Common Place

I'm not sure yet what my essential question is, but I'm hopiong my entries will result in an overall essential question. Anyway, this is part of the lyrics of a song I was listening to, and I used to like it for the beats, the flow, but if you listen to each phrase, each line, this guy is rapping to something big.

I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myselfis life worth living should I blast myself?I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm blackmy stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatchCops give a damn about a negropull the trigger kill a nigga he's a heroGive the crack to the kids who the hell caresone less hungry mouth on the welfareFirst ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothersgive 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each otherIt's time to fight back that's what Huey said2 shots in the dark now Huey's deadI got love for my brother but we can never go nowhereunless we share with each otherWe gotta start makin' changeslearn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangersand that's how it's supposed to beHow can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?I'd love to go back to when we played as kidsbut things changed, and that's the way it is

Changes, by Tupac is pretty inspirational if you ask me. It's old, but it was one of the greatest hits, and the words in his lyrics are probably more than just words he sings with his mouth. He most likely sings it with his heart and soul. Sounds corny, yeah, I think so too, but it's kind of true. This kind of got my attention in the sense that this song I enjoy suddenly turned to something more than music on the radio.

This I believe

I know we listened to the "Be Cool" in class, but I really liked it, so I listened to it again. Alot of us are so used to having all these technologies that we take advantage over it. He mentioned how we always call people on their home phone, but now, all we ever give and take are cell phone numbers. All the stress makes them age quicker. He says "cool people stay young forever". He is cool because he gets enough sleep and works with people who like to work with him too. He says that being cool isn't what you say or do but HOW you say or do. Alot of stereotypes of being cool make you do what everyone does, but you're only cool because you do what you do. If you would like to listen to it again, here it is: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6946089

I listened to "I believe my husband will call me tommorow" This was all about believeing in her husband, having faith, keeping hope, keeping her mind set and focused on what's in front of her and believe that tommorow will come. It seems as though her nights are long, but she always believes that the sun will rise, and morning will come again. Having some one you love in the millitary must be tough. I can't say that I know how she feels because I don't. My dad isn't enrolled in the army so I wouldn't know, but what I know is her will to believe. I know how it feels to "must believe" like she said in the end. In her essay, she expresses sorrow in the form of belief. Here it is: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6834622

"I always have a choice" is about a lady fighting ALS. I have researched this disease once previoulsy for a project, and am still very knowledgable about it. Also known as Lou Gherig's disease, this disease kills the motorcells in your body, and your muscles slowly atrophy and you just get weaker and weaker. This lady looks at it positively and tells us that she has a choice. She can look at it as a death sentence, or another way to learn about her self. She writes alot, but when she can no longer type, she speaks into a microphone on the computer that analyzes her voice. She is very optimistic, and that gave me something to think about. I once heard this quote "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you look at it." And this is exactly what she is doing. The ALS is destroying her muscles, but it cannot destroy her mind and way of thinking. ALS only destroys the muscle and motorcells, but the person is just like everyone else in the head. A person with ALS can still think normally, so even if she cannot move everything, she will alsways be thinking optimistically. Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6560320

Common Place Entry

This is related to something I saw on TV. I was watching “The Fresh Prince of Belair” starring Will Smith. His cousin in the show, Carlton, a nerdy type of guy, is in a rich family and Will lives there temporarily with Carlton and his family. It’s a comedy, but everyone is black, or African American. And in that episode, Carlton and Will were trying to join a fraternity, and the pledge leader of the fraternity said Carlton “wasn’t brotha enough to be a brotha” and that he didn’t like “sell-outs”. The pledge leader made that assumption because he was rich and spoke proper English. Carlton, being a calm, hopeless, nerdy kind of guy surprisingly stated back: “You think I’m a sell-out. Why? Because I live in a big house or dress a certain way? Being black isn’t what I’m trying to be; it’s what I am. I’m running the same race and jumping the same river as you are so why are you tripping me up? You said we need to stick together but you don’t even know what that means. If you ask me, you’re the real sell-out.” This quote really gave me something to think about. It’s hard to explain why, but it’s just so true. I can’t say what it is I’m feeling now, but for the first time, watching my favorite comedy show actually made an impact in my thinking, taking on a new perspective of things. I guess we all make these stereotypes and race jokes too often. If you dress a certain way, you’re considered white, if you talk a certain way, you’re black, and if you have a Spanish last name, you illegally came in to America. But that’s not how it is. Sure, sometimes it’s true, but making these assumptions and jokes sort of is standard amongst us today. At school, a lot of what you hear is “Yeah, cuz you’re white” and all these racist jokes. Sometimes there are critics who say “Why you gotta be like that man?” and some people answer “It’s not mean mean. It’s funny mean.” But that only applies to the person who says it. No one else.

common place

I found an old article I had cut out previously, and in it was stats of all these deaths and injuries that have occured. It said that we Americans do many things to prevent us from being diseased or hurt. For example, we wash our hands, take antibiotics, boil our water, etc, but we over look the biggest thing. We J-walk, we don't fasten our seatbelts, etc. We do all these things to protect ourselves, but in reality, more people die from smoking, car accidents, stuff like that. I thought it'd be good for us to keep this in mind. I thought that was really true. Similar to Singer's paper, it has that hippocrate feeling to it. This article talks about both the big issue, and the converse, ad compares it to what we do all the time that we are never conciously aware of. I wish I had it typed, but it's way too long.

4 Generations

This video was really touching, and kind of inspirational. This video was on the spot, and only true emotions were shown. It was really touching because like The Singer Soultion to World Poverty, this is all about giving. In the paper, all they talked about was giving, and how people give to those who are in need, and how there are people who wouldn't save a child's life because it will affect thier own life.This video really shows the difference between just donating to charity and personally handing them something that means alot to them. The water biffalo in the movie was only 250 dollars, and it can serve them 15 years of work, and 6 months of food. The family's joy could not be explained in words. That right there is the big difference between giving to charity and giving to a needy family. The look of appreciation on their faces makes the whole thing worthwhile. Singer asked "When can you stop?" But I think that video answered the question. After feeling good about donating to the needy family, you will want to donate to another family. It's not a question of when can you stop, but it's more a question of when do you want to stop? You will want to keep donating to families for as much as you reasonably can. It's really hard to explain, but This video really does all the explaining.

The Singer Solution to World Poverty

The Singer Solution to World Poverty is a paper about giving money, how and what you're using your money on, and where it goes to. It talks about two stories: a woman named Dora who is in need of money, sells a boy to an adopter for $1000. To Dora, this buys her a new TV, and she can live in comfort. Her neighbor, however, spoils the fun by telling her that the boy will be killed and his organs to be sold. Dora then sleeps on it, and decides to take the boy back. Another story brought up is a story about Bob, and his valued car. He sees a boy on a rail road track about to be runover by a run away train. If Bob redirects the track, it will hit his valued Bugatti, but will not kill the boy. He decides to keep his car, and the boy is killed. The story compares these two stories and compares greed and generosity. Many sees Bob as an evil man, while Dora is the more soft-hearted woman who cares for kids. However, That Bugatti could've been sold to provide for Bob's life after retirement, which is similar to how we spend our income on TV's and other non-necessities rather than sending it to charity.

"If you still think that it was wrong of Bob not to throw the switch that would have diverted the train and saved the child's life, then it is hard to see how you could deny that it is also very wrong not to send money to one of the organizations listed above. Unless, that is, there is some morally important difference between the two situations that I have overlooked."

"Are you therefore obliged to keep giving until you have nothing left? At what point can you stop?"

I agree with the author in the paper. Really, when will you give enough money where you will not be greedy? In the story, Americans who buy fancy clothes just because it is out of fashion, and going out to beach resorts are portrayed as greedy because that money could've saved many children. If you skipped one month's worth of dining out, you could save a life of a child. But at what point will you be able to call your self generous and not greedy? If this were the case, many many people, if not all of Punahou would be greedy. But we all know that we are not ALL greedy. Sure, some people are greedy, but not everyone is, so what is the dividing line?