“What If?” In this Op-Ed article by Thomas L. Friedman, he is concerned about the future of the world. Thought the peace he give multiple “what if?” hypothetically situations. His main idea is that “These what-ifs constitute the real policy landscape that will confront the next president. But here’s the worst “what if”: What if we’re having a presidential election but no one is even asking these questions, let alone “what if” all of these tectonic plates move at once? How will we generate growth, jobs, security and resilience?”. All the hypothetical situations he gave will face the next President and what if we aren't even asking these questions. Also what if al of theses was if’s happened at once how would we be able to survive. In order
Jared Diamond is born in Boston on 1937. He is a physiologist, ecologist, and a prolific writer. Diamond has published hundreds of articles that is about science. Not only that Diamond is a writer, but he also received his Bachelor’s Degree at Harvard University in 1958 and PHD at Cambridge University in 1961. Diamond is currently working at UCLA as a professor of geography and physiology. He has done many research about ecology and the evolutionary of biology in New Guinea and many other southwest Pacific islands. Diamond has done many projects in his career. He is also a field researcher and director of the World Wildlife Fund. No only he published hundreds of articles, but he also wrote many essay in his life. One of his essay that he shared to the public is called, “The Last Americans: Environmental Collapse and the End of Civilization.” Diamond wrote this essay on June 2003. The essay that Diamond wrote is about the environment and how it is failing miserably.
In “Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility”, Harry Frankfurt attempts to falsify the Principle of Alternate Possibilities. The Principle of Alternate Possibilities is the principle where a person is morally responsible for what he has done only if he could have done otherwise. A person would be morally responsible for their own actions if done by themselves. If someone else had forced that person to do the action, then the person doing the action is not morally responsible. Frankfurt does not believe this to be true and that the person doing the action is morally responsible. Frankfurt’s objections towards the Principle of Alternate Possibilities shows the refutation of natural intuition and places moral responsibility upon those who deserve it.
There was dead silence in his office, the kind of silence that should never be disturbed. The look of determination on his face was uncanny. Every single move he made was precise and delicate. Colonel Cathcart slowly rolled a few inches away from his desk in his chair, just enough so he could stand up. At a snail's pace, he stood up never taking his eyes off his masterpiece. Cathcart's hand was shaking immensely as he lifted the playing card up to complete his beloved tower. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK' Cathcart's body jumped in surprise, causing his hand to jolt at the sound of the noise. The tower collapsed in seconds. All Cathcart had now was 51 cards scattered all over his desk, still gripping the final card in his hand.
An icon in the writing of science fiction, Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in a style that shows a dystopian world where books are burned, and many people are living for satisfaction and fun. This shows the digression/regression of the intellect of a future society. This world he created is likely partially inspired by Bradbury 's observations of how the society of his day and age is turning out with some extremities and imagination added in. Fahrenheit 451 first appeared as a short story with the name "The Fireman" in Galaxy Science Fiction in 1950. Three years later it was expanded and re-edited and made into the book, Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953. Being re-copyrighted in 1979 (47th printing). Ray Bradbury has an attractive life of
In Freakonomics, journalist Stephen Dubner and economist Steven Levitt explore how incentives extend beyond the confines of economics. Incentives, they claim, appear in three forms -- moral, social, and economic -- which profoundly impact one’s actions. These incentives often exhibit a complementary or competitive nature between each other; however, they can also act individually upon one’s actions. In other words, an action could be morally incorrect but socially and economically correct. An example presented by Levitt and Dubner would be teachers in the Chicago Public School System cheating on standardized tests on behalf of their students. In order to earn a bonus and be seen as well-respected, teachers went against
Jared Diamond makes the argument that when humans decided 10,000 years ago to no longer be hunter-gatherers and made the decision to become sedentary and start domesticating their animals and crops, the result is that the human race has experienced a steady downfall. Diamond makes the point that “with agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism that curse our existence,” (Diamond). While the present system certainly is far from being perfected, Diamond’s various complaints and solutions certainly would not be of much use in the present time either.
David M. Potter’s, “Fire-Eaters, Fugitives and Finality” in The Impending Crisis is a secondary source describing the events that followed up to the civil war and the impact the South and North both had on the issue of slavery. Potter who was born in Georgia in 1910 studied for most of his life Southern culture and ideology especially during the Civil War era. He argues that it was institutionalized cultural differences that prevented the South and North from agreeing to settle the tension with slavery as a whole country. He proposes that the significance of the slavery in the culture and society in the South was so critical that effort to preserve that way of living, the South would have no other choice but to separate from the North. Potter utilizes political ideology to articulate that it was due to significant decisions by congress that fueled violence and increasing tension for both halves of the United States. David M. Potter also engages in referencing personal liberty laws and arguing how if it wasn’t for Prigg vs Pennsylvania there would be more strict slavery enforcement in the North.
“Who Will Know Us?,” by Gary Soto is a deep and meaningful poem. The poem hits on a lot of literary topics we discussed in class. The poem keeps the reader’s constantly questioning the meaning behind the poem as the voice is riding past his country, peering out the window of the train. The author uses simile, alliteration and metaphors to convey the dark theme of death that is constantly featured in this poem.
Nutrition and health have become more popular in today 's society. Our generation is becoming more and more indebted to the idea of being healthy and eating nutritious meals. However, in “The American Paradox,” by Michael Pollan he argues that our unhealthy population is preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthy than their actual health. He also mentions the food industry, nutrition science and how culture affects the way we eat and make food choices. While Pollan is right about all these factor that affect our eating habits, there is more to it than that. Convenience, affordability and social influence also affects our food choices making them inadequate.
Lawrence M. Friedman’s Law in America is a fascinating short write up of the history of the American legal system. In Friedman’s book Law in America, he explains three factors/periods that is the history of how our legal system was formed throughout time. The first factor was how the colonial period helped shape the American justice system and hoe they were developed through the legal views of early English settlers. However, our legal system was further molded by our view and experiences following our independence from England and the war. It seems that the laws had many religious beliefs.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, by Barry Schwartz, is focused on the analysis of personal behavior in relation to decision making. As the title implies, the author emphasizes the main point that more choices actually lead to less of an ideal experience. In recent years, choices have become almost unlimited, and this has led to an increase in unnecessary stress placed on the consumer. The availability to make decisions in virtually every aspect of life creates a new level of responsibility on individuals. Decision making can lead to an enormous group of positive and negative feelings. Some of which include satisfaction, happiness, regret, disappointment and even depression. It is important to explore the broad category of decision making
A problem America is experiencing is the economic growth, it is a problem because the wealth growth is only affecting the rich. It is as simple as this, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Robert Reich points this out in his text, Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer. This has been a problem recurring since the industrial revolution, because of the labor groups being stuck in that position. Also, the mergers, and lawyers cycle around their money through lawsuits, and takeovers. Reich uses metaphors in his text about the fall of economy, and he uses boats. There are three boats that are being represented by different economic standing. The reason why Americans are having such troubling economic standings
Robert D. Kaplan’s article “The Coming Anarchy," is best summarized by the following quote, which identifies the different factors that he evaluates throughout his article, “To understand the events of the next fifty years, then, one must understand environmental scarcity, cultural and racial clash, geographic destiny, and the transformation of war.” (Kaplan, 1994) This is the framework that he uses to make his supporting arguments and thus this summary will be broken down into these four main parts.
From the earliest and most basic history classes taught in school, students are presented with the concept of “civilization”, and how they rise and fall with time. These “civilizations” presented range from the Sumerian to Roman to Western Civilizations. As taught, when one civilization rises to power, another typically falls from power. This rise and fall typically includes a clash that brings one civilization to dominance and another to its knees. Samuel P. Huntington believes that the next “clash of civilizations” will occur between the “Western” and “Islamic” civilizations. Scholars have varying opinions on Huntington’s claim, ranging from supporting material to “The Clash of Ignorance” by Edward Said.
The book, The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman draws attention to some very good points concerning globalization and the world economy today. Friedman emphasizes the status of America today in relation to the other countries of the world. As I looked at the things in which he warned about or highlighted, I realized the importance of this issue. He talks about a few aspects in which need to be kept competitive in order for America to retain their current standing in the world market.