January Blog

I think the first stanza in the song " Gangsta's Paradise " means that he has nothing to live for. To demonstrate this he says that even his mother thinks he has gone crazy. He also says that little(or younger kids) want to be like him but he says you better watch what your doing and saying or you will end up dead. Coolio says he prays every night in the streets, I think he does this because he wants to be forgiven and he wants to make his life right because right now he doesn't know how long he has. I think what Coolio means in the chorus is that many people spend there lives in a gangsta's paradise which I think means that there is fights, shootings, and competition. I think that second stanza means he was raised in a part of town where being a gangsta is all there is to be when he grows up, or at least that's what most think there. He says he is apart of a gang and he is chasing dreams he believes will never be possible. Coolio says he is educated, but all he is focused on it money and he is a real gangsta. He doesn't know how long he has go til death but he thinks it isn't to far away. I think the third stanza means that all he or other gangstas care about is the power and money. Coolio says everyone is running, I think this means people or gangstas are running from the law but most of them are not doing it smartly. He doesn't know what is going on or what will come out of this, and he says this is why my life is out of luck.

Can a person live a non-violent lifestyle in a violent environment ?

I think a person could live a non-violent life style in a violent environment, but it would be very difficult. I think most people would just follow  the crowd and become a violent person, but there would be few who did not. One example of this is the Palestine Israel Iraq War that took place from 2003 to 2005. Streets were flooded with people and military vehicles and many people were trying to get on top of the vehicle and the military people had to pry and kick people to keep them from getting on the vehicle. Many people were throwing grenades/bombs at other people, military, buildings, and over fences. If a military vehicles drove by there would most likely be people throwing rocks or anything in reach at the vehicle. Military people had to stand guard and keep people from entering areas. Some people harasses the military people by hitting and kicking them. The military people were, most of the time, armed and would shoot in the air and have to fight off certain people. The military had to bring in tanks to help keep people away and defend themselves from the Iraq soldiers. Many people were injured or killed and there were pools of blood on some areas of the streets (Palestine, Israeli, Iraq War ). People in these areas with these types of things going on must feel like everyday they wake up might be there last. How could you wake up or go to sleep not knowing if you would wake up or have another day to live ? Living in this type of fear would be a horrible feeling. You would literally feel scared to death. I think a lot of people could not live through this, they might commit suicide. I think most people, if not all, would not be able to live a non violent life style in a violent area such as the Palestine/ Israeli/ Iraq War areas. An idea of a non-violent approach by Aung San Suu Kyi may just be the answer. She says that if you have one person and you don't give them a gun to resolve a problem, one must depend on intellectual considerations like using compassion and intelligence to resolve the problem. She thinks, which I agree with, that it will help society better if someone has to use their mind to work out a problem rather then making someone or something give you what you want by just showing or putting a gun up to someone (Aung San Suu Kyi: video 2). So with much effort I think some people could live a non-violent lifestyle in a violent environment.

December Blog

Who was Adam Smith and what did he believe about economics ?

Adam Smith was from Scotland and became a economist. He published the book, The Wealth of Nations. In his book he talked about how wealth is not gold and silver but food, cloths, houses, transportation, communications, schools, good roads, factories, and cultivated farms- the essentials of life. He also said that in order for people to increase their standard of living and prosperity, that their goods and services should be copious and cheap. He proposed the idea of a "free market system", which is set up on the original law of "supply and demand".


What is "Capitalism/Free Market System" ?

Capitalism is where the government does not involve itself in a nations economy. The people would automatically work toward bringing the best to their society. The Free Market System  allows people to  do things with out the government getting involved. The Capitalist depend on free markets. The free markets of the nation are run by households and small businesses that are able to set their own prices for what they sell and how they sell it. Adam Smith says that the society should prosper when the people are allowed to create their own markets and have competition, where they set their own prices that benefit both the buyer and seller.


Should the U.S. Government have bailed out the auto industry ?

I believe the United States Government did the right thing by bailing out Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. The government may not have seen the current benefits of the bail out but it is helping the economy greatly. If the government had not bailed out Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler than thousands, maybe even millions, of jobs would have been lost. Right now a large amount of people are job less and have no income. The government saved a lot of jobs and people's incomes.If the government had not bailed out the auto dealerships, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, the economy would be in a lot worse of a place. The bail out cost a great amount of money to keep the auto industry going, but the dealerships are working at it to get back on track. Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler are even hiring more people now that they are improving.

Articles

1. What were the Articles of Confederation?

The Articles of Confederation was a document approved in 1777 that limited central government for the United States.

2. What were the key features of the Articles?

 The key features of the Articles were: no Chief Executive, laws needed to be by approved by at least nine of the thirteen states, Congress did not have that power to tax citizens and could only ask for tax money from the states, Congress could not draft an army and could only ask for the states for military services, did not have a national court system, any changes to the Articles had to approved by all thirteen states, Congress did not have the power to collect debts  for the states owed to the federal government, and Congress could not settle disputes among the states.

3.Why do you think the Contintential Congress shaped the Articles of Confederation the way they did?

The Contintential Congress shaped the Articles of Confederation  the way they did because: they wanted to protect the states' individual power because they had the fear of a strong central government, they did not want a monarch because in Britain the monarch had abused his power, so the government could not go corrupt, feared a central government with a strong army would take away the citizens' rights, feared a central government with a national court system would be unfair to the rights of the states, so all the sates would be on the "same page", feared a strong central government would force the states to pay for things they did not want, and that each state would have their own power, independence, and freedom.

4.What were the major problems created by the Articles of Confederation?

The major problems created by the Articles of Confederation were: the lack of leadership, fights would break out because of disagreements, states often chose not to pay taxes and the federal government could not operate effectively, many people would refuse to go to war and the government would have a weak army,government would be unorganized with no national court system, made changes to the Articles impossible, people would refuse to pay their debts to the federal government, and disputes between the states would often not be solved.

5.Which features do you think caused the most problem? Why?

The features that caused the most problems were most likely: Congress did not have the power to collect debts owed to the federal government because the federal government would be very poor and sooner than later the federal government would be dead, and Congress did not have the power tp draft an army and could only request that the states send men for military services because no man would want to go to war if they did not want to so the federal government would have no army.

6. What changes do you think need to be made to improve the government?

The changes that need to be made to improve the government are that there needs to be a head in government, people should vote as individuals, not as states, to make or change laws, citizens should pay taxes but not a lot, a certain number of men should go to war but not all, a national court system should be set up, any changes to the Articles should be a majority vote by individual and not by states, people should have to pay their debts to government, and Congress should be able to help settle disputes between states.