The internet and social media has given increased power to private individuals, online influencers, and organized online groups that will make an impact on public impression and reputation. In fact, this power made it possible for them to “cancel” the visibility, influence, and career of individuals perceived to have acted improperly from their public position. People who are found guilty of saying or doing certain offenses, such as hateful language, indecent public behavior, sexual assault or simply doing something that is looked down on, will get online attacks through social media, death threats, or public release of their private lives. The goal of “canceling” is to shame, intimidate and professionally destroy an individual.
For advocates, it is seen as a way of being empowered to resist long-standing forms of abuse and prejudice. This is seen best in the #MeToo movement where it empowered women who were victimized by sexual abuse, sexual assault, and rape to tell their stories. By doing so it brought out the guilty and they became the first to be “canceled”. In some eyes, cancel culture is “redressing historical inequalities and bringing greater accountability” to the behavior of individuals in positions of power. “Cancellation isn't personal. It’s a way for marginalized communities to publicly assert their value systems through pop culture” according to the article on Vice. On the other hand, cancel culture may view its tactics as an assault on the right to privacy and a way of trying individuals publicly for offenses without any meaningful "due process." It is seen as targeting to destroy a person’s reputation and judge them without the substantiation of evidence. It can be viewed as bullying a person into silence and due to that, it can be taken out of hand. My questions to you guys are, what is your opinion on cancel culture? Has it gone too far? What are some benefits as well as negatives aspects? Why might someone want to do this? How would you feel if you were being the one who is being canceled by simply from saying something wrong? Is there an alternative way to bring people who could have committed a crime out? Sources: https://time.com/5735403/cancel-culture-is-not-real/ https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbw9pa/what-is-cancel-culture-twitter-extremely-online
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Love is commonly known as the most powerful emotion, one that is said to overrule hate. The word “love” is defined as “noun; an intense feeling of deep affection. noun; a great interest in pleasure in something. verb; feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone)”. But we also can take this word and define it with our own feelings and experiences we’ve endeavored.
But by the different definitions provided, it leads us to the idea that there can most definitely be different types of love. There is love for doing things such as activities like sports or art, love for the family members you have, love for your significant other, and the list goes on. Although we can distinguish the different types of love we can feel/experience, we still have the power to define them in our own way. Maybe this is what makes love so much more powerful than any other emotion. Hate still stands as a strong emotion, along side love. As I mentioned previously. Hate is defined as “verb; feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone). noun; intense or passionate dislike”. But we still have the same ability to define hate, just as we do love, with out own experiences and feelings. With that, hate could easily become more powerful than love if one let it. But can love really always overpower hate? Also, imagine a world without hate, or without love. There would be no balance. That being said, my questions to you are, what do you believe is the strongest emotion? How do you define love? What experiences and feelings have led you to define love? Do you believe hate is stronger than love? How do you define hate? And lastly (in honor of Thanksgiving) what about love makes you thankful? Sources: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/love https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/hate My dad recently announced to the family that he wanted to put down our pet poodle of 14 years. He argued that Wheatley was old, in pain, and didn't deserve to live like that. As I considered his proposition I kept thinking that if Wheatley was still living, she could keep living a little longer. My dad then asked me, "Sabrina, if you were blind, deaf, half lame, and always crying, would you want to keep living?" He exaggerated my dog's infirmities, but it made me think. Many people believe that although suicide is legal, assisted suicide is a crime and should not be legal, but could it be more humane? I was later presented with a story in which a man in excruciating pain who had been begging to be taken off what was keeping him alive. After his pleas were ignored and his cries became unbearable, his brother took a gun to the hospital and killed him out of mercy. He was charged with murder.
With the improved technology and medicine we have right now, it is very common to put a loved one on life support or put off their death. Sometimes these people don't want to be kept in that painful state but their wishes are not seen as sane or respectable. As more and more people speak out about how cruel it is to keep someone in a suffering state, more areas are legalizing the practice. In January of 2020, Maine will become the 8th state to legalize assisted suicide. Many of the people that pushed for this bill to pass had to watch a friend endure months or even years of physical or mental agony while begging to have that freedom. Physician-Assisted Suicide is usually allowed if the patient is sane, repetitive in their request, and take the drugs themselves. Contrarily, some believe that legalizing assisted suicide removes the ability to get mentally unstable patients the help that they need. Suicide is often a plea for help or a test for those around them. Around 94% of those that commit suicide are not mentally sound and have not made the decision rationally. These mindsets and disorders can be treated. Pain can be alleviated. They would argue that it isn't all or nothing, you don't need to get rid of yourself to get rid of your problems. Besides, those who survive suicide attempts rarely attempt again. Should assisted suicide be legal in the United States? Will creating a legal way to choose death make people think harder and more rationally about their decision? If you had a loved one that wanted to die, would you let them? Who should be able to choose assisted suicide? Do we have a right to life as well as death? Sources: https://www.texasrighttolife.com/why-assisted-suicide-should-not-be-legalized/ https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/bioethics/resources/assisted-suicide-a-right-or-a-wrong/ https://apnews.com/7f0fe9d789294a02852c1669c892f382 My mother works with Hospice, an agency that helps the elderly. I was able to meet one of her clients, that turned 100 years old earlier this year. I wrote her a happy birthday letter in June,l ,because I was just amazed by her age and was curious of any advice she may be able to give me. She was impressed by the small amount of kindness I showed, and told my mom when she gave it to her that she wanted to meet me. After having my busy summer, I was able to go to Challis in August to meet this woman, Agnes. She is actually in amazing health for her age, but does have a glass eye, and is half blind in the other, but she is still kicking, walking, and is mainly independent. She talked to me about her stories, about her three husbands, her son, her experiences in the military, her ideas on racism, and I was easily able to tell she was one firecracker in her younger days. She showed me her thousands and thousands of stamps in her collections, and old photographs as well, she spoke to me about all the death she has seen and hurt from all around her. Then I finally asked her for what I had gone there for, if she had any life advice for me.
Now, before I continue with what this lady told me, my question for you is how would you feel if you lived to be one hundred years old? Does this sound appealing to you? How do you think you could do with the changes of society around you? What positive and negative things would come with being an entire century in age? Secondly, I want you to consider the advice she gave me, process it, and then say whether or not you agree with it, why (of course), and any other thoughts and comments on it. I wrote all the responses she gave me in my notes, so these are quotes from Agnes herself. When asked for life advice, she told me: "Attitude is important" " Accept everyone." She told me soon after, "regardless of race" "Don't let anyone encourage you to do anything you don't want to do." " You don't have to dress up or have hair like anyone else." "Do not take anything from any boy." And my personal favorite, " Be friends with everyone, you'll learn a lot about the world." I also asked if she believed in love, she told me yes, then replied with "respect.", and that was all I got out of her for that topic. This was a pretty amazing experience for me, and I recommend and encourage all of you to ask your grandparents, great grandparents, or other elderly people you may know for a touch of life advice. You'll learn an grow more than you think sometimes. Feeling guilty is usually associated with feeling responsible for a hurtful or offensive act towards another person. However, not everyone feels the same amount of it given the same situation. This is because of the reason that guilt is mostly based around people feeling bad about something they did that they new was wrong. This means that if a person does something that others see as wrong but they think it isn't, then they will most likely not have a strong feeling of guilt.
While majority of people do not like feeling guilt, it is an extremely useful emotion to our society. It is the reason that people feel a genuine obligation to be good people and not only look out for themselves. It is an emotion that people would say enhance the human ability to feel compassionate. Guilt is a terrific emotion for helping people build strong bonds with each other, but it is also a reason for people feeling horrible about themselves which can lead to other problems. From a technical standpoint, people would have the ability to be happier if guilt was not an emotion that people felt. The world would be much more selfish and there is a high chance it could lead to more suffering throughout the earth, but it would move the thinking of humans to a much more logical mindset. Would the world become more productive without guilt? I am asking if everyone in the world didn't feel it as much, not only a few people. How would the lack of guilt affect other emotions and their meanings to our society? Why would the world be better without guilt? The supposed wage gap between men and women has been a topic growing in popularity. I say supposedly because there is no “gender pay gap.” The reason that studies show a vast difference in men and women’s wages even if they are in the same field or position, is that more men are in the workforce. This completely skews percentages and other logistics regarding wages. There is no gap, women that have the same job, same degrees in education, work the same hours and work in the same capacity are paid equally to men. That being said, this is not the case in professional sports. Let us review basketball. The highest paid player in 2019 in the Women’s National Basketball Association will be Dewanna Bonner who earned 127,500 dollars for the season. Stephen Curry is making 37,457,154 dollars in the 2019 season. At first glance this may or may not be surprising, but as we look at more statistics we can further understand the chasm between the players salaries. The average net worth of an NBA franchise is 1.9 billion while the average worth of a WNBA team, in terms of financial worth, is hovering at about 250,000. The problem is that the WNBA just isn’t making the caliber of money that the NBA is. We could look at other statistics such as how the average attendance of a men’s game is between 15 and 20 thousand while a woman’s is about 6 thousand. We could also see that the WNBA made in total profit of about 60 million while the NBA made 8. Billion. What would you rather watch? Do you think that the WNBA players and women athletes should be paid more? Do you think they are being paid sufficiently now or even overpaid? Have you ever heard of a WNBA player or team? Should we focus on the male athletes and paying them less? Sources: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/071415/how-nba-makes-money.asp https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidberri/2018/09/04/what-wnba-players-want/#73fdc7bb33eb https://www.slice.ca/money/photos/highest-paid-nba-players-2019/#!top-earning-nba-players-james-harden In the modern world we see that every little detail of life is picking up pace. It has become exceedingly common to see the average American rushing, trying to get to their next meeting, their next sporting event, their next class, never stopping, only scheduling and going. With this we see that very few individuals come together as families anymore. Hardly anyone sits down with their family every night and eats a home cooked meal.
There are many causes to this ongoing phenomenon. Such as a busy schedule, differing views, and simply, not having a desire to be with one’s family. The problem that comes with this is the distance we feel from our families and the easily provoked confrontation. The only way this can be fixed starts with a personal desire to fix the problem. The definition of “family” found in the 1950’s has drastically changed from what we see today. There are no set rules of, ‘mother in the home and father at work’. Today, the word “family” comes with various meanings and views. When “family” is spoken, not everyone pictures a loving mother and father who asks about their day when they return home. Some picture pain and sorrow when they think of family. Others only have partial families. Regardless of circumstance, it is important to strengthen the relationships that one currently has and make the most out of their own family. We have been placed in a time where change is inevitable. With this change we find and are told that there is no room for family, no time for sibling relationships, only time for our schedules and our lives. We have the choice to follow the ways of the world and worry about our own selves, or, try and strengthen relationships within our family. With this lies questions: does “family” have a different meaning from past times? What roles do a mother and father carry in today’s world? What is the purpose of family? How can we be better and strengthen the relationships we currently have? What do you think of when you hear the word “family”? Every year people around the world dump have tons of wasted food, trash, and other materials. A lot of this ends up in places it shouldn’t be such as the ocean or forests. However, there is another issue that faces our world that we may not always consider.
Automobiles. Cars and trucks have a significant impact on international air quality and in the U.S. alone they account for “33% of carbon dioxide emissions.” This is an extreme amount and one that should be considered by world leaders. The average American individual produces 11.7 tons of carbon dioxide per year. That’s in the form of a gas too. All of that gas goes into the atmosphere and causes damage to it. This is suggested to be the cause of global warming. Another environmental impact vehicles have come from the chemicals and parts when they are broken down. There are many crashes and broken down cars each year and they usually just go to a junk yard where they will not be used again. Then, their components such as the paint, tires, and metals will begin to break down and chemicals will be released into the ground or air. So are cars and trucks really needed for everyday use? For a lot of people it is a necessity but also there are ways to cut down on how much we use vehicles. The problem is convenience. They are common for people and why would you ride a bike or walk when you can drive somewhere? It is just the world we live in. Is there a way to change this though? Can we find a way to be cleaner for the environment and at least as efficient with some other method? Could electric cars be the answer? https://sites.psu.edu/perspectivesontheenvironment/2015/03/27/the-effects-of-automobiles-on-the-environment/ Humans have been drinking milk for thousands of years. According to healthline, “[Milk] provides 18 out of 22 essential nutrients. It contains more calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and protein per calorie than any other food in a typical diet.” Milk improves bone and teeth development due to its richness in calcium. The potassium in milk “can enhance vasodilation and reduce blood pressure. Other researchers, however, find that cow’s milk cause problems in humans, like acne, an increase in allergies, development of arthritis, certain cancers, male reproductive parts, and a risk of early puberty in girls. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) claims that, "Dairy products--including cheese, ice cream, milk, butter, and yogurt--contribute significant amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat to the diet," which is linked to prostate and breast cancers. Should we continue to drink milk? Do its benefits outweigh its costs? How much milk do you drink each day? Is it good for you? Is it possible to drink too much milk? https://www.healthline.com/health/is-milk-bad-for-you#benefits http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190218-when-did-humans-start-drinking-cows-milk According to NCLS.org thirty percent of teen girls who dropout of high school state teen pregnancy as the main reason for their departure from the school. Only forty percent of teen mothers finish high school and two percent graduate from college. These numbers are very low but there are some options that could be implemented to further the success of the teen moms, the first would be to allow teens access to birth control without parental consent, at the moment this is allowed but some lawmakers want to take the option away, another option is for high schools to provide daycare for the teens who do have children. Many people worry that if these options were readily available to teens it would make them more likely to become sexually active research however, proves against it. Finally, one of the best contraceptive methods is education. If students in middle school and high school were given proper sex education the pregnancies might decrease. Teaching abstinence only, does not prevent pregnancies and may actually increase them as many teens don’t know how to protect themselves properly.
Allowing teens to get birth control without their parent’s knowledge and consent is a very controversial topic. Many feel if teens were allowed access to contraceptive methods it would encourage them to be more sexually active. Research does not support this. For some knowing they are less likely to get pregnant, STDs and STIs may allow them to participate in sexual activities more often but for most it does not. However, the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases outweigh the slight risk of some teenagers becoming more sexually active. Daycare provided by the high school could be an expensive program to maintain, but it could also keep many young mothers in school. As I stated many of the mothers dropout of high school, this typically causes poverty which is hard to escape and their children are more likely to dropout of high school, than those of children whose parents had them later in life. If high schools provided this service the mothers would be more likely to stay in school providing a better chance of success for themselves and their child. Many feel that the public school daycare system would only reward teen parents for their irresponsible choice. However, the teen would still maintain their parental duties before and after educational hours. Personally, I think this would be a great method to help teens get their education if it is possible to maintain the funds. Finally, sex education is the best contraceptive method. Teaching middle and high schoolers the potential outcomes of having sex can prevent teen pregnancies and STDs. Overall, sex education teaches the best way to maintain ones sexual health and teaches individuals how to decide what is best for them. Personally, I feel that allowing teens access to contraceptive methods, daycare in schools, and proper sex education is the best way to help prevent unintentional pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Finding ways to financially support these methods is the biggest problem. My questions for you guys are how do you feel a proper sex education would change the pregnancy rates in teens? Do you think that daycare options are a good one, or what else would you suggest? Finally, should teens have to ask their parents to obtain birth control, condoms, etc. Sources: http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/teen-pregnancy-affects-graduation-rates-postcard.aspx https://www.aclu.org/other/preventing-teenagers-getting-contraceptives-unless-they-tell-parent-puts-teens-risk https://www.livestrong.com/article/1003121-pros-cons-giving-birth-control-teenagers/ https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/should-public-schools-provide-teenage-parents-with-daycare |
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