports that our country has always targeted a minority group to make them unequal than everyone else. When the first Europeans settled in the east coast they targeted Indian Americans because they considered themselves better and because they did not want any competition. After that, it was the Africans turn; they were treated as less than human being, forced to serve as slaves. Then they followed with the Asians because of war with Asian countries at the time. You would think that as human beings we learn from the past and make progress in our ideas of how humans we treat each other. But no, we have the same problem today. The issue I am addressing in Immigration Laws, our larders are proposing bill to legalize illegal, and this would benefit many people of different ethnicities. However, since Hispanics are the majority, they are the main target today. Therefore, we must as a society learn from our mistakes and change our ideals of superiority to have a country with actually more freedom and justice for all.
People especially Hispanics immigrate to this country in search of a better financial opportunity because the one offered in their country is not good. Their main reason for making this huge decision is so that their kids more freedom to decide what they want to do with their lives. also of course so that they themselves can have more freedom. Is there anything wrong with that?
We live in a country that promotes freedom as being its number one priority. In grade school we are somewhat forced to recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” because we are trained to just recite it as robots would. The “Pledge of Allegiance” states that we are “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” This phrase shows our country as a hero because it is fair and just for everyone and it provides freedom. But these are just words made up by people who to fool everyone into believing a false image of our country.
Our country does not at all provide liberty and justice for all. We are divided into two groups, Democrats and Republicans. Democrats protect more the rights of middle and lower class, and that Republicans usually protect the rights of the wealthy. Thus, always leaving us with a president that is leaned more to one side than the other.
Our current president is George W. republican that I consider corrupt because he only passes and rejects bills to benefit the wealthy. As a result, he has not been supportive of a bill to aid millions of people who are mostly of middle or lower class by legalizing them in the country. Since the beginning of his term, immigration has been one of the escalating issues that are part of our society. His negative attitude toward the issue has stirred up a lot of commotion in support and against aid to legalized illegal immigrants.
Many people who are in support of a reform law have responded to this issue as Martin Luther King, Jr. responded to the civil rights movement, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a country where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (271). They ask themselves why they are being persecuted for trying to make a better for themselves and their family on the basis of their skin color and their origin. I agree with them that it is not fair that they have to give up their hopes and dreams because others consider their skin color and origin is wrong.
I along with millions of other demonstrators have marched down the streets like Martin Luther King, Jr. in hopes of influencing for a change. They do not deserved to be treated as less than they are, therefore we are doing something about it by demonstrating in the streets but with out any bloodshed and with respect to the country to show. All we do is demonstrate in the streets and shout what we think is right but in a respectful manner, because we also carry around the American flag to show that we value and appreciate this country how. Therefore why is it so hard for the country to give them something that is just.
The results of these actions have not been favorable to the Hispanic community. Government not in full agreement yet to pass a reform law and authorities have become very hostile to mainly the Hispanics in this country. The ICE police have been going around to Hispanic family homes and to deport them. However, the ICE police are nothing but nice, they go in the house and torture my people by beating, shoving them, and yelling at them. They treat Hispanics as criminals, when really all they are guilty of is trying to make a better life for themselves.
I saw on Univision news a case where the ICE police had gone to a house in search of Hispanics to deport. They were a group of men who were drinking and having a good time at their house. When they saw the ICE police storm into their house as if in search of a criminal they were confused because they did not know what was going on. The ICE police began to arrest them but they resisted because they did not know what was going on. There was a single man who would not comply so the ICE police beat him until he was unconscious. Then they just threw him in the van and took him to Mexico without proving any medical assistance. Luckily, he was rushed to the hospital in Mexico and his life was saved. But the results of the beating left him unable to walk and with many bruises and fracture in his body. The sad part of the whole story is that he is an American Citizen, and this frightens me because that means this can also happen to me.
We are all human beings. There are many sources like the “Pledge of Allegiance” and the “Declaration of Independence” that give this country an image of providing freedom, justice, and equality for all. But with events like the civil rights movements and the issued of a reform law today that image is shattered. The people who experience this live in fear and panic because they fear that they will come and get them. They are deprived of their freedom that this country proudly promotes. Therefore, we must shatter the idea of superiority and see each other as equals to have the life of “liberty and justice for all.” that this country promotes.
Works Cited
King Jt., M.L. (1963). 75 Readings across the curriculum, I Have A Dream (pp. 268-272). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Final essay
Mexican did not 1
Jesus Figueroa
Ewrt 1a
08/9/07
Mexicans did not cross the borders, the borders crossed them
In the Mexican American War, the United States gangster their way and stole a lot of Mexican land.Today a lot of
Mexican is crossing the borders every day in search of a better life. However, getting here is no easy tasks you have walk miles
and miles of desert. You do not have a lot of food or water an as you get closer you energy is slowly escaping your body.
When your in the desert you have to endure the hottest and the coldest temperatures wild animals that are waiting for a
weakness, When you finally get here, they find them selves looking straight at a shotgun from a group of racist people called the
minutemen.
The minutemen are a bunch of civilians that go around the borders with shotguns beating and shooting illegal immigrants.
I think this is sick, I do not think they have any right beating innocent people, it’s not their fault that their country is doing bad. I
think the only people that have the right to stop and question these people are the border patrol. One thing we need to
remember is that these people do not want to be here these people come because the have to. How would you feel if you
could not feed your family. What would you do. Many people say that immigrants come and take our jobs. I don’t agree with
this because I no for a fact that many people would not do the jobs immigrants do I. Immigrants have the toughest jobs and the
one that get paid the least. They do jobs from cleaning septic tanks, janitors yard workers, etc. yet I don’t collect unemployment or
get health care, Or child support.
I remember watching this movie called the Invisible Mexicans Of deer canyon. This movie is about this filmmaker named
John Carlos Frey he went into this canyon right under the the suburbs of San Diego. These people lived in cardboard boxes
because they didn't want to spend money on housing so the could send all there money to there families in Mexico. Yet they
have to constantly move because of the people the people from the mansions because the cardboard boxes affect the houses
view. I dint think people already living in such bad conditions deserve to get an even harder time. like what Martin Luther King
states in Letter from Birmingham Jail. "Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (King 376). So that's why you
started to see Marches of people who are tiered of there Mexican brothers being abused and persecuted in a land that was
once there's. I think there's other solutions to this problem that having immigrant raids. I think they could have worker programs
for immigrant workers to come and temporary work and make money so they can go home. That would help both the Mexican
and American economy.
Works cited
King, Martin Luther. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 75 Readings Across The Curriculum.
Ed. Chris Anson. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 376.
Jesus Figueroa
Ewrt 1a
08/9/07
Mexicans did not cross the borders, the borders crossed them
In the Mexican American War, the United States gangster their way and stole a lot of Mexican land.Today a lot of
Mexican is crossing the borders every day in search of a better life. However, getting here is no easy tasks you have walk miles
and miles of desert. You do not have a lot of food or water an as you get closer you energy is slowly escaping your body.
When your in the desert you have to endure the hottest and the coldest temperatures wild animals that are waiting for a
weakness, When you finally get here, they find them selves looking straight at a shotgun from a group of racist people called the
minutemen.
The minutemen are a bunch of civilians that go around the borders with shotguns beating and shooting illegal immigrants.
I think this is sick, I do not think they have any right beating innocent people, it’s not their fault that their country is doing bad. I
think the only people that have the right to stop and question these people are the border patrol. One thing we need to
remember is that these people do not want to be here these people come because the have to. How would you feel if you
could not feed your family. What would you do. Many people say that immigrants come and take our jobs. I don’t agree with
this because I no for a fact that many people would not do the jobs immigrants do I. Immigrants have the toughest jobs and the
one that get paid the least. They do jobs from cleaning septic tanks, janitors yard workers, etc. yet I don’t collect unemployment or
get health care, Or child support.
I remember watching this movie called the Invisible Mexicans Of deer canyon. This movie is about this filmmaker named
John Carlos Frey he went into this canyon right under the the suburbs of San Diego. These people lived in cardboard boxes
because they didn't want to spend money on housing so the could send all there money to there families in Mexico. Yet they
have to constantly move because of the people the people from the mansions because the cardboard boxes affect the houses
view. I dint think people already living in such bad conditions deserve to get an even harder time. like what Martin Luther King
states in Letter from Birmingham Jail. "Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (King 376). So that's why you
started to see Marches of people who are tiered of there Mexican brothers being abused and persecuted in a land that was
once there's. I think there's other solutions to this problem that having immigrant raids. I think they could have worker programs
for immigrant workers to come and temporary work and make money so they can go home. That would help both the Mexican
and American economy.
Works cited
King, Martin Luther. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 75 Readings Across The Curriculum.
Ed. Chris Anson. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 376.
Linda Bravo
08/09/2007
One of the biggest injustice is how people criticize Mexicans. Saying that they have the highest percentage of people in jails and, are always getting in problems with the police. Why dose the media always get the bad side of things and not the good side. We are not really as bad as people make us look. I just think it's sad how people jugged us because of how we look and talk. Being Mexican also comes with restrictions because we are not able to do things other people have the right to do.
Millions of Mexicans that live in the United States classify themselves as immigrants or Mexican Americans. Some Mexicans were already living in the Southern and Western regions of the North America. This was way before the United States existed. Many more Mexicans came to the country during the 20th century, and Mexican and still they keep coming back
One of many situations that is out there is the one were they do not want to give illegal people the right to get their license and getting the green card. Those are two of the things an immigrant wants. I’m not only talking about Mexican there is also Africans, Vietnamese, and any other race. I personally believe that the U.S doesn’t want to give illegal people a license so that when they are pulled over they get more money out of them for driving with out a license. Just imagine all the money they get from illegal immigrants who are driving with out a license. If we were given the freedom that any American has their wouldn’t be so many problems or discrimination.
Works Cited:
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/mexican.html
08/09/2007
One of the biggest injustice is how people criticize Mexicans. Saying that they have the highest percentage of people in jails and, are always getting in problems with the police. Why dose the media always get the bad side of things and not the good side. We are not really as bad as people make us look. I just think it's sad how people jugged us because of how we look and talk. Being Mexican also comes with restrictions because we are not able to do things other people have the right to do.
Millions of Mexicans that live in the United States classify themselves as immigrants or Mexican Americans. Some Mexicans were already living in the Southern and Western regions of the North America. This was way before the United States existed. Many more Mexicans came to the country during the 20th century, and Mexican and still they keep coming back
One of many situations that is out there is the one were they do not want to give illegal people the right to get their license and getting the green card. Those are two of the things an immigrant wants. I’m not only talking about Mexican there is also Africans, Vietnamese, and any other race. I personally believe that the U.S doesn’t want to give illegal people a license so that when they are pulled over they get more money out of them for driving with out a license. Just imagine all the money they get from illegal immigrants who are driving with out a license. If we were given the freedom that any American has their wouldn’t be so many problems or discrimination.
Works Cited:
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/mexican.html
Final Essay: Today's Civil Rights Movement
Modern Day Civil Rights Movement
History reports that our country has always targeted a minority group to make them unequal than everyone else. When the first Europeans settled in the east coast they targeted Indian Americans because they considered themselves better and because they did not want any competition. After that, it was the Africans turn; they were treated as less than human being, forced to serve as slaves. Then they followed with the Asians because of war with Asian countries at the time. You would think that as human beings we learn from the past and make progress in our ideas of how humans we treat each other. But no, we have the same problem today. The issue I am addressing in Immigration Laws, our larders are proposing bill to legalize illegal, and this would benefit many people of different ethnicities. However, since Hispanics are the majority, they are the main target today. Therefore, we must as a society learn from our mistakes and change our ideals of superiority to have a country with actually more freedom and justice for all.
People especially Hispanics immigrate to this country in search of a better financial opportunity because the one offered in their country is not good. Their main reason for making this huge decision is so that their kids more freedom to decide what they want to do with their lives. also of course so that they themselves can have more freedom. Is there anything wrong with that?
We live in a country that promotes freedom as being its number one priority. In grade school we are somewhat forced to recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” because we are trained to just recite it as robots would. The “Pledge of Allegiance” states that we are “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” This phrase shows our country as a hero because it is fair and just for everyone and it provides freedom. But these are just words made up by people who to fool everyone into believing a false image of our country.
Our country does not at all provide liberty and justice for all. We are divided into two groups, Democrats and Republicans. Democrats protect more the rights of middle and lower class, and that Republicans usually protect the rights of the wealthy. Thus, always leaving us with a president that is leaned more to one side than the other.
Our current president is George W. republican that I consider corrupt because he only passes and rejects bills to benefit the wealthy. As a result, he has not been supportive of a bill to aid millions of people who are mostly of middle or lower class by legalizing them in the country. Since the beginning of his term, immigration has been one of the escalating issues that are part of our society. His negative attitude toward the issue has stirred up a lot of commotion in support and against aid to legalized illegal immigrants.
Many people who are in support of a reform law have responded to this issue as Martin Luther King, Jr. responded to the civil rights movement, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a country where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (271). They ask themselves why they are being persecuted for trying to make a better for themselves and their family on the basis of their skin color and their origin. I agree with them that it is not fair that they have to give up their hopes and dreams because others consider their skin color and origin is wrong.
I along with millions of other demonstrators have marched down the streets like Martin Luther King, Jr. in hopes of influencing for a change. They do not deserved to be treated as less than they are, therefore we are doing something about it by demonstrating in the streets but with out any bloodshed and with respect to the country to show. All we do is demonstrate in the streets and shout what we think is right but in a respectful manner, because we also carry around the American flag to show that we value and appreciate this country how. Therefore why is it so hard for the country to give them something that is just.
The results of these actions have not been favorable to the Hispanic community. Government not in full agreement yet to pass a reform law and authorities have become very hostile to mainly the Hispanics in this country. The ICE police have been going around to Hispanic family homes and to deport them. However, the ICE police are nothing but nice, they go in the house and torture my people by beating, shoving them, and yelling at them. They treat Hispanics as criminals, when really all they are guilty of is trying to make a better life for themselves.
I saw on Univision news a case where the ICE police had gone to a house in search of Hispanics to deport. They were a group of men who were drinking and having a good time at their house. When they saw the ICE police storm into their house as if in search of a criminal they were confused because they did not know what was going on. The ICE police began to arrest them but they resisted because they did not know what was going on. There was a single man who would not comply so the ICE police beat him until he was unconscious. Then they just threw him in the van and took him to Mexico without proving any medical assistance. Luckily, he was rushed to the hospital in Mexico and his life was saved. But the results of the beating left him unable to walk and with many bruises and fracture in his body. The sad part of the whole story is that he is an American Citizen, and this frightens me because that means this can also happen to me.
We are all human beings. There are many sources like the “Pledge of Allegiance” and the “Declaration of Independence” that give this country an image of providing freedom, justice, and equality for all. But with events like the civil rights movements and the issued of a reform law today that image is shattered. The people who experience this live in fear and panic because they fear that they will come and get them. They are deprived of their freedom that this country proudly promotes. Therefore, we must shatter the idea of superiority and see each other as equals to have the life of “liberty and justice for all.” that this country promotes.
History reports that our country has always targeted a minority group to make them unequal than everyone else. When the first Europeans settled in the east coast they targeted Indian Americans because they considered themselves better and because they did not want any competition. After that, it was the Africans turn; they were treated as less than human being, forced to serve as slaves. Then they followed with the Asians because of war with Asian countries at the time. You would think that as human beings we learn from the past and make progress in our ideas of how humans we treat each other. But no, we have the same problem today. The issue I am addressing in Immigration Laws, our larders are proposing bill to legalize illegal, and this would benefit many people of different ethnicities. However, since Hispanics are the majority, they are the main target today. Therefore, we must as a society learn from our mistakes and change our ideals of superiority to have a country with actually more freedom and justice for all.
People especially Hispanics immigrate to this country in search of a better financial opportunity because the one offered in their country is not good. Their main reason for making this huge decision is so that their kids more freedom to decide what they want to do with their lives. also of course so that they themselves can have more freedom. Is there anything wrong with that?
We live in a country that promotes freedom as being its number one priority. In grade school we are somewhat forced to recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” because we are trained to just recite it as robots would. The “Pledge of Allegiance” states that we are “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” This phrase shows our country as a hero because it is fair and just for everyone and it provides freedom. But these are just words made up by people who to fool everyone into believing a false image of our country.
Our country does not at all provide liberty and justice for all. We are divided into two groups, Democrats and Republicans. Democrats protect more the rights of middle and lower class, and that Republicans usually protect the rights of the wealthy. Thus, always leaving us with a president that is leaned more to one side than the other.
Our current president is George W. republican that I consider corrupt because he only passes and rejects bills to benefit the wealthy. As a result, he has not been supportive of a bill to aid millions of people who are mostly of middle or lower class by legalizing them in the country. Since the beginning of his term, immigration has been one of the escalating issues that are part of our society. His negative attitude toward the issue has stirred up a lot of commotion in support and against aid to legalized illegal immigrants.
Many people who are in support of a reform law have responded to this issue as Martin Luther King, Jr. responded to the civil rights movement, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a country where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (271). They ask themselves why they are being persecuted for trying to make a better for themselves and their family on the basis of their skin color and their origin. I agree with them that it is not fair that they have to give up their hopes and dreams because others consider their skin color and origin is wrong.
I along with millions of other demonstrators have marched down the streets like Martin Luther King, Jr. in hopes of influencing for a change. They do not deserved to be treated as less than they are, therefore we are doing something about it by demonstrating in the streets but with out any bloodshed and with respect to the country to show. All we do is demonstrate in the streets and shout what we think is right but in a respectful manner, because we also carry around the American flag to show that we value and appreciate this country how. Therefore why is it so hard for the country to give them something that is just.
The results of these actions have not been favorable to the Hispanic community. Government not in full agreement yet to pass a reform law and authorities have become very hostile to mainly the Hispanics in this country. The ICE police have been going around to Hispanic family homes and to deport them. However, the ICE police are nothing but nice, they go in the house and torture my people by beating, shoving them, and yelling at them. They treat Hispanics as criminals, when really all they are guilty of is trying to make a better life for themselves.
I saw on Univision news a case where the ICE police had gone to a house in search of Hispanics to deport. They were a group of men who were drinking and having a good time at their house. When they saw the ICE police storm into their house as if in search of a criminal they were confused because they did not know what was going on. The ICE police began to arrest them but they resisted because they did not know what was going on. There was a single man who would not comply so the ICE police beat him until he was unconscious. Then they just threw him in the van and took him to Mexico without proving any medical assistance. Luckily, he was rushed to the hospital in Mexico and his life was saved. But the results of the beating left him unable to walk and with many bruises and fracture in his body. The sad part of the whole story is that he is an American Citizen, and this frightens me because that means this can also happen to me.
We are all human beings. There are many sources like the “Pledge of Allegiance” and the “Declaration of Independence” that give this country an image of providing freedom, justice, and equality for all. But with events like the civil rights movements and the issued of a reform law today that image is shattered. The people who experience this live in fear and panic because they fear that they will come and get them. They are deprived of their freedom that this country proudly promotes. Therefore, we must shatter the idea of superiority and see each other as equals to have the life of “liberty and justice for all.” that this country promotes.
Works Cited
King Jt., M.L. (1963). 75 Readings across the curriculum, I Have A Dream (pp. 268-272). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Final Essay. (Don't Ask Questions.)
This Essay Was Written Poorly (But By Whom?)
Every day in our country, there are people who are given citations for traffic violations that have harmed no one. There are people convicted of “crimes” in which the “victims” attest they weren’t even harmed. There are people convicted of victimless crimes. At the same time, major government officials are robbing the rest of us in the world blind and covering up for it with other policies which hardly help us, or even blatantly lying about the actions they have taken in an effort to convince us that they were in our interest. Finally, on a daily basis, millions of people across our country accept these lies, and we become more and more an ignorant, self-centered, gullible, laughing stock of the world. On the rare occasion that the majority of us see through the lies, responsibility is shifted elsewhere. We say, “oh, well it’s someone else’s fault whom I’ve never heard of,” or the blame is shifted off of the person speaking and we accept that some mysterious government supercomputer which no one can control made the decision.
A couple weeks ago, I was going 60 in a 40 on a street where the other 3 cars traveling my direction must have been going 55. It was about 11 a.m. on a weekday, and there were no pedestrians. A police officer pulls out of a side street and proceeds to pull me over and give me a ticket. He tells me, “I know no one’s around, but slow down, alright?” Whatever happened to no harm, no foul? I didn’t hit anyone. In the mean time, our president George W. Bush wages a war on people, who, um, uh… control oil fields that he wants? He’s using our military to steal from and kill others so he and his buddies can make money.
After September 11th, 2001, our military closed two of three escape routes from southeastern Afghanistan where Osama Bin Laden was believed to be. He likely escaped out the third. Who’s to know what really happened when media coverage is limited due to political interests?
In March this year, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez stated, “Mistakes were made,” in an effort remove himself from the position of responsible party for the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys late last year. “Mistakes.” What kind of mistake is that? Whoever (certainly not Gonzalez) made these “mistakes” just accidentally hit the delete key in the U.S. Attorneys database? In a press conference on July 10th, George W. Bush looked to shift responsibility for our direction in Iraq saying, “I believe Congress ought to wait for General Petraeus to come back and give his assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any decisions. That's what the American people expect.” Bush also looks to show that he supports the American people in their desire to know what is really going on as well as attempting to change what most of us want to know, “what is the strategy in Iraq, “ from say, what we may have been thinking before, “why are we in Iraq.” In this way he keeps us concerned with lesser issues and also from questioning the war. In his essay, “Politics and the English Language, George Orwell says, “Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to wind.” (Orwell, 86) George Bush is saying, “We have a strategy, and it’s going to work, but if it doesn’t, then don’t blame me. We have a strategy, because this is something important to us that needs to be done.” Meanwhile, the question, “why?” has been further crammed in the back of our minds.
While our minds are clouded with lie upon lie and political actions taken by non-existent politicians, the gap between rich and poor increases, as does the gap between aware and unaware. Because citizens of the United States receive petty traffic tickets and criminal records for the use of marijuana, they are convinced that our government always promotes doing the right thing and does the right thing. If not, what are laws for? It’s a rhetorical question. Laws are in place for a good reason, right? Or are they in place to distract us from the real issues? Are we going to continue to assume there’s a good reason for everything, or will we learn to dig deeper and question authority? “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” (Orwell, 73) We need to become aware of our environment if we wish to change it. Then we must act.
Bibliography
Orwell, George. Politics and the English Language. Taken from, “75 Readings across the Curriculum”. McGraw-Hill, 2006.
Orwell, George. 1984. Penguin Group, 2003.
***Here's My Pre-Writing.
Randy Herskorn
EWRT1A
8/9/07
Final Exam
Every day in this country, there are people given traffic citations for violations that have hurt no one. There are people who are convicted of “crimes” in which the “victims” haven’t been harmed in anyway and will even attest to this. There are people who are convicted of victimless crimes. All the while government officials are robbing the rest of us in the world blind and covering up for it with other policies, which hardly benefit us at all, even hurt us. If they can’t do that, they try to shift blame away from themselves, and even go so far as to blame someone else, i.e. George Bush in a July 10 Press conference this year, “And I believe Congress ought to wait for General Petraeus to come back and give his assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any decisions. That's what the American people expect.” It’s not George W. Bush’s strategy, now that the vast majority of the American people he speaks of appear to just expect our troops to come home and the unjust, losing war effort in Iraq to be abandoned.
Now, I've got a Macroeconomics final to attend to. :(
Every day in our country, there are people who are given citations for traffic violations that have harmed no one. There are people convicted of “crimes” in which the “victims” attest they weren’t even harmed. There are people convicted of victimless crimes. At the same time, major government officials are robbing the rest of us in the world blind and covering up for it with other policies which hardly help us, or even blatantly lying about the actions they have taken in an effort to convince us that they were in our interest. Finally, on a daily basis, millions of people across our country accept these lies, and we become more and more an ignorant, self-centered, gullible, laughing stock of the world. On the rare occasion that the majority of us see through the lies, responsibility is shifted elsewhere. We say, “oh, well it’s someone else’s fault whom I’ve never heard of,” or the blame is shifted off of the person speaking and we accept that some mysterious government supercomputer which no one can control made the decision.
A couple weeks ago, I was going 60 in a 40 on a street where the other 3 cars traveling my direction must have been going 55. It was about 11 a.m. on a weekday, and there were no pedestrians. A police officer pulls out of a side street and proceeds to pull me over and give me a ticket. He tells me, “I know no one’s around, but slow down, alright?” Whatever happened to no harm, no foul? I didn’t hit anyone. In the mean time, our president George W. Bush wages a war on people, who, um, uh… control oil fields that he wants? He’s using our military to steal from and kill others so he and his buddies can make money.
After September 11th, 2001, our military closed two of three escape routes from southeastern Afghanistan where Osama Bin Laden was believed to be. He likely escaped out the third. Who’s to know what really happened when media coverage is limited due to political interests?
In March this year, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez stated, “Mistakes were made,” in an effort remove himself from the position of responsible party for the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys late last year. “Mistakes.” What kind of mistake is that? Whoever (certainly not Gonzalez) made these “mistakes” just accidentally hit the delete key in the U.S. Attorneys database? In a press conference on July 10th, George W. Bush looked to shift responsibility for our direction in Iraq saying, “I believe Congress ought to wait for General Petraeus to come back and give his assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any decisions. That's what the American people expect.” Bush also looks to show that he supports the American people in their desire to know what is really going on as well as attempting to change what most of us want to know, “what is the strategy in Iraq, “ from say, what we may have been thinking before, “why are we in Iraq.” In this way he keeps us concerned with lesser issues and also from questioning the war. In his essay, “Politics and the English Language, George Orwell says, “Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to wind.” (Orwell, 86) George Bush is saying, “We have a strategy, and it’s going to work, but if it doesn’t, then don’t blame me. We have a strategy, because this is something important to us that needs to be done.” Meanwhile, the question, “why?” has been further crammed in the back of our minds.
While our minds are clouded with lie upon lie and political actions taken by non-existent politicians, the gap between rich and poor increases, as does the gap between aware and unaware. Because citizens of the United States receive petty traffic tickets and criminal records for the use of marijuana, they are convinced that our government always promotes doing the right thing and does the right thing. If not, what are laws for? It’s a rhetorical question. Laws are in place for a good reason, right? Or are they in place to distract us from the real issues? Are we going to continue to assume there’s a good reason for everything, or will we learn to dig deeper and question authority? “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” (Orwell, 73) We need to become aware of our environment if we wish to change it. Then we must act.
Bibliography
Orwell, George. Politics and the English Language. Taken from, “75 Readings across the Curriculum”. McGraw-Hill, 2006.
Orwell, George. 1984. Penguin Group, 2003.
***Here's My Pre-Writing.
Randy Herskorn
EWRT1A
8/9/07
Final Exam
Every day in this country, there are people given traffic citations for violations that have hurt no one. There are people who are convicted of “crimes” in which the “victims” haven’t been harmed in anyway and will even attest to this. There are people who are convicted of victimless crimes. All the while government officials are robbing the rest of us in the world blind and covering up for it with other policies, which hardly benefit us at all, even hurt us. If they can’t do that, they try to shift blame away from themselves, and even go so far as to blame someone else, i.e. George Bush in a July 10 Press conference this year, “And I believe Congress ought to wait for General Petraeus to come back and give his assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any decisions. That's what the American people expect.” It’s not George W. Bush’s strategy, now that the vast majority of the American people he speaks of appear to just expect our troops to come home and the unjust, losing war effort in Iraq to be abandoned.
Now, I've got a Macroeconomics final to attend to. :(
Defending our freedom in the midst of a crisis
Tung Chin Lin
Professor Maxwell
EWRT 1A
August 9, 2007
Beginning in 2001, several months after September 11, President George W. Bush signed a 352-page document titled the USA Patriot Act, which granted the federal government agencies such as CIA and FBI all necessary powers in need to counter the spread of terrorism worldwide. Government agencies can tap into your phone lines, email communication, bank records, and even library account without the supervision of a jury or any evidence that you have committed crime. Theses are clear violations of the third amendment which prevents unreasonable search and seizures of personal documents without a probably cause. Several recent incidents have shown that the government has been using these spying powers not to counter terrorism but instead to target drug traffickers, anti government organizations, and even homeless people. The law enforcement officials would obtain illegal evidence using spying privileges and then use them against these people in court. These were clearly not the reason why we gave up our freedoms to the government.
On top of this, thousands of immigrants were detained and denied the right to habeas corpus shortly after September 11, simply because they posed a threat to national security. This is another constitutional amendment violation, which grants people the right to a lawyer until proven guilty. We have all seen the cruel images of prison torture at sites like Abu Gharab and Guantanomo Bay. Immigrants are brought there and then painfully tortured and humiliated until they gave information. Some of these immigrants weren’t even guilty in the first place, and they ended up being deported in secret. No one knows their story besides their family.
One would think that with so much power granted to the government, terrorism activities would be much lower than before. However, recent attacks across the globe including the London subway bombing have shown otherwise. Is this the kind of power that our government should have? So, we ask ourselves if our government is seeking all these extra privileges under the name of fighting terrorism and terrorism is obviously not being stopped, then why are we still allowing them to take advantage of our rights? Some might argue that since there has been no attacks on America since September 11, that our government must be doing something right. But let me ask you this, has our government ever proven that they aren’t able to carry out the war against terrorism without our civil liberties? The answer is no, never has our government ever shown that our civil rights were needed to be taken away in order to fight terrorism at all.
History has shown that whenever our government gains extra privileges during times of national crisis, it is usually the recipe for disaster. During World War II, hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans were stripped of their homes, properties and then sent into internment camps because of a fear that they might be spies for the enemy. In the Watergate Scandal, President Nixon used government spying privileges to spy on his political opponents. During the 1980s, FBI and CIA used the same spying privileges to monitor political and civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. When the American people found out about these a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) was set up to make sure that the government does not cross the line again. If government repeatedly government abuse of our civil rights have been shown in the past, then they are likely to occur again.
Our government is operating with more and more secrecy by the day. The only thing that is keeping them in check are the human civil rights groups such as the ACLU, and the media. The media itself is becoming less and less reliable by the day as the number of news sources decrease. Therefore, who is there to keep our government in check besides us? It is time for us to act now. Our government rarely target their political propaganda at us because they know teenagers rarely vote. However, it is time to prove them wrong.
Most teenagers of the 21st century do not have much regard for what is going on around the world. They feel that they lack the power and knowledge to make a difference in the world. When I was writing essay number 2 on how language has affected my ability to express myself, I thought to myself how can my ideas ever be as valuable as those of Richard Rodriguez or Gloria Anzaldua. However, then I realized that as a teenager I have personally made a difference in the past, for example I have already convinced a countless number of people to take a stand against the USA Patriot. Whether it is giving persuasive speech in public or merely talking privately with a friend, I have made a difference. Everyone has a power to make a difference especially teenagers like us. We have developed the ability to think about the legitimacy of the issues that are floating around. We have the fundamental knowledge to know what is right and wrong. It is time to put that power to the test.
If you believe as I do that the USA Patriot Act is taking away our privacy and legal rights illegally then I suggest you take action now. It’s very easy to participate in this issue in fact, recently Youtube has hosted the democratic candidate debate, and if you simply go on their website and listen to what the political candidates have to say about their stand on this issue than you are going to be a lot better off than someone who didn’t watch it. Off course, the biggest impact teenagers can make is to vote. In the upcoming presidential election, research into the candidates, and see what views they have and then choose the right candidate that will perform the duty. The USA Patriot Act was renewed in 2004, lets not let it happen again. Like Reverend Martin Luther King Jr said “there are two types of laws: There are just and there are unjust laws” (King). It is our responsibility as citizens of this nation to take a stand against unjust laws like the Patriot Act. It is clearly using terrorism as a excuse to take away our rights to privacy and legal justice. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, we must be brave enough to hold onto our freedoms even during the most difficult situations.
Works Cited.
King Jr., Martin L. "Letter From Birmingham City Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.
Professor Maxwell
EWRT 1A
August 9, 2007
Defending our freedom in the midst of a crisis
Our government has always been involved in injustice actions from the moment it was created. It has been kept in balance by our complex political structure and the media, but that is no longer the case now. Our media coverage is being more limited by the day, and it is now up to the people of America to keep this country free. However, the issue I am focusing on is the idea of how far the government can go in order to ensure the security of this nation. Our nation is currently in a war against terrorism. Under the USA Patriot Act, the government has requested that we turn over our civil liberties in exchange for the safety of this nation. This is not the first time our government has taken away our civil liberties under the reason of national security. Each time it has happened, the government abused the power. I believe that it is time we step up and take action against the Patriot Act because of its using terrorism as an excuse for violating our constitutional rights.Beginning in 2001, several months after September 11, President George W. Bush signed a 352-page document titled the USA Patriot Act, which granted the federal government agencies such as CIA and FBI all necessary powers in need to counter the spread of terrorism worldwide. Government agencies can tap into your phone lines, email communication, bank records, and even library account without the supervision of a jury or any evidence that you have committed crime. Theses are clear violations of the third amendment which prevents unreasonable search and seizures of personal documents without a probably cause. Several recent incidents have shown that the government has been using these spying powers not to counter terrorism but instead to target drug traffickers, anti government organizations, and even homeless people. The law enforcement officials would obtain illegal evidence using spying privileges and then use them against these people in court. These were clearly not the reason why we gave up our freedoms to the government.
On top of this, thousands of immigrants were detained and denied the right to habeas corpus shortly after September 11, simply because they posed a threat to national security. This is another constitutional amendment violation, which grants people the right to a lawyer until proven guilty. We have all seen the cruel images of prison torture at sites like Abu Gharab and Guantanomo Bay. Immigrants are brought there and then painfully tortured and humiliated until they gave information. Some of these immigrants weren’t even guilty in the first place, and they ended up being deported in secret. No one knows their story besides their family.
One would think that with so much power granted to the government, terrorism activities would be much lower than before. However, recent attacks across the globe including the London subway bombing have shown otherwise. Is this the kind of power that our government should have? So, we ask ourselves if our government is seeking all these extra privileges under the name of fighting terrorism and terrorism is obviously not being stopped, then why are we still allowing them to take advantage of our rights? Some might argue that since there has been no attacks on America since September 11, that our government must be doing something right. But let me ask you this, has our government ever proven that they aren’t able to carry out the war against terrorism without our civil liberties? The answer is no, never has our government ever shown that our civil rights were needed to be taken away in order to fight terrorism at all.
History has shown that whenever our government gains extra privileges during times of national crisis, it is usually the recipe for disaster. During World War II, hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans were stripped of their homes, properties and then sent into internment camps because of a fear that they might be spies for the enemy. In the Watergate Scandal, President Nixon used government spying privileges to spy on his political opponents. During the 1980s, FBI and CIA used the same spying privileges to monitor political and civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. When the American people found out about these a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) was set up to make sure that the government does not cross the line again. If government repeatedly government abuse of our civil rights have been shown in the past, then they are likely to occur again.
Our government is operating with more and more secrecy by the day. The only thing that is keeping them in check are the human civil rights groups such as the ACLU, and the media. The media itself is becoming less and less reliable by the day as the number of news sources decrease. Therefore, who is there to keep our government in check besides us? It is time for us to act now. Our government rarely target their political propaganda at us because they know teenagers rarely vote. However, it is time to prove them wrong.
Most teenagers of the 21st century do not have much regard for what is going on around the world. They feel that they lack the power and knowledge to make a difference in the world. When I was writing essay number 2 on how language has affected my ability to express myself, I thought to myself how can my ideas ever be as valuable as those of Richard Rodriguez or Gloria Anzaldua. However, then I realized that as a teenager I have personally made a difference in the past, for example I have already convinced a countless number of people to take a stand against the USA Patriot. Whether it is giving persuasive speech in public or merely talking privately with a friend, I have made a difference. Everyone has a power to make a difference especially teenagers like us. We have developed the ability to think about the legitimacy of the issues that are floating around. We have the fundamental knowledge to know what is right and wrong. It is time to put that power to the test.
If you believe as I do that the USA Patriot Act is taking away our privacy and legal rights illegally then I suggest you take action now. It’s very easy to participate in this issue in fact, recently Youtube has hosted the democratic candidate debate, and if you simply go on their website and listen to what the political candidates have to say about their stand on this issue than you are going to be a lot better off than someone who didn’t watch it. Off course, the biggest impact teenagers can make is to vote. In the upcoming presidential election, research into the candidates, and see what views they have and then choose the right candidate that will perform the duty. The USA Patriot Act was renewed in 2004, lets not let it happen again. Like Reverend Martin Luther King Jr said “there are two types of laws: There are just and there are unjust laws” (King). It is our responsibility as citizens of this nation to take a stand against unjust laws like the Patriot Act. It is clearly using terrorism as a excuse to take away our rights to privacy and legal justice. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, we must be brave enough to hold onto our freedoms even during the most difficult situations.
Works Cited.
King Jr., Martin L. "Letter From Birmingham City Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.
What can we do to make a change?
After enduring six weeks of brain-wringing, critical thought-inducing, truth revealing English class, it is easy to feel at once empowered and powerless. We are armed with a clearer view of the world around us - we understand that there is a eternal custody battle for our thoughts, loyalties, and minds raging on between those who crave the money and power that comes from controlling our thoughts. But what should we do about it? What can we do about it? We can start by sharing what we know with others – by showing our friends how to see the things we couldn't, and teaching them how to think for themselves.
I, for one, find it impossible to read Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” without feeling a sense of guilt, or a need to do something to change the way things are. In his essay, Thoreau thoroughly describes our current situation:
There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say they know not what to do, and do nothing....They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret (350).
Participating in half-hearted protests and waiting for someone else to take action is much easier, and safer, than being the one to make the first move. But what do we have to lose by showing our friends “The Persuaders” or watching “Merchants of Cool” with them? Our hard-earned reputation as a “cool kids”…a reputation that has been created for us and is controlled by the ones who view us as teenage consumer “targets?”
We live in America, the land of freedom and independence and morals of the highest standards. Er...maybe not. But for the most part, we are freer than many others out there. Unlike people in China, we don’t have to ask the government for permission to petition against its policies, and unlike Iraqis, we have the freedom to think how we want, read what we want, and write what we want. Blogging about the inconsistencies in our media, mailing the letters we wrote to representative Honda, sharing what we’ve learned with the people we care about or to those who will listen – simple acts that aren’t considered acts of civil disobedience in this country - these freedoms are ones we should take advantage of, because we can.
This “thinking for yourself” thing is like a muscle: it’s something that will atrophy and be rendered useless without exercise. Continuing to think for ourselves is the only fail-proof vaccine against thinking the thoughts of others. I don’t think any of us want to have our thoughts controlled by others, or be the mindless ballot-casting, money-dispensing suckers politicians and giant corporations see us as. Thinking about what we’ve learned and sharing this knowledge with others might not be the earth-shattering act of defiance we wanted to make, but it’s better than twiddling our thumbs at home, “...[waiting], well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that [we] may no longer have it to regret” (350).
Works Cited:
Thoreau, Henry D. “Civil Disobedience.” 75 Readings Across the Curriculum: an Anthology. Ed. Chris Anson. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 354–366.
I, for one, find it impossible to read Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” without feeling a sense of guilt, or a need to do something to change the way things are. In his essay, Thoreau thoroughly describes our current situation:
There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say they know not what to do, and do nothing....They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret (350).
Participating in half-hearted protests and waiting for someone else to take action is much easier, and safer, than being the one to make the first move. But what do we have to lose by showing our friends “The Persuaders” or watching “Merchants of Cool” with them? Our hard-earned reputation as a “cool kids”…a reputation that has been created for us and is controlled by the ones who view us as teenage consumer “targets?”
We live in America, the land of freedom and independence and morals of the highest standards. Er...maybe not. But for the most part, we are freer than many others out there. Unlike people in China, we don’t have to ask the government for permission to petition against its policies, and unlike Iraqis, we have the freedom to think how we want, read what we want, and write what we want. Blogging about the inconsistencies in our media, mailing the letters we wrote to representative Honda, sharing what we’ve learned with the people we care about or to those who will listen – simple acts that aren’t considered acts of civil disobedience in this country - these freedoms are ones we should take advantage of, because we can.
This “thinking for yourself” thing is like a muscle: it’s something that will atrophy and be rendered useless without exercise. Continuing to think for ourselves is the only fail-proof vaccine against thinking the thoughts of others. I don’t think any of us want to have our thoughts controlled by others, or be the mindless ballot-casting, money-dispensing suckers politicians and giant corporations see us as. Thinking about what we’ve learned and sharing this knowledge with others might not be the earth-shattering act of defiance we wanted to make, but it’s better than twiddling our thumbs at home, “...[waiting], well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that [we] may no longer have it to regret” (350).
Works Cited:
Thoreau, Henry D. “Civil Disobedience.” 75 Readings Across the Curriculum: an Anthology. Ed. Chris Anson. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 354–366.
Great minds...
hahaha, I can't believe so many of us chose this topic... or can I?!?! Well, see you guys at the protests, I guess!
-Kayte
---------------------------
The Battle For Love
I never much thought or cared about the idea of marriage until I fell in love. Now, when I think of it, it puts the widest smile on my face. When two people care for each other so much that they are willing to pledge themselves to one another for the rest of their lives, it is the most beautiful thing in the world, and it is certainly due cause for celebration. Love is the most beautiful, most important, most powerful thing in the world; It's the reason people cry at weddings. It's the reason people cry at funerals. All we ever are as human beings is summed up by looking at who we love, who loves us, and how much of our actions are based on love. The notion that some people don't deserve the legal right to such a wonderful tradition is appalling. Gay marriage is a matter of social injustice and equality no different from the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It is an issue that needs to be fought and a battle that must be won.
Opponents of gay marriage argue everything from merely wanting to keep the institution of marriage strictly limited to a bond between a man and a woman, to the notion of homosexuality itself is an abomination before god. However, in a world where dogs and cats can legally be married, the argument of a “sanctity of marriage” still existing, if indeed there ever was one, bears no weight. Straights who marry for money, security, out of obligation and/or any other reasons otherwise decidedly based on anything other than love, or in the complete absence of love, are doing the real disservice to the institution of marriage. Straights who divorce only to collect alimony, beat their wives and children, and commit adultery are the ones committing the abominations before their god. This is not to suggest that gays would be, or should have to promise to have perfect marriages themselves, but simply that they deserve the legal rights as any straight citizen.
Marriage may be considered a holy institution, but it is also a legal one. Marriage is a serious binding contract, and in a society where we claim to have a separation of church and state there ought to be no debate as to whether or not two citizens, who are of consenting age, should be allowed to join in civil union. Beyond that, it should be the sole business of they and their personal church as whether to call it also “holy matrimony.”
I have already voted for gay marriage initiatives and will continue to do so. I would march in protests, invest time and money, apply bumper stickers to my car … I would even hold off getting married myself until all my fellow human beings in love have the legal right to do so.
All that protests of gay marriage really boil down to is nothing more than hypocritical, childish arguments that homosexuality is queer, unnatural, deviant and “wrong.” These abysmal sentiments are hardly justifiable reasons to keep an entire culture oppressed. And, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. states, in his letter from Birmingham jail, “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (King 376).
Works cited
King, Martin Luther. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 75 Readings Across The Curriculum.
Ed. Chris Anson. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 376.
-Kayte
---------------------------
The Battle For Love
I never much thought or cared about the idea of marriage until I fell in love. Now, when I think of it, it puts the widest smile on my face. When two people care for each other so much that they are willing to pledge themselves to one another for the rest of their lives, it is the most beautiful thing in the world, and it is certainly due cause for celebration. Love is the most beautiful, most important, most powerful thing in the world; It's the reason people cry at weddings. It's the reason people cry at funerals. All we ever are as human beings is summed up by looking at who we love, who loves us, and how much of our actions are based on love. The notion that some people don't deserve the legal right to such a wonderful tradition is appalling. Gay marriage is a matter of social injustice and equality no different from the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It is an issue that needs to be fought and a battle that must be won.
Opponents of gay marriage argue everything from merely wanting to keep the institution of marriage strictly limited to a bond between a man and a woman, to the notion of homosexuality itself is an abomination before god. However, in a world where dogs and cats can legally be married, the argument of a “sanctity of marriage” still existing, if indeed there ever was one, bears no weight. Straights who marry for money, security, out of obligation and/or any other reasons otherwise decidedly based on anything other than love, or in the complete absence of love, are doing the real disservice to the institution of marriage. Straights who divorce only to collect alimony, beat their wives and children, and commit adultery are the ones committing the abominations before their god. This is not to suggest that gays would be, or should have to promise to have perfect marriages themselves, but simply that they deserve the legal rights as any straight citizen.
Marriage may be considered a holy institution, but it is also a legal one. Marriage is a serious binding contract, and in a society where we claim to have a separation of church and state there ought to be no debate as to whether or not two citizens, who are of consenting age, should be allowed to join in civil union. Beyond that, it should be the sole business of they and their personal church as whether to call it also “holy matrimony.”
I have already voted for gay marriage initiatives and will continue to do so. I would march in protests, invest time and money, apply bumper stickers to my car … I would even hold off getting married myself until all my fellow human beings in love have the legal right to do so.
All that protests of gay marriage really boil down to is nothing more than hypocritical, childish arguments that homosexuality is queer, unnatural, deviant and “wrong.” These abysmal sentiments are hardly justifiable reasons to keep an entire culture oppressed. And, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. states, in his letter from Birmingham jail, “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (King 376).
Works cited
King, Martin Luther. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 75 Readings Across The Curriculum.
Ed. Chris Anson. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 376.
Final
Alan Romero
EWRT 1A
August 9th, 2007
Final Essay
Pedro woke up at 6am and quickly dressed up and had a cold cereal, with just enough time to catch the public bus at 6:30am. As he arrived to school, he reviewed the history homework assigned the previous day, and made necessary adjustments to his English essay. During lunch hour, he held student meetings to improve the environment of the neighboring areas of the school, and helped planned new recycling guidelines for his class. After school, Pedro headed to the local hospice and was always greeted by curiously shy but pleased smiles from the elderly. It was now 6pm when he came home and started working on the science project. Pedro had a 4.0 GPA, was an honors student with outstanding marks on the SAT test, and with plenty of extracurricular activities and a love for science and charity. Pedro, in other words, was an excellent candidate for attending university, but a tiny tick stood in his way, he was an illegal immigrant.
Pedro’s parents, “Juan y Claudia,” were born and raised in Sonora, Mexico, and they worked for most of their life in a plantation, which earned them less than $1 per hour. Juan y Claudia did not plan to have a baby on such conditions, but alas, it was born, and they firmly believed that Pedro should not grow up to work in a plantation. They saved money for five years and were able to play the Coyote (a person who smuggles people for a fee), but Claudia died while walking in the heat of the Arizona desert.
Pedro’s illegal status prevents him from receiving federal aid to pay for tuition and collegial expenses, which now border close to $50,000 per school year. There’s no way that with his father’s income, he could pay at least one year of university, let alone all four, not including books and fees. Pedro is a model student, but why is he being forgotten in the eyes of the government?
It is time to tell Congress that undocumented students are not at fault for the decision that their parents made, and it is time to critically evaluate how detrimental it is not to aid them.
By not aiding undocumented students, we are losing some of the brightest and most compassionate minds in America. Pedro struggled at first to overcome the language difference, but his ambition for fitting in and, standing out at the same time, allowed him to excel in areas such as math and science. As he progressed through his schooling, English soon became his second favorite subject and he fervently read classics of literature such as Frankenstein, Of Mice and Men, Medea, Brave New World, etc. His academic interest was finally made public as he scored outstanding marks in the SAT. Despite his accomplishments, the Financial Aid office still denied him any assistance. What relevance does his individual performance have on our economy? It has been the individual motivation of a few who have built this country to what it is today: Carnegie’s steel industry, J.P. Morgan’s banks, Henry Ford’s automobiles, Bill Gate’s software, Vanderbilt’s railroads, etc. By preventing students like Pedro to attend a university, we are preventing great minds from developing, closing the doors to innovation, reneging the principles in which this country was built. In addition, we are implicitly telling Pedro that we do not care for his misfortunes.
I come here announcing that we should care, that Pedro’s misfortunes are our misfortunes, that we are eliminating any chance of a balanced society, where races and backgrounds of all kinds are evenly distributed in political offices, hospitals, even on our own workplaces. What would happen if we had a Congressional representative that came from a disadvantaged background? Or, how would it transform the health care industry if the people at the top truly understood and cared for the millions suffering from terrible diseases? Pedro’s frequent visits to the hospice suggests that he is exposed to a truer reality than many of the people “at the top,” particularly politicians. And we still think he is the misfortuned one.
I call unto you to realize that this situation is not situational; it is not confined to a specific remote area or should be deemed far away; rather, this situation speaks to the ever-present character of modern society. By letting kids like Pedro—or rather, forcing them to—be in a condition of helplessness, we are telling our own kids that segregation is ok if it is legally backed. This type of segregation is a lot subtler, and therefore a lot more permanent, because we think it shouldn’t concern us—“if it’s illegal, it’s illegal”—but I’ve already talked about the capitalistic values that we’d be conceding, as Pedro could have become a Carnegie or J.P. Morgan. But, the kind of character sacrifice that I am referring to is one morally based. ‘Turning a blind eye’ on the situation that the kids in our country are going through represents how the government willingly ignores the thousands of petitions for improvement, including petitions related to the war in Iraq, that it receives daily. If we ignore this issue, or procrastinate, are we taking the same approach that the government takes on us?
Therefore, we must take action if we wish things to change. Since this matter resides at the legislative level, it is with great intent that we should approach our Congressional leaders and demand that the undocumented students of today, do not pay for the mistakes that their parents committed. They are not criminals, but rather they have to bear the crimes that society deems they have done. Instead of calling them illegals, why don’t we call them by their first name? Pedro, Juan, Pablo, Lucas, Santiago, Filipe, Simon…they have a name and they have a story. It is our responsibility to communicate their stories with Congress, so I urge you to write a personal letter to your local, state, and federal representatives, not asking for their opinion, not asking for approval, but demanding change. I am not setting forth a threat, but know that "Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The urge for freedom will eventually come" (King, 1963). My words by themselves cannot solve anything, but I pray that they incite compassion and unearth love within you.
EWRT 1A
August 9th, 2007
Final Essay
Please, for your sake, let me go to school!
Pedro woke up at 6am and quickly dressed up and had a cold cereal, with just enough time to catch the public bus at 6:30am. As he arrived to school, he reviewed the history homework assigned the previous day, and made necessary adjustments to his English essay. During lunch hour, he held student meetings to improve the environment of the neighboring areas of the school, and helped planned new recycling guidelines for his class. After school, Pedro headed to the local hospice and was always greeted by curiously shy but pleased smiles from the elderly. It was now 6pm when he came home and started working on the science project. Pedro had a 4.0 GPA, was an honors student with outstanding marks on the SAT test, and with plenty of extracurricular activities and a love for science and charity. Pedro, in other words, was an excellent candidate for attending university, but a tiny tick stood in his way, he was an illegal immigrant.
Pedro’s parents, “Juan y Claudia,” were born and raised in Sonora, Mexico, and they worked for most of their life in a plantation, which earned them less than $1 per hour. Juan y Claudia did not plan to have a baby on such conditions, but alas, it was born, and they firmly believed that Pedro should not grow up to work in a plantation. They saved money for five years and were able to play the Coyote (a person who smuggles people for a fee), but Claudia died while walking in the heat of the Arizona desert.
Pedro’s illegal status prevents him from receiving federal aid to pay for tuition and collegial expenses, which now border close to $50,000 per school year. There’s no way that with his father’s income, he could pay at least one year of university, let alone all four, not including books and fees. Pedro is a model student, but why is he being forgotten in the eyes of the government?
It is time to tell Congress that undocumented students are not at fault for the decision that their parents made, and it is time to critically evaluate how detrimental it is not to aid them.
By not aiding undocumented students, we are losing some of the brightest and most compassionate minds in America. Pedro struggled at first to overcome the language difference, but his ambition for fitting in and, standing out at the same time, allowed him to excel in areas such as math and science. As he progressed through his schooling, English soon became his second favorite subject and he fervently read classics of literature such as Frankenstein, Of Mice and Men, Medea, Brave New World, etc. His academic interest was finally made public as he scored outstanding marks in the SAT. Despite his accomplishments, the Financial Aid office still denied him any assistance. What relevance does his individual performance have on our economy? It has been the individual motivation of a few who have built this country to what it is today: Carnegie’s steel industry, J.P. Morgan’s banks, Henry Ford’s automobiles, Bill Gate’s software, Vanderbilt’s railroads, etc. By preventing students like Pedro to attend a university, we are preventing great minds from developing, closing the doors to innovation, reneging the principles in which this country was built. In addition, we are implicitly telling Pedro that we do not care for his misfortunes.
I come here announcing that we should care, that Pedro’s misfortunes are our misfortunes, that we are eliminating any chance of a balanced society, where races and backgrounds of all kinds are evenly distributed in political offices, hospitals, even on our own workplaces. What would happen if we had a Congressional representative that came from a disadvantaged background? Or, how would it transform the health care industry if the people at the top truly understood and cared for the millions suffering from terrible diseases? Pedro’s frequent visits to the hospice suggests that he is exposed to a truer reality than many of the people “at the top,” particularly politicians. And we still think he is the misfortuned one.
I call unto you to realize that this situation is not situational; it is not confined to a specific remote area or should be deemed far away; rather, this situation speaks to the ever-present character of modern society. By letting kids like Pedro—or rather, forcing them to—be in a condition of helplessness, we are telling our own kids that segregation is ok if it is legally backed. This type of segregation is a lot subtler, and therefore a lot more permanent, because we think it shouldn’t concern us—“if it’s illegal, it’s illegal”—but I’ve already talked about the capitalistic values that we’d be conceding, as Pedro could have become a Carnegie or J.P. Morgan. But, the kind of character sacrifice that I am referring to is one morally based. ‘Turning a blind eye’ on the situation that the kids in our country are going through represents how the government willingly ignores the thousands of petitions for improvement, including petitions related to the war in Iraq, that it receives daily. If we ignore this issue, or procrastinate, are we taking the same approach that the government takes on us?
Therefore, we must take action if we wish things to change. Since this matter resides at the legislative level, it is with great intent that we should approach our Congressional leaders and demand that the undocumented students of today, do not pay for the mistakes that their parents committed. They are not criminals, but rather they have to bear the crimes that society deems they have done. Instead of calling them illegals, why don’t we call them by their first name? Pedro, Juan, Pablo, Lucas, Santiago, Filipe, Simon…they have a name and they have a story. It is our responsibility to communicate their stories with Congress, so I urge you to write a personal letter to your local, state, and federal representatives, not asking for their opinion, not asking for approval, but demanding change. I am not setting forth a threat, but know that "Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The urge for freedom will eventually come" (King, 1963). My words by themselves cannot solve anything, but I pray that they incite compassion and unearth love within you.
Abortion
Abortion has been a huge topic of controversy throughout the years. Women are using the rights and equality that have been granted to them as an advantage to make their own personal choices. When it comes to pregnancy, many women in our society today think that they have the right to do as they please with their own body. The question is, where do we draw the line? I firmly believe that abortion should be demolished because it is unethical, and it shouldn’t be an option because there are so many ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy. I also think that people should be able to take responsibility for their own actions.
Abortion is not only unethical; it crosses over to the land of inhumane. In one case, Michael Lancy, a respected photographer, was hired by USA Today newspaper to photograph a spina bifida corrective surgical procedure performed on a twenty-one week fetus in utero. This was the first case that this procedure had been performed on a fetus that young; previous surgical procedures performed on older fetuses were unsuccessful. Amazingly, as the procedure came to an end, the uterus, which was removed and placed between the mother’s thighs, began to shake from within and a tiny hand thrust out from the surgical opening. The doctor reached out to touch the fetus’s hand, and surprisingly, the tiny hand held firm as the doctor shook its fist. Lancy was in total awe as he photographed the phenomenon. The nurse standing beside him commented, “Oh, they do that all the time.” This incident is an excellent illustration of a fetus and its capabilities. Many negligent people say that abortion is okay because a fetus is technically not yet a baby, and it cannot feel pain. From the moment a fetus is two months old, it already has a heartbeat, and from this example, we can clearly see that a fetus too can explore its environment and test its senses of touch. There is a very huge possibility that fetuses can experience physical pain. As you may all know, the abortion suction procedure is a brutal and gruesome way to get rid of a fetus.
Abortion should not be an option because there are so many other ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy. I think that sex education and the use of contraceptives should be more funded and emphasized in our communities. I am a big supporter of sex education. Sex education plays a major role in helping young people make informed and safe decisions. It helps young people acquire important information and form healthy attitudes about their sexual identity. Parents are frightened when it comes to the topic of sex and don’t want to encourage the use of contraceptives because they think that it will promote sexual behavior. In actuality, these elements are essential in preventing risky and unsafe behavior. Young people are exposed to sex in the media on a daily basis, and without being sexually educated, they may act upon their sexual curiosities without knowing the consequences. They can acquire sexually transmitted diseases or become pregnant. I also think that a great way to prevent abortion is through media. Because media influences audiences’ decisions, they should incorporate more safe sex advertisements into mainstream television commercials as opposed to the provocative and sexy advertisements we’re exposed to every minute.
I believe that a person who thinks that they are mature enough to have sex should be mature enough to take on their responsibilities. I think that a person who is not taking birth control or using contraceptives, and knows that they are not yet ready to take care of shouldn’t be having sex in the first place. I acknowledge that women are entitled to their rights and should be able to enjoy sex freely, but they must do so responsibly to avoid unwanted pregnancy, which may lead to an unnecessary abortion. When I see women getting two or three abortions within a short time span, I get infuriated because what they’re doing crosses the border of immoral.
In Martin Luther King’s essay titled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he states, “Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” In response to this quote, I would like to say that abortion is unjust because it degrades the life of a potential child. Please help me fight against this injustice by speaking up vocally about birth control and contraceptives, and by sending the link of this website to your peers. --michaelclancy.com
Works Cited.
King Jr., Martin L. "Letter From Birmingham City Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.
Abortion is not only unethical; it crosses over to the land of inhumane. In one case, Michael Lancy, a respected photographer, was hired by USA Today newspaper to photograph a spina bifida corrective surgical procedure performed on a twenty-one week fetus in utero. This was the first case that this procedure had been performed on a fetus that young; previous surgical procedures performed on older fetuses were unsuccessful. Amazingly, as the procedure came to an end, the uterus, which was removed and placed between the mother’s thighs, began to shake from within and a tiny hand thrust out from the surgical opening. The doctor reached out to touch the fetus’s hand, and surprisingly, the tiny hand held firm as the doctor shook its fist. Lancy was in total awe as he photographed the phenomenon. The nurse standing beside him commented, “Oh, they do that all the time.” This incident is an excellent illustration of a fetus and its capabilities. Many negligent people say that abortion is okay because a fetus is technically not yet a baby, and it cannot feel pain. From the moment a fetus is two months old, it already has a heartbeat, and from this example, we can clearly see that a fetus too can explore its environment and test its senses of touch. There is a very huge possibility that fetuses can experience physical pain. As you may all know, the abortion suction procedure is a brutal and gruesome way to get rid of a fetus.
Abortion should not be an option because there are so many other ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy. I think that sex education and the use of contraceptives should be more funded and emphasized in our communities. I am a big supporter of sex education. Sex education plays a major role in helping young people make informed and safe decisions. It helps young people acquire important information and form healthy attitudes about their sexual identity. Parents are frightened when it comes to the topic of sex and don’t want to encourage the use of contraceptives because they think that it will promote sexual behavior. In actuality, these elements are essential in preventing risky and unsafe behavior. Young people are exposed to sex in the media on a daily basis, and without being sexually educated, they may act upon their sexual curiosities without knowing the consequences. They can acquire sexually transmitted diseases or become pregnant. I also think that a great way to prevent abortion is through media. Because media influences audiences’ decisions, they should incorporate more safe sex advertisements into mainstream television commercials as opposed to the provocative and sexy advertisements we’re exposed to every minute.
I believe that a person who thinks that they are mature enough to have sex should be mature enough to take on their responsibilities. I think that a person who is not taking birth control or using contraceptives, and knows that they are not yet ready to take care of shouldn’t be having sex in the first place. I acknowledge that women are entitled to their rights and should be able to enjoy sex freely, but they must do so responsibly to avoid unwanted pregnancy, which may lead to an unnecessary abortion. When I see women getting two or three abortions within a short time span, I get infuriated because what they’re doing crosses the border of immoral.
In Martin Luther King’s essay titled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he states, “Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” In response to this quote, I would like to say that abortion is unjust because it degrades the life of a potential child. Please help me fight against this injustice by speaking up vocally about birth control and contraceptives, and by sending the link of this website to your peers. --michaelclancy.com
Works Cited.
King Jr., Martin L. "Letter From Birmingham City Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.
Final Essay
Making Change
Imagine that you’re in one of your classes and you start to feel your body ache, so you take some Advil and hope for the best. A few days later you’re home with what you think is the flu that’s been spreading around; you’ve already missed three consecutive days of class, so you decide to visit the doctor. After your checkup you seem to be getting worse, the prescription the doctor gave you doesn’t seem to be working. You’re body aches, especially your lower back, and you start to see blood in your urine. Freaking out, you rush to the emergency room where you wait for hours to be seen. Once you are seen and tests have been run, you find out that your kidneys are failing. Your only choice now is to get onto a transplant waiting list behind 70,000 people and go on dialysis while waiting your turn.
The truth is, only 17,000 of those 70,000 people will get kidney transplants this year, according to the American Kidney Fund. But, if it was legal for people to sell their kidneys many of the people who couldn’t get them before would be able to survive. The fact that over 80,000 people die from kidney failure each year is devastating. So, if you were dying and were willing to do or spend any amount of money to save your life wouldn’t you want to have the right to? Making the selling of human organs illegal is a violation of our rights, we should have the option to save ourselves instead of waiting on others to die in order for us to live. More people need to stand up for those who are on their death beds; no person should have to go through painful dialysis just to keep themselves alive. Letters should be written, the word should be spread; this law cannot be maintained because you or someone that you love could be the next victim.
The vision of this problem came to me after watching Law & Order SVU; there had been a “murder” and the victim’s organs had been removed. After some investigation the detectives came to the conclusion that the organs had been sold. A father had bought the kidney for his dying seven year old son, but because the police bombarded the hospital before the surgery had begun the kidney was confiscated. The organization that controlled the kidneys for transplants would not accept it because it had been bought and it was against their code of “ethics.” This little boy could have been saved, or the person next on the waiting list, but instead a perfectly good kidney was wasted because of this law. You may think that people would then be murdered to sell their organs; but people are murdered for money everyday, is that going to stop you from carrying a purse or wallet? The complications that are caused by illegal kidney removal surgeries would cause more death than the murders that would be caused by the legalization of selling kidneys.
So, it comes down to your own perspective on the topic, is it something that you should stand up for or not? Will this just give the rich more opportunities than the poor to live? This is just one of the obstacles that would need to be solved from legalizing the purchase of kidneys. But you must remember that standing up for what is right is the framework of how we should all be living our lives. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” “One may well ask, ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just and there are unjust laws” (King 371). Unjust laws like this restraint on selling/purchasing kidneys should be fought. People are suffering and dying everyday when they could be saved.
How would you feel if you had no way out, knowing that you will die if your name doesn’t move up that waiting list soon? This is exactly how those people on the transplant waiting list are feeling. So, ask yourself, what would Martin Luther King Jr. do? He would stand up for what is right and do his best to make the needed changes. But, Dr. King is not available to solve this current problem, we are. We are the future and we have this opportunity to be heroes, to stand up for what we believe in, and to stand together to make change.
PS... you should google "kidneys for sale" there are some really interesting articles!!!!
Imagine that you’re in one of your classes and you start to feel your body ache, so you take some Advil and hope for the best. A few days later you’re home with what you think is the flu that’s been spreading around; you’ve already missed three consecutive days of class, so you decide to visit the doctor. After your checkup you seem to be getting worse, the prescription the doctor gave you doesn’t seem to be working. You’re body aches, especially your lower back, and you start to see blood in your urine. Freaking out, you rush to the emergency room where you wait for hours to be seen. Once you are seen and tests have been run, you find out that your kidneys are failing. Your only choice now is to get onto a transplant waiting list behind 70,000 people and go on dialysis while waiting your turn.
The truth is, only 17,000 of those 70,000 people will get kidney transplants this year, according to the American Kidney Fund. But, if it was legal for people to sell their kidneys many of the people who couldn’t get them before would be able to survive. The fact that over 80,000 people die from kidney failure each year is devastating. So, if you were dying and were willing to do or spend any amount of money to save your life wouldn’t you want to have the right to? Making the selling of human organs illegal is a violation of our rights, we should have the option to save ourselves instead of waiting on others to die in order for us to live. More people need to stand up for those who are on their death beds; no person should have to go through painful dialysis just to keep themselves alive. Letters should be written, the word should be spread; this law cannot be maintained because you or someone that you love could be the next victim.
The vision of this problem came to me after watching Law & Order SVU; there had been a “murder” and the victim’s organs had been removed. After some investigation the detectives came to the conclusion that the organs had been sold. A father had bought the kidney for his dying seven year old son, but because the police bombarded the hospital before the surgery had begun the kidney was confiscated. The organization that controlled the kidneys for transplants would not accept it because it had been bought and it was against their code of “ethics.” This little boy could have been saved, or the person next on the waiting list, but instead a perfectly good kidney was wasted because of this law. You may think that people would then be murdered to sell their organs; but people are murdered for money everyday, is that going to stop you from carrying a purse or wallet? The complications that are caused by illegal kidney removal surgeries would cause more death than the murders that would be caused by the legalization of selling kidneys.
So, it comes down to your own perspective on the topic, is it something that you should stand up for or not? Will this just give the rich more opportunities than the poor to live? This is just one of the obstacles that would need to be solved from legalizing the purchase of kidneys. But you must remember that standing up for what is right is the framework of how we should all be living our lives. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” “One may well ask, ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just and there are unjust laws” (King 371). Unjust laws like this restraint on selling/purchasing kidneys should be fought. People are suffering and dying everyday when they could be saved.
How would you feel if you had no way out, knowing that you will die if your name doesn’t move up that waiting list soon? This is exactly how those people on the transplant waiting list are feeling. So, ask yourself, what would Martin Luther King Jr. do? He would stand up for what is right and do his best to make the needed changes. But, Dr. King is not available to solve this current problem, we are. We are the future and we have this opportunity to be heroes, to stand up for what we believe in, and to stand together to make change.
Works Cited
King Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham City Jail.” 75 Readings Across the Curriculum an Anthology. Ed. Chris Anson. New York: MicGraw-Hill Inc., 2008. 366-383.
The American Kidney Fund.
PS... you should google "kidneys for sale" there are some really interesting articles!!!!
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