Moolah

Money. Without enough of it, we live with struggles; with enough of it, we still live with struggles. In an ironic statement from the man featured on the 100 dollar bill, Benjamin Franklin says "Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants."

It is human nature to desire something we don't have. Whether this is a better computer or a new phone, these desires are transient; they only satisfy us for a short time but eventually, we grow steadily in lust for more. Money is no exception. In society today and throughout history, money has been a symbol of power. For instance, the Nacirema people have a "hierarchy of magical practitioners" with the "medicine men" near the top. Since Nacirema actually represents the American people, the medicine men represent doctors. Since doctors generally earn a large salary, the medicine men are naturally higher in the feigned hierarchy. Even with money and power, however, there is never enough.

If we cannot be happy with money, then how do we become happy? Logically, we assume that the only way to obtain happiness is "to be in want of it" or in other words lacking it (Hazlitt 2). In an excerpt from William Hazlitt's "On the Want of Money,"he asserts, "Literally and truly, one cannot get on well in the world without money" (1-2). To elaborate, he states that even without money, one cannot succeed. So the final question is, how does money relate to happiness? If we cannot succeed with it and without it, how do we solve this paradoxical question?

My Humble Proposition

In "A Measure of Restraint" by Chet Raymo, he warns society of the potential dangers that come from technological advancements. Here is my response-- my humble proposition.

For Preventing the People in the World

from Ultimately causing a real world Terminator

and for Forestalling the Zombie Apocalypse in I Am Legend

The need for new technology is simply preposterous. With the latest and greatest products out today, the more advancements that are introduced means the more consumers will waste their money for a new product that is inevitably going to be thrown into the trash within the following years. In addition, the idea of new technology seems to be converging towards a few simple ideals-- Artificial Intelligence and Health Research.

I propose that we stop all research teams from continuing the advancement of science, for the benefit of society. We wouldn't want Skynet to actually turn out to be real now, do we? For those who don't know, Skynet is the self-aware artificial intelligence defense network in the Terminator movie series whose sole purpose was "to remove the possibility of human error and slow reaction time to guarantee a fast, efficient response to enemy attack." This creation backfired and Skynet basically initiated a nuclear holocaust of mankind in order to fulfill its original purpose. 

Along with artificial intelligence, the movie I Am Legend has reassuring evidence as well. In searching for a cure for cancer, humans accidentally created their very own zombies after the vaccine mutated, killing 5.4 billion worldwide. These zombies would later attempt to kill all remaining humans who were resistant to virus' lethal and mutagenic effects. 

Basically what I'm saying is that scientific development will surely lead to our demise. With my proposal, humans would slowly return to their primitive states-- Cavemen. Cavemen are basically the perfect human beings; we all should strive to become like them in the future. They are not materialistic, which technology has made us become, and they are not fat because they are forced to do physical labor to survive. 

For the benefit of society, stop all scientific research and development. Make Raymo proud.

Fat Chicken

Throughout human history, one could say science is a relatively new subject. For the thousands of years we, as humans, have been on this planet, science only recently emerged a few hundred years ago. With this rapid increase in scientific development, when will it be too much?

In Chet Raymo's essay "A Measure of Restraint," he warns us about the potential dangers of scientific discovery. His first two examples are from the past; both cesium-137 and radium caused multiple injuries because of their radiation emissions. His final example, however, is the most relevant to our lives today. Genetic engineering is like a baby in science; it's only been around for about 30 years. In Raymo's other examples, the initial discovery of the elements were initially cherished with joy, only to have severe consequences later on. Could this also hold true for genetic engineering? 

Today, genetic engineering has been used for countless means. For example, the food industry has genetically modified their chickens to grow fatter, leaving them too heavy to stand. These chickens live lives of despair as they are born to die.

When will science cross the fine line between ethics and the thirst for advancement? In Raymo's final sentence he warms, "The unexamined quest for knowledge is hemmed with peril" (11). We may not know that we have gone too far until it's too late.

The Word Puzzle

Throughout American history, African Americans have been subject to racial profiling. Not only did this occur before the abolishment of slavery, but it also occurs even now; perhaps the fate of the minority is to always be discriminated against to a certain degree.

In Brent Staple's essay "Black Men and Public Space," he discusses how African Americans control their environment purely because of their race and appearance. For example, he provides a personal anecdote explaining this phenomenon. Staples describes himself as "a mugger, rapist, or worse" in a woman's eyes who was "worried" because an African American, himself, was walking behind her. While others might say that this woman is clearly racist, the majority of people, however, would most likely react in a similar way, given similar conditions.

Sadly, trying to fully terminate discrimination is vain as lighting a fire in the depths of outerspace. Both are impossible. Despite this, one can still accomplish great things even though he is part of the minority. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame regards Jimi Hendrix, a black musician, as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music."Although he is black, he still succeeded in becoming an inspirational role model to many minorities. 

Overall, whether one is discriminated on based on race or even wealth, she can still end up successful. Jeannette Walls, for instance, grew up impoverished and went through many struggles because of it. Now, she's an established novelist. One day, everyone will be able to coexist. The fight for equality isn't over. In fact, it's barely begun. 

Space for Public

Controlling public space all comes down to how far away one is from assimilating to the culture. The more one assimilates, the less power he has to control this space. On the other hand, being idiosyncratic will most definitely give one power to alter public areas. Race, gender, appearance, and actions all contribute to the difficulty in assimilating. For Brent Staples, his race and gender make it extremely challenging to fit in. Just because he is black and male, his attire and actions need to be overly proper to make him seem unlike the stereotypical black criminal. In his essay "Black Men and Public Space," he writes, "Virtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn't be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi's Four Seasons" (12). This is an example of how Staples uses actions to assimilate to the rich, white, and proper standard in America. Since he hums famous classical songs, others would view him as not a criminal, but a normal, law-abiding citizen. Interestingly, Staples has to act in a genteel manner in order to be viewed as normal, but if he were to merely act normal, he would still be viewed as a hazardous threat.

For me, I can manipulate a crowd through my unusual noises and voices. Sometimes I have the urge to spout random, cacophonous sounds and then talk in a high-pitched, indian accent. When this happens, I often receive creeped-out glances from strangers and small smirks from friends. All of this, however, is in good fun and I believe that if no one is hurt, I can abuse my freedom of speech. As can be seen, there are many ways to control public space. How do you do it?

Bonds

Arguably, one of the most important bonds between human beings is the parent to child bond. This crucial relationship shapes the child into what he becomes in the future. In biology, there is something called nature vs. nurture. Nature is the genes which play a role in determining your genotype and phenotype. Nurture is the environmental factors that also contribute to this. For example, height is determined both by one's genes and the environment. If one were to sleep 5 hours a day rather than 8 hours a day, he would be shorter than his potential peak height. Similarly, the relationship between child and parent provides an important environmental factor in determining the child's personality.

I have heard of many cases in which children are misguided by their parents and eventually these children end up in the news for a crime. Thankfully in my family, my parents have raised me to be an angelic, compassionate, hard-working child who never disobeys a command. Sike. Anyone who knows me well should have immediately been mind-blown and removed my ethos as a writer. Well, it's not like I had any to begin with. Although I am not the idealistic child a parent could wish for, I turned out alright in the end. If it wasn't for my parents' care, love, and devotion towards raising me I probably would have been a very different person now. 

In "Shooting Dad" and "Arm Wrestling with My Father," both writers explore their loving relationship with their father. Each essay describes how important he means to them. Surely this relationship is their most memorable, as they wouldn't have written about it otherwise. 

The parent and child bond should be unbreakable--tougher than James Bond, more exciting than a government bond, and stronger than a polar-covalent bond.

The Walk

It's evening. The sun slowly fades as the artificial street lights take over. The aroma of the after storm, wormy and thick, fills the air. The birds are whistling and the frogs are crouching in the shroud of nature. The ground is wet. The trees, the sky, the light, all displayed in the mirror of the street.

It's fall. Weeks before, the trees were dressed in beautiful green ornaments of leaves. Now, autumn has taken over. Slowly, one by one, the leaves' pigmentation transforms into shades of red and brown. In the lamp light, it makes the forest glow like the sun, ready to captivate the eyes of the strollers.

It's honeymoon time. A man and woman are newly wed, taking their last walk through the park before sunset. Recently, it rained. The dark brown umbrella appears golden from reflection refracting from the droplets of water on its surface.

The man wears a traditional dark suit while the woman wears a t-shirt and a short skirt. Both are deeply in love, as the woman's left arm gently grasps the man's right arm. The pathway they walk on represents their life together. As every second passes, the man and woman slowly reach the end of their path. This path's end, however, is a blur. They cannot see the end; they cannot see their fate.

Background Info

Recently we've been discussing about marginalization and assimilation of different cultures and races. Sherman Alexi and Native Americans were forced onto reservations, away from normal American society. They could only keep their culture by staying at these reservations, or they could leave and assimilate with the rest of America. Similarly, Amy Tan wanted to assimilate into society because of a certain white boy. In order to please him, she felt like she had to become a "banana," yellow on this outside but white on the inside. In the end, however, she learned that she should be proud of who she is. Her mother says, "Your only shame is to have shame"(8). This anaphora truly speaks to the pride of one's background and that identity shouldn't be affected by perception.

Although I call myself Chinese because of Chinese ancestry, many people don't know that I am also technically a Filipino. Both of my parents were born in the Philippines and our family has been living there ever since World War I. I'm even a dual citizen of both the United States and Philippines. Normally, I don't mention the Filipino side of my background because most of my friends are all either Chinese or Korean. I guess it's the small fear of being classified as Filipino instead of Chinese and therefore being isolated which makes me withhold this information. This fear, however, is not important. I now realize that Amy Tan's mother is right. My only shame is merely to have shame (8).

Represent

Many famous people represent different groups of people. For instance, Barack Obama represents the United States of America, Kim Jong Un represents North Korea, etc. In "Champion of the World" by Maya Angelou, Joe Louis represents the African American race.

As a whole, most groups of people take pride in their representatives. For African Americans in the 1930's, however, they not only took pride in Joe, but they relied on him. If he failed, it meant their people would fall, another would be lynched, another would be raped, and another would be whipped and maimed (Angelou 2). On the other hand if he succeeded, they would drink "Coca-Colas like ambrosia" and eat "candy bars like Christmas" (Angelou 3). In other words, Joe Louis served as their hope and pride. His victory or defeat would affect all African Americans at the time.

Similarly today, people still take pride in their representatives; one could even call them role models. For example, many remember Jeremy Lin and how he became revered as a great NBA player. In the asian community, everyone looks up to him. Being a Harvard alumni and showing that one can integrate with society, Lin serves as a model to a substantial amount of asian families. Many asian parents say "Wao, you be like Jeremy Lin. He tall, smart, and successful" (Try to imagine this in an asian accent). His success gives asians a sense of hope; we can be tall and good at basketball too, not only African Americans.

Overall, those who serve as our representatives can also serve as our role models. Through success, we feel pride and hope to forever succeed.