3.1 Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor

Imagine your sister calling you for help, money help.  She is out of a job right now and is doing everything possible to stay afloat. You want to help her out but it would be nearly impossible for you to help her without covering yourself in debt as well.  This is a common issue in the world today.  Not every country has an adequate amount of  natural resources which makes it impossible for each country to fulfill the needs for its citizens.  Hardin's proposal about removing the poor people sounds wrong, but it's the only effective way to maintain the Earth's health and beauty. 

Hardin uses the metaphor is a lifeboat to explain the ethics of life. He says the capacity of the lifeboat is sixty and currently fifty rich countries are enjoying the safety and luxuries provided by the lifeboat while the rest poor countries are swimming in the sea begging to get admission in the life boat. If we as humans were to be completely fair to all and let the every country in the life boat, it would sink and we would all drown in attempt to being fair and allowing all to enjoy to natural resources on earth. Hardin wants to keep the poor countries swimming out at sea so the rich can continue to use earth’s resources and have room for emergencies, plus keeping the earth beautiful. It is the sacrifice of the poor countries to allow rich countries to continue living peacefully. This is like the zoo. Many argue that the zoo is cruel and the animals should not be held captive there. In reality, it is the sacrifice of a few animals of certain species so awareness and research can be done and the rest of the species can survive. Likewise in humanity, the poor should be sacrificed to allow rich to survive and still keep earth beautiful and clean.

Maybe if other countries were given these resources they would become developed like the United States. Think about Mexico, they are not as developed as America but they have many hard working people that do take initiative and try to come to America and work hard here. These hard workers don't only lead to more developed countries economically but also politically and politically causes a more developed world as a whole.

Imagine if your sister needed financial help and came to you. You yourself are struggling to meet ends but he’s your sister and you feel responsible to help him. The bible states that we are all bothers but in the end it is the decision on whether to help your brother so he does not starve and starve yourself or to let him fed for himself and ensure the security or yourself and your family. There is no way that the world will keep having resources for generations to come, and it is just best to stop it now.  With not enough materials to satisfy every country, we should take Garrett Hardin’s ideal to reduce the number of poor countries who receive supply to reserve our earth’s heath and beauty.

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 8-9

1. “If that was true he must of felt that he has lost the whole warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream”

This quote relates to Gatsby’s entire life and the theme of the novel. Gatsby had built an impressive life around his only dream which was to get Daisy to fall in love with him. Gatsby, however, never got his girl and paid the ultimate price of death for involving himself with her. The novel is titled “The Great Gatsby” yet, Gatsby is the most pathetic character in the whole novel.  Not only does he waste his life of a girl who is playing him, but his riches and entire life is pretty much built upon lies. At his funeral, only two people cared about him. All of his possessions and riches went to waste. Gatsby never got the love that he had been dreaming about for so long. Children, the moral if the story is... "money doesn’t buy you happiness." :)

2. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.”

This part of the book is flashing back to when it talks about Gatsby always looking at the green light on the end of Daisy’s dock, then it mean that he should go after her, now he looks at it in shame of what he did. It used to represent that he needed to get the Daisy as fast as he could and now that he knows he can't have her he needs to look into the "orgastic future" instead of the past which he failed to do.  He focuses on the struggle of human beings to achieve their goals by re-creating the past. Yet humans prove themselves unable to move beyond the past and they cannot escape it as they continue to struggle to transform their dreams into reality. They expend all of their energy in pursuit of a goal that moves ever farther away which proves Gatsby’s struggle throughout the book.

3.  “She vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby-nothing. He felt married to her, that’s all.”

Gatsby wasted his life on his dream girl later finding out that she would just leave him out in the dust and stay with Tom.  Daisy desired money while Gatsby desired love.  He said that "he felt married to her, that was all" because when people are married there is not usually a "spark" anymore.  They say they love each other but all they do is sit around all day just trying to keep minimal happiness and a roof over their head.  Also Gatsby feels like he was married to her because he spend his life being obsessed with her.

4. " You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.”

 This is the most important quote of the novel which Nick says to Gatsby. This means that he think that Gatsby is more honest of a person than Daisy, Tom, and Myrtle put together. This is ironic because the title of the novel is “The Great Gatsby” and Nick is the only person who thinks he ended up turning out that way in the end.  To everyone else he was no hero at all.  This also shows how Nick really is a judgmental character, which he is portrayed throughout the novel to be a middle man who sees everyone equally.

5.  "He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free."

Nick can't help but feel the heavy bearings of Gatsby, and Nick can’t go up to Gatsby and tell him the truth. Gatsby holds on to Nick for emotional support as his world has taken a complete 360 for the worse. The reason for this complete change of character in Gatsby is when Daisy rejects him. Gatsby has dedicated his reality and changed everything about him to fulfill Daisy his entire life revolved around her and now it’s all gone. The irony of the title is revealed as the "Great" Gatsby kills himself in hopeless despair. He kills himself because Daisy chooses to be with Tom who is obviously just cheating on her, which is so sad… Gatsby looses the girl of his dreams to a guy that is cheating on her.  Dang.

2.3 Best In Class

Is naming a valedictorian still a good idea? Are high school academics becoming too competitive?  In this essay the author argues that a valedictorian should not be chosen because the students are too competitive.  Naming a valedictorian is important, though it may cause distress and anguish for other students you have to be able to deal with it.  If someone is getting beat out and winning the spot by a thousandths of a point the highest scoring student should be recognized.  Obviously they did something better, and should get credit for it.  How would you feel if you were number one in your class and the top twenty students were rewarded with “the top spot”?

High school is here to help prepare you for the real world and if you can’t accept the fact that someone beat you for the top spot in your class you will not be able to deal with more important life traumas.  If they rid of the valedictorian spot it is as if they are babying the kids that didn’t get the top spot like it’s okay for everyone to receive the same achievements.  But it’s not.  Grow up and accept the fact that you weren’t number one.  Every point on every paper you did in high school is valuable, and you just have to learn from your mistakes. People should be humble enough to let the person with the highest grade be recognized.

High school is not the end of the world; it’s just the first step you take into becoming an adult.  Just because you didn’t get the highest GPA in your class doesn’t mean that you won’t get into a good college or anything like that.  When you grow up you will not be defined as a person by your GPA in high school.  It’s sad that students are so insolent that they can’t even let someone do better than them.  The fact of the matter is that they need to learn that they won’t always be the best at everything.  When you go out into the real world there will be people that are better at you in many different aspects in life.

Another reason for having a valedictorian position is that it keeps students motivated.  Of course students that care about their grades will always try their best but others may not.  Some students need a motivation to push them through high school.  If there is no top spot, competing to have a high GPA wouldn’t be necessary in most cases, so lots of high school students would slack because it doesn’t matter.  If they are in to top five percent they know that they will all be recognized either way so there’s no point.  Most students do as little as they can to skim by, and not having a valedictorian stop will increase the slacking of the students.

No matter what they do there will be competition between the students that care about their future.  If you don’t get the top spot you just chillax, it’s not the end of the world. It’s just the start for a bright future.  Don’t get hung up on being number one, just do your best.  Keeping the valedictorian spot is important for schools to have.  Like in the words of the Beetles just, “LET IT BE”.

  

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 6-7

"By God...women run around too much these days to suit me. They meet all kinds of crazy fish."
   
 In this dialogue, Tom is discussing his true feelings about Gatsby to Nick. He is surprised that his wife knows him. This quote shows that he is very stubborn and hypocritical because Tom runs around with poor people who drink all day (especially his mistress), while he criticizes his wife for knowing a man that is all too friendly in his taste. His remark about fishes reflects upon the quote, "There are many fishes in the sea," saying that loose women meet odd single men that are single for a good explanation. Tom tries to convince Nick these horrible things about his wife to make himself feel better that she has connections with someone as powerful, handsome, and popular as himself.

"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."

We learn that Gatsby's real name is James Gatz. He changed it after the start of his career at age seventeen when he helped a man named Dan Cody with his yacht. Gatsby had a rough life in the beginning. He was a clam-digger and a salmon-fisher, and did anything that got him food and a bed. Cody's luxurious yacht represented all the beauty and glamour of the world to Gatsby. Gatsby let Cody buy him clothes, and eventually the traveled to the West Indies and the Barbary Coast together. The point of this quote is to show that Gatsby was willing to do anything to be in the rich community, instead of the suffering, poor community.


“The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself”.

            Gatsby envisions himself as a young person, living their lifestyle, and walking their walk. Fitzgerald points out that this youthful being is Gatsby’s “Platonic conception of himself,” so he believes that he actually is youthful and plays on this disposition throughout the novel. For example, when he sees Daisy for the first time, close to the beginning of the novel, he turns into this dumbstruck teenager, who is not able to control himself. In reality, we all have this outlook on ourselves, we picture ourselves as smart or athletic or funny, and when we don’t meet up with these expectations, we fall off the pedestal.

"I remember the portrait of him up in Gatsby’s bedroom, a gray, florid man with a hard, empty face — the pioneer debauchee, who during one phase of American life brought back to the Eastern seaboard the savage violence of the frontier brothel and saloon."

The portrait is of Dan Cody. Gatsby has it hanging in his room because that is how much he influenced his life. Even though all Carraway sees is a harsh and dreadful looking old man, Gatsby sees someone who helped him through his career and life. Because of Cody, Gatsby never became an alcoholic. When Gatsby saw how alcohol affected his life, he never got into the idea of getting sloppy, and drunk. Gatsby also inherited money from Cody. $25,000 that he never got, yet he did get an education from this experience.


"I wouldn't ask too much of her...you can't repeat the past."

Nick is telling this to Gatsby to inform him that Daisy is not the same person she was when they first met. In the past, nothing could have separated them besides that fact that he had little money. Therefore, after he left for the army she remarried Tom for social status reasons. Now that Gatsby is rich, he is trying to go back to the past and change how Daisy feels about him. Daisy is not happy with being married to Tom, but she will not leave him because she is content with her social status. Gatsby is convinced that he can relive the most exciting era in his life,  but Nick assures him that he cannot.

Week 2.1 Commencement Speech

In this speech the author is arguing that no one in the world should try to be perfect because it is unachievable for any human being.  The only perfect thing out there is God.  She thinks that it is too large of a load to carry trying to be the best of the best at everything.  Most teenagers and some adults never had the epiphany that there is no way to be perfect…ever. 

When you try to be perfect at something because you’re trying to impress someone else you completely lose yourself in the process.  People need to strive for their best, and come to the understanding that it won’t be perfect.  How does society deal with that?  For most people it is hard. Seeing many famous beautiful people out there, you ask yourself why you can’t be as pretty or as good of a singer as them.  But you never fail to see the paparazzi get a snapshot of them picking their nose out in public, or something embarrassing.  You should realize that heck they obviously aren’t perfect.  Looks can be deceiving and just because you think you or others look perfect there are many different people with different images of what they believe perfect is.  Someone’s ideal husband might be a long bearded scruffy looking guy and on the contrary others might want the clean shaved business type.  Also if someone might look perfect on the outside they might not be on the inside.              

Once you find someone that you love no matter what flaws you have they will love you for who you are.  Instead of striving to look like the most attractive supermodel, you should strive to be the best you can be.  Be yourself.  If we spend too much energy trying to be like others we lose ourselves in the process.  After college the author realized that it was a lot easier trying to be yourself without caring what other people thought about you.  She felt more at ease and stress free with almost everything she did.   Being your own individual makes you unique and beautiful.  God wants us to be just the way he created us to be, that is why we all look different from each other.  There is not one person in the world that is identical to the other which is beauty in itself.  We weren’t made to be like others.  There is no need to hide who we are with masks of fake identities.   

Not only are we hiding ourselves from being negatively judged by others but from our self as well.  It would benefit you more if you were yourself, but first you have to find yourself.  Don’t chase others dreams because they image what you believe perfection looks like.  It is never too late to start finding yourself, so take off the mask you’ve been hiding behind and show everyone who you really are.   Be the person that doesn’t care about other’s opinions but rather the person that does what they want because it makes them feel good.

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 4-5

 “I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawing of his broken heart.”

In this quote, Nick is talking about Gatsby’s broken heart.  Gatsby has been in love with Daisy for such a long time.   Nothing had ever worked out between them because when Gatsby left for the war she married someone else.  All along while she had moved on, Gatsby was still in love with her.  He spent his money on buying expensive, lavish things for himself… like useless jewels, but as we all know money can’t buy you happiness.  Most people would kill to have things as nice as Gatsby, but most people have love which is what he is yearning for.  Even after admiring his “chest of rubies” he is still upset because he knows that even though he has all these nice things he still isn’t happy. (Words: 128)

“He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.”

In this sentence, Fitzgerald immediately points out the fact that when Daisy is around Gatsby he directs all of his attention onto her, all the time.  At the beginning of this sentence it is obvious to the reader that Gatsby is head over heels for this girl.  Daisy brings out another side of Gatsby.  In previous chapters he is referred to as aloof and mysterious, but when Daisy is around he is charming and very sweet to her.  In these chapters a new more emotional side of Gatsby is showed.  Everything he does revolves around pleasing her. (Words: 97)

“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear.”

Gatsby says this to Nick because he knows that people are talking about him behind his back.  To most of the characters in the book besides for Nick, Jordan and Daisy, Gatsby is a very mysterious man. Gatsby was practically famous before he was formally introduced in the book; he lived a lavish lifestyle and lived the American dream. Gatsby was well aware of all the weird accusations people made about him so he wanted to set things straight once and for all.  He told this information to Nick because he wants Nick to spread the “good” word about him to everyone.  Gatsby doesn’t specifically say this to Nick but it is inferred. (Words: 113)

“One thing’s for sure and nothing’s surer, the rich get richer and the poor get – children”

This is a very ironic song lyric to be playing in the background while Gatsby, Nick, and Daisy are all together.  Fitzgerald is showing how Daisy and Gatsby represent the people who “get richer”.  Though they are unhappy with their lives they still have lots of money to blow.  On the downside they don’t have the “luxuries” of the people who aren’t as well off, which are having happy families.  The word “children” in this quote refers to having a family and being able to act foolish.  The upper-class people in society shouldn’t mess around and act childish or else they would be looked down upon.  This quote shows how there are both positives and negatives to being rich. (Words: 119)

“If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay… You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.”

 This quote represents Gatsby trying to get through to Daisy.  Gatsby is talking about the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock that he always seems to be looking at.  The “mist” that is in between his house and her dock symbolizes the difficulty that Gatsby has trying to get through to Daisy.  He just wants her to be able to accept him and his love for her.  Sometimes Gatsby will reach out his arms as if to try and touch the light, this action shows how he longs for her to be with him. Also the green color of the light means that he should now go after her before the “mist” gets too thick and keeps them from being together forever. (Words: 124)

1.3- "Let Teenagers Try Adulthood"

After reading the title “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood” I laughed.  I realized that that would be one of the most unruly things to do to our society.  Though this passage brought up some pretty valid points, for the most part I have to disagree with his idea of putting teens out into the real world.

Leon Botstein believes that people should go straight from middle school to college… wait what!?  I feel that middle school is everyone’s most awkward stage, socially, and physically awkward.  I cannot imagine myself, or anyone else of that matter graduating at age 16.  I’m most definitely not ready to go out into the workforce.  Just  having 10 years of education isn’t enough education to get ourselves into a good job.  Lots of my friends work at places like NRH2O, Putt-Putt, and McDonalds.  Minimum wage isn’t enough to get people through the expenses of college. The expences for classes, books, housing, and food are unbearable for young kids to come up with themselves.  By the time most people find out how expensive it actually is it will be too late to start saving up money.  Another point being with more teens having to support themselves, there will be less jobs available for the less fortunate older people as well.

Most 16 year olds are not mature or smart enough to go out into the real world.  People are very ignorant these days.  Half of my school smokes and drinks every weekend.  Would you feel safe with those same immature people leading our nation? Though some people are mentally prepared for leaving the house and starting life at age 16, those are probably the top people in each class and that’s it.  I do have to agree that some boys and girls in high school could pass for 21, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they should be forced to be treated that way.  Another statement I can agree with is the fact that some teachers are unprepared and are just teaching so that they could coach.  Everyone out there has had a coach for a teacher at one point, and without even attending the class you know it will be a breeze.  Coaches teach the easiest subjects the school has to offer because they would rather concentrate on Friday’s game then grading 250 students AP English essays.  Teachers like this aren’t preparing us for the real world.  I’m not trying to dog down on every teacher out there because most of them are amazing at what they do.  In all reality most people become teachers so that they can help others become successful in life but some of them are just better at it than others.

An issue in Botstein’s argument is legalism.  Because kids would be going out to live on their own at age 16, how would they be able to do anything without their parent’s consent?  On almost every for you fill out whether it’s for college housing, or a job application you have to have a legal adult sign your paper.  Would you be able to trust 16 year olds to pay for their own bills? Taxes? If they broke the law they wouldn’t be able to be tried as an adult, and would still go to Juvenile detention.  Does this mean that the age for becoming an adult would go from 18 to 16 so it wouldn’t cause as much hassle?   Lots of 16 year olds don’t even have their license yet.  In some states like New Jersey you can’t receive it until you’re 18.  How would they get to their jobs each day?

Overall Botstein has some valid points, yet his theory is flawed.  High school shouldn’t just be thrown away.  It teaches students many valuable lessons like responsibility, time management, and social skills.

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 1-3

“I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

Here the author attempts to show his readers that women’s intelligence is not significant in society. First of all, no mother in today’s society would want her child to be considered a “fool”, back in the 1920’s women didn’t have many rights and they had to do anything under the husband’s circumstances.  This is why many women today enjoy being independent, instead of having to rely on a male figure for everything. Daisy is well aware that she is heavily dependent on Tom, and because she is a woman she is unable to change her situation.  She knows that as long as her daughter is beautiful, she will marry and live a good life.

“This isn’t just an epigram — life is much more successfully looked at from a single window, after all.”

Many people find that keeping yourself open-minded is the best but not in this case.  We tend to take a roundabout way to get to our destination but the  here the author try’s to tell the reader that looking through one window and having one goal will make you more successful, and your life easier.  It doesn’t mean that one window is better than the other, it just means that not choosing one will get you nowhere in life. The idea of looking through a single window is one of morality and uncomplicatedness. Your actions and thoughts would go to whomever they are needed to go, and wouldn’t get mistranslated. (words:110)

“I married him because I thought he was a gentleman...I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe.”

Myrtle is referring to her husband George B. Wilson in this quote.   She wanted to raise a family with someone more wealthy in hope of become someone more important to society, this is why she married Wilson. After years of marriage she realizes that he is just a scum bag. Dogs lick shoes when their masters come to them and they get excited. She is pretty much saying that he was more worthless than she could have ever imagined.  This proves that not all rich people in society are as amazing as people think.  Like Myrtle, though she wanted to be on top of society more than anything, some people would rather just be poor instead of marrying a jerk. (words:120)

"Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope."

Here the author attempts to persuade his readers to only see the good in people, and when we see the bad to have hope in them and just pretend that it never happened. The author uses the phrase “a matter of infinite hope” which if you think about it is basically saying that the only way the reader can see the character is if everything negative action is not pointed toward the character, but the opposite, sympathy. Therefore it is clear that the author believes the readers should open their minds to the innocent people accomplishing bad deeds and give up on them ever becoming what they had hoped for. (words:110)

 

“…a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.”

Here Nick presents how he feels about society and how they perceive people.  Nick’s tries to act like his father so he won’t judge people, because anyone ordinary person below their high class would be hard for him to understand or relate to.  Here, Nick resembles his father which leads the reader to believe that they are superior to others in society.  They say that people are born with their sublime thoughts.  Nick means that each person in the world is born with their decencies and not everyone can have them.  Proving that all people will follow what their family teaches them, and will be like that for the rest of their lives. For example the people of West Egg,  are not used to being rich and keen to having such poise, which is the opposite for Nick.  This leads the reader to believe that Nick feels like he should live in the East Egg near the people with more class and poise. (words:163)