3.1 Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor

Argument: World Food Bank has problems.

Imagine waking up to the stench of your own body odor, as your stomach loudly rumbles due to the uncontrollable hunger that over whelms you while you are laying in the cold dirty street that was your home for the night. Though this is an over exaggerated scenario, two thirds of the world is poor. Many believe that a World Food Bank will help the poor gain stability, but it just causes a greater dependency the poor people will have over the rich while the gap between the two classes continue to grow.

The idea of the World Food Bank is for the world to have a backup plan in any emergency that may occur. Strong governments already have systems to help in such cases. In the Lifeboat Ethics, the author questions what would be an appropriate “emergency” to take out of the World Food Bank. He makes a logical point. Anyone can interpret what an emergency is differently. If such food bank would be created, guidelines would have to be taken into effect to limit confusion. It is good to have a safety net for times of needs.

Another side of the argument is the poorer countries would keep taking without giving back their share of the resources. With that, the giving countries would keep giving and never really take back. So those countries would be supporting the whole world when they could possibly not even have what is needed to support themselves in needy times. What would stop the poor from taking advantage of the resources greedily? How can the world prevent the greed? In order for the bank to work, with equality within country classes as the goal, fairness in distribution of supplies would have to be established.

Greed could result in poor countries taking what they can every slight chance they possibly could. With growing population they would continue to need more supplies and even though the food bank may help the current circumstance, it will continue to widen the gap that lies between the poor and the wealthy. Poor counties are like rabbits, multiplying rapidly. The need in those countries will never cease to exist if actions to fix internal problems are faced and dealt with. The rich could only hold the poor for so long. With the poor replying on the backup plan, it is possible that in dramatic times of true need, the backup plan could fail causing even more turmoil within a vulnerable country.

A World Food Bank will cause the poor to become dependent on a backup plan to where internal problems are never fixed and thus the food bank would be a failure for the purpose it would be created. Greed could result in a greater social divide within the lifeboat of a country within a vast planet. Now imagine countries that were able to support each other in times of need without abusing the availability of the supplies given to them and the world no longer having to worry about the smelly, poor hobos living on the side of the road.

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 8-9

“He might have despised himself, for he had certainly taken her under false pretenses. I don’t mean that he had traded on his phantom millions, but he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself — that he was fully able to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities — he had no comfortable family standing behind him, and he was liable at the whim of an impersonal government to be blown anywhere about the world.”(Ch. 8)

-Gatsby tried to create a better him, a man worth the love of Daisy. He was the opposite of what he portrayed himself to be. Later on, after being someone else for so long he never really stopped. He built his life from the lie. From then on the line between the truth and lie was too unclear to tell what was what. This created a problem when everything in his life was based around Daisy and she stays with her husband. He was a failure. It was too late for him to realize that the person he was, was not the real him and to change it to become truly happy.

““They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.”

I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.”(Ch. 8)

-Given the unexpected end of Gatsby, Nick was glad that his complement was the last thing that he told Gatsby. It was also the last memory of Nick that Gatsby had. Its times like this where people should take into consideration that life is short and every moment counts. People often find themselves regretting not treating someone better until it is too late. When life is short people should make the most of it and stay positive. It is never too late to make things right, tie up all lose strings, and find yourself to become truly happy.

“I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn’t believe it would come, and perhaps he no longer cared. If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream. He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass. A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about . . . like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees” (Ch.8)

-Most people have goals in life they wish to achieve. Gatsby’s only had one, to be deserving of Daisy. When it became apparent that she was not going back to him, he was not sure what to think. That even the beautiful things in life can come with downsides, like thorns on roses. He lived so long with one dream, one goal, that when he was unable to achieve it, it was too late for him to come up with a new dream. He hid behind material aspects of life to where those things became him and the Jay Gatsby was lost.

“…it grew upon me that I was responsible, because no one else was interested — interested, I mean, with that intense personal interest to which every one has some vague right at the end” (Ch.9)

-Jay Gatsby spent his life trying to please one person. With his entire mind set on becoming a person worth the love of Daisy, he never really had time to make good friends. Even at death, no one cared enough to pay their respects. Not even Daisy, whose love was all he wanted. The people in his life cared more about his possessions than the man behind the expensive things. This makes a sad ending for Gatsby, a man that no one loved. People become shaded with material belongings they often never learn what life has to offer, that there is more to it than just money.

“After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction. So when the blue smoke of brittle leaves was in the air and the wind blew the wet laundry stiff on the line I decided to come back home.” (Ch.9)

-It took a dramatic event for Nick to realize that he was not where he belonged. He learned a lot from the hypocritical people, but from the beginning he too was hypocritical. The death of Gatsby showed him just how much finding who you are is important. Many people need a push or a slap in the face to take the chance for new beginnings. Fulfilling one’s need leads to happiness, which many people find difficult to accomplish. You just have to take it one step at a time.

Week 2.3 Best in Class

Argument- High Schools should get rid of Valedictorians.

            Imagine all the stressful nights of studying to become the best student at your high school. Every year most schools announce their Valedictorians, the student with the highest GPA, that student then give a speech at graduation. High Schools should continue awarding the student with the highest GPA to give students a healthy race to the top.

            Many schools have started to take away the title of Valedictorians in their school districts because of the chance of sore feelings. Why try your best if you are just mixed in with other students who may or may not have worked as hard as you? What is going to make the students want to continue working their best if they do not have a way to tell how much further they can push themselves? Due to being scared to hurt people’s feelings and schools being sued, there are schools that would rather just not worry about it. Such as Sarasota High School, when there were more than one student being named Valedictorian, the school had so much tension that the principal decided to stop awarding the top student and start recognizing all who worked hard. There is a problem with that. As much as people do not see it, school is a competition, a competition over grades and how hard one works to achieve success. It is as much as a competition as football.

            Being ranked out of all the students of your grade level shows where you stand and how much you need to push yourself to reach your goal, whether it is top ten percent or the Valedictorian. Many students strive to become better. Creating the study habits and determination in High School will set students up for success in the real life outside of school; for their dreams. This healthy competition causes stress, but so does anything that result in a winner, such as sports or band. Each causes stress, but students need to learn how to deal with stress. It is inevitable that someone will be above the rest, that someone’s feelings will be hurt when they fall short, but schools should continue pushing their students to the best of their abilities. The title of Valedictorian is a way to show them how hard they need to work.

            If all schools resorted to the demolishing of Valedictorians and class rank, students very well may stop trying their best, because why try so hard if there is nowhere to show how hard you have worked or need to work? Not only did this give students the competition to become better students, it also sets them up with the tools for success in a world full of Valedictorians. The students strive to be above average. Without rank the top students then become part of the crowd, the average. It is understandable why schools do not want to put students through the stress to become the best, but in the real world, it is all a competition that is not candy-coated. There will not be, “Oh the people above this point are all winners! Good job!” No. There will always be someone above you, why not brace yourself for the inevitable? Why not push yourself to become the best in something you are passionate about?

            High Schools need a good dose of competition when it comes to academics. Awarding someone for their hard work will not only show the person they achieved what they strived for, but teach the rest what is needed to be done to become better. Those stressful nights of studying become the beginning of your success story.

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 6 and 7

“The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God — a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that — and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” (Ch. 6)

            Jay Gatsby made himself a type of man that he could be proud of. Gatsby was seventeen when he fell in love with Daisy, and from that point on he was another man. Part of Gatsby believed that if he continued being that man she fell in love with he could win her back in the future. Due to the new Gatsby, one could not really say that he was the boy his parents raised, so he considered himself God’s son. He was not perfect, but everyone’s perception of him made it seem as if he were. He created a better Gatsby, one worth love and living.

“Tom was evidently perturbed at Daisy’s running around alone, for on the following Saturday night he came with her to Gatsby’s party. Perhaps his presence gave the evening its peculiar quality of oppressiveness — it stands out in my memory from Gatsby’s other parties that summer. There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion, but I felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn’t been there before.” (Ch. 6)

            Unspoken feelings still flowed between Gatsby and Daisy. This secret attraction made one of Gatsby’s parties awkward when Tom showed up with Daisy. Tom had harsh feelings towards how Daisy and Gatsby could have possibly known each other. He believed that women were to lose in society. He felt the need to tighten his leash on his wife that he did not even love simply because he did not want a “crazy” person like Gatsby effecting his reputation. Tom was a harsh, opinionated man that cared only for himself. With Tom Buchanan in the room, it would automatically become a stiff atmosphere.

“He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand” (Ch. 6)

            The past is an important factor in Gatsby’s life. It was everything he wanted in life; Daisy. The reason his life turned out the way it did was because of her. He lingered wanting exactly what he had when he was younger. With Daisy back in his life, the past is more like his future. He hopes that he and Daisy can pick right back up from where they left off. Gatsby is like a broken clock, not able to move forward in time because he wants nothing more than to be five years younger, married to Daisy.

“She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth opened a little, and he looked at Gatsby, and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as some one he knew a long time ago.” (Ch. 7)

            Tom finally saw the love between Gatsby and Daisy. He recognized the Daisy he first met and loved. Daisy and Gatsby could not control it; one stare into each other’s eyes said everything. It was no longer a secret. Tom always wondered how Daisy and Gatsby knew each other, now it was obvious. Daisy loved Gatsby far more than she ever loved Tom. Now that Tom could see the love, what is going to happen between Daisy and Tom’s relationship? It could strain even more due to the knowledge of other affairs; it could even come to a complete end, letting them be with the ones they truly loved.

“I’d never understood before. It was full of money — that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it. . . . high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl. . . .” (Ch. 7)

            Daisy’s voice had a charm that Nick could never quite explain. Gatsby’s simply description of money fit perfectly. Daisy had a voice full of rich thoughtful noise that was pleasant to hear. She had the kind of voice that attracted everyone’s attention when she spoke. To Gatsby, her voice added to his riches. Hearing her say she loved him with her money filled voice added to the irresistible charm. Daisy was perfect. She was an average girl with a rich voice. A voice that could get anyone to do what she wanted, simply because she asked. Daisy was unaware of her charm but used it to her advantage.

Week 2.1 Commencement Speech at Mount Holyoke College

Argument- Give up being perfect and take hold of being yourself.

In the Commencement Speech, the author talks about how she discovered that being perfect was too much of a burden. With such a burden on her back, she did not really know who she was when she was in college. The author believed that being what everyone else wanted her to be she lost contact with herself. When one is little, naïve towards the world around them, that is when they are truly themselves. Past the age of ten, the social need overruns a person’s personality and the true them is lost behind a mask. The author was correct in that in order to be true to themselves they must take off the mask that people want them to wear.

People use rhetoric to make others into the people they want them to be.  This causes the world to be full of masked people. People change themselves so that their social need is fulfilled. The world around is not ready to accept people’s real personality. Everyone has worn masks for so long that it’s nearly impossible for things to be anything but. The author explains her journey in how she realized being perfect was too much for her to handle every day.  Once she found herself, the world was easier to be in. She no longer worried about others’ opinions about her, just her own opinion.

How can one find themselves in the layers of false identities they have relied on? If one was never really themselves, how can one know who they really are? It starts with wanting to be the true you. The author realized this towards the end of her college studies. Just imagine how it would feel to not have to worry what others expect you to be. It is not an easy journey as the author explained, but worth it. Worth knowing you now have a chance to fulfill the missing piece in your life that you would never know is there until you realize you are not being true to yourself.

Go back in time. Back to when you were a little child, an innocent little child. The world did not expect you to be anything but that innocent little child. Outside of the comfort of one’s parent’s love, the world is full of people judging one another. Once you are old enough to see things for how they are, you start wanting what others can bring. This starts the making of the masks. The masks of being what others need the masks that are hiding who you really are. But at the time it seems like it is the only way. Some may like the game, but it would be easier to just not worry about what others need and focus on what you need.

The author opened up a good point. People are hiding from the truth. Not only is it a hassle to be everything everyone wants you to be, it would also benefit you more to be yourself. If one realizes who they truly are then it would be easier to get what you want out of life. It is never too late to start the journey of finding yourself. Stop relying on others opinions and think about what you want. 

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 4 and 5

“Then came the war, old sport. It was a great relief, and I tried very hard to die, but I seemed to bear an enchanted life.” Ch. 4

-Gatsby was unhappy with how his life was fanning out. This may be because he was given everything he wanted in life, but he was still not happy. When people are given everything money can buy, the things that really matter get lost behind material things. This can make one feel like something is missing, but they cannot figure it out because their minds are clouded. They begin to forget that love and happiness exist outside of money and power. Without knowing what else there is besides what money has given them, it is harder to find out what can make them happy and feel like they lived life.

“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.” Ch.4

-Miss Baker said this as an overall description of people. She added this to mainly add an ending to the personality of Mr. Gatsby. Mr. Gatsby, because of his wealth, was often pursued; like during his parties and all his uninvited guests. However when it came to Miss Daisy, he turned into the pursuer. He wanted to see her again and find the love they had when they were younger. Many people who are often looked up to have someone in their minds they look up to and wish to follow. It can either be love, idolization, or whoever a person cares to look up to.

“I keep it always full of interesting people, night and day. People who do interesting things. Celebrated people.” Ch. 5

-Mr. Gatsby lived alone. However, he was never alone. Keeping a house full of “interesting people” may be an attempt to try and find the fulfillment in life he is looking for. These people add excitement as well as company for a man that has it all. The social need for these people, show that Gatsby surrounds himself with people to feel part of something. Gatsby does this without knowing exactly what it is in life he needs to be truly happy. He has to fulfill each level in order to reach the overall goal.

“Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real.” Ch. 5

-Readers can begin to see how Gatsby is starting to realize what it is in life he needs to be happy. His possessions start to mean nothing in comparison to Daisy. His love for her and his need of her love has surpassed material objects.  He originally bought them impress her while also trying to make himself happy. Simply being in the room with Daisy, Gatsby’s needs are slowly being filled. This is an essential time when Gatsby has to think of tactics to keep her in his life and become the happy he has thrived for.

“Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.” Ch. 5

-To Gatsby, the light resembled the small but significant space that separated him from the love of his life. He waited years to get the courage to be around Daisy let alone talk to her. Now the light had no meaning; the distance was closed and she was there before him. He no longer had to wait to make his move. The question now is whether or not he can come up with a way to no longer have distance from her. His need for happiness and love lies within Daisy. Once the space closed between them distance is no longer tolerable.  

Week 1.3 Let Teenagers Try Adulthood Response

Leon Botstein’s Let Teenagers Try Adulthood, discusses school systems and how they should change due to the change in today’s society. The idea was acknowledged after the Littleton Shooting; when the outdated school system slapped officials in the face. There needed to be change.  In schools today, there are more coaches than regular teachers because sports get major attention.  With this increased attention in sports, student associated in sports get more advantages as well as more attention than the other students, especially in football. Studies have shown more “outsiders” become successful in life over the popular high school insiders. With such studies, some believe that less attention should be put on sports and students should be brought into the “real world” by the age of sixteen. This will eliminate middle schools and force children to mature at a faster pace.

Sports play too much of a role in the schools. Athletes are looked at with higher rank and are automatically at the top of the social network in today’s schools. These athletes are often given advantages over other students, such as the academic expectations are lowered. This causes students to pay less attention to what schools initial goal is; education. This is a problem and a reason why students not associated in sports care more about grades and often succeed at a higher standard over athletes. At the time, however, most do not look at the future as a bigger picture. The school’s objectives should have a greater impact on a student’s future rather than Friday night’s game.

Having students leave school by the age of sixteen can be positive and negative. Forcing children to mature at a younger age can increase the success rate of American students. However, leaving the house of one’s parents earlier than the current status quo can create problems when it comes to individuality. Children rely on their parents to help them prepare for the real world, so leaving early gives one less time to learn the needs for their future. Even though they may become mature, having two years less than before to prepare can be a disadvantage to one’s future,

Middle school is used as a period to get students ready for the rigorous courses in high school. Like in the article, some believe that middle school is a pointless, if not a waste of time. Eliminating the middle schools could result in a educational gap. The gap could lead to students failing to meet the academic standards by not being fully prepared for the tougher, college level courses.  These grades gave students the ability for the higher courses. Each level of school is used as stepping stones in the educational process.  Without the middle boundary, how will it improve student success rates?

Today’s society is changing and has changed from the past ten years. It only makes sense that school systems should change as well, to accommodate the modern ways. However, such drastic changes should be thought out well before taken into effect. Alternate techniques in the school system have been made in the past decade but there are problems that still need to be acknowledged. 

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 1-3

“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (Ch. 1)

-The author reflects back on a saying that his father used to show a guideline that shaped the author into who he is as a person today. His father wanted to make sure that his son knew he had it better than most and that he should not take the life he lives for granted. The father is sure to use “advantages” the author has had in life, rather than saying that other people have gone through worse because everyone in life has their problems. Some people, however, do not have the extra hand or “advantage” in life that others are lucky to have. 

“Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body…It was a body capable of enormous leverage — a cruel body” (Ch. 1)

-The author uses a detailed description of his old friend, Tom Buchanan, to show the changes he now sees in Tom’s appearance. The author makes inferences from this new look to try and figure out how he has changed as a person. From his size to the look in his eyes, the author can see that his friend has been through a lot and puts up an alpha persona. Such a persona can suggest that Tom has proven himself as an alpha or that he feels the need to act like one to get the respect he desires in life.

“Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering.” (Ch. 2)

-Nick classified himself with the wonderers because he felt trapped in secrets and lies he would never understand. In one night, he was engulfed in the secret lives of people he did not even know, and heard lies regarding his cousin. He used this metaphor of street watchers that randomly look up wondering what is happening to relate to how he felt about the overwhelming situation. This situation confused him and caused him to want to drink. Nick did not care as to why these people lived the way they lived, but he felt trapped in the room with them.

 “He doesn’t want any trouble with ANYbody.” (Ch.  3)

-Mr. Gatsby was rumored to be the kind of gentleman that treated people with care and respect, but was never really around. When a young lady, Lucille, ripped her dress at one of his events, he was sure to replace it with a better dress to make sure no trouble or disrespect was made. This kind of man can make people feel like he is hiding something. That there is a reason why he is too nice to people and can never really be found at his own evening party, but everyone assumes the worse. Rhetoric is strongly used when people judge others. Mr. Gatsby gets pulled in the middle of it when no one really knows what kind of man he is, nor does anyone really take the time to try to figure it out.

“It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced — or seemed to face — the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.” (Ch. 3)

-A single smile can make someone’s day. To Nick, Mr. Gatsby’s smile caught him off guard, made him feel understood and respected. That smile changed everything Nick thought about Mr. Gatsby, and he instantly respected the man more. Nick’s description of the rare, unforgettable smile helps the reader visualize and believe in such a smile that changes the way someone is seen as well as make someone feel as though, they too are looked at as someone important. The importance of this quote is that, from that moment on,  Mr, Gatsby became the one exception in the way Nick views everyone.